by John Corwin
Max bent over and touched the invisible floor. "Are the stars an illusion, maybe?"
"I think it's a projection, like a movie theater," Ambria said.
I noted a faint but visible bar of light connecting the stars beneath us like dots. I got down on my knees and crawled to my left, reaching a hand out as I did. A few feet from my friends, I found emptiness and my chest tightened.
Max walked toward me. "What are you—"
"Stop!" I held up a hand, but it was too late. Max stepped over the invisible edge.
I leapt for him, hoping to knock him sideways before his momentum carried him over. He fell and rolled. Max shouted as his feet and body slid off and dangled in space. Somehow, his fingers gripped the side of the light bridge. I quickly fastened my hands around a wrist and pulled.
Ambria shrieked and ran to my side.
"Help me," I groaned, trying desperately to lift Max's weight.
She grabbed his other wrist. "I'm trying, but he's so heavy." She jerked on his arm to no effect. "Why do you have to eat so much, Max?"
Max's teeth chattered and his face went as green as the pebble in my pocket. "I'm going to fall into the stars and be lost forever."
"Try to pull yourself up," I told him. "I'll grab your belt and pull on it."
"I'm trying," Max said. "My fingers are slipping! Help!"
Ambria screamed and pulled harder. "He's so sweaty, Conrad. I can't hold him."
Desperation took hold and I could think of only one way to save his life. I took out my wand, pointed it at his hand and shouted, "Affixiato!" His right hand flattened against the bridge just as his left hand lost purchase and swung loose.
Max and Ambria screamed at the tops of their lungs.
But Max did not fall. I had magically glued his hand to the top of the bridge.
"Oh, god, I'm going to be sick," Max said.
Ambria slumped. "How are we supposed to get him up here?"
I had the answer. "We left our brooms at the edge of the pond." I gave Ambria the pebble. "Can you fetch one?"
"You're not coming with me?" she said in a high-pitched voice.
I shook my head. "I need to make sure Max doesn't fall." I jabbed a finger at the crack on the other side of the rift. "Hurry!"
Ambria clenched the pebble and ran.
I turned back to Max who now hung limply from his single hand. "I never realized how hard it is to pull yourself up over a ledge," he said in a calm voice. "It's so ruddy hard, Conrad."
I nodded. "Do you know of any other spells that might help me get you up here?"
He put his free hand to his chin. "Hmm, I don't know any levitation spells."
I shut my eyes and tried to think. I'd studied so much for the entrance exam, it seemed I might have learned something useful. I could light Max on fire, or send a breeze across his face. I only knew the affix spell because Max had once accidentally used it on me. I had no choice but to wait.
Minutes ticked past and I hoped Ambria had not become lost. I stood up and thought about going after her, but a scuffling noise caught my ear and Ambria crawled from the crack in the wall, a broom in hand.
"I'm back!" she called. Panting desperately, she held out Max's salvation.
I raced across the bridge and grabbed it from her, then turned and went back to Max. Praying that the broom worked in the reflected rift as it did in the real world, I activated it. The broom hovered and I breathed with relief. Since I'd have to fly the broom beneath Max with the levitation spell active, I turned it off. The spell wasn't strong enough to support the two of us.
I leaned over and handed the broom to Max. "Can you turn it on with one hand?"
"Yeah." He grasped it with his free hand and twisted with his hand. The broom leveled off just between his legs. Gritting his teeth, he pulled up on the handle and the broom drifted upward until he rested comfortably in the seat. Max sighed with relief and leaned his forehead on the broomstick.
"We did it," Ambria said. "Thank goodness."
"What's the spell to unglue your hand?" I asked Max. I couldn't remember the word.
"Um…" He tried to move his right hand then remembered it was fixed to the bridge. "I think the word is disruptus. You have to flick the wand up, back down, and then point it at my hand." His forehead pinched. "Or is it the opposite?"
I followed his instructions. "Disruptus!"
His hand pulled free. Max winced and rubbed it. "Ow. It's a bit numb."
"From holding up your entire body," Ambria said. "You need to lose weight so you won't be so heavy next time we have to pull you up a cliff."
"Maybe you should exercise," Max shot back.
A strange tingle worked its way up my spine and I remembered Evadora's warning about our reflections. "We need to go, now!"
Max shot forward on the broom and headed toward the crack while Ambria and I ran to keep up.
"I'm—so—tired," Ambria said breathlessly. She stumbled.
I caught her and helped her back up. "I'll help you." I wished I could carry her, but even her small frame was too heavy for me.
Max whipped back around on the broom and hopped off. "Take the broom, silly."
Ambria looked as if she wanted to say something, but couldn't catch her breath. She climbed onboard and flew for the crack. Max and I ran after her.
"Leave the broom and I'll carry it through the tunnel," Max called.
Ambria got off the broom and left it there, then vanished inside the tunnel. I went ahead of Max and he came behind me with the broom, shuffling furiously on his knees. Once we reached the other side, Ambria climbed back onto the broom and flew toward the pond.
The tingling sensation along my back grew stronger and stronger. "We've got no time to waste," I told Max. "Run for your life!"
"It feels like something is crawling up my back!" Max shouted.
I motioned him forward. "It must be our reflections coming for us."
We ran past the destroyed mansion and toward the forest. The burn in my leg muscles burrowed deeper like paralyzing venom. My legs grew heavier with every step and sweat trickled down my face. Max wheezed with every step.
"Too"—he sucked in a breath—"far."
I tried to offer him encouragement, but it was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other. It hadn't seemed so far during the walk toward the crack. Running only seemed to make our goal impossibly far away. Our sprint turned into a ragged shuffle through the remainder of the stump forest, the pond on the other side growing closer. Finally, we staggered out of the stumps.
Two familiar figures raced through the iron gate at the edge of the Fairy Garden, their gait never faltering. My knees went weak when I saw their faces. Mine and Max's twins stared back at us.
"Your reflections!" Ambria cried.
"Land the bleeding broom," Max shouted.
Ambria still had the stone. I rallied a breath. "Get the pebble ready!"
The terrifying sight renewed my energy. Sucking ragged breaths, Max and I scampered for the pond. Our reflections never once slowed, their faces twisted into maniacal grins as they closed on their quarry. I had no idea what would happen if they caught us. My breaths sounded like sandpaper on rotten wood. My legs were nearly numb with burning agony. I embraced the pain. After Cora died, pain had been my only friend, the one thing that let me know I was alive.
Once again it was here, urging me on, and reminding me there were far worse things than pain in the world.
We reached the pond. Max stumbled, arms splayed, and slid face-first through the mud. Ambria tugged on his shirt, trying to help him up. He sputtered and leaned heavily on her to pull himself up to his feet.
I dared a look back at the reflections. Even from this distance, I could tell there was something terribly wrong with them. Their bodies rippled like water, and blackness seeped from their eyes. Ambria fumbled with the pebble and dropped it. I dove forward, and caught it right at the edge of the water.
Rising on wobbly knees, I said, "Grab hol
d!"
My reflection shouted something unintelligible and Max's chimed in.
"What did they say?" Max asked.
I didn't know what they'd said, but the analytical voice of my father spoke. They're talking backwards.
It was time to go. "As above, so below!" I bent my knees to jump.
Max jerked my arm. "No, no, say it in reverse."
I had forgotten and nearly cost us dearly. "So below, as above!"
Our reflections screeched. I felt something brush against my back.
We leapt.
The black water swallowed us. My insides wrenched inside out and suddenly the ground in the real world rushed toward me. I landed on useless legs and rolled. Ambria tumbled into a heap next to me and Max narrowly avoided squashing me. I sat up and basked in the warmth of the sun.
My legs were simply too tired to move so I lay back down. "I need a moment."
"It feels wonderful to be back," Ambria said. "Let's please never go to that awful place again."
Max groaned and stayed on the ground, hands folded behind his head. "You've got my vote."
I lay there for several minutes until the burn in my legs faded, and my breathing came easier. Rolling to my knees made standing a little easier. When I retrieved my broom from beside the pond, my reflection glared back at me, hollow eyes burning with rage. A yelp burst from my throat and I stumbled onto my backside.
Max stood over me, a puzzled expression on his face. "What's wrong?"
I pointed toward the pond. "M-my reflection."
He peered into the water and promptly fell over backwards next to me. "Evadora was right," he said in a hoarse whisper. "You don't want those reflections finding you."
"Why didn't mine come?" Ambria asked, sounding a bit hurt. "It doesn't make any sense."
"Sure it does," Max said. "You left the reflected world to get the broom. Your reflection probably lost the scent while you were here."
"Or maybe my reflection is dumber than yours." She frowned. "I hope my reflection isn't stupid."
I dared another peek into the water. My visage peered over the side, black smoke drifting from the blank eye sockets, its lips curled into a malicious smile. I waved a hand over the water and the reflection mirrored me as it normally would, but the face contorted with rage, a puppet who hated his master. "I hope this thing doesn't follow me into every mirror I look into."
Max's reflection appeared next to mine as he leaned over the water. He shuddered. "I already hate the way I look in the morning, but if this awful monster follows me around, I'm never looking into a mirror again."
Ambria looked at her normal reflection and sighed. "I can't believe I have a stupid reflection."
Max patted his stomach. "Let's go. I'm—"
"You can't be starving," Ambria said with disgust. "Not after all that."
He picked up his broom. "I was going to say I'm tired. I haven't run that hard since my brothers wanted to test a new transformation spell on me."
I wholeheartedly agreed with him, though my stomach rumbled since it was well past lunch. "I could use some food. I think I burned every ounce of energy in my body."
"If that were the case, you'd be dead," Ambria commented dryly.
Max wobbled his head side-to-side. "Well, now that you mention it, I could eat something too."
Ambria folded her arms across her chest. "It seems coming back to the real world has given me an appetite as well."
We boarded our brooms and headed away from the Fairy Garden and hopefully our frightening reflections. Though my parents might never find the answer to the Glimmer Queen's quest for emotions, I couldn't simply hope the issue sorted itself. Right after lunch, we had to pay a visit to Galfandor.
I just hoped the old headmaster would take action.
Chapter 15
"The headmaster is not in," said a short professor we met in the hallway while looking for Galfandor. He adjusted a pair of wire-rimmed glasses and peered down at us. "You understand he's quite a busy man. Who are your advisors and why are you so filthy?"
Ambria frowned and looked back and forth between Max and me. "Advisors? Nobody told us about that."
"You should have received the information in the post today." He twirled the end of his long black mustache. "You'll find the letter to be quite thorough. I suggest you go to your homes and read it before bothering the headmaster with concerns that are too trifling for him to worry about."
"Yes, sir." I just wanted the unhelpful professor to go away.
He brushed his hands together like a man finished with an unpleasant task. "Excellent."
Max stuck out his tongue as he watched the professor go. "Trifling concerns? I'd like to drop him into the reflected world and let his reflection find him."
Ambria snorted. "Maybe his mirror self is nicer."
Max brushed at the mud crusted on his pants. "Since we can't find Galfandor, I'm going home to clean up. Then I'll come over."
"We should go home to check the post," Ambria said to me. "It's probably important to know who our advisors are."
"Probably," I agreed. I still couldn't get the Glimmer Queen's face from my mind. The ache in my chest hurt a little more every time I thought of my beloved mum's twin. So many emotions piled up in my stomach, I couldn't think straight. "Why don't you go ahead and I'll catch up later?"
Ambria's forehead creased. "You were so quiet during lunch. Were you thinking about Cora?"
Pain pinched my throat tight. I nodded and swallowed hard so I could speak. "I need some time."
She flung her petite form against my chest and squeezed me hard. "Of course, Conrad."
Max put a hand on my shoulder. "I think you're lucky to have had her, Conrad." He backed away and looked down. "At least you had a mother who really loved you."
Ambria kissed my cheek. "I'll be at home if you want to talk." She cleared her throat and grabbed Max by the arm. "Stop being a nuisance, Max, and go clean those filthy clothes of yours."
He grinned. "See ya later."
After they climbed on their brooms and flew away, I stood staring at the sky for a long moment, wondering if a realm existed where Cora might still be alive. Was there an afterlife, or was her beautiful soul lost forever?
I imagined a wise old woman sitting in a rocking chair, knitting needles working furiously. After a time, she would hold up a shimmering new soul she'd just completed. "Oh, this one is the loveliest I've made in a while," she'd say. "It will be special."
Beautiful, special souls shouldn't be wasted on oblivion.
"Please still be out there, Mum." It felt like a prayer. I didn't believe in gods, but I believed in Cora. She had taken me, this lifeless lump of clay, and molded it into something better despite all the evils in my life that had tried to twist me into something bad. I would never want to disappoint her.
I dearly cared for my friends and valued their advice, but at times like this, I wished there was someone older and wiser I could turn to for advice. The only person who came close to fitting that role was Galfandor, only because he already knew all there was to know about me. There was one other place he might be if he wasn't at the school. I ran a hand down the polished wood handle of my broom until it found the grooves of the etched symbols enchanted with the flight spells.
The broom hovered in place with a simple twist. I climbed onboard and directed it up the hill toward Moore Manor where the headmaster lived. The shout and clang of people doing noisy work echoed from somewhere ahead. The road curved around a section of forest to my right that concealed the estate of Moore Manor. An unpleasant smell bit my nose just before a work crew came into sight.
Burly men beat the old worn road with sledgehammers, tearing loose cobblestones while another group stood around a large barrel filled with steaming pitch. I realized that was the source of the foul smell. No one paused in their work to watch me flit past and take a right down the gravel road toward the mansion.
A flutter of white caught the corner of my eye. I
spotted people in white robes kneeling and chanting on earth blackened by demonic symbols once used in an attack on the mansion. Slowing to watch them, I wondered if they were healing the earth. Another group on the other side of the road tended to the large demon-summoning rune there as well.
I came to a stop in front of a marble statue of Ezzek Moore. The robed sculpture looked to the stars, his hand raised as if trying to pluck a heavenly body from its perch. A tablet at the bottom read:
Here lie the ashes of one man who lived many lives: Moses, father of the Arcanes, Ezzek Moore, founder of Arcane University, and Jeremiah Conroy protector of Eden. Despite the demon-ravaged earth, life once again sprouted here in the spot he died. May he be remembered so long as Eden lives.
A perfect circle of white lilies and grass grew around a small sapling that had grown considerably since the last time I'd seen it. I knew from studying that Ezzek Moore would be a large part of my history class. I looked forward to learning more about him.
"Hmm, yes," said a soft voice from my side.
I flinched and tumbled off my broom.
Galfandor looked down at me, amusement dancing in his bright blue eyes. "Apologies, young Edison." He reached down a hand and tugged me to my feet.
I finally recovered from the surprise. "I didn't know you were there."
"You stood here for quite some time." The headmaster stroked his beard. "Oh, there's no shame in it, of course. I find myself contemplating the man behind the statue."
"Did you know him?" I asked.
Galfandor made a thoughtful noise and changed the subject. "So, young man, what brings you out here?"
I looked around at the people in the woods. "Well, it's top secret."
"Come inside then." He headed toward the house. The large wooden door swung silently open at a touch, and closed just as quietly behind me.
It was no wonder the old man had been able to sneak up on me. I suspected he enjoyed it. Rather than lead me to his sitting room, Galfandor walked up the stairs just past the foyer and turned right at the top. The bubble of boiling liquid accompanied by the hiss of said liquid hitting fire reached my ears before I followed Galfandor into a room with a flickering orange glow. A large black iron kettle hung over a large stone hearth in the center of the room. The chimney in the ceiling funneled red smoke up and away, but it hadn't done anything to keep the foul odor from the room. It smelled like rotting broccoli and cow manure.
