by Ava Corrigan
“He’s in pain. Help him.”
“I’m doing all I can,” said Professor Harvey.
He turned his attention on Musa. She felt the weight of his speculation, along with the weight of his eyes.
“But there is something you can do. You’re a Mind Fairy. Feeling emotions is only a small part of your magic. You have a connection. You can take some of his pain.”
“What?” Musa stammered. “How?”
“Instead of pushing it away? Bring it into you. Try it.”
Musa reached out and took Sam’s hand, focusing her magic on him. But then Sam screamed. Touching his mind was like touching a thorn. Musa pulled her magic instinctively away.
“I can’t. I’m sorry.”
Terra exclaimed, “You didn’t even try.”
“I said I can’t, okay?” snarled Musa, overcome with shame, and terror for Sam, and dread for herself. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t take it. She wished she could.
As Musa stumbled off, she saw Bloom watching with wide guilty eyes, like Bloom was the one who’d failed.
Fire
The other Fire Fairies were assembled at the gates, saying that Queen Luna and her reinforcements wouldn’t get here till tomorrow. Sam wouldn’t last until tomorrow. If the gates didn’t hold, none of us would last.
I’d been terribly wrong, but if Ms. Dowling thought I was going to stay still and do nothing when this was all my fault, she was wrong, too.
But I’d learned my lesson about one thing.
I headed away from the Fire Fairies and went to find Sky.
He was trying to carry a huge, heavy piece of timber alone, which was just like him. He paused at a barricaded door, lifting one side a little awkwardly, and I grabbed the other end to hold it in place. Time for truth. Time to be real.
“I should’ve told you what I was doing at the stone circle. I should’ve been honest with you like you were with me. I’m sorry.”
Sky said, “Thank you.”
We reinforced the barricade together. I took a deep breath. Time for even scarier honesty. “And that kiss? Sky, if you thought that was anything but genuine?”
“It’s fine, Bloom. Whatever it was—”
He didn’t finish. I didn’t let him. Instead, I pulled him into another kiss. This one was warm until it was hot, burning like fire, real as magic. After we separated, I finally saw Sky’s soldier-boy facade crack with a smile.
“If I say I still don’t believe you …” said Sky. “Will you do it again?”
I shared that smile and gloried at the feeling of connection restored between us. But that wasn’t what I’d come to him for.
“What is it? You can tell me.”
“Can I?”
It wasn’t a real question, not this time. Right now, at this most desperate moment, all my painful doubts about who I could trust and who I should tell seemed resolved. Everything seemed so clear. Our smiles turned into mischievous grins, troublemakers in this together.
“Whatever you’re thinking of doing,” said Sky. “I’m here.”
But Sky wasn’t the only mischief maker I needed in my life.
I went searching and found Aisha and Stella whispering in a corner of the courtyard together. They were talking about me.
“I know Bloom,” said Aisha. “She won’t sit around and do nothing. Especially if she thinks all this is her fault.”
I grinned at Aisha’s back. Hey, she did know me.
“If only her friend and roommate hadn’t turned on her …” Stella said with mournful malice.
“Really, you’re still doing this?” Aisha snapped, and then sighed. “I feel bad, okay? Is that what you want me to say? I figured the fact that I was coming to you of all people would tell you that I’m sorry. What more do you want?”
Stella seemed to consider what she wanted.
“I suppose I was just enjoying the friendship high ground for once,” she admitted. “It’s not a view I normally get. All right, then. What do you think she’s going to do?”
I decided to make my presence known. “Probably something reckless and a little crazy,” I admitted.
The two of them turned to see me, standing in front of them. Not running off by myself.
“But for once,” I told my friends, “I’m not gonna do it alone.”
Specialist
Sky engaged their lunch lady in conversation about herbal concoctions as Bloom, Aisha, and Stella sneaked by. He nodded at Bloom as she went, her hair the brightest thing in the dark night.
He hoped the nod conveyed, Good luck, girlfriend!
Well. Maybe girlfriend. He guessed they could determine the relationship if they survived the night.
He was thinking of how to excuse himself from the lunch lady when Silva said, “Sky. A word.”
Sky went over to where Silva was reinforcing a door, and quietly helped him. It had always felt reassuring to him, just being in Silva’s presence, accomplishing tasks together. Everything was understood between them when they had to do their duty.
“You think it’ll hold?” Sky asked.
“For a while,” Silva said grimly. Then, in a voice so soft it sounded strange coming from him, “But I don’t know how this night will end, Sky. So … I need you to know the truth about Aster Dell.”
“Bloom told me everything,” Sky assured him.
“Aster Dell is where Andreas died,” said Silva.
Okay, Bloom hadn’t told him that. In fact, Bloom had never mentioned his father’s name to him. Everyone else said it over and over again. Andreas of Eraklyon, the great hero.
But how could his father have died at Aster Dell? They’d ambushed their enemies at Aster Dell. Nobody would’ve had a chance to attack Andreas.
“How is that possible? You said my dad died in battle. Fighting.”
“He did,” said Silva. “I just didn’t tell you who he was fighting.”
Silva told him now, in this night of chaos and strange light. In a slow and halting voice, Silva told how he’d realized what Rosalind was doing at Aster Dell. That the people in it had to be evacuated. He’d needed to tell Ms. Dowling and Professor Harvey.
Andreas, loyal to Rosalind, had stood in Silva’s way with a blade in hand. So Silva had cut him down.
Silva had believed he’d be able to warn the others in time. He’d thought wrong.
Sky tried not to let his voice tremble as he said, “You told me my dad was a hero.”
Suddenly, he understood better how Bloom had felt, with all the adults around her lying.
Silva answered haltingly, “He saved countless lives before that day. Killed more Burned Ones than any of us. But he was … flawed, Sky. We all are.”
“Flawed?” Sky snarled. “That’s the best you can do? He killed hundreds of people and you killed him. And all I get is that you’re both flawed?”
“Sky …”
“What the hell am I supposed to do with that?”
Sky’s entire world was collapsing around him. Who was he supposed to be, if he couldn’t be his father, and he couldn’t be Silva? There was nothing to be proud of and no solid place to stand.
That was why Silva had always mentored him so grimly. It hadn’t ever been love, not for Sky, not for his dad. Silva had only raised him out of duty and guilt.
He’d never had anything close to a dad.
Silva’s voice was sharp. “You grow up, and you accept it. And you focus on what matters.”
As if in answer to Silva, there came another loud rasp, like a huge alligator’s scales scraping against the granite walls of the castle. Then there came a slam to the door, with such shattering force Sky wondered if it would break down.
Silva said, “They’re here.”
Earth
Musa was sitting alone in a corner of the courtyard, headphones on. Her back to the carnage. As Terra approached, she was reminded of how Musa used to ignore her in their own room, and she got even more furious.
“What the hell?” Terra demanded of Musa’s ba
ck.
But Musa didn’t turn, so Terra pulled her headphones off.
“You can’t run away. He’s in pain. And my dad is trying, but—”
When Musa turned around, Terra saw the abject panic on her face.
“Please just leave me alone,” Musa begged.
Seeing Musa’s panic was like a slap in the face, reminding Terra that there were people and pain in the world besides Sam’s. But would she really be helping Musa, if she just let her sit here in a corner ignoring the world?
Terra hesitated.
“I know you care about him,” she began, gently.
Musa was shaking. “That’s the problem! I can’t feel it. I can’t feel somebody I care about die. Not again.”
“What? Musa …”
“My mom died last year, Terra. And I was with her. I felt the moment it happened. Felt everything she felt.” Musa was fighting back tears as she spoke. “It’s why I can’t talk about my family. And why I can’t be with Sam now. I can’t feel it again. Please don’t make me feel it again.”
Musa seemed on the verge of a full-fledged panic attack. Terra realized this was a dead end. All she could do was be kind to Musa, or not.
“Okay. It’s okay,” Terra promised.
Terra pulled the smaller girl into a hug, and felt Musa draw in a shaky breath, and then a calmer one.
Into Musa’s hair, Terra made another promise. “And I’m not gonna let him die.”
Her dad wasn’t succeeding. Musa couldn’t try. So Terra had to make a move of her own.
Terra patted Musa gently, gave her back her headphones, and then whirled and headed for the barricades where Silva and Sky stood. The castle doors were echoing with the impact of blows. Fairies across the courtyard were clutching their weapons. There was the sound of shattering glass from somewhere, far away.
Standing at the doors, Silva said, “They won’t hold much longer.”
Great, thought Terra. She had to get to the Burned One that had hurt her brother, and kill it so Sam would be well. She pulled at the barricade, trying to bring it down.
“Terra!”
Sky grabbed her by her shoulder.
Terra gave him a look of annoyance. “We’re hiding when we should be fighting.”
“We’ll fight when we have to,” Headmaster Silva snapped. “We can’t put lives in jeopardy.”
Terra had heard quite enough out of the adults today.
“They already are. The only way to help them is to kill those things.”
“That’s not as easy as you might—”
Silva didn’t get a chance to finish. He was interrupted by a part of the barricade falling inches from Terra’s face.
Terra backed up a step and watched as the barricade came apart before their eyes.
All across the castle there were burned arms worming through cracks in the walls. Timber was falling to the ground. The awful rasping was loud as thunder. Through the broken barricades, there were glimpses of Burned Ones, snarling, reaching, their awful eyes glistening. A Burned One’s arm burst through the wood, clawed, grasping for them.
There was a crash as the glass roof fell in, a Burned One hurtling from the sky. In another direction, flames cast by a defending Fire Fairy swept the floor in a destructive wave. The burned hand tried to seize Terra.
Then the Burned One’s arm was withdrawn. Shadows skittered at the edges of their vision, and the night went quiet as the rasps stopped. Terra looked around, dazed.
“What just happened?”
A tense stillness settled over the space. Dowling walked to the center of the courtyard. The rasps had almost entirely died away. Silva went toward her, moving fast.
“They’re leaving,” Dowling told him. “Going outside.”
“They’re all moving together, like they’re following something,” Silva reported, his brow furrowed.
Their headmistress’s cool control abruptly broke as realization struck.
“Where is Bloom?” Ms. Dowling demanded.
Light
Stella, Aisha, and Bloom emerged from the passageway into the cold night air. It felt just like sneaking away from her mother, shivering and alone. One part of Stella wanted to go back to Ms. Dowling, or to wait for her mom and the army, or to cling to Sky, to ask someone, anyone, to protect her and solve her problems.
Only that didn’t work.
It was a princess’s duty to protect her people, and Stella wanted to be someone who helped and didn’t hurt her friends. She wanted Alfea and those inside it to be safe. She wanted to be as brave as Bloom, who was so determined to protect everyone from the threat she might pose.
Bloom glanced back toward the lights of the school, and Stella wondered if Bloom’s nerve would break. Stella wouldn’t blame her if it did.
“Come on,” Bloom told them, brave as a knight. “We have to make sure the Burned Ones are following me.”
They headed on into the dark that Stella had always feared, but Stella didn’t feel so afraid now. For the first time, Stella wasn’t alone in the dark.
Earth
If the Burned Ones were chasing Bloom, Terra had to go after them and hunt them down. That much was clear. Kat the Specialist grabbed a weapon and nodded to Terra. They moved forward together.
Her dad’s voice behind her said: “Terra, do not go out there.”
Terra steeled herself to resist his appeal. “I know you want to protect me, Dad, that you think I’m just a kid, but I’m not. I have to do something.”
“You’re right,” her father said, and that made Terra turn, startled. “I need your help.”
When Terra saw the fear in her father’s eyes, she ran back with him.
It seemed only a handful of seconds before Terra was in a fight, but not the fight she’d anticipated. She was fighting for her brother’s life. Sam was screaming in agony. Bloodied lumps of gauze littered the table. Her father picked up and wielded the forceps as Terra threw herself at Sam, desperate to stanch the bleeding.
“I found a splinter near his heart. A piece of the Burned One. That’s why it’s still spreading. If it gets much farther—”
Her father clearly couldn’t bear to finish the sentence.
“How do we get it out?” whispered Terra.
Her dad said, “I’m trying, but if I accidentally tap it …”
Her father’s hand trembled as he reached the forceps into the wound. Terra bit her lip hard. Every time Sam screamed, her dad shook.
Sam whimpered, “It hurts.”
“Dad,” Terra urged.
“I need you to fight it, Sam,” their dad begged. “Try and stay still for me.”
Sam clenched his eyes shut, but even closing his eyes seemed to make pain rip through him.
“I can’t!” Sam screamed.
Terra shouted over the screams, “Dad, we’re gonna lose him.”
She couldn’t bear to look into Sam’s face, so she was staring down at Sam’s hand, clenching and unclenching desperately in the air. She kept worrying the hand would go limp.
Then another hand slipped into Sam’s.
Suddenly, the thrashing stopped. Sam’s eyes opened, and Terra saw his gaze had turned pure violet with mind magic. Musa stood over him, her own eyes glowing vividly. Tears were streaming down her face.
Sam said weakly, “Musa …”
Musa murmured to him, “I think maybe it’s your turn to get some peace from me.”
Musa squeezed his hand, and then gasped in pain. They were sharing it, Terra realized, and shared between two people the pain might be bearable. Enough to let her father do what he must.
“Are you okay?” whispered Terra, almost as terrified as she was relieved.
Musa, so controlled and aloof, was weeping openly. “Just do what you need to do.”
With that, Dad dived back in. Sam and Musa seemed lost in their own private world of shared suffering. Terra could see Musa struggling, but she didn’t break eye contact.
There was nobody for her dad
to turn to, except Terra. He stared at her pleadingly.
“I can’t get it,” her dad said helplessly.
He sounded as young as Sam, as young and uncertain as she was. But Terra knew how to be certain for other people, when they needed her.
“Yeah, Dad, you can,” Terra told him. “I know you can.”
Her father drew in a deep breath. His hands stopped. With one final attempt, Sam and Musa both gasped.
The black veins retreated as her father slid out the huge splinter. They all breathed a sigh of relief, but the relief couldn’t last.
Her father said quietly, “He’s okay for now. But it’s still severe. He won’t be out of the woods until the Burned One who attacked him is killed.”
Fire
Aisha and Stella and I made our stand behind the school, in the cleared-out Bastion area. Aisha eyed the shimmering surface of the waters.
“I can use the water from the pond,” offered Aisha.
Stella was looking at me with what truly appeared to be concern. “My mom will be here soon. With an actual army. You don’t have to do this, Bloom.”
This was my fault. My mind was made up.
“She won’t be here in time, Stella.”
I looked out into the darkness of the forest. A rasp echoed, under the leaves and drifting toward the sky.
“The Burned Ones are after me. They’ve always been after me.”
In the depths of the forest, I thought I could see Burned Ones slipping between trees. Shadows, moving with terrible speed. Headed for their target.
“If I can connect with them like Rosalind said? I can stop them.”
I tried to keep my voice steely. But underneath that, I knew both of them could sense my fear.
“But to do that …” I swallowed. “I have to draw on more magic than I ever have before. I don’t know what’s going to happen when I do.”
“It’s okay,” Aisha told me steadily. “I’ll make sure we’re safe. And that you are, too.”
“You won’t see us, but we’ll be right here,” murmured Stella.
Aisha took one of my hands. Stella took the other. Aisha, water to my fire. And Stella, who could hide Aisha away from our enemies.
