The Celebration ... Book Four of the 5-ever Series

By Tammy Berg

The time had come!
Josephine was to take her place as the rightful ruler of Five-Ever.
However, even in light of such an event, it was not long before Jo realised just how heavy the head which bore the crown, could become.

The Five-Ever Series

Book One: DOG OF THE ANCIENTS
Brodie is a Golden Retriever... a dog of The Ancients, but even such dogs are not allowed to talk to just anybody. The rules require those he is allowed to correspond with to be a soul of The Ancients, not just any human.
He knew that if a human truly believed, then they too could hear the animals speak.
Problem was that not many believed anymore, making it that much harder for the Golden’s to keep balance between animals and humans...

Book Two: THE HUNTER
Just how powerful a blue moon can be, is unknown to all at the sanctuary. It takes the Trio, Josie and two new Enchantresses, Winnie and Lexi to decipher this mystery, and help a lone Coyote and her pups by keeping a hunter at bay.
A tiny life is unaware and completely innocent to the evils of the world. The realm of Five-Ever is opened to the teenagers, in the hopes of helping Brodie save the precious bundle.

Book Three The MARSH WITCH
Unbeknown to Josie, an age-old rivalry existed between Delfia, the Marsh Witch, and her Gran, something she had kept to herself for many years.
On finding out, Jo is surprised how deep and brutal their competition went.
Knowing she would do whatever it took, she had to save her Gran from the manipulative Marsh Witch.

... because Five-Ever is so much longer than forever!

• Language: English
• Publisher: CUSTOM BOOK PUBLICATIONS
• Release date: Feb 25, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370452194

Book preview

Book Four THE CELEBRATION

The Five-Ever Series

The time had come!

Josephine was to take her place as the rightful ruler of Five-Ever.

However, even in light of such an event, it was not long before Jo realised just how heavy the head which bore the crown, could become.

The Five-Ever Series

Book One: DOG OF THE ANCIENTS

Brodie is a Golden Retriever… a dog of The Ancients, but even such dogs are not allowed to talk to just anybody. The rules require those he is allowed to correspond with to be a soul of The Ancients, not just any human.

He knew that if a human truly believed, then they too could hear the animals speak.

Problem was that not many believed anymore, making it that much harder for the Golden’s to keep balance between animals and humans…

Book Two: THE HUNTER

Just how powerful a blue moon can be, is unknown to all at the sanctuary. It takes the Trio, Josie and two new Enchantresses, Winnie and Lexi to decipher this mystery, and help a lone Coyote and her pups by keeping a hunter at bay.

A tiny life is unaware and completely innocent to the evils of the world. The realm of Five-Ever is opened to the teenagers, in the hopes of helping Brodie save the precious bundle.

Book Three The MARSH WITCH

Unbeknown to Josie, an age-old rivalry existed between Delfia, the Marsh Witch, and her Gran, something she had kept to herself for many years.

On finding out, Jo is surprised how deep and brutal their competition went.

Knowing she would do whatever it took, she had to save her Gran from the manipulative Marsh Witch.

… because Five-Ever is so much longer than forever!

This one is for two of the best sounding boards an author could ever ask for! Willy and Debb. Love you 5-Ever!

Jessica, thank you for your beautiful illustrations of the maps, Flint and the animals walking into the sunset.

… and my thanks to all at my publishing house – Custom Book Publications – for your support, wisdom and hard work. You are such a pleasure to deal with. I promise the editing will get easier. Wink, wink.

All the characters are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Author has an insatiable love of the written word. As for many, life got in the way of her dreams but she raised her family exactly as she wanted to… as a young mother. She did not, however, plan to care for her elderly in-laws but working in a nursing home for five years equipped her to take on the task, which she did for eighteen years. When her mother-in-law passed away, though missed, she once again chased her dreams.

Attempting to write as her girls were growing up proved to be a no-no but since she has written the first three of her planned Five-Ever series. She hopes publication will help to fund her other new project – Tam’s Tails – an animal sanctuary for large farm animals that have been abused, neglected or abandoned.

The animals in her stories include Brodie and Annie, both Golden Retrievers, and her cats – Binx, Molly, Cornelius, Smokey and Jacob. Sheeba, a disabled horse and Maximus and Percius are two goats. They all started her small sanctuary. She plans more animals will have a part in coming stories.

Copyright © 2017 Tammy Berg

THE

CELEBRATION

Book Four of a Series

by Tammy Berg

Time is very slow for those who wait,

Very fast for those who are scared,

Very long for those who lament,

Very short for those who Celebrate,

But for those who love, time is eternal.

William Shakespeare

Chapter One

Hera had just finished looking over the final preparations for Josie’s return home to Five-Ever. Rather pleased with herself and happy to have a joyful event fill her mind, especially after the months of trial’s she had just endured concerning her youngest daughter, Eris. As usual, Hades managed to come out smelling like a rose, although – he was unable to escape Zeus’s wrath completely, having appointed Hades a probation officer, to be present in his realm for the next six months. Hardly the punishment Eris received, having lost her Goddess-ship and her powers stripped to almost nothing. She was at least able to keep her head. Eris had an additional sentence added as well, to put in servitude hours for the superiors of the Ancients –. something Hera found she was actually pleased about. Perhaps they could help Eris where Hera had failed too. Once the celebration for Jo was over, Hera would then be in search of a new Goddess to fill Eris’s seat on the council, but she was not going to think about that, not until the time came.

For this was a time of rejoicing, for welcoming Josephine back to her rightful realm and her position in that realm. Taking a deep sigh on feeling happy for the first time in months, Hera could not seem to keep the smile off her face. Just then a knock came on her door.

‘Enter!’ Hera called out from the seat behind, which would soon be Josie’s desk.

William’s enormous head poked through the opening searching the room for Hera. She smiled on seeing her faithful guardian who was also her soul mate. William and Hera had been together ever since she could remember. Even though that had been many years, she still caught herself at times staring in awe at his majestic beauty and strength. His scales still shone like black mirrors as his vivid green eyes danced with warmth when locking on her, she had also seen the rage and ferocity those eyes could quickly take on when guarding her or their realm.

Being the largest dragon of all the realms, standing an amazing thirty feet in height while being eighty feet in length from the tip of his snout to the tip of his tail. William was more than aware of his size, and seldom allowed his body to full capacity while within the temple. Something few are aware, is that a dragon’s bones are filled with air, allowing them to adjust their size to better fit within the areas in which they habitat. As well as aiding them with their ability of flight, not to mention their amazing swimming proficiencies. Their air-filled bones allowed them to dive to great depths while remaining underwater for some time. Not only magnificently beautiful creatures to look upon, through the years of dragon evolution their scales became fire proof, as well as that of a durable armor, which aided in protecting them from their only known predator – man.

William was the master of them all, his sheer size and strength made him the leader of the Aerial Combat regiment, on Dragon Isle. His love for Hera put him as her Commanding Guardian at Hera’s Temple, in the realm of Plenary.

‘Sorry to bother you Hers, but we have a bit of a problem in the gardens,' said William, using his pet name for Hera while wearing a comical look on his face.

‘What is it William? I thought everything looked beautiful!’

‘Oh it does, I think its breathtaking,’ said William, as a tiny puff of smoke followed his deep chuckle.

‘Then what could possibly be wrong?’

‘It’s the fireflies.’

Hera looked at William in confusion. ‘What about them?’

‘Their angry mistress. They cannot understand why you would use artificial lighting for Josephine’s celebration, when they would appear so much more beautiful than a bunch of bulbs.’

William could not contain himself any longer; breaking into peals of laughter as tiny puffs of sulfuric smoke, like the scent of a match gone out, escaped his maw sporadically with each chuckle. Hera sat staring at him for a second before joining him in laughter. Relieved at the extent of the problem while still giggling, Hera asked, ‘You have to be kidding me. Are you serious?’

‘Very Hers, they asked me to remind you of all the times; they have assisted the Ethereal’s in many different areas, and they feel slighted at the moment that you wouldn’t even consider them for this honor.’

Hera thought for a second before answering. The last thing she wanted was for the little fellas to feel left out and they were right… they had helped her in many situations.

‘Willy, tell them I have not forgotten about them. In fact, I did not ask them, because I wanted them to be able to enjoy the celebration with everyone else. I thought they deserved a well-earned break as well.’

William chuckled, ‘Oh, that’s good that should be enough to appease them. But if it’s not, what do I say?’

‘If their adamant about being our lighting system, then they can. It is completely their call. They can glow wherever their little hearts wish. I will simply have the ‘Bulbs’ turned off,’ laughed Hera.

‘Very well mistress,’ said William with a wink, as he closed the door behind him.

Hera stared at the door for a second before breaking out in laughter again. If only every crisis could be so easily averted. On turning back to the list of who was attending the ceremony, a smile broke across her face as she saw King David’s acceptance, and with his was Matthews. Jo would be so happy to see them both again, especially Matt. Satisfied that all was in order, she had one last check to do, the new library she had built in honor of the Power of Three. She ordered a huge purple ribbon and the biggest pair of scissors, she could manufacture for the ribbon cutting ceremony.

On visiting the library, Hera was happy with how all was going thus far. Now hoping to make it back to her suite unnoticed, for she craved a long hot soak in the tub before the organized chaos began tomorrow.

Just as she was approaching the terrace stairs, she heard a familiar rustle of wings as William made another appearance. Turning with a tired smile, she asked, ‘Well, what have they decided?’

William returned her smile, but not before noticing her tired eyes. ‘They decided that they would like to enjoy the party, with that said – they also added that they themselves had a surprise for Josie. As well as asking me to thank you for thinking of them in such a way.’

‘Perfect! Now I am going for a bath, then a much-needed nap. You have the rest of the day off. If you so wish, you have time to skip home and see the family before tomorrow.’

‘Thanks, Hers, I think I will. It’s been a while and I’m kinda missing the Isle,’ answered William.

‘Very well, we’ll see you tomorrow. You have a good visit, Willy.’

With that, William took to the air. His magnificent wings stirring the trees and shrubs in the immediate vicinity, rattled by the breeze they created while climbing to his preferred altitude. Shading her eyes, Hera watched until he was but a dot within the infinity of blue, before continuing on her way for that wonderful soak.

Meanwhile, on the Beach of Ever Sea, Purrrl sat waiting for Bex to appear along the water’s edge. The sun cast rays of mother of pearl off her beautifully honed scales of white. Purrrl was the only known white dragon ever in existence and she was extraordinary, standing twenty feet in height and approximately sixty feet long. With scales of mother of pearl, her eyes were the most beautiful shade of violet with lighter flecks of mauve dancing about the iris. Long white lashes curled back toward a thick forehead, her snout was wide with two visible fangs hanging below her upper lip. Purrrl had not seen Josie since she was a teen. The Creator made Jo for Purrrl and Purrrl for Jo, forging an unbreakable bond that they would share for the extant of their lifetime, once presented to one another at Jo’s Goddess ceremony.

Purrrl being aware of the celebration and knowing she would finally get to meet Josephine, was excited as well as a little nervous Through the years she had always felt as though a part of her were missing… she was going to be reacquainted with that part tomorrow. The bond between a dragon and their other half is one of great importance, forging two to become as one – once bonded they would then be inseparable. Though they may not be together physically, they would remain coupled in their minds as though a thin invisible thread kept them attached to each other infinitely. The bonding would start first by the joining of their magic feelers, followed by the ritual of flying together as one. Purrrl had never carried a person on her back before, for a dragon created specifically for bonding only ever carried their other half. Bex had assured Purrrl many times that Josie was a competent warrior who rode bareback upon horses. Even so, though Purrrl had been fitted with a saddle the Everling Elves had made, she was sure Josie was going to feel just as timid as she had.

Josie was also to obtain her weapon tomorrow, the Staff of Sanctions. A powerful weapon, wielded in two different manners. Laden with several magical components it could be used as a weapon of distance capable of discharging 70,000 volts of raw energy, likened to the blast of a lightning bolt or as a simple staff in hand to hand combat – a weapon Jo had excelled at when she was but fourteen years of age.

Yes, tomorrow would be an exceptional day at Five-Ever, thought Purrrl, as she continued to watch out over the bay while picking the remnants of her last meal from her fangs, her toe claws being an incredible twelve inches in length with three on each foot the same deep violet as her eyes. Standing, on seeing the wake come across the water’s surface, Purrrl stretched her massive wings. The sun reflected brightly off their iridescent webbing, casting a rainbow shimmer seen from afar.

Once Bex had achieved waist deep in the waters, she then stood upon her tail fin. Waiting seconds while the magic of the Ever Sea and her enchanted Sea Horse Pendant turned her fin into a pair of legs, she then walked the rest of the way to the water’s edge. Bex smiled on seeing Purrrl, knowing she was nervous about tomorrow, for she had been Purrrl’s caregiver until such time in which she would then unite with Josephine.

Bex, a Sea Nymph of Ever Sea or as mortals referred to them, a mermaid, was extremely beautiful and blessed with a warm loving nature. Long, dark blonde hair hung in wet waves to her waist obscuring her bare but ample breasts. Her legs now long and slender, which only moments before had been a beautiful tail of shimmering blue scales. Looking upon her, you could see why so many sailors would have gone to their death wanting to spend eternity with such a beautiful creature. She had two tiny wentletrap shells hanging from her ears, as a tiny seahorse fossil with a black pearl placed within the curl of its tail, rested within her chest. Each Sea Nymph was awarded such a pendant after reaching the age of independence. The final initiation of the pendants recession into the chest and on becoming a part of them was a very painful experience. Depending on how well one withstood the pain, determined the color the pearl would be as well as the nymph’s station in life. Not only a tool used by the sea-nymphs over the vast seas for communication and summoning, but also a magical conduit that allowed Bex to turn her tail fin into legs in order to live on land for a period of time. The pearl would brighten and then shimmer with a soft glow until either summons answered, or the magic completed.

Her hair, decorated with rare, tiny pink freshwater pearls of varying shapes, glistened in the sun’s rays. Bex eyes were the color of the sea she inhabited – a striking blue-green. Much like that sea, it depended upon her mood which color would dominate more, the deep green or the tranquil blue.

‘What took you so long?’ asked Purrrl in her soft voice.

Bex had always loved Purrrl’s voice, for much like the dragon herself, it was rare. Not the sound one usually heard coming from a dragon as it was a soft alluring sound; if she were not a dragon one might describe it as a sultry purr. The Creator had named her appropriately, her coloring being that of a mother of pearl as well as the soft cadent purr of her voice.

‘I came as soon as I could, my dear. Sir Plankton has been annoyingly stubborn of late, showing his over- bearing side. I’m afraid it’s his noble blood again arising; you know the manner of which I speak,’ smiled Bex.

Purrrl simply nodded her head, for she knew well what Sir Plankton von Riptide was like. Plankton or Planks was Bex’s familiar. He was a glorious sea dragon sixty feet in length. With his wings located at his sides they aided in propelling him through the waters. Having no legs, he was of the first breed of dragons, therefore resembling a water serpent with land dragon attributes. Being of ancient nobility, he had an arrogant nature that often aided in keeping Bex on her toes – so to speak. He was also very successful at annoying Bex with his uncommon, common sense. Planks was a deep hunter green with striking yellow eyes, having the snout and teeth of a land dragon made him a formidable hunter within the sea, while also aiding him in his favorite diet of shark.

Plankton could often be heard telling the tale of how he was of the first species of dragons. Since dragons originally came from the sea, he was considered of high noble blood. His overbearing nature was proof of his importance within the dragon community, whether they be land or water dwellers. He and his kin before him had kept Ever Sea safe from sharks and other dangerous sea creatures for many centuries. He had been a little moody of late, as legend foretold the true Goddess was returning home and she would reign over him. Sir Plankton von Riptide was to do as she requested with no questions asked. This was new for him, as Planks had always done exactly as he pleased, and being of nobility, he had been the one giving orders rather than taking them.

‘I have had one hell of a time, with him the last few days. I do hope Josephine hasn’t changed. She always had a way with creatures whether they be land or sea. I have reminded him time, and time, again. Who Josephine was and that her nature was not one to take advantage of her station in life. Unlike him, of course,’ laughed Bex.

Purrrl joined in the laughter,