Page 31 of Gift from the Source (Source of Elementra #5)

Twenty-Six

Tillman

The cool dirt becomes muddy as Will’s blood slides down our joined hands.

Unlike any other blood that’s colored my palms, hers creates a vibration that sings through my bones.

“Ready?” I ask quietly.

“Ready.”

Her blood wraps around my element and drags it through the destruction.

Everywhere she leads me, I sprout roots, nourish the soil, and command life to grow. From where we kneel, to Aunt Rory’s farthest ward, together we mend the land that just a few days ago was bathed in death.

Hundreds of shades of green burst across the flourishing forest. Trees that range from as tall as her to as tall as our treehouse erupt from the ground and reach for the sky.

Our eyes scan the blooming beauty, but my gaze lands on the most gorgeous sight.

Her.

The sun kisses her soft skin, and the breeze blows her long light brown hair around her flowy dress. She stares out over our blossoming creation like it’s something precious. Like the sight of new life brings her the utmost happiness in this moment.

The smile on her face is one I imprint on my mind as hard as I can.

It’s come and gone over the last week. Each remembrance brought tears to her eyes, while each small moment spent with our family brought that smile.

Life has been a whirlwind the past few days and we’ve taken it in stride.

Word spread immediately of the fires raging and war cries heard from the palace grounds. When the people started seeking answers from their territory’s council members, they were informed of their removal.

Well, just as Willow predicted, the Drovers asked to step down after they fought brutally beside the other shifters.

Aurora granted them their request and sent word of their valor and dedication to the realm in our darkest hour.

As for the rest, her decree spoke the truth and dragged their names through the mud.

For the time being, E.F. officials have been posted in each territory as mediators for the people to the Ruling Nexus. In the coming weeks, the people are going to elect three families that they feel will serve their territory best.

Those three families will go through extensive interviews with our Nexus so we can judge their intentions. We’ll decide who has the best interest of the realm and its people.

Corentin gave the speech in the Central two days ago of the change in ways the next council line will be elected. Hundreds and hundreds of people showed up. The Central was bursting at the seams with people from all over the realm.

He made it clear if the remaining elite thought they’d strong-arm their way into the five and intimidate their way into the elections, then they better think again.

The crowds erupted in a roar of joy.

I’ve never seen him smile so much.

Yeah, it’s only been a week, but my brother came back a new man. He’s still the commanding, control freak he’s always been, but now he’s putting it to use in a whole new light.

That first night after battle, we spent our night wrapped in the arms and body of our Primary. The next morning, he was ready to reshape the realm.

He already has meetings set up with the other Headmasters to implement his new rules and regulations for Primaries. Which is basically the exact opposite of what the old rules were.

Today was a hard one, though.

Today we laid Vince to rest beside his brothers.

Gaster and I crafted a casket with deep, intricate carvings of his lion. The wood matched the color of his mane.

Carrington, with Layton’s help, carried his casket as Willow and I strapped him to Draken’s back.

The dragon gave him one last flight.

He called it their last lesson.

Willow took to the skies with us on her back for support. The two of them put on quite the show for the lion.

I know he’s in the beyond, jumping up and down, pounding his fist.

I’ve been asking Willow for days now if she wanted to help me fix the land out here and every day she’s told me no, not yet.

As soon as we got back from his remembrance, she grabbed my hand and walked me out here. She said that it wasn’t right to wash away what happened until everyone was laid to rest.

Now they all are.

Our hands slowly withdraw from the dirt as the tree line about five feet in front of us finishes cresting the sky.

Her head falls back as she looks up as far as she can.

From start to finish, she watched their growth.

Just as I’ve done with her.

I stretch my palm out and create a small collection of flowers right at the base of the massive tree that stands out front .

The dark midnight blue stands out against all the lively green and brown vegetation. Memories flood my mind and my heart warms.

“It’s beautiful, Tillman. I’ve seen a few of those on the running trail at the mansion.”

“They’re called Midnight Lillies. But my dad created a whole flower box outside my mom’s window, and he called them Midnight Tillys. They were her favorites.”

She chuckles lightly and the sound pulls a smile to my lips. “So you’re telling me you got your romantic side from Sean?”

I really laugh at that and possibly blush. “He was definitely the one to always bring around flowers, but they all doted on Mom. They all were definitely the examples I tried to take after.”

Her eyes twinkle with mischief and I’m ready for whatever sass is about to come, but just as her mouth opens, her eyes lose focus.

Uncle Orien.

I don’t invade, but I’ve always been able to tell the difference between her talking to him, Gaster, or Oakly. Her face changes for each one. The guys, I never know unless I’m in the internal conversation as well. When it’s him, everything around her fades away as she falls into her mind.

It’s happened quite a few times over the last few days.

“He’d like to talk to us,” she says softly.

“Us?”

“Yeah, if you’re okay with that.”

“Of course I am.”

I swallow roughly as I prepare myself for whatever he’s about to say.

“How’s it going, nephew?”

His nonchalance and normal question surprise me and I can’t help the laugh that bursts free of me. “It’s going, Uncle. Been a little busy.”

“Yes, you all have and I’m so very proud.”

I twist some blades of grass between my fingers and exhale. “Thank you.”

“I need a favor from you, Tillme. ”

The many times I’ve heard him say that to me play through my mind. Some were just simple things, but a lot of those favors I granted him, I was unknowingly doing something for Willow.

“Anything, Uncle.”

“In Willow’s mom’s greenhouse, there is a plant that’s concealed from view. It is incredibly dangerous, but there are other properties that the plant possesses. Research that’s already been done on it will be found there as well.”

“What kind of plant are we talking about? Who researched it? Will’s mom?”

His chuckle filters through my mind. Add in Willow’s small one as well and my heart flutters.

“Always ready to prepare for a mission, my boy.” His laugh lingers for a moment longer, then he clears his throat. “It is the Aconight plant. The one used in the deadly infection the Mastery used to steal gifts. One of the requests I made of Willow’s mom was to go to Mystara Hollow, identify the plant, and figure out what would destroy it. She was sent with an elite team and the lead researcher brought a sample back to study. His research is there with it.”

Will’s “What?” drowns out my whispered, “Impossible.”

My mouth, or should I say mind, wars with my next words. I don’t want to let any hope rise in me. It’s already doing that now and I could be way off course. You never know when it comes to my uncle’s surprises.

“Did my mom…did my parents lead the mission to go with her?”

“They did. Sadly, all the way around, informing each Nexus who the other was, was too great of a risk. Iris would’ve been over the moon to know they were Willow’s Patera-Nexus, but at this time, the thought of a child was still years away for Tilly and the guys.

“After I had told Iris what I needed her to retrieve from Mystara Hollow, she was very reluctant. That’s mostly because I told her, her trip there would be nothing like the one to Essemist Keep. Don’t expect to make friends or dine with the rulers. Still, they all made the most of the three-day trip. They explored in secret, shielded by Tilly and blended in by Ian’s illusions.

“If you both recall what that vile little cretin Darstein said, he claimed that the Aconight plant caused the plague to break out in Mystara Hollow a few centuries ago. That simply wasn’t true. It did cause a plague, but not that long ago. That’s simply when it started to grow. He was basing his assumption off the plant’s age, and he thought he knew it all. Piece of sh—” Willow’s laugh and mumbled ‘language’ cuts off his curse and he clears his throat with a small, fake apology.

“Anyhow, by the time they arrived, the plague was on the way but had yet to infect the whole realm. Sean was able to identify the plant in two different forms. Its immature stage, which the appearance is completely different from its grown stage. That is the stage where it does start to become identical to their medicinal herb. He’s the one who discovered the way to get rid of it, is to burn it. All the way down to its roots. There can’t be a trace of it left. He told Iris this, and in true fashion of our ways, Iris whispered, ‘One day, you need to burn it all’ to an old and lone practitioner they visited before they left. She left just a little nugget of a clue.”

Willow and I stare at each other. My thoughts and questions about this whole mission race across my mind.

None of this information would’ve helped us when Oakly was infected, other than the burning part. Which he told Willow about. But it does put it in perspective once again how much planning he had to do.

“How did you tell Mom about going on this mission? Did you take her memories or were they able to keep them? You said the lead researcher, which was obviously Sean, has research, so he had to have access to his memories. Did you see that the Mastery was going to use this and so you planned this out? Also how did the Mastery get—”

“My Tillme, you’re becoming as bad as Caspian and Willow with all these questions.”

I glare teasingly at Willow’s giggle, which all that does is make her laugh harder. She squeals when a vine latches around her waist and drags her into my lap. I can’t help the questions. My mind is both blown and fascinated.

“Telling my dear sister was quite exciting for me. She thought I was joking and didn’t believe me. I had to give her my stern look, which straightened her out.”

I snort, as does he. We both know that’s bullshit .

“Really, though, much like you’re doing now, she peppered me with questions and I answered all I could. I told her every detail I could about the mission, what I needed her to get, the dangers to expect, then when she kept pressing for the location, I just casually said Mystara Hollow. The look of shock on her face was priceless.

“Sean was up and ready to go the moment I mentioned it was a plant they were after. The others were a little reluctant, of course. For a week, I gave them all the information I have on Mystara Hollow, and they studied away as they prepared. The morning they were to leave, I transported them to Iris’s house.

“I honestly was a little apprehensive about introducing the two Primaries. They’re both incredibly headstrong women and the last thing I wanted was them not to get along. But they immediately banded together, took charge, and were off.

“Yes, sadly, I did take their memories on their return. Despite trusting my sister with my life, they couldn’t keep what they had learned or done in their minds. Sean’s memories were a tad different. Using the Memoria stone, I weaved a binding around a journal I told him had to be used for that particular plant and only that plant. Each time he’d open it, what the plant was, its origin, important facts if you will, would unlock. Each time he closed it, they’d lock away again.”

“I’m assuming since you ignored his question about you seeing a vision, you did see them using the plant to make the infection. Also, where his question was leading about how the Mastery got the plant, the answer would be Malvolio used someone in my family’s blood to get there or the nonmagical realm,” Willow says, leaving no room for him to ignore her. His grunt confirms she’s right with her assumptions.

At this point, nothing that Malvolio Choice did and was able to accomplish is a surprise to me. He started planning this revenge two thousand years ago.

If anything, it’s more shocking that his views never changed, only got worse. He blamed Persley Vito so much, that hatred brewed into a sense of seeing all women as worthless. It blinded him .

You’d think the number of times the generations before Willow escaped him, throttled his current plan, or whatever they did to interfere, he’d see them as equals if not above him.

Instead, he saw the power that flowed through their veins as a commodity rather than the threat it truly was to his grand plan.

That cost him dearly.

So much wasted hate and anger.

“How did the plant end up at my mom’s? And what exactly is it you’d like Tillman to do with it?”

“I took it there after they passed. It was in Sean’s indoor garden in a concealed and confined area. Your mom’s greenhouse is spellbound and flourishing on its own at this point. I knew it’d be safe there along with her Willowrries. As for what he’s to do with it, well, that’s completely up to him. My favor was just that he go and see it, read his father’s research. If he’d like to do more than that, that’s completely up to him. I wanted him to know that his parents embarked on a once-in-a-lifetime journey alongside yours. I’ve been patiently waiting for the perfect time to tell the two of you this story.”

His tone has Willow and me side-eying each other. It’s as though he’s trying to say we’re the ones who took so long to give him the time of day.

Granted, his timing was perfect.

I lay my lips to Will’s shoulder as she leans against my chest. My fingers trail circles around her mark and she hums happily. “We’ll be spending time out there soon. Thank you for telling us this. This was a much-needed happy story.”

“Of course, Tillme. I know the aftermath can be a little crazy, but it’ll all be over soon enough. Enjoy each other.”

“Always,” Willow and I say together.

A sigh breaks free that signals he’s gone from her mind and chill bumps race across her arms.

My fingers chase them away and I create a blanket big enough for both of us as she snuggles deeper onto my chest.

We’re lifted from the ground by the hammock I create, and she calls forth a breeze that has us swinging slowly with the wind.

The two of us sway .

Embracing the peaceful silence.

Our eyes close, and I doze off into the first nap I’ve taken since I was a kid.