Earth Fire Water and Wind, Kaitlin Chenoa Humphries [the read aloud family .txt] 📗

taking them all to a room) she looked at the king as boldly as she dared.

“After that comment a little while ago.” The king said as he approached Wood Earth, “I don’t think you’ll want to speak to me again. Right?” the king looked at Wood Earth inquisitively. Wood Earth thought about this, and then nodded her head. The king smiled “well we can fix that.” He nodded at Jonathan. Strands of fire shot from out of the ground. They lunged into Wood Earths throat. When the strands came out, they had a rose and a small butterfly wrapped in them. No sign was left of the strands of fire having entered her throat except a little mark in the shape of a butterfly perched on a rose. The king looked at the rose and the butterfly. “Although,” he said, “we would like her to be able to sing. Even though she would not be able to use the power of her voice when she is in her spirit or human form to force the animals and earth creatures to obey us, right?” the king turned to his two sons who snickered and nodded their heads. With that the strand of fire that held the butterfly whipped back into Wood Earths’ throat and when it came back out the butterfly was gone from the rose on Wood Earths’ throat. Wood Earth began to silently weep as the king called her guard friend in to take her to the dungeon. The guard gently picked her up and left knowing that to the king Wood Earth was his most precious jewel though he did not treat her as one. When he was well away from the throne room, he set her down gently and held her head against his breast as she wept. When Wood Earth finished that silent crying, he gently dried the last of her tears.

“What is it he has done to you this time?” he asked his friend.

Wood Earth opened her mouth to reply but no sound came out. Once again, she wept.

“He did this to you didn’t he? He does that to many people who say the wrong things in front of him. I’m so sorry I wish I could have helped you.” He took her to the dungeon cell where her sisters waited for her.

Fire Lily and Water Lily ran to Wood Earth and hugged her. “Did he hurt you?” they asked. Wood Earth shook her head. “Did he touch you?” once again Wood Earth shook her head to this question. The guard was still in the room. He watched Fire Lily and Water Lily’s face become worried. “Why won’t you talk to us?” They asked worry written all over their faces.

At this cue, the guard stepped forward and placed his hands on Wood Earth’s shoulders comfortingly. “The king had his son Jonathan take away her voice. He sometimes gives the punishment to the young maids when they refuse him. In this case, she said something that she felt and he thinks she may use her voice against him. Luckily, he let her keep her songs.”

Water Lily and Fire Lily looked at their sister sadly. No longer would she be able to talk to them. The guard nodded his head.

“She said she’s got a plan.” He informed him. Fire Lily and Water Lily looked at him in surprise. “She says she has other ways of communication than songs and talking. She says she could talk to animals with her mind so she decided she would try it on me to see if it works. However, she cannot do it to you. Any way her plan is that she sings one of her songs to ask the plants around the castle to help get you out. She said she will sing the song in the voice of the silent butterfly and if you could help carry it over the castle.” When he finished, he looked at the girls with hopeful eyes, “she also asks if I could come along to help her talk to people.”

Fire Lily looked at Wood Earth questioningly. Wood Earth nodded her head to show she had asked this question.

When they all agreed upon letting him come along the three girls sat and closed their eyes, Water Lily and Fire Lily turned into enormous birds and began to flap their wings, soon the room was windy and among that wind a voice soft and sweet came flowing into the guards’ ears. Then the wind blew out through the glassless window and in the distance, the voice could be heard singing a song. Soon the girls stood up smiling. A hole appeared in the floor of the cell. Roots came out and wrapped around Wood Earth hugging her. A faint whispering drifted to the ears of the guard. It sounded like leaves when the wind blew through them. Wood Earth smiled and beckoned him over along with her sisters. The roots wrapped themselves around Water Lily, Fire Lily, and Wood Earth’s friend. Then the next thing they knew they were being pulled through the hole by the roots.

Chapter 4

Nothing left

When solid ground was once again felt under their feet the three girls and the guard ran into the woods all to ready to get away from the castle. When they felt they were safe they stopped to rest.

“I’ve something to tell you…” the guard said. He looked around and whistled a sound that sounded like a nightingale. A red fox and a lynx came out from behind a tree and where the guard had been there was a gray wolf. Wood Earth smiled and gestured the three animals over to her. They trotted over their ears down looking at the distrustful glances that came from Fire Lily and Water Lily. Wood Earth patted the three animals heads and nodded to her sisters. The animals whined a protest but Wood Earth shook her head. The animals turned and within seconds, they transformed into three young men. The gray wolf became a black haired man with green eyes, wolf like ears, and a gray bushy tail (he is the guard. He hid his ears and tail. To hide his ears he had a helmet on and he kept his tail tucked in his pants). The red fox became a red haired man with red eyes, fox like ears, and a red bushy tail that had brown on the end of it. The lynx became a light brown haired man with blue eyes, lynx like ears, and a bushy brown tail.

“They are animal shape shifters or as we call them the animal spirits!” cried Water Lily. Wood Earth nodded her head and gestured that she knew all along about the guard being an animal shape shifter; that is the reason why she could talk to him through her mind. The wolf (or guard) went over to Wood Earth and with a smile he kissed her. Fire lily and Water Lily were about to tackle him when he stopped. They saw a smile creep across Wood Earth’s face. It had been a long time since they had seen her actually smile. Wood Earth had forced herself to smile many times, since the king and his sons captured them, to act as though she was okay. When Fire Lily turned back towards the other two she was surprised to see Water Lily talking to the Lynx and giggling as he said something. The fox was sitting against the tree eyeing Fire Lily with curiosity. Fire Lily smiled and walked over to him.

“So what is y’ alls names?” she asked. The fox smiled.

“My names Fire Fox. The lynx is Water Lynx. And the wolf is Earth Wolf.” Replied the fox. “We can only transform into these animals but we can control a little of the element in our names.”

Fire Lily smiled at this remark. Fire Fox saw the doubt in Fire Lily’s eyes. He smiled and blew a little flame into his hand. It shaped into a rose made of fire. At first everything was right, but then a scream broke the moment. It was Wood Earth; though she can no longer speak she can make sounds such as a scream (this does not include sounds such as a fake dog bark). The collar was still around Wood Earth’s neck and it covered her in flames. The flames circled Wood Earths body and went into her mouth dying away her screams. Wood Earths eyes widened as the flames continued to go into her mouth. The fire kept flowing into her mouth and came out a white mist flowing out among it.

“Oh no! What is it doing to her?!” cried Water Lily.

Fire Fox looked closely at the flames with the white mist.

“It’s taking away her strength and closing her mind. This must be what the king planned on doing. Your sister must have tried to get away from him many times for him to do this.” Fire Fox said.

Fire Lily and Water Lily nodded. It was true that Wood Earth had tried to escape from the king a lot more than expected. Even with very little strength, Wood Earth would try to crawl away and she never got far before the king grabbed her and took her back to his bed.

Wood Earth fell to her knees, her pupils no longer visible as the flames flickered into her mouth. Wood earth collapsed on the ground and that’s when the flames stopped going into her mouth. The last silvery wisp came out from her mouth in the flames. The flames disappeared flowing towards the castle. Fire Lily and Water Lily ran to Wood Earth.

“We must take her to a tree in the forest.” Water Lily exclaimed.

“There are plenty of trees’ I think we can find at least one.” Water Lynx replied. Water Lily glared at him.

“It’s not just any tree. This tree must have a hallow like the tree she came from had. It must also have pond that is near it just like the one where I came from. It won’t need a fire like the one Fire Lily came from but it would be good to have one.”

“So you were alive then?” asked Earth Wolf

Water Lily shook her head. “No we were the spirits of those things; the only ones that lived inside something. It was our prison and our home.”

Earth Wolf picked up Wood Earth and held her against his chest as though he would lose her if he set her down. “Well then we must go and find a place like that you hve described. We must help her.” He ran off into the woods Fire Fox and Water Lynx not far behind with Fire Lily and Water Lily in their arms. By the afternoon, they reached a place with a tree, a pond, and a fire that Fire Lily made.

“Place her in the hollow of the tree. That is where she came from in the actual tree. The tree should help heal her back to her full strength. Then we must leave and come back in two and a half days to bath her in the water so her body can regain the water the fire burned away.” Ordered Fire Lily. Earth Wolf kissed Wood Earth one last final time before he placed her into the tree. Once she was placed in, (she was laid in there curled into a ball) they left to look for another place to stay.

Chapter 5

A Discovery


It had been two and a half days and Fire Lily,