The Night's Curse #3 (Waverly Stump and The 7 Realms)

Chapter 24

For the next few days, Waverly spent all her time in Eden with the nature spirits. She was excluded from the war and very often forgot there was one with how peaceful it was in Eden.

Her only reminder were the constant gossips the spirits brought back from stealing peeks at the fight through the trees or information they got from distant relatives. She was told of the raging fires, the fallen trees, the city of Nael which took all of the blows and was almost leveled to the ground, the bravery of the Tyros and the King's army, the craftiness of the dark army and the creatures they recruited to do their bidding. She was told of the numerous ways the enemy ensnared the Elves and killed them in great numbers and how the Elves retaliated by binding them with Elf magic. But their techniques were not enough to subdue the dark army. Farther and farther they were pushed back until all that separated them from the dark army was the ocean in front and on either sides of the palace. Waverly felt thankful for the waters - the enemy could not cross it because they had no ships. The mountains protected the realm from behind and so the dark army could not take them from there either. No one was mad enough to travel through the Great Jungle.

Waverly felt very eager to join the fight but Blauren assured her that her brief time spent learning about the stones would bring greater benefits than her sword ever would.

The history of the Gifts was difficult to learn but what proved even more difficult was using them. Waverly memorized what each stone stood for and found it quite easy to remember them; diamond was for success, ruby for longevity, emerald was for strength, garnet stood for health, pearl represented luxury, blue sapphire was for love, yellow sapphire was for riches, cat's eye was for protection and coral was for courage.

She was taught to harness them all at once because together they worked more effectively. Blauren and The Nature Council taught her theories and history whilst Loni took up teaching her practicals. She quickly discovered that growing plants out of sheer will was even more draining than healing. In an attempt to make a flower bloom before time, Waverly's veins popped in her palm and turned sickly green. She struggled for hours but the flower remained still and its petals tightly shut. Other efforts to use the Stones proved unavailing and the only thing Waverly found easy to do was understand the language of the Derews. She often felt very disappointed in herself for her failures and lost focus easily because of this but Loni was very patient and encouraged her each time.

During her latest practice lessons, Loni tasked her with planting a daffodil seed and willing it to grow. Waverly dug up the ground with a small shovel Papel had given her. She recalled how Judson usually planted seeds and imitated his methods. It was all quite trifle until it got to actually willing the daffodil to sprout. She concentrated hard with her bracelet hand hovering over the wet smoothened hole.

After a long painful wait, the stones began to glow and Waverly began to feel a tingling sensation accumulate in her arm. It was almost like some thread had suddenly strung itself to her palm and when she lifted her hand, the seed grew right out of the dirt. In her mind's eye, Waverly saw the process as it happened under the ground. The bulbous plant developed until it became a full flower; trumpet shaped crowns and yellow petals.

Waverly gaped at the flower for a moment then broke into a whopping scream and began to jump around.

"I did it! I did it!" She screamed, back flipping at intervals.

Loni came back and inspected the flower. A brilliant smile plastered on her face. "Yes, it seems you have made good progress."

"I feel like i could grow more daffodils in the clouds." Waverly screamed in pride.

"That would be a first." Blauren commented with a chuckle, materializing out of a cluster of climbing vines. Waverly noticed how they grew at every turn in the forest.