Finally last chapter. This was originally meant to be a short story. lol. This one totally snowballed.

Old Tom’s Bucket

Chapter 5: Inner conflict

The eagle landed at a spot near the river. Star led the way outside. Tom spoke up.

“Star. Why is he trying to kill you? Surely you fulfilled his wishes. He got power and immortality.”

“That’s simple. He doesn’t look human. He is a man made of dirt or stone; whatever he can make himself out of. He will never be human again. The ages of loneliness have driven him mad it would seem.”

“You really go all out to annoy your enemies don’t you.”

“Don’t talk to me like that. Just don’t.”

“No. You have to take responsibility for your actions. Who knows how many disasters this creature is behind. The destruction he creates is on your paws.”

“You think I don’t know that? I told you its something I can’t fix, as I haven’t got the power to. I get what the lesson is about. Nigel wants me to learn that I need to rely on people to get by sometimes but every time I have found someone I thought could help they didn’t survive the battle. I simply haven’t found anyone strong enough yet. That’s where I’m hoping you will come in.”

Tom thought to himself for a while before a resolved look fell across his face.

“Ok. Well maybe two people will succeed where one failed.” Star smiled with the beginnings of a tear in her eye.

“Even knowing the risks you’re still going to help?”

“Well I can’t really leave a friend in trouble where I know I could have helped so yes. Not to mention you aren’t so bad to have around. Haha.”

“I agree whole heartedly.” Jessica said with a loving smile on her face. Star looked up and smiled.

“Thank you. Both of you. Really. Now Jess I’m really sorry, as I didn’t want you to get involved in this. However now that you are involved I need you to move fast. That dam needs brought down.”

“How did you know?” Tom asked.

“Magic cat.”

“Right.”

Jessica laughed and went back inside to lie down on the bed. Feeling happier now that the house was restored inside. She closed her eyes and drifted until she could see shapes in the darkness. A forest lit up with vein-like columns of blue fire. Life flowed everywhere here. It made her feel free and at one with everything. She saw what she was looking for among the abundance of life. Two specks of gold glinted in the twilight of blue flame. She knew it was a wolf. The intensity of those amber globes looking at her was unmistakeable. She dove into them and the world around her changed again. Suddenly she found herself looking out of sharper eyes. The world seemed more real, more vital and more alive. Jessica the wolf dropped the small rabbit she was in the middle of devouring and sprinted through the forest to reach her destination.

Back at the eagle cabin Tom stood over Jessica wandering if she was ok.

“She’s fine.” Star called to him, anticipating his thoughts.

“She needs you right now. She is very vulnerable at this point.” Tom felt something powerful and noble in nature stir within him. He knew at that moment, looking at Jessica, that he would do anything for her.

“So this is what it feels like to be needed. Feels a bit strange but not in a bad way.”

“Good. The boy is learning. Remember right now we are in his place of power.” Tom thought for a while.

“He caught me unawares before. I think I’m ready for him this time.”

“He’s probably in the same situation so you have to be careful.”

“Tell me does this river link to the sea?”

“Feel for yourself.” Tom put his hand in the river. The power that flowed through him was incredible. He pulled back before it overwhelmed him and sat on the riverbank breathing heavily.

“Wow. What a rush.”

“Better get used to that. He’s almost here.”

Jessica bounded up steep banks. She could see the dam now and her body poured through the air to get there. When she felt she was close enough she left the wolf to once again enter the forest of blue flame. The wolf shook off a shiver before padding off into the forest again. It was not long before Jessica found a dense patch of veins that indicating one of the older, stronger trees in the area. She dove in. Jess enjoyed possessing trees as they made her feel still, silent, powerful and yet so attuned to the life all around and indeed in her. She needed to use the trees for a different purpose this time though. Groaning wood was heard as Jess dug the roots through soil. Making them grow at an exceedingly fast pace. Fast and strong like an unstoppable force. Roots met concrete with a muffled crunch. A series of crunches sounded until small trickles of water started to pour through the cracks.

Back at the cabin Star was getting anxious.

“He should be on top of us at any moment. Are you sure you are ready?” Tom nodded.

“If what you told me about this bucket is true then I think I’ll be ok. I know you can’t help me on this one so I want you to hide when he comes.” A gravely voice sounded from nearby as an earthy figure shambled into view.

“Too late little one for I am here.” Star hissed and ran into the cabin. She jumped onto Jessica’s body and screamed into her ears.

“Do it. Now.”

Jessica’s eyes flickered as she returned from her journey.

“It has already been done.”

Tom stood at the edge of the river, facing the earthen being, holding the bucket at his side.

“You put up a good fight when we met last but rest assured I am prepared this time. You have no idea of the vast amount of power at my disposal.” There was a loud rumbling behind Eli. Tom smirked.

“Thanks for the warning.” Eli turned around and looked with wide eyes of stone and soil as a twenty-foot wall of water burst from the trees. Tom channelled it into a fist that grabbed Eli. Tom held the bucket in front of him as water pummelled into it. The container groaned under the strain of it. An angry cry was heard from the bucket.

“Not like this. I will not, cannot die.” The earth beneath Tom rumbled and suddenly he found himself falling. The earth around him poured into the bucket and over him. Soon he was buried under tonnes of earth. Tom knew he was done for unless he thought of something. He felt the cold metal of the bucket still clutched in his hands and tried turning it slowly. Within moments he was clambering into the small metal container, all the time manipulating the air so that he had a constant supply to breathe.

The bucket was not dark inside which surprised him. Instead there were hundreds of twinkling lights. It was as the cat had told him, a universe inside a universe. Earth kept pouring in through the bucket and soon Tom was swimming in the stuff again. There was a flash. Something happened that tom hadn’t counted on. He saw the entire continent he lived on in front of him. It began changing shape. Mountains shifted and collapsed. Valleys and flatlands reshuffled themselves until finally the change was complete. It was Eli. He was the size of a continent and he was furious.

“Weakling. You will regret the day you challenged the king of the Earth.”

‘Now this,’ Tom thought, ‘is a good time to panic.’

He did this until suddenly a saddle floated by him. He got on and called the water over to him.

“Snake. To me.” He found that he could now control the water through will alone. The mass of water became like a snake and hurried to his aid. No sooner had he got on the creature when something large struck him and sent him flying, barely conscious into the twinkling void. Eli laughed at the sight. Tom looked frantically about him to see what had hit him. A small boulder flew past, narrowly missing his head.

“Meteors. So its like that is it?”

Tom got on the snake again and made it speed towards Eli, dodging a wave of large and small rocks. He ducked and dodged as best he could until Eli went to punch him with a fist the size of a small country.

“Oh crap. Dive, damn it, dive.” The snake propelled itself towards the nearest planet, growing in speed as gravity kicked in. Tom jumped off the saddle and into the snake, quickly dragging an air supply down with him. He felt the power within the water and in essence he became the snake. He pulled up from the dive at the last second, flowing free of the gravity. Eli’s fist crashed into the side of the dead planet sending it spinning out of orbit. The monstrous being growled in anger.

Tom sensed a power emanating from within the beast. He took the snake towards it and dove into its cavernous maw. Just missing another smattering of rubble and boulders. The snake thinned out with Tom inside and threaded through the massive creature until it reached the heart. The heart was a large rock with large runes inscribed on it. A small wood was growing on top. Eli sat in the middle of the wood. A small circle of rocks surrounded him. On each rock was a symbol that glowed with purple light.

“Magic.” Tom cursed. Eli laughed.

“Did you think it would be that easy little one? You cannot harm me here. In this place you can do nothing. I cannot die and you cannot affect that. Yet as I cannot leave this ring we are fated to be locked in an eternal stalemate. That is unless you release us back to the world and we continue there.”

Tom thought about it. He watched as a drop of water fell from a tree to hit the grass inside the circle. He grinned.

“You believe I am here to destroy you? I’m afraid you have misread my intentions. Quite drastically in fact.” With that the snake opened its jaws and dived on the confused earth man. Tom hovered out of the water leaving only a small globe for himself to travel in. he concentrated on the water in the ring of stones and turned it to ice. The earth man was frozen. Tom felt for the air leading to the exit. He couldn’t find it. He felt panic starting to rise inside him.

Suddenly there was a flash of light and Tom found himself and Eli in the middle of a vast ice field. The earth man being so far from his element was powerless. Tom spun the icicle that contained Eli and made it drill down into the freezing waters below. Once there he had it guarded by two ice serpents. He heard a clank and looked down to see the bucket. It started to rattle and was soon jolting about madly. Tom grabbed it quickly not knowing what was going to happen. Suddenly a large beam of yellow light shot out into the sky and a blinding pulse of white light followed. Tom passed out.

It was a while before Tom woke up. When he did he smelled the familiar scent of the forest and saw a familiar face smiling down at him.

“Mmm. Jess?”

“Yes Tom. It’s me. Glad to see you awake.”

“What happened?” Star jumped up onto the bed.

“I believe I can explain that.”

“Never mind. Magic cat right?”

“Kind of. I had help. Nigel.”

“Gave you your powers back?”

“After what happened? No not entirely.”

“Reality changed?”

“Yes. The continent is now back to normal and the world is safe although I am still bound to the mountain.”

“Why?”

“Well a satellite caught footage of the disappearance and even with the buckets time difference it’s hard to hide the fact that an entire continent disappeared for ten whole seconds.”

“Good point. So what happens now?”

“Well your house is safe.”

“Yes.”

“So why not stay here a while?”

The cat bent down and whispered something into his ear.

“You are her last wish you see. She wished for a love worth waiting for and you now have a purpose. See how good I am at this? You can thank me later.” Tom looked at Jessica and smiled.

“I guess I’ve always wanted to travel.” Jess patted Star on the head.

“Will we see you again?”

“Keep a saucer handy. Just in case.” With that Star laughed and jumped into the bucket and left the two to discover a magic all of their very own.

The End

Aww happy ending. Hope you enjoyed it. If you did let me know. Also thanks so much to marinawings for the reviews. If you think it could have been better let me know and suggest how I can improve. This whole writing thing is meant to be a learning experience as well. Take care people. Until the next story. TTFN.
Cheers
Wolf