by Valia Lind
"Stop!" I say, yanking my hands back and stepping away. I can't be hearing this. I can't be having this conversation with a future him, because I don't know if this is my future or not. What he's saying, it doesn't make sense. I don't want to know we've become these evil beings. I can't hear this, because if I hear it and believe it, I will never trust him. And I can't afford to do this without trusting him.
"What is it? I'm sorry, Avery. I'm sorry that I—“
"It's not you," I stop him once more, almost laughing at the absurdity of me using that line. "This, this is all too much and I have to get out of here."
I turn to flee, because that is my only option. This is not my world, this is not my Derek, and I have to get back to both of them. Now.
He calls my name again, but I don't stop. The dress is heavy around my legs, but I keep moving. There's no direction in mind, just away. I hear more movement behind me and turn to see a group of guards rushing after me. I trip over the skirt falling forward, my hair in my face. Any second now the guards will descend.
But when I glance up, I'm back in the room I was just in. Glancing around quickly, I make sure nothing has come through the ripple with me. Although, I don't eve know if that was a ripple. It was so fast and unexpected.
And Derek. He looked so—no, I'm not thinking about that right now.
Push it all down, Avery. You have to find a way to get out of here.
We don't go farther into the house than the foyer. When I make it back downstairs, Derek is sitting on the floor, opposite of Julian. His eyes are on me when I walk over to check on Julian and they are still on me as I settle against the wall near the staircase.
I want to tell him about what happened upstairs, but I also don't. If he decides to go up there, I'll warn him. But for now, I'm going to keep the experience to myself. I'm not even sure it was real. It felt way too disorienting. Not like the ripple we came through to get here. More like a waking vision, something the Ancients have done before to talk to me. It didn't feel like them, but I really don't know, do I?
"I'll take the first watch," I say, and the way his eyes flash I know I beat him to it. But he doesn't argue. Maybe since he knows his body needs the rest after the transfer. I watch him as he closes his eyes, and then, as his body relaxes.
Thankfully, the whole night goes by without an incident and when Derek wakes me up, I feel slightly rested. He kneels over me, his hand gentle on my shoulder, and when I look up at him, there's genuine care there.
The flashes of his sad eyes from my vision—or whatever it was—mix with the reality in front of me and the desire to hold him nearly overwhelms me. Instead, I push to a sitting position as he moves back.
"She awakens."
My gaze jerks over to Julian who is sitting up now, and looking very peppy. I jump to my feet, rushing over to him.
"You're okay?"
"I'm okay."
I still do a thorough once over, and notice that his wound is almost completely scabbed over. Glancing at Derek, I make sure he's fine as well, because it must've taken a lot of his magic to make that happen.
We don't linger around after that. Grabbing my bag, we leave through the same door we entered, but we don't go back in the same direction. I let Derek take the lead, with Julian between us, and me bringing up the rear.
I still feel her, the land around me. She's so sad, she's been through so much. Maybe, in some strange way, I relate to her on that level. We're both been put into a situation we didn't chose for ourselves.
Julian calls for a rest mid morning. We stop, taking a drink and eating some of the fruit from my bag.
"Will I jinx it if I say it's been awfully quiet?" I ask, and the fae look at me a little confused. So maybe that's more of a human thing than not.
"It has, but we just might be in the area of the forest that's less populated for some reason," Derek replies, and have to keep myself from smiling. He sounds so serious, when I was trying to lighten things up.
"Do you think I can try that magic trick I did to find the house?" I ask, but both of the fae are already shaking their heads.
"It's dangerous to keep doing it. We don't know how it'll affect you. Or the land around us. This isn't our Faery."
I think part of the side effects was that strange trip I went on, but I'm not about to mention it. It's not like I could replicate what I did anyway. It was all instinct. I'm too much in my head right now to allow my magic to take over.
"Derek, do you actually have any idea where we're going?" I ask instead of voicing all of my own concerns. He stays quiet for a moment, before turning to look over his shoulder at me.
"The only sure thing I know, is that no matter we are at Faery, north is the true direction. So if we go north here, maybe we'll get somewhere." The "I'm-not-sure" part is silent. We're all just guessing at this point.
"I didn't think the true north nursery rhyme was true," I comment as we begin walking again. Both Derek and Julian glance over at me, but it's Julian who asks.
"Nursery rhyme?"
"Sure. All the kids know the story of the little spider." They continue looking at me like I've lost my mind, and I guess fae don't tell the same stories to their children as witches do. I'm not surprised. I can't see someone like Queen Svetlana teaching little Derek about dangers of walking alone at night.
"There were a few I remember from childhood. Each little rhyme is a story and it teaches you an important lesson. I always thought the spider one was about resilience, and how you can overcome whatever is thrown at you if you only try, but maybe not."
"Can we hear it?" Derek's question is barely above a whisper, as if he wanted to ask, but didn't actually want me to hear it. I smile, the fae curiosity is such an interesting thing.
"There once was a spider, who traveled alone.
He lived in the rafters, and called darkness his home.
But one day, a storm came, and blew the spider away,
He spun and he spun, then, in a forest he lay.
The spider was scared and lost as can be,
But he knew that true north will guide him, you see.
He followed the signs and he followed the sun,
And one day he came to his new found home.
It wasn't the rafters and he wasn't alone,
For he found his lost family and he no longer had to roam."
The simple words bring another smile to my face, because these were the simple days. When I would spend time with my parents and didn't have to worry about some great destiny or powers beyond my imagination. I was still an outcast, half shifter and half witch, but I was loved and protected and I was happy.
"It's an odd rhyme," Julian comments, breaking my trip down the memory lane.
"Maybe, but rhymes such as these stick in your mind and are fun as a kid." I shrug, because I think this is where I learned to love knowledge. It's why I wanted to become a Watcher, because I wanted to know things.
"It is true though." Derek speaks up, from his place in front of us, "True north is a guiding point in Faery. It's interesting that your parents taught you that rhyme."
His words and the way he says them makes me pause. I try to remember if anyone else spoke that rhyme then or in the years since, and I can't think of anyone. There were a bunch of rhymes that my parents made up just for me, and now, it makes sense.
"You think my dad was preparing me." It's not a question, but Derek stops anyway and turns to face me.
"I think he was."
I don't know how to take that and I don't want their sympathy right now. Pushing past Derek, I continue walking, picking up speed. Suddenly the trees in front of me open up and we're in a clearing. The guys come up to stand on each side of me as we take in the scene in front of us.
"It can't be."
Chapter 8
We move forward, making sure to hurry across the open space.
"I don't understand—“ I say as I study our surroundings, my brow furrowed. "What is this? It looks—it looks like Thu
nderbird Academy. But—”
"Destroyed"
I glance at Derek at that one word as we stop in front of where the side door used to be, leading to the non-existent now gardens.
The school is in ruins. Half of the walls are missing, brick laying in piles, as if an actual bomb went off in here. We step over the ruble, keeping our eyes pealed.
The ever changing dynamic of this world is dangerous. The air here is more clear somehow, as if the ash and smoke hasn't reached this far. Except, the place looks like it's been right in the middle of a war.
"What do you think happened here?" I can't help but ask.
The guys don't answer right away, and I look over to find Derek staring at something on the ground. He seems a million miles from here, and then he snaps back.
"The Ancients got through the wards and destroyed everything in sight. Look at the scorch marks." Derek points to what's left of the wall in from of him, and I can see them now. Black stains of magic, around the hole that's been created. The grass around the walls is dead as well, the aftermath of a powerful magic battle. Nothing will ever grow here again.
"They fought back," I mumble, because I know they did. Thunderbird Academy is one of the greatest magical schools in our world. People that I've looked up to my whole life have grazed these halls with their presence. They learned here and they taught here. It was the school that I worked hard to get into to.
Before finding that stupid book changed everything for me.
"This can happen? It's a possible future?" I ask the questions, but in reality, of course it can happen. I know this already. It's why I came to Faery in the first place. I need to learn to use the magic that's been bestowed upon me. The fear that I'll fail is more overpowering here, as I stand amidst the ruins of a school I love so much.
"There are many possibilities, Avery," Derek replies, clearly seeing my distress. He comes to stand in front of me, as if he's blocking the ruins from view, and I'm forced to look up into his handsome face.
"Nothing you see here is set in stone. This is just one outcome, out of thousands. Every decision we make in our own time affects what happens here. So we make a decision not to let this happen."
"It's not that easy, Derek, and you know it," I whisper, all of the emotions creeping up on me at once, "I'm responsible for the outcomes because I'm the one who can read an ancient book no one else can. This will be on me."
"It will be on all of us. If this happens, we failed all of Faery."
I want to believe him, I want to share that responsibility, but the whole land and it's people are dependent on me. Just then, something dawns on me.
"Wait, if we're in Faery, how is the school here?" Thunderbird Academy is in the human realm. It's been to Faery before, but Maddie fixed that problem.
"The Ancients must've opened up a rift between the realms with their magic. Everything would be confused if that happened. Or maybe this is a future where the school never made it back to the human realm."
I remember them mentioning before, how the Ancients can mess with the dimensions and realities, but here's a visual representation of it and I don't like it. I don't like any of this one bit.
The sadness I felt for the land itself is intensified here by my own emotions. I want to take the pieces of this broken school, and put it together, brick by brick. If only fixing everything was as easy as that sounds.
I open my mouth to ask more questions when a noise catches my attention. The fae turn as one, their own focus on whatever it is we're hearing.
"Get down," Derek grabs my arm and pulls me down beside him. We're right on the other side of the wall with the hole blown through it, with Julian dropping down a few yard away from us. Derek pokes his head up, still staring at the forest right at the edge of the clearing. I'm about to say I don't see anything when a group of the deformed trolls burst out of the trees.
We stay as still as possible, as the trolls move across the clearing. They're speaking a language I don't understand, and I'm almost afraid to breathe lest I get their attention somehow. There's a lot of land around the school, and they seem to be on a mission to get somewhere.
It seems like forever, but is only probably a minute, before they disappear into the trees on the other side of the school. Yet, we still don't move. I'm back to feeling overwhelmed. And sad. This land is really playing up on the sadness, and I don't blame her. She's been through so much.
"Avery?" Derek's voice reaches out to me, as if through a tunnel. I look up to meet his concerned gaze and he looks blurry.
That's when I realize I'm crying again. I really have no control over the emotions the land evokes in me, or my response to it.
The sobs seem to burst out of me, as I try my best to keep the sound down. Sadness overpowers every thought in my mind and I have no control over my reaction to it. I feel it, I feel it all. The torture the land has endured, the terror of the burning fields and the rotting trees. No one is here to sympathize with her, no one is here to comfort her.
The land bleeds, and she feels so alone.
Suddenly, strong arms pull me forward and I fall against Derek's chest, as he cocoons me in his embrace. I grab onto his shirt, clinging to him like he's my lifeline, while the waves of sadness try to overwhelm me. One of Derek's hands threads through my hair at the back of my head, pulling me even closer. I breathe him in, surrounded by him on every side.
My body shakes with the tears, but he doesn't let go. His other hand makes slow trails up and down my back, soothing my worries away. I give myself over to the feelings, I let the land know that she's not alone. That I’m—we—are doing everything we can to help her. It takes a few moments, but I finally feel the land's power drain out of me, giving me my emotions back. After another minute, I'm in control.
Pulling away, I look up to find Derek staring down at me.
"Avery?" There's so much in just my word, and the look on his face.
"I'm really ready to get out of here," I reply, wiping at my tearstained cheeks. Derek nods, but he doesn't take his eyes off me. There's so much emotion there, it's the most earnest I've seen him since we've met. If we weren't us and if we were in another place and time, I think I could stay in the circle of his arm for forever.
"Guys, we have to move," Julian's voice reaches us, and we both turn to see what causes the alarm in his voice. He's looking out, through the torn up wall, and when we follow his gaze, we see them. The trolls have come back.
"They probably heard me—“
"Let's just get out of here."
Derek takes my hands, pulling me up beside him, and then we're running. Julian keeps pace beside us. We have no direction in mind, just away. The trees are in front of us, the ruined Thunderbird Academy behind us, and the trolls coming at us from all directions.
"We can't outrun them!" Julian shouts, and I twist my head to glance over my shoulder. They're so much closer and faster than I thought. He's right. They don't leap like other creatures, but they move fast and we're not moving fast enough.
"Try and lose them in the trees!" Derek commands, right as we hit the tree line. Since the air here is cleaner, it's easier to see where we're going. But that means the trolls can see us just as well.
There's nothing I can do. I brought this on us, and now, we're probably going to die in this wasteland, before we have a chance to do anything good. The sound of the trolls yapping is closing in and I'm out of breath. My only thought is to stop them. Somehow. Someway.
Determination fuels me as I stop running and turn to face them head on. I hear Derek and Julian yell my name the moment they realize I'm not with them, but I have to try this.
Giving completely over to my instincts, I don't think. I thrust my hands out in front of me, calling on my magic and the land which I'm so connected to, trusting both of them to guide me.
A burst of fire rushes out of my palms, igniting everything in sight, sweeping the trolls off their feet. But then, something unusual happens, and my left palm becomes a strea
m of water, enveloping the trolls and drowning them on dry land.
It all happens so fast, I don't have any time to think about it. The wings burst out of my back for a split second, sending the space around me into brightness, before they're gone. But I don't give up. I let the magic pour out of me, until I have nothing left.
Then, it's done. The fire and water disappear, and the trolls go with it. Derek and Julian are beside me and it's Derek who catches me when I fall. There is no strength left in my body, not an ounce of it enough to hold me up. Derek cradles me against his chest, picking me up off the ground.
No one says a word, as I lean against Derek's strong chest, completely spent. The boys turn, and when they do, a shimmer appears in front of us. And I know it's what we've been looking for.
"Thank you," I whisper, and the shimmer becomes bigger, and then it pulls us in.
Chapter 9
The light disappears and then I'm looking at the most beautiful sight I've ever seen. The trees that surround us are fully green. Big and strong and healthy.
"We're back," Julian says, breathing out a sigh of relief. It's not a question because we all know it's true. The heaviness of being in the forbidden forest is back, but also, this feels like home.
Home.
I never thought of Faery as a place I would ever call home. But in that wasteland, I took ownership to the land and called it mine. I don't think that will ever change now.
"But how?" This time it is a question. Derek lifts me a little higher, to get a better grip on me, as I fight to stay awake.
"I think it was me," I mumble, closing my eyes abasing his body warmth. I feel safer than I have in a long time now, and it has everything to do with who is holding me.
"I think you're right," Derek says, and I know he's looking down at me because his voice sounds closer. A moment later, I feel his breath on my face and I smile. Or maybe it's only internally, because I don't think I'm strong enough to even manage that right now.
