Weekly Expressions Week #4 ~TJ

**Author's note: I was all prepared to contact the Weekly Expressions administrator to report that I would have to skip this week because nothing came to mind for such an amazing photo. It spoke 10,000 words and I couldn't find one. But last night, I had a very intense dream, and with some help from my skilled mother, we were able to combine the picture and dream to compose one of the best stories I have enjoyed writing in a long time! Enjoy!**

"Hey, AnnaBelle! Bring the suntan lotion, would you?"
AnnaBelle Robertson dove for the volleyball, but missed, catching a mouthful of sand. "What? Why don't you get it?" She asked her older brother Mike.
"Because you used all the old stuff!" he responded.
"Oh sure, blame it on the 16-year-old," Anna jokingly responded, but she ignored his request. Perhaps it was lost in the sand or something.
Anna rose from her crash to acknowledge her worthy opponent. "What's the score, Daisy?"
"13-15. I guess I won!" said Anna's African-American friend, "which means I need to be going. I have choir practice and lazy stuff like that."
Anna hugged her friend goodbye and congratulated her on a game well played. "See you Thursday!"
"You too, bestie!" Daisy smiled and grabbed her pack and disappeared beyond the path in the tall grass.

After an hour of making sand mummies with her big brother, Anna's little sister Rosie asked her to go searching for seashells. The evening was starting to wrap up and it was Rosie's first day at the beach, so Anna went wading to find seashells to help make some memories.
"Ooh! There's a shiny one, Anna!" Rosie yelled, pointing to a shiny pink stone under the sandy water.
"That is pretty! You want that one?"
"Yes please!" Rosie clasped her hands together as if to say 'pretty please.'
Anna appreciated the excuse to go for a swim one more time today to help wash off some of the sweat from the volleyball game. An experienced swimmer, she dove under the waves for the rock. As she got closer, it almost seemed to glow! Anna just figured that was because the sunlight was hitting it right. But little did she know that the sun was long gone and the storm had arrived...


Anna felt a current but thought nothing of it. This is the ocean, after all. But after another current arrived and the first current got stronger, she started to wonder if the rock was worth getting caught in a rip tide. Soon Anna couldn't swim in a direction at all. She started to panic and tried to swim towords the surface, but with no luck. She wondered for an instant if she was going to drown over a little stupid rock. But that was the last thing she wondered before she hit a stone surface and lost consciousness...


A splash of warm ocean water startled Anna awake. She first registered that she had fallen asleep on a hard, flat surface... and it was cold. Her eyes fluttered open to see perfectly chiseled stone stairs. She managed to make it to her feet while trying not to slip back into the ocean. Where on earth was she?! She couldn't have been unconscious for that long, otherwise she would've drowned. The stream of thoughts were interrupted by a random gold piece of something broken brushing against her cheek. She took it in hand, but when she opened her grip, it slowly floated away. Not really up, not really down, just... away.
Anna turned to see a beautiful analog clock easily 15 feet high, randomly perched in the ocean. The stone stairs led right to it, but for no immediate observable reason. She also noticed that the entire 10 o'clock section on the clock had been shattered, but no other hour was touched. And the pieces wafted gently away, shunning gravity as if it were space.




"Are you the Elixer?" a deep voice boomed from behind her.
Anne turned around, startled, but didn't see anyone. All there was was stone stairs leading to the ocean.
"Female of foreignity! Answer me," the voice demanded again.
"My name is AnnaBelle. I don't know what you're talking about," she responded, shaking now.
"I'm-a-bell?! What kind of name is that?" the voice scoffed.
"Ann-uh-bell!" she enunciated. "Who are you?"
"Ah, you ARE a foreigner if you don't know me. And the silver prophecy promised a foreign female, so you must be the Elixer."
Anne curled onto the stone stairway, clasping her knees and shivering worse now... more out of fear than the cold of the ocean breeze. "Please tell me who and where you are," she pleaded.
"Oh, please," the voice's tone begged her pardon. "How rude of me! I am Draakhoff, Keeper of the Timesun."
Then suddenly a little head popped above the water's surface. It was a sea turtle. "You're... a talking turtle?!"
The turtle seemed offended, "A talking turtle, no! I am a Mirrimar, a centurion of old," Draakhoff explained, "and you are the Elixer. Come, young one, climb on my back and let's get you to shore. It's not safe here at the Timesun."
Anna was hesitant at first. "Where is the shore? I don't see one anywhere."
Draakhoff sighed. "I suppose the best way to show you is to take you there, my dear. Unless you enjoy dying on the holy steps of the Timesun."
Anna took a couple steps, then climbed onto the back of the guardian. No sooner was she secure before Draakhoff paddled away at an outstanding rate for a turtle.
Anna tried to start a conversation to calm herself, but what does one say to a turtle? "What's the Elixer, Draakhoff?"
"You are, my dear."
She waited, but he continued paddling without another word.
"I know, but, what does the Elixer do? What is the Elixer?"
"Too many questions, young one. I shall take you to shore, but my place is here. I must guard the Timesun or all is lost."
Anna was now VERY confused. But the turtle obviously wasn't going to answer any more questions. The sky was almost black with stormclouds and she could hear thunder in the distance.

About 10 minutes later, Anna was ashore on a beach under what seemed to be a jungle. "Where do I go now?"
The turtle then stood as a human. No, he was a human. "H... how did you do that?"
Draakoff was now six-feet-four at least with long black hair in a pony tail, wearing a black hooded jacket and boots that went to his kneecaps. "I suppose you don't know that Mirrimar, Saldo, Waiston, and Sedis can obtain human form?"
"I... no, I didn't know that." Anna remarked still too dumbfounded to speak much more.
"Head to the swamps, south of here, until you reach the Octfari. There lies your destiny, Elixer."
"Are they turtles too?" she inquired innocently.
"The Octfari are not turtles like a giraffe is not a turtle. They are Octfari. They fly, and they will find you if you go to them. Just..." He looked around. "If they are not Octfari or human, avoid them as if your life depended on it, because it very well might, young one. Especially wearing that." He pointed to her chest.
Anna looked down to see the small stone she attempted to recover tied in a vine necklace hanging around her neck. And it did, in fact, glow a pinkish-red.
"Draakoff, I don't know what Octfari look like. I don't know where I am, I don't know what I'm supposed to do as Elixer... I just don't know!" Anna crumpled on the beach, completely helpless against the invasion of tears flooding her eyes. She buried her head in her hands, unable to do anything but cry softly.
She felt strong arms around her and a slight smell of sweet seaweed. She responded to Draakoff's hug with one of her own, but the moment she did, she was paralyzed. She couldn't do anything but feel the adrenaline rush through her body as if she were being shocked at 100 volts, but it was a good jolt.
The guardian released her. "Now get to the Octfari. Time is against us. Literally!" Without another glance, he turned and dove back into the sea, disappearing completely from sight.

Anna began to walk down the beach, careful of any other living creatures, but she saw none. After about three hours she began to feel hungry. She was beginning to wonder she had walked in the wrong direction when she heard running water. There was a river that ran into the rainforest, and it seemed to move quickly. Since she couldn't cross it, Anna decided to follow it, but after a few steps beyond the massive trees, she saw a clearing with a few dispersed trees. Running through the thick brush and damp leaves, she broke through and found what she was looking for, a big swamp. She looked for other humans but couldn't find any.

The swamp was rather massive. She had just begun to plot her walk around the it when something huge flew overhead at such a great and quiet speed that she didn't get a good look, but she certainly felt the breeze and saw a faint shadow. Anna ran for a thick bush to conceal herself, but mere inches away, a claw about the length of her entire arm grabbed her arm and hoisted her into the air at what seemed to be 100 miles per hour. She screamed with all her might, but it did no good, the creature just clamped harder. Anna thought for sure she was due to puke any moment, but the animal dropped her into a grass bed just before she began to retch. She managed to keep most of it off the small, unfamiliar white dress she was wearing, but she certainly was exhausted.
The creature landed right next to her. It was about 7-10 feet long, and it had two heads, two tails, and wings like that off a horror picture. It was lime green with blue eyes and large pupils on each of its four eyes.
Anna was about to scream again, but the animal stopped her. "Please stop screaming, you'll scare the fish away."
Anna barely let the words escape from her mouth. "Are you Octfari?"
The creature chuckled. "Welcome to our village, Elixer." Then flew off with a violent gust of breeze.
"Oh good heavens! He didn't hurt you, did he?" A voice came from the tallgrass behind Anna. Generously enough, this creature actually showed itself when it spoke. It was a woman. Probably late-forties, in incredibly good shape, and wearing clothing made from the thick grass. Her brown wavy hair blew around her face, accenting eyes like those of the creature that had just captured Anna. Other than that, she seemed perfectly human. "So help me, if he hurt the Elixer, he will live off of coconut juice for a moon and a half! Welcome to our village. I am Mara."
Anna felt she should be polite but she was too exhausted for that. She tried to put on a smile and asked, "Are you Octfari?"
"Why yes!" The woman replied. "...at your service."
"I was instructed by Draakoff, the keeper of the clock thingy, to find the Octfari. He didn't say why."
Mara smiled, "Oh he wouldn't, dear. He's not a social person. He roams the Timeless Sea and never talks to anyone. I certainly hope he was kinder in welcoming you than Jash there."
"You're shapeshifters, too?"
"Yes. Octfari are of the Sedis family. The Sedis, Saldo, Waiston, and Draakoff are all shapeshifters."
"So I've heard. But Draakhoff said the millimarkers could shapeshift too."
Mara lowered her head a little. "He is the last of the Mirrimars, he just doesn't like to talk about it." She looked back up, alarmed. "But what am I doing? What a terrible host I am. Come, come, dear! Let us get you some food and you can meet the rest of the clan!" She said with great eagerness.
The Octfari woman led Anna through the tall grass to a clearing of straw hovels and huts, the smell of fish filled the air. "Tell me, dear. Do you like fish? It's all we eat here, it's our primary diet as our species but I'm quite unfamiliar with human traditions."
Anna never considered her diet like this before, "I guess we eat just about anything. We do like meat but we cook it first."
"Cook a good salmon?!" Mara seemed astonished. "Well then dear, if your diet insists on cooking it then cooked it shall be. Jash should be back any time with some new kills."
The small village consisted of maybe five dozen villagers at most. Most of them being in human form but a few in true Octfari form would fly by overhead.
"Lillace! Lillace, would you help me, dear?" Mara called out to a girl not much beyond Anna's age, sitting in a nearby hovel sewing a grass basket, wearing grass-weaved straps around her torso for clothing. She set down her project and responded to her summoner. "Lillace, this is...? I'm sorry, sweetheart, I don't think I caught your name."
"AnnaBelle," She was careful to enunciate clearly so not to be mistaken for a bell. "But everyone calls me Anna. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lillace." She said with a smile.
"Anna, the Elixer, it is truly my pleasure to meet you. Many around here simply call me Lilly."
"Lillace is my daughter, Elixer." Mara said with pride, "Lillace, will you please start a fire up to cook some fish for this young human, their diet demands cooked meat."
Lillace cast a curious glance, questioning who would actually cook their splendid fish. She shrugged it off, remembering that no two species are exactly alike.
"Lillace will answer any questions you may have, dear. If you've never seen an Octfari before today, I'm sure there's more you haven't seen. I am going to arrange a meet for you with the Octfari councilor, so that you may hear the Silver Prophecy." And with that, Mara hastened off.

Lilly started to gather wood, "So you've never been to our lands before?"
"I've never heard of them before today. I woke up on the steps to the Timesun after almost drowning. I'm still having a hard time believing where I am. Where on Earth is this place?"
"We're not on Earth. I'm not sure anyone has ever named our territory. Perhaps they might have before the Great Fire but that was 300 moons ago."
Anna was stumped at '300 moons,' "wait, why don't you say 'months?'"
Lillace looked at her with a sideways glance, "a month is a small rodent in the Waiston territory."
"So how do you measure time?"
Lilly was careful to go back to the very basics, "a rotation of our light source. Every three hundred rotations we have a full moon..."
Anna interrupted, "why don't you use the Timesun as your measurement of time?"
Lilly assembled the wood into a square, then proceeded to build a perfect pyramid with the firewood, "The Timesun does not tell time, it warns us."
"Of what?"
"Anything. Or guardian of the Timesun will tell us what it warns us of."
Anna thought for a moment. "The number 10 was destroyed on the Timesun, what does that mean?"
Lilly stopped her work, then looked Anna straight in the eye. "It means there are 11 dragons yet to be awoken."
Anna felt a slight shock go down her spine. Dragons? Surely they must be nothing but of fairy tales, but if they are REAL, then there's great reason to be concerned. "Please explain."
Lilly sat crosslegged, facing Anna, then placed her hands on her knees, ready to tell a story. "400 moons ago, Draakhoff, our Timesun guardian, told us there was about to be a fire, a great fire. We didn't believe him for a long time, 59 moons to be exact. Then the howls came. From the Mountains of Dark, one howl per dragon. Heard everywhere by every clan of every species. Then, 310 moons ago, they attacked and set every realm burning for miles. We fought them as best we could, and many species went extinct. The Mirrimar, our best fighters, almost went extinct as well, except for Draakoff. So the Mighty Blue blessed him with the life force of the rest of Mirrimar to him, making him immortal. But this just furthered his grief. So the Mighty Blue blessed him again with the ability to bestow special gifts to those he chooses, but he never has."
Anna thought again for a moment, "How does he do that. Would he use a hug?"
Lilly considered it, "Yes, that would be the easiest way."
"He hugged me before I came here. And I felt something strange."
Lillace leaned forward and placed her palm firmly just under Anna's neck. Anna's first reaction was to back away, but maybe this creature could tell her what she felt.
"Yes, he bestowed you Farcium. Fearlessness, Courage, and Ambition. Your heart shouts with it. A fine gift indeed, especially from the keeper of the Timesun, who bestows no gifts." Lilly pointed behind Anna to an Octfari in true form. "Do you see how he swoops for food with swiftness, this is our gift: Swilltorium, the gift of speed, swiftness, and agility."
Lilly returned to her fire building, "May I ask another question, Lilly?" Anna asked.
"Yes, of course! Please."
"How do you see with two heads and four eyes?"
Lillace broke out in laughter. "Oh my dear friend, how do you see with two eyes? How do you breathe through both your nose and your mouth? How do you listen with two ears on either side of your head? You don't think about how the way you're made functions before you use it, you simply do it, as an instinct."
"Then why do you take on human form?"
"We're safer from some predators this way. As well as our ability to accomplish more with hands than claws, but we hunt better as Octfari. We don't actually achieve the ability to transform to human until we're at least 13 moons old."
Anna began to believe she had a new friend in this strange world. While everything was different, these people were extremely hospitable and insisted on making her welcome.
Mara returned, "the Councilor will see you once you have regained your strength."
Anna then proceeded to eat the most delicious fish she had ever tasted, although the fact she was famished may have helped with the taste a little.
Mara led Lillace and Anna under a waterfall just beyond the jungle. Anna bombarded Lilly with questions nonstop the entire way there. When they were just under the waterfall Lillace stopped Anna, "Listen, neither I, nor my mother can accompany you into the chamber of the Councilor. Do not ask him any cultural questions and avoid historical questions. In fact, do not question him at all if possible, but if more information is needed, keep it brief. Let him do most of the talking."
Anna nodded. "Understood."

AnnaBelle then walked through a dimly lit cave, with an occasional glowing mushroom here and there for light. She arrived at large wooden doors with pictures of Octfari carved all over it. As if by a magical force, the doors opened automatically. Anna stepped through into a large chamber with a dirt floor and small streams running randomly throughout the room. The voice of the Councilor boomed through the room, "Behond, one not of our clan has entered the master chambers." Two guards then stepped forth with long knives and placed them criss-cross over her throat. "Wait!" The Councilor interrupted. "She is the Elixer. Bring her forward." The guards then leaped into the air, changing into Octfari form immediately. Each taking an arm, the guards flew her over the streams to the Councilor.
The Councilor was smaller than the other Octfari, and much older. He was in true form, with a straw hat on one head and a fur one on the other. He perched on a tree in a perfect arch. "Speak, Elixer. What do you seek from me?"
Anna tried to speak as calmly and confidently as she could, "I wish to know the Silver Prophecy, and what being an Elixer means."
The Councilor closed his eyes, then spoke. "After the Great Fire ravaged our lands, the Mighty Blue prophesied that a human, in true and only form, would come as the Elixer, the savior of our kind, before the Timesun had shattered. It has begun, yes?"
Anna tried with a bit more confidence this time, "Yes, number 10 has shattered."
"Nay, 10 and 4 have shattered, another dragon has awoken. For behold, if the entire clock shatters and all the beasts revive, our hope is lost. But now that you have come, Elixer, you shall save us."
"What must I do as Elixer."
"Mighty Elixer, YOU shall slay the dragons."
Only one thought could push through Anna's mind: 'You've GOT to be kidding me!'

**Deepest apologies, readers. This is beyond my 5 page limit but it has been a true blast writing this for you. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have composing it. Perhaps one day I shall finish the story and add everything I wished to add but didn't for sake of length and time. Thank you for taking time to read my long story. :)**