by Mia Archer
Right now Sarai was far more interested in what that starlight was illuminating though.
"So what do you think? Is it everything I told you?"
Honestly there were times when she’d almost regretted telling Tiafa that she came here. Especially when Tiafa had made it clear she wanted to join Sarai here. Only now as she looked at the wonder on Tiafa’s face she was glad she’d opened her big mouth if it gave them this shared moment.
Tiafa stared in astonishment. Sarai enjoyed the view as well, though it wasn’t the view Tiafa was enjoying.
The landscape didn't hold a candle to the beauty of Tiafa’s face. She was truly something to behold. Especially by starlight.
Standing up here always made her feel like the entire kingdom was hers. Sarai loved coming up here and sitting and thinking. Staring off at distant lands and wondering what might be waiting for her out there if she was lucky enough to be accepted to one of the Choices that wouldn’t result in her being carted off somewhere that would result in her immediate death.
Unfortunately there weren’t many paths from the Choice that didn’t result in a messy immediate death, and the ones that did typically only postponed that messy death.
There were even times when she would turn and look at the ruins of Choikal. Try to imagine what the burned-out husks had looked like when they were part of a great city. Even in its ruins, abandoned for the entirety of her life save for a few months at the beginning when she was too young to remember, it was something to behold. Even burned out she could see a hint of the splendor the city had once held.
Even if it had been far too long since it had been inhabited by anyone but the ghosts.
There were times when Sarai even found herself wondering what it would be like to see the witch school. The Academy. Not that anyone around here bothered to watch themselves when they called it the witch school.
Sure the mages were supposed to be notoriously touchy about that name, but what was the point in watching your tongue when they never came to Sarai’s small village and their supposedly vaunted magics that allowed them to see people maligning their school never seemed to make them appear?
Well, they did come at least once a year during the Choice, but that was about it.
Sarai was pulled back to reality by a hand taking hers. She looked down and her eyebrows shot up. That wasn't a handhold because she needed a steady hand going up or down a hill. That wasn't a hand grasping hers because Tiafa needed somebody to guide her up the stairs of a dark guard tower.
Tiafa favored Sarai with a smile that tore through her body like the fires that had consumed Choikal once upon a time. And suddenly it felt as though everything was perfect. She felt as though this was the culmination of everything she’d ever hoped for over the years.
She’d dared to dream Tiafa might be interested for so long, and now her best friend was holding her hand and looking at her with the interest she’d always hoped for.
"It is beautiful," Tiafa said. "But I don't think it would be half as wonderful if I wasn't here sharing it with you."
Sarai smiled. She couldn't help herself. It was a goofy grin. She was overcome with an emotion that was entirely unfamiliar to her.
It was like a sort of twisting in her stomach. Like she was feeling queasy, but in a good way. It was a tingling in her scalp. It was butterflies dancing in her midsection. It was…
Wonderful. Everything she had hoped for when she took Tiafa out here. Everything and more.
"And I think it's wonderful that you're here with me," Sarai said.
Tiafa stared at Sarai, her eyes unblinking. Sarai felt like this might be a moment. The opportunity she’d been waiting for most of her life. She felt a strange desire coursing through her. A strange confidence.
It was like nothing she’d felt before. And so she leaned closer. Took a chance she’d never been brave enough to take before, but Tiafa was so beautiful and this moment was so perfect.
A purple light bathed them as Sarai leaned in for a kiss, and it added to the perfection. Off in the distance the town bells chimed midnight as Ramaya finally peeked out over the mountains and blessed them with her glow.
It really was a perfect moment. The bells chiming midnight heralding the start of Sarai’s birthday. The moon's glow washing over them. Sarai leaning in for a kiss and Tiafa closing her eyes. The sure knowledge that this was happening and it wasn’t a dream.
And so of course that would be the moment when everything went to Choikal’s flames.
10
Magic
This was it. This was the moment. This was what Sarai had been waiting for, hoping for, praying for, anticipating for so very long. It would be one perfect moment before they were separated.
One perfect moment they could remember as they were thrown into battle in a far off land.
Only in that perfect moment something went wrong. Tiafa paused. Sarai opened her eyes and saw something odd in her friend’s expression.
Had she not hesitated then maybe it would've continued to be one of those perfect moments. Maybe she would’ve leaned in to kiss Tiafa and there wouldn't have been any problem.
But of course Sarai did hesitate, and that hesitation was enough for everything to go wrong.
Tiafa squinted. As though she was having trouble really seeing Sarai even though the starlight from above coupled with the purple light of Ramaya provided plenty to see by.
"Are you…"
"What's wrong Tiafa?" Sarai asked.
"There’s something…"
Tiafa gasped. Her hands moved to her mouth. She took a couple of steps back. As though she was looking at something terrifying.
She was looking at Sarai in the same way she’d looked at that horrible twisted creature in the Ghost Fields.
Sarai couldn't understand what was happening. It wasn't supposed to be like this. This was supposed to be her moment.
Sure in her nightmares it was like this. She got right up to the moment of truth, the moment when she would finally get to enjoy that kiss with Tiafa, and something happened to destroy that moment.
Only this was real life. It wasn't supposed to happen like in Sarai’s nightmares. She took a step forward, partly because she wanted to know what was wrong and partly because she was worried Tiafa would take too many steps back and hit a rotten part of the wood that had been burned through and might fall through.
She should’ve warned Tiafa about that when they came up here. Why hadn’t she?
Because she’d been too distracted with the promise of what might happened. So distracted that she didn’t warn her friend of the dangers lurking up here.
"Tiafa, what's…"
And then it hit her and she understood why Tiafa was looking at her the way she was.
It was unlike anything Sarai had ever felt before. It was intense. It was all over her body. It felt delicious and painful and incredible and it was more than her body could take. She almost blacked out.
When Sarai opened her eyes Tiafa was still staring at her with a mixture of terror and astonishment. She took another step back, back towards that dangerous part of the floor that would give way under her. That part of the floor that had nearly killed Sarai when she first explored this ruin years ago.
And Tiafa was much heavier than Sarai had been when she first explored these ruins. Which meant if she did step on that floor it was going to be the end for her.
Sarai tried to hold a hand up, tried to stop her, but it didn't work. Sarai fell to the ground. She rolled over and stared up, her body shaking and convulsing.
The light of the moon bathed her and Sarai felt herself start to change.
She’d heard of this. And in that terrible moment Sarai realized something with a clarity that had never hit her before.
Magic wasn't something that happened in some far-off place. No, magic was very real, and it had visited her this night. It was odd. It was something that was supposed to come to someone gradually, when they were younger, but this was a sudd
en wave that came and knocked her over when the water had been otherwise calm.
Others were hit with a gentle ebb and flow of magic until it finally took them, but she was being hit with a massive wave that was pulling her under.
She didn't know why. She didn't know how. All she knew was it was happening, and she couldn't explain it. She couldn’t stop it. The magic was here, and it might kill her.
She needed to stop it so she could tell Tiafa about the danger, but when she opened her mouth all that came out was silence. A silent scream into the night. Into an uncaring universe. A scream that cast light on the ceiling as the magic left her body.
Her body was on fire. It felt like she’d been sleeping on her arm wrong, only it was a feeling that was moving all over her body with tiny little pinpricks that weren’t localized to an arm or a leg she’d been lying on the wrong way.
Again Sarai opened her mouth. Again she tried to scream, but only let out a strangled gargling gasp. Again the magic puffed out of her mouth along with the scream.
Fear seized her. How could this be happening to her?
She hadn’t done anything to bring magic down on her. She hadn't done anything to attract the attention of the spirits that supposedly lived in the city.
Other than walking through the Ghost Fields for most of her life, but that wasn’t supposed to be how that magic worked. Sure the villagers talked about monsters that could rip someone limb from limb, but there were no tales about magic touching a person after spending time in the Ghost Fields.
And even the whole “ripped limb from limb” thing was probably just a tale considering she’d been going there for years and there’d been no limb ripping. Not even tonight with that strange creature.
But what if violating this tower one too many times was enough to draw vengeful attention? She’d been here before, true, but not nearly as often as she walked the fields. Choikal was dangerous, the burnt out ruins were treacherous even without vengeful spirits and monsters lurking among them, so she’d never gone very far into those ruins.
Sarai looked around. Tried to see the glow that was supposed to come with a spirit visiting. But there was nothing.
No. That wasn't right. There was a faint glow. It seemed to be coming off of her skin though. Not from any spirit consuming her. Faint lines were tracing in her skin like an intricate tattoo. Lines that glowed with the same green that surrounded her.
Yup. Fucking magic.
She looked up at Ramaya. The green glow seemed to dance in time with the purple light.
And then with a final gasp it was over. Sarai collapsed to the ground and stared out of that window. Up at the purple light of Ramaya that was starting to mix with the green light of Cherloz as it peeked over the mountains in the distance.
Sarai couldn't think. She was a mass of sensation. Everything felt wrong. Little explosions of numbness bloomed on her skin then disappeared.
There was something important. Something Sarai should be remembering. Something that…
Sarai turned. Held her hand out to Tiafa. She cried out, and for a wonder her voice worked.
"Tiafa! Don't take another step!"
She knew she was too late even as the words escaped her lips.
11
Falling
What just happened? What in the burned ruins was wrong with her? What had the charred ruins of Choikal done to her? Why was Tiafa still taking steps away from her even though Sarai just told her to stop?
She didn't have time to truly contemplate any of that. No, Sarai scrambled across the ancient rotted and burnt out wood floor. She had to reach Tiafa before she took another step. Before she…
Tiafa stopped. Her foot was placed on the edge of danger. Sarai knew because she’d tested every inch of the floor.
She should’ve told Tiafa about the danger. Should’ve mentioned that she needed to watch where she stepped. That there were portions of the boards that were dangerous. That she’d explored it all in the daylight when there was no danger of missing a step and falling through.
Not like tonight in the darkness where it was difficult to make things out.
Only Sarai realized with a sinking feeling that she was too late. She scrambled towards Tiafa, but her frien’ds foot came down on that board. There was a sickening crunch as the boards disintegrated under her. Tiafa let out a cry as the floor crumbled.
Sarai scrambled as fast as she could go on all fours, which admittedly wasn't terribly fast. But somehow she got there in time to grab Tiafa’s hand and hold on before she disappeared into the darkness.
Sarai winced in pain as something pressed into her arm. A piece of the floor that’d given way and turned into a jagged stake.
Burned ruins that hurt!
Tiafa’s touch was still like fire against Sarai’s skin. Only there was a mixture of adrenaline and fear now to mix with that fire.
What if she fell? Even if she did manage by some miracle to hit the stairs they wouldn't survive her slamming into them in a fall.
No, Sarai’s hold was the only thing keeping Tiafa from certain death.
Tiafa stared up at her with fear in her eyes. Sarai wasn't sure if that was fear from the fall or if it was fear from looking at her and the change that’d come over her.
Tiafa’s eyes darted back and forth, her breath came in quick ragged gasps, and Sarai tried not to notice the way her chest rose and fell in a most distracting way in the moonlight filtering through the open window. Sarai tried not to think about how they were both just a few rotted boards snapping away from falling to certain doom.
Yeah, there were far more important things than noticing Tiafa’s beauty. Like getting her out of this predicament.
Her beauty wouldn't last very long if she was smashed against the bottom of this guard tower, after all. Then she would join all the spirits out in the Ghost Fields. At least that was what the oldsters said happened to people foolish enough to die within sight of the burned walls.
"I don't know what's happening here, but I’m still me," Sarai said.
Sarai locked eyes with Tiafa. Hoped she saw something in those eyes.
Tiafa had to know that this was still Sarai even if the magic had taken her and she was covered in those intricate glowing green lines. That Sarai wouldn't do anything to hurt her.
That look was enough. Tiafa nodded. Threw her other arm up and around Sarai’s.
The only problem was Sarai wasn’t strong enough to pull her up. It was difficult enough holding her in place, and Sarai could feel Tiafa slowly slipping away.
It would only be a matter of time before she slipped out of Sarai’s grip. Sarai had only delayed disaster for a little while.
Despair filled her as Sarai realized that her effort to save Tiafa wasn’t going to be enough. She tried desperately to pull Tiafa up, but it was impossible. Even a surge of adrenaline wasn’t enough to overcome the simple fatal gravity of the moment.
Sarai stared into the gaping darkness below. That gaping darkness would kill Tiafa. She’d slip out of Sarai’s fingers and fall and Sarai would hear the sickening crunch of her bones breaking against the bottom of the tower.
It might not even kill her right away. Sarai might be forced to watch her slowly fade away. Or maybe Sarai wouldn't. If Sarai’s Choice meant being carted off to the Twisted Lands then there’d be no coming back any time soon. Even if she went somewhere closer it’s not like she would have an opportunity to see Tiafa past the Choice.
They wouldn’t let her stay to remain beside a friend she’d maimed. No, if anything the fact that she’d been partially responsible for something like that on the verge of the Choice would put her in one of the nastier work details.
That thought terrified her. Sarai didn’t want this to be Tiafa’s last moment. She didn’t want to face a punishment detail that would result in years of drawn out torture rather than a quick and merciful death in the Twisted Lands.
This wasn’t going to be her friend’s last moment.
She stare
d into that darkness. For some reason it didn’t seem as dark down there as before. Sarai could make out the walls. Maybe it was Ramaya’s light filtering through the tower, though she’d never been able to see the interior by that light that before.
Usually Ramaya’s light was a comfort. This night it was nothing of the sort though. This night Sarai knew it merely illuminated her friend’s impending death.
Grim determination filled her. That wasn't going to happen. Sarai wouldn't allow it to happen. The thought of Tiafa being smashed against the bottom of the tower was enough to fill her with a sure knowledge that she’d never let that come to pass.
Adrenaline surged, just like the one she’d gotten when she’d made that impossible scramble across the room to grab Tiafa. And with that surge of adrenaline Sarai was filled with a power unlike anything she’d known before. Suddenly Sarai felt stronger than she’d ever been before.
Tiafa’s eyes went wide again. The glow that surrounded Sarai grew more intense. Sarai pulled up, and to her surprise she was able to lift Tiafa easily. The strength hadn’t been there before, and then it was.
That wasn’t just adrenaline saving her.
Sarai could see everything below clearly now. Partly from that glow that was growing stronger and stronger, but mostly because it was like Sarai could see in the dark now.
Amazing. Odd, unexpected, and amazing. She figured if weird stuff was going to happen to her this night then it might as well be weird stuff that worked in her favor.
Sarai had a moment to stare in astonishment, and then the wood she was on gave way beneath her.
Apparently their combined weight was too much even for the firmer wood she’d been spread out on. Damn.
She felt another moment of panic. Saw Tiafa crying out in terror. And then they were falling into that glowing abyss.
