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“I’m so sorry,” Mint uttered from the moment they entered the room. News about the accident reached the council—who by the way was not too happy about the situation at hand, hence led them all to get called to the courtroom once again.
“Sorry doesn’t cut it, young lady.” Queen Seraphina bit out sternly. Mint flinched at the tone the queen was using at her-she was obviously mad as hell about what happened.
“Seraphina— “
“That’s Queen Seraphina to you, King Zarino.”
“Oho, I thought it was just me she’s in bad blood with. Welcome to the group King Zarino.” King Gunther cheered merrily. Instead of minding the Dwarf King’s teasing, King Zarino went to the tribe leader.
“Kygo, I hope you don’t punish the children too much. I bet the situation was not meant to get out of hand.” King Zarino of the Elven tribe pleaded.
“I know that Zarino, but they are the elementals! They should have known not to make use of their powers recklessly! How can we rely our future to these irresponsible children if they treat this grave situation as no more than a joke?” the tribe leader fumed at the elven king.
“But as the tribe leader— “
“I know what my responsibilities are, King Zarino. I think it would be best if you refrain yourself from reminding me.” Kygo bit out in irritation.
Tension overwhelmed the whole room. Jullian felt bad about how the other council members treated the Elven King the way they did—after all, he was only trying to protect them. For the whole duration of the argument, Mint and Aqua kept their heads low in shame. It was not right for the rest to suffer when both were the ones who started the problem. But her cousins being who they are, insisted-saying they were all in this together.
Before the branch hit them at the clearing a few hours ago, Mint slapped some sense into herself and handled the situation. With grave determination, she willed the whirlwind she made—compressed it till it became as small as it was when it was created before totally ending its existence. Therefore, saving her family from the risk of almost getting hit by the big branch. It may have caused a lot of damage, but it also taught them a lot of things about the consequences of the irresponsible use of their abilities.
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After the council has settled their differences with each other, the persecution ensued once again. The tribe leader cleared his throat before starting his speech.
“The mishap caused by your irresponsibility is not ‘just unfortunate’, for I grieve the fact that our future relies upon the hands of a bunch of uneducated brats. By now you must have learned how dangerous you all are and how your abilities affect your surroundings—especially if handled recklessly. It is by luck that you got away with no casualties eh? Lives could have been ended; nature destroyed. Tell me, how will you compensate for the havoc you caused?”
Upon hearing the tribe leader’s scolding, the entirety of the Blacksmith kids bowed their heads in shame. To say that the tribe leader was ‘just angry’ is a big understatement, he was obviously livid. Though in disagreement with some parts of Kygo’s tongue-lashing; Hurricane, Jade, and Jullian kept themselves from retaliating instead and acknowledged their defeat.
He is right—they were partially at fault for not keeping the leash on their younger cousins.
“We will take responsibility,” Hurricane replied in a clipped tone.
“Well, you better be! Nature may restore itself—but to do so, it would take lots of years. New seedlings may grow and replace the old ones—but scars from the inflicted pain remain.” Kygo further ranted.
“I said we will take responsibility,” Hurricane said with a bit more force this time.
“Very well. I will trust you on this. I just hope this will not be a repeat of that catastrophic event that happened a long time ago.”
“Why, what event are you talking about? What happened?” Jullian asked curiously.
“A Golem— “King Gunther started.
“Speaking of the dratted creature, He escaped the infinite forest.” Queen Seraphina interrupted.
A series of what’s, gasp, and how’s broke out from the council.
“Escaped? What lies are you spinning now, Seraphina? You know the infinite forest is as tight—
“King Gunther retaliated but was once again interrupted.
“Tight as what? King Gunther? We all know it is not as secure as any other prison! There are loopholes to every rule—an escape to every confinement. But—fortunately, I caught him lurking near the edge of Terriona-as if trying to plan his way out. It seems like our most prized criminal got out while pretending to be someone he’s not.” The fairy Queen continued smugly. This irritated the hell out of the dwarf king. How dare this arrogant fairy queen, interrupt him twice in a row?
“IF… it is what you say it is… then where is the golem now?” King Gunther challenged.
“Oho, relax you old coot! I will have him dragged here this instant if that is what you want?” The queen replied with the smugness still present on her tone. King Gunther almost audibly gulped. It seems like the fairy queen did indeed caught something of value this time. And this time he will be at the receiving end of the embarrassment—a laughingstock for challenging the fairy queen.
The rest of the council decided to disregard the dwarf king and the fairy queen’s exchange. After all, this was just one of the many rows they had on for centuries. Instead of delving into their foolishness, the rest of the council had more pressing matters to discuss; problems to solve.
“Oh, please do, your highness.” King Gunther replied with an exaggerated mocking bow.
Suddenly the queen’s eyes turned glassy and her expression focused. It seemed like she was conversing with someone else telepathically.
“This cannot be! Kamilos did you know about this?” The tribe leader asked the old druid. Kamilos shrugged before replying calmly.
“I had a haunch, but it was only proven to be correct a day ago…”
“A HAUNCH? Why didn’t you say so? Why not inform us? Have you forgotten what calamity that cursed creature brought us years ago?” the tribe leader fumed.
“Forgive me for the intended omission, your highness. But I did it only for the right reasons—or in this case, what I thought was right. I had to investigate if he really was who I thought he was—which is by the way, correct. He is the golem that torched Terriona not so long ago… but something’s quite not right with him. He isn’t like what he was before and the kids—his answer seemed to have calmed the tribe leader down a bit.
“Why? What about them?” King Zarino asked worriedly.
Kamilos threw a glance at the Blacksmiths and noticed that they were already seriously conversing with themselves. Oblivious to the topic they were delving themselves into.
“In their short time in the forest, the kids have grown attached towards the golem. And knowing those kids, they will be very protective of what they considered their own. I don’t think it is a good idea to just rashly punish the golem without explaining to them what really happened your highness. It will be a big problem if you will. That is why I kept it a secret for the time being.” Kamilos explained.
“I understand your point Kamilos but that creature— “
“I think that creature is no longer a threat, your highness. If his sudden change of appearance tells me something, that is he lost his abilities to be something to scare over.”
“I was afraid you’d say something that Kamilos. What happened long ago was a serious matter, and it caused us dearly. I don’t think your passion for chances will be enough to turn a blind eye this time…”
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Meanwhile, the Blacksmith kids who seemed to be temporarily forgotten by the elders was engaged in quite a dilemma of their own.

“So… is it Grub?” Jethro broke the silence grimly.
“I’m afraid so Jet. But I’m truly hoping it is not.” Jade replied.
“Does it mean Grub really is a criminal?” Lucy asked innocently.
“If what they’re saying is right—then yes he is a criminal, sweetie,” Mint answered the kid sadly.
“How is that so? He is a good golem, right? He was totally kind when he was with us… I don’t believe he could do something bad.” Emman questioned.
“Not all good people on the outside, are good inside. Some are only pretending to be good.” Cyclone said in a clipped tone.
The matter was obviously stressing them all out. If their Grub is the golem Queen Seraphina is pertaining to, then he really is a convicted criminal—a fugitive. And to think that a threat like him was now out of prison because of them was a scary thought.
Jethro shook his head for the thoughts that kept on flooding his mind. He was feeling restless inside. If Grub was truly what they say he is—then there must surely be a bigger reason behind it! For the short time of knowing Grub, Jethro knew the golem was not a bad creature inside. Maybe he was just misjudged or compelled to do such acts… maybe someone was controlling him? Jethro pondered on the thought for a while before deciding to word it out.
“It’s just a thought. But what if something happened that caused all of this?” He mumbled with uncertainty.
“What do you mean?” Mint asked.
“I meant, what if he was forced to do what he did? What if someone compelled grub to commit a crime? What if--”
“You are watching too many crime shows. Assuming our Grub is the one who caused the chaos a long time ago, did you really think that innocent-looking lump of rock who’s barely 4ft. tall can really cause massive destruction as they said?” Jullian retorted.
“No, he’s not wrong. Grub—Grub is the golem they’re talking about all right.” Cyclone bit out grimly.
“How could you say that? What proof—” “That… is proof.” Aqua started but was cut off when Emman pointed at the doorway. What they saw shocked all of them. Grub was struggling against two buff male fairies who were containing him—harshly. They all winced as they saw pebbles fly rapidly in all directions as grub resisted.
This confirmed the identity of the perpetrator. It really was Grub! They thought dreadfully.
The moment the golem saw them, he stopped resisting and stared down in mortification. This it. Hate me now, they must. He depressingly thought.
“Oh, my Gods,” Lucy mumbled worriedly.