Social Conundrums, Part XXXIV

Gershom

Once again I stood amid the others, both sets of claws tightly holding onto the energy tendril Julie Salmon gave me. Turning my gaze downward I stared at the gently pulsing strand unwilling to even acknowledge the presence of any other Little Dragon at the moment. In my mind's eye, I could still see Julie's dead body, inwardly I shivered. My entire perception of the garden shattered by the encounter. The power and foreign nature of the energy flowing through this place suddenly apparent in glaring clarity. Julie had unwittingly become trapped because she took the garden for granted. I too always felt it was "safe" but now I knew better.

"Are you alright?" Hannah's soft voice penetrating the gloomy blanket of thoughts threatening to smoother me. Looking upwards I saw concern in her yellow eyes reminding me that I hadn't come to this place on an idle whim, I had a mission to complete. Our lives hinging on my success. "I have what we need," I said by way of response.

I held up the powerful energy strand. "Julie Salmon gave it to me herself," I said feeling the need to convey at least some of the reasons for my silence. Startled gasps and astonished looks from the others greeting my announcement.

"Isn't she dead?" Jerome asked recovering faster from my revelation than either Ezekiel or Hannah.

"She is now," I said giving him and the others a grim smile. I then told them what happened but I knew my words were nowhere near adequate to describe the true power of what I witnessed or its devastating effects. Some things need to be experienced to be fully understood. Judging by their sober faces they had at least gleaned enough to comprehend our next move.

"So is that what will destroy the weapon?" Ezekiel gently asked his golden eyes more than a little unsettled. The poor elder was far outside his normal range of expertise. In truth, we all were.

Staring once again at the pulsing strand I answered him, "Not yet,"

Closing my eyes I focused on what I wanted to create and sent my wish into the filament. I felt rather than saw it move in my hands but when I finished, I held a hard solid circle with a hole in the middle.

"Is that it?" Jerome asked a note of skepticism in his voice as he reached out to touch it. To be honest I shared his disappointment as I handed it to him. The object seemed to be composed of some type of smooth white wood. How could this disarm Felix's deadly weapon?

Ezekiel then took the odd object from Jerome. "Don't be fooled by appearances," he said flipping it over to show us a single word scrawled on its back. "I am no expert mind you but this word is from a very ancient Earth language and if memory serves me it is pronounced Statera, which means balance."

"The garden is giving us a way to undue the imbalance Felix's weapon created," Hannah interjected. Glancing over at her I saw her yellow eyes now glowed with an inner fire. "I don't know about any of you," she continued. "But I am ready to end this."

Ezekiel nodding his head in agreement. "We have what we need now all we have to do is use it."

Jerome wasn't as convinced. "Do you know how this will stop Felix's weapon?" he asked me genuine concern and confusion in his voice, but before I could say anything Hannah did. "I am sure we will know when the time comes," her words projecting more confidence than I felt.

"I just wish I understood more about how this is going to save our lives," Jerome said his thoughts reflecting my own more than Hannahs. "I agree," I said drawing an annoyed look from her. Leaps of faith were not something I typically believed in which is why I contacted Res Publica in the first place. "You can't tell me that not knowing doesn't bother you," I retorted.

"I just watched you go to the fulcrum alone and against all odds return with what the garden says we need," she stated in a matter of fact voice. "I would pit the garden against Felix any day."

This time her words moved me, and I saw the others visibly warming up to her logic.

"I think it is time to discuss the next phase of our plan," Ezekiel said and this time no one disagreed with him.

That ends Social Conundrums, Part XXXIV. Next month is Social Conundrums, Part XXXV. Learn more about the Little Dragons by reading the earlier blog post series titled Humanity's Evolution.

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