The Witch of the Western Gate: Dragon's Gift (25 page)

"It's not for us to judge the wisdom of a dragon," replied Cormac. "I advise you to keep these gifts secret. Use them only when you must. Enough said."

Chapter 26

“We were waiting for you,” replied Cormac. “It is well your friends are here too. I have something to discuss with all of you. Come inside and we'll talk.”

Everyone congregated in the men's parlor where the dark mahogany panelling and gold striped wallpaper added to the solemn mood. After a bit of scuffling, everyone found a club chair or settee to perch on. Grandma Lily waved her hand over the fireplace and it began to burn. Then she held a pot over it and in a few minutes there was hot popcorn with butter. Yum! With perfect timing Aunt Violet left the kitchen and entered the men's parlor with cups of hot cocoa and peppermint sticks.

Blue joked to Rafe, "Whenever there is a crisis, escarpment witches first eat. It clears the mind."

"Excellent method," agreed Rafe, taking more popcorn then passing the bowl to Blue. "Wolven agree. Eat first. Plan second. Battle last. Then eat some more!"

Cormac stood in front of the fireplace, addressing the room. "I'm sure you wonder what this meeting is all about. Some of what I have to tell you, I hope pleases you. Some of it is undeniably bad news. First of all, I've had discussions with Blue recently about how difficult it is for her to be in the dark regarding, uh, activities our circle of adults undertake. Ivy, I believe, has had the same talk with her father, Basil Stone.

"You bet," interjected Ivy. "I need to know if I'm going to sprout anything else, or turn into a yeti next or something."

"I'm sorry about that," Basil said to his daughter. "I just wasn't sure if you were going to change or not. I did not wish to alarm you if there was no need."

"I understand, Daddy," replied Ivy. "I'll get over the shock eventually, but let's just avoid secrets from now on." Uncle Basil nodded and took his Ivy's hand in his own.

Cormac cleared his throat. "As I was saying, yes, it has come to our attention that our efforts to protect you, Blue and Ivy in particular, has caused you to be placed in both dangerous and difficult situations. So we wish to keep you better informed." Cormac was silent.

"That makes sense," encouraged Brando. Cormac knew how to handle an audience and waited as the tension grew.

"We also have noticed that you teens have copied our secretive methods. We keep secrets then you keep secrets. For that we are to blame. None of us adults knew you were going up against Quantrill and his band in the old Birdsill Holly factory. Fortunately, everything turned out well, but exposing you to danger unnecessarily is something we wish to avoid."

Brando, Blue and Rafe nodded in agreement. Ivy just looked bored and Stella twisted her necromancer ring on her finger.

"Anyway, to get to the heart of the matter, I spoke to fellow McChesney druidic temple masters and explained the situation. They decided unanimously that the decision of how to handle this was up to me." Cormac tapped his fingers on the mantle.

"What decision?," asked Blue.

"I have made the decision to offer you, Blue, full admission into the McChesney Clan Temple of the Oak, and to offer each of your friends here, associate membership."

"That's terrific!" said Blue.

"What is associate membership exactly?," inquired Brando.

"Associate membership is offered to personal friends, who support the Temple of the Oak, at least philosophically, and who are prepared to act locally -- should there be a need. Your parents all are associate members, including Stella's parents, who are human. I have their permission to offer associate membership to you all."

"It sounds like it is similar to the Wolven support groups we have, the Order of the Owl and the Order of the Rabbit," repled Brando.

"Yes," agreed Cormac, nodding.

"I'm not breaking any confidences here," said Brando nervously. Everyone in this room is either wolven or a member of one of our support orders, or someone who soon will be in a support order." He nodded toward Blue, and Stella.

"It is quite similar," nodded Cormac. "If you accept, you then will attend our planning meetings and will be informed of our issues, which should reduce possible dangers for us all."

"I am greatly honored and I accept," said Talon, bowing toward Cormac, giving him the wolven sign of respect.

"Me too," said Rafe. "And I," replied Brando. Both Brando and Rafe also gave Cormac the wolven salute.

"I accept also," chimed in Ivy.

"Of course I accept!" spoke up Stella.

"Excellent!," replied Cormac. "We have covered the good news," said Cormac.

"What is the bad news?," asked Blue.

Cormac grew very solemn. "Explaining all about the McChesney Clan, our history and battles, will take a great deal of time. We'll cover that at another meeting. Getting to the salient point, the McChesney Clan has been involved in a lengthy battle with a group called The Dark Abyss. This group works to control paranormals and has a foothold in northern Europe. We just learned that they were successful in creating an alliance with demons. The McChesney have retaliated by creating an alliance with the fey."

"What are the fey?," asked Ivy.

"Fairies," replied Cormac. "Fairies and elementals."

"What does that mean for us," asked Rafe.

"It means that the battle has grown in scale. An alliance with demons means that the Dark Abyss members can now travel through portals, so they can travel to remote locations easily."

"How remote?" asked Ivy.

"They are coming here to take over the Western Gate, which is a portal guarded by the Temple of the Oak" replied Cormac

"In fact, they could be here already."

The meeting broke into protests and a dozen little conversations.

Cormac took charge again. "Let's head up to the ritual room. It won't take long to initiate all of you teens into the Temple of the Oak. We must guard the Western Gate. Your lives will never be the same."