by Megan Linski
Nashoma and I eyed each other warily. If Jonah had his way, we’d be so drunk by the end of the night he’d have to carry us home. Or, more likely, hire a carriage to bring us back, because he would be just as intoxicated as we were.
We left the bar. A large female dragon waited outside of it. The dragon was gorgeous, with large horns and scales that looked like rubies. She belonged to one of the Professors at school, Professor Curt, who taught Dragonology. He must’ve been inside, eating. She bowed her head to us as we continued down the dirt path, but in the opposite direction of town.
My Familiar kept close to me. When Nashoma moved, he looked like a shadow gliding over the ground, silent, every step filled with intent. I couldn’t wait for the day when he’d grow big enough to ride.
There were a group of Koignis in a clearing ahead, shooting fireballs at each other for practice. They barely noticed us as we walked by. We weren’t important enough, I guess.
“Be careful, little brother,” Jonah said as we passed them by. He leaned on Ezra to tease him. “Your magic’s not strong enough to put their fire out if they attack. Stay by us. We’ll keep you safe.”
Ezra blushed, before his expression cleared. “Hey, Liam said that you couldn’t manipulate air until after you got to Orenda!” Ezra protested. I smiled, and Jonah’s expression became outraged.
When Jonah went to say something back, Nashoma opened his mouth. Another jet of water came out like a cannon, soaking him to the bone.
“Oh, I see how it is! No more cupcakes for you!” Jonah shouted as he tried shaking the water off his arms.
Nashoma’s shoulders shook like he was laughing. He cackled, showing his large fangs.
Jonah caused a giant gust of wind to rise, drying him off quickly. It messed up his man-bun. Ezra and I were howling.
“Yeah, yeah. Fucking hilarious,” Jonah muttered as he fixed his hair. He shot me a dirty look. “See how many secrets I tell you, now.”
I chuckled. Jonah was being a bit ridiculous about Koignis— he was just using the rumors Ezra knew about them to try and scare my little brother. Sure, they had bad tempers, but members of the Fire tribe would never just randomly attack anyone.
...They hadn’t for a long time, anyway.
I thought of something. “Jonah, I think I’m gonna ask Mia to come with us tonight,” I said. “We should stop by her house and ask.”
“Man, it’s a guy’s night!” Jonah complained. “Don’t invite her.”
Nashoma gave a growl of agreement, and Jonah nodded at him. Jonah and Nashoma had bonded over the fact they both despised Mia, but the two of them would have to get over it someday. Ezra stayed quiet.
I opened my mouth to respond, but something on the road caught my attention. A fellow Toaqua, Brittney, was struggling with a cart that had gotten stuck in a hole. Brittney’s Familiar was a pink alicorn, a unicorn with fluffy wings, and she was hitched to the cart. The alicorn tried to pull it out as Brittney tugged, but the cart didn’t move.
I hurried forward. “Here, let me help,” I said. I lifted the cart out of the hole. As I did it, a sharp spasm ricocheted through my back. It wasn’t much, but it made me gasp again, though I managed to set the cart down.
That was the second time that happened today. What the heck was going on with me? Nashoma narrowed his eyes and growled lowly, as if he’d felt something, too.
I didn’t like the look he was giving me. It said he knew something I didn’t.
“Thanks, Liam,” Brittney said kindly. “But you didn’t have to do that.”
“Of course I did. You shouldn’t have to do it by yourself,” I told her. Behind me, Jonah groaned. Ezra watched carefully, taking notes. It went without saying that the second reason Ezra couldn’t wait to get to Orenda was because there were plenty of girls around.
Brittney batted her eyelashes at me. “You’re so sweet.” Her expression lit up. “By the way, Mia wanted me to give you this. See you around.”
Brittney handed me a note, then climbed back up on her cart, letting her alicorn pull it down the road once more.
“You’re such a nice guy, Liam,” Jonah said, sighing dramatically. “It makes the rest of us look bad.”
“Well, yeah,” I replied, not sure what else there was to say. What was the point of not being friendly? I couldn’t imagine going around being rude and pissed off all the time.
I unfolded the note, and read it quickly. My insides bottomed out. Mia couldn’t hang out today— said she was busy, though she didn’t clarify and she wished me a happy birthday.
“I guess it is going to be a guy’s night. Mia can’t come,” I told them as I pocketed the note.
Jonah and Nashoma looked positively thrilled. I was a little disappointed, but that was okay. If Mia had things to do, I was okay with it, even if it was my birthday.
“Can I come instead?” Ezra said hopefully.
“Aw, sure,” Jonah said, and he put Ezra in a headlock, ruffling his hair up. “I guess the little brother can tag along.”
I wasn’t really listening. I felt… different. Couldn’t explain how. I noticed I felt tired. Kind of worn out. Maybe we shouldn’t have gone on this walk. Nashoma watched me carefully, his head tilted a little to the side.
“Dude, I seriously can’t wait to take Yapluma Magic II next semester,” Jonah rambled. “There are gonna be so many hot guys in that class.”
“I’m just so excited to go,” Ezra said. “I’ve been hearing about Orenda my entire life, and now, I finally get to be a student! I can’t wait to learn how to use my magic!”
Jonah and Ezra kept talking about classes while we proceeded forward. I walked a few steps ahead with my hands in my pockets, thinking. The path led to the mountain range, and I had a sudden urge to climb it. By this time, the skies had darkened and grey clouds had appeared. The sun was gone, and it looked like it was going to rain soon.
“Let’s climb up, guys,” I said. “I bet the view is incredible from up there.”
“Ugh, man, stop making me work,” Jonah said, but he and Ezra followed me up the mountain path anyway.
When we rounded the side of the marked path, my eyes caught something strange. There was a small blue light, glowing about twenty feet or so below us within a cave carved into the mountainside. It was so small that you’d miss it if you didn’t look closely. If I had to guess, it was magic.
Nashoma saw it, too. He crouched as close to the edge as he could, seemingly drawn to the small blue light, just like I was.
“Liam, we should turn back. It’s going to rain soon,” Ezra said, looking up.
“I can shield you from the rain if it comes down,” I told him. I peered closer. What was that crazy light shining at the end of the mountain opening? I had to reach it. My eyes scanned the mountainside. There was a thin embankment by the opening, but it would be hard to get to. We’d have to slide down to get to it.
“Let’s explore that cave down there,” I offered. “I think there’s something inside.”
“I don’t know, dude. That path looks dangerous,” Jonah said, staring warily at the embankment. “I doubt we can make it down.”
“Where’s your sense of adventure?” I asked. “You could just fly us down there if you wanted.”
“Fuck you,” Jonah snapped back. “You know I don’t like caves.”
Most Yaplumas didn’t. I looked expectantly at Ezra, but he shook his head.
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll do it myself.”
I jumped down the path and landed on the tiny embankment, walking carefully along the edge. If I slipped, I had better hope Jonah would catch me. Otherwise, I’d go falling down the mountainside. There wasn’t enough water within the mountain that I could use it to break my fall.
Nashoma let out a tiny whine, like he was reluctant to come after me. But he’d follow me wherever I went, so he slid down the side of the mountain and joined me as I proceeded toward the cave opening.
The edge got thinner and thinner as I walked towar
d the cave, but that didn’t slow my steps. The blue light was drawing me in, making it hard to think. It was like I was under some sort of spell. Nashoma was pretty far behind me, now. I’d gone ahead of him without thinking. A few rocks crumbled above me and spattered dirt down, but I wiped it away from my eyes and kept going.
“Liam, you need to come back!” Ezra sounded scared. “Those rocks don’t look stable!”
“I’m fine!” I shouted back, ignoring him. That was the same moment I slipped. My right foot staggered forward, meeting nothing but air. I grabbed onto a root sticking out of the side of the mountain to try and stop my fall.
The root gave way, and I heard a loud cracking sound. Everything happened so fast that there wasn’t enough time for Jonah to react to catch me, and I tumbled downward, landing in front of the cave opening.
I didn’t get a chance to look inside and see where the blue light was coming from. I pushed myself to my feet as I heard Jonah and Ezra telling me to get out of the way. Multiple rocks from the side of the mountainside above had come loose, and were rolling toward me in a landslide.
Those rocks were going to crush me. I glanced around frantically for an escape, but there was nowhere to go. My mind froze as several large boulders tumbled toward me at high speed.
There was no chance. I was going to die.
Liam, watch out!
I felt a pair of paws on my back, and I went tumbling down the side of the mountain. I felt air wrap around my body and lift me upward before I plummeted to my death. The air lifted me backward, pulling me upward until I landed face-first in the dirt.
Two pairs of shoes were in front of my face. Jonah and Ezra. He had flown me back to where they were standing.
That sentence still echoed in my ears. Someone had called my name. The sound had been deep, and male. I hadn’t heard that voice before, couldn’t place it, yet it sounded terribly intimate… like I’d been hearing that voice everyday since before I’d been born. I staggered to my feet, dazed. Ezra and Jonah were both staring at me, their faces pale white and horrified.
… Where was Nashoma?
When I understood where the voice had come from, it felt like the weight of the world had been suddenly dropped on my head, crushing me.
The voice telling me to watch out had been my Familiar.
I let out an audible cry and spun around. The landslide had covered up the entrance of the cave and most of the embankment, making it so you couldn’t see the entrance.
I couldn’t see Nashoma, either.
“Nashoma!” I screamed. He didn’t answer me. My scream bounced off the sides of the mountain and echoed through the trees, vibrating throughout the entire forest.
No. No, no, no, no, no...
I tried jumping off the embankment and racing to my Familiar, but Jonah grabbed me. He and Ezra each took an arm, trying to hold me back.
“Liam, it’s not going to help!” Jonah shouted. He sounded panicked. Ezra said something about it being too dangerous, but I barely heard him.
Jonah was a big guy, and Ezra wasn’t exactly tiny, but a freight train couldn’t hold me back from getting to my Familiar now. I threw them both off and slid downward, until I reached the sit of the landslide.
I started throwing boulders off of him. The rocks cut into my hands. I left large red streaks on the rocks as I sifted through them, my palms gushing blood. I didn’t even fucking feel it. All I could feel was absolute terror as I tore through the rubble, hoping against hope he was okay, that he would make it through this.
I let out a cry of relief as I spotted his black fur, but it was short-lived as I heaved the last boulder off of him. Bones were poking through his fur in multiple places, and he was bleeding so much, from so many spots. He’d been crushed underneath the landslide. Nashoma was still breathing, but his amber eyes shone with a terrible agony. He was in awful pain, and it was all my fault. He couldn’t even whine.
My hands skimmed over him, unsure of what to do or how to touch him, because I was pretty sure whatever I did would only torture him. “It’s gonna be okay, brother. We’re going to find someone to help, you’re gonna make it…”
Soft footsteps landed beside me. It was Jonah and Ezra. They had followed me, even though it was dangerous for them to do so.
“Liam,” Jonah said softly. His voice sounded choked. “It’s… it’s too late.”
“No.” They’d already accepted what I couldn’t. Tears started dripping out of my eyes and onto Nashoma’s fur. “We— we can still save him.”
I heard sobs from behind me. Ezra was crying, too.
Hold me, Liam. Nashoma spoke to me. It was all he had the strength to say. His eyes pleaded with me to help.
I knew it would hurt him to pick him up, but it’s what he wanted. I held my breath as I gently pushed my arms underneath Nashoma’s broken body. I could feel all the shattered bones underneath my hands. I cradled Nashoma’s body against me and buried my face in his shoulder. His hot blood soaked my shirt and jeans.
“Nashoma, I’m so sorry,” I gasped. “Please hold on. There has to be another way.”
He weakly licked the side of my face. Nashoma panted heavily for a couple of seconds, gasping for breath. I could feel his heartbeat growing faint against my own. I prayed that the ancestors would make my heart stop, so his could keep going on.
But it didn’t work. Nashoma slowly went stiff, curling against me and giving a last, ragged breath. I felt his heart stop as I was clutching him in my arms.
“Don’t leave,” I whispered weakly. But it was too late. He was already…
Something inside of me ripped. The warmth and acceptance Nashoma had created inside of me fled, like a part of myself I could no longer keep. A hole opened up inside of me, feeling cavernous, swallowing me up until I forgot who I was and I turned into a new person. Something awful grabbed my heart and changed it, turned it black and ill. It was something I’d never be able to repair, something I couldn’t fix ever again. Who I’d been five minutes ago, I could never get back.
Nashoma was gone forever. He was gone. And with his death, I lost myself.
I mashed my face into Nashoma’s body and wept. I dug my fingers into his fur and wailed as loudly as I possibly could, though I didn’t mean to. It was something that just came out of me. Every breath felt like knives were stabbing into my lungs, and I hated each one, wished myself to stop breathing just like Nashoma had, though it didn’t happen. I’d never felt something so agonizing in my life, not even when my grandfather had died.
I felt Jonah’s hand on my shoulder trying to comfort me, and Ezra knelt by my side, but both of them felt so far away. I felt myself grow cold… like Nashoma would soon be.
Please, ancestors, let this be a dream. Let me wake up. I’ll do anything.
But this wasn’t a dream. This was my new reality— a reality I had created with one stupid mistake.
There was no point anymore. My purpose, my place in this world, my reason for existing... it had left when Nashoma went away.
I’d lost my soul. I no longer had it.
He died.
Continue The Water Legacy and see where Liam and Sophia’s adventures lead next!
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About the Authors
Megan Linski (left) and Alicia Rades (right) are two best friends and the authors of the Academy of Magical Creatures series. Both are USA TODAY Bestselling Authors and award-winning novelists for teens and young adults. Megan Linski is a disabled author
who loves laughter, adventure, and fantasy worlds. She is a proud member of Koigni House. Alicia Rades is a mother who enjoys exploring paranormal realms and trying new recipes. She is a champion from Toaqua House. Both girls love nature, animals, sexy romances, and eating cheese.
