by Salem Cross
“I’m not following.”
“For some reason, the three of us cannot sense dark magic here, but it is all around us Mae. We are surrounded by it. It coats everything in these woods. I studied some samples of plant life from these woods before and after you struck me with your power. Your power jumped from me to one of the samples yesterday, and it not only made the dark magic on the sample visible, it destroyed it.” Jasmine turned to me and demanded, “Touch that sapling behind you, and I’ll prove it to you.”
Skeptical about her theory, I turned and reached out to touch the small sapling. I pulled my hand away. Nothing happened.
I turned back to Jasmine and sighed. “I don’t get it. Do you want me to use my—”
“Look,” Jasmine interrupted, still staring at the plant she had ordered me to touch. I turned and sure enough, dark ash coated the spot where my palm had made contact. I stared at it in surprise. How was that possible? When I turned to Jasmine, she had a grim smile on her face.
“I want to see where you had your episode the other day, just before you blacked out,” she said.
I started to shake my head. Rylan would kill me if he found out that I had gone that far. Just as the thought popped into my head a steely rod of defiance caused me to straighten my spine. I wasn’t going to start asking for permission to do anything, nor was I going to cower from Rylan. He needed to understand that I would be making choices for myself.
But I did have to ask, “What if whatever caused both of us to lose control yesterday happens while we are out here?”
Jasmine’s brown eyes shifted slowly to red and then, to my surprise, changed to violet. She stepped closer to me and reached out to caress my cheek.
“Mae, you no longer have any threat of me turning on you. Whatever you did yesterday not only stopped the violent frenzy in my mind but also erected a barrier to prevent it from happening again. I believe whatever makes creatures turn on one another is an effect of dark magic in these woods, and I think your body knows that. When you had your episode yesterday and the day before, your power was protecting you from the dark magic. I also think your power was protecting the people you love and trust, which is why both Arthur and I are still alive,” Jasmine proclaimed. Her grim smile shifted to a genuine one. She cupped my cheek in her hand and continued, “If your power reacts to danger, I will be right here to help you through it. Whatever is happening here, Zyroe and Autumn were right, you may be the only one to stop it. There has to be a reason only you can sense this dark magic.”
I stared at her in surprise. I knew from the moment Autumn and Zyroe had brought me back from the Pocket that it was important for me to be here, that I might be able to stop whatever was happening. I never once doubted that their intention to get me here was for an ulterior motive. But my Guardians had been wary from the beginning.
Now, hearing that one of them not only believed the threat and thought I may somehow be able to stop it was a relief. But it was also terrifying. If Jasmine was worried, then something must be wrong. If studying the site where I had lost control would help her in her research to figure out what was going on, then I would take her there.
“Alright, Jasmine, we’ll go, but let’s be quick.”
Chapter Ten
Mae
To speed up our journey, Jasmine flew us directly to the spot where I had blacked out. When we landed, I handed Jasmine her shirt when her wings retracted into her back, and she slipped it on. The area around us was completely blackened. The minute we landed, Jasmine pulled out bags and began collecting samples all around the site. She took her time as she inspected the land and what was left of the plant life.
“It is interesting that the park rangers thought this was a fire when, quite clearly, it was not. I wonder if they were just fishing for information…” Jasmine mumbled to herself.
How she could differentiate between a blazing inferno and my power was a puzzle to me. Could she tell this was the ash from black magic rather than from a normal fire? That had to be it. Or maybe I was just missing something. When she was through collecting samples, Jasmine stood in the middle of the destruction, lost in thought.
Suddenly, she took off in one direction without a word to me. I had to jog to keep up with her quick pace. A few minutes later the woods ended, and we found ourselves on the shoreline of a spectacular clear blue lake. Behind the lake was a stunning view of snow capped mountains that glittered in the sunlight. I gasped in surprise at such a pretty sight.
“Patricia mentioned mermaids during our meeting the other day. I wonder if this was the lake William saw them in,” she mused out loud.
I wandered over to the edge of the lake and bent down to test the temperature of the water. It was chilly. As I stood up, the feeling of sand trickling down my arms caught my attention. I stiffened and turned around.
“Jazz…”
Jasmine turned to face me. The alarm on my face must have alerted her to my distress because she leapt the distance between us in one bound.
“What is it, Mae?”
“It’s going to happen—”
My power surged forward. The pain of it blazing its way through my veins caused me to scream. Blackness threatened to consume my consciousness. As it descended upon me, I took a deep breath and attempted to fight it off. I couldn’t hurt Jasmine again, and that was what would happen if I slipped under. My power erupted from my pores and outward. I cried out again in agony. My vision shifted until everything had a violet hue around me. Instead of panicking, I focused on the power pouring out of me. Cautiously, I attempted to pull it back. I tried to step away from Jasmine hoping that distance would keep her safe, but she grabbed my arm, holding me still.
“Breathe through it, Mae. You are doing great.” Her voice was calm.
My body shook as more power fought to pour out. I did as instructed and inhaled a shaky breath. I closed my eyes and focused on the power brimming outwards. To my surprise, I felt myself connect with it. I let go of the worry and fear of hurting Jasmine or destroying everything around us to focus solely on my power. With each deep breath, I was able to rein it in until suddenly my power stopped rushing outwards.
My eyes flew open in surprise. My head ached, and my power was now throbbing under my skin, but I had remained conscious and stopped it! My power was giving off weird violet sparks that danced over my skin, but that was something I could handle. My heart leapt for joy, and I grinned. I looked over at Jasmine to share the moment with her, but Jasmine’s concentration was focused on the woods we had just emerged from.
Jasmine’s head whipped side to side as she watched something that I couldn’t see dart through the woods. Her body stiffened, and her wings grew from between her shoulder blades, ripping the blouse she wore. The beautiful black wings stretched out on either side of her and then swept upwards. Without looking at me, Jasmine grabbed my wrists and yanked me close to her.
“What is it?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. My excitement vanished as I realized something was very wrong.
“Werewolves,” she muttered. “But I cannot catch their scent. It is as if they do not have one… They are hunting us. I need to get you out of here, and I will come back to take care of—,”
A wall of cold lake water suddenly slammed into us from behind, throwing us both forward. I rolled several feet away from Jasmine as she was tossed in another direction. I coughed and sputtered. What the hell was that? Since when did calm lakes have sudden tsunamis? I scrambled to my feet just as a dark shadow fell over us. I whirled around and froze, a gasp stuck in my throat. Barreling towards us from above was an enormous, grayish-blue tentacle that had emerged from the middle of the lake and somehow managed to reach us over here on the shoreline.
My heart skipped a beat as I stared at the incoming nautical limb. My mind was almost unable to process what I was seeing. As it came closer and closer with a speed I would have thought impossible from something so large, I snapped out of my terror.
“Jasmi
ne!” I screamed as I pointed towards our new threat.
As the tentacle slammed onto shore, the ground rumbled. I stumbled but managed to stay upright. I turned and watched as the tentacle slid across the rocky shore back into the water. My heart stopped when I saw it had wrapped itself around Jasmine. Her arms were pinned at her side, but her wings were free and she was trying to fly to safety.
I screamed her name. I watched as she struggled frantically to break free, calling her name and praying that she would escape. Before I could think of something to do to help her, she was yanked under the surface of the water. I let out a scream of despair that echoed around me.
Mae. Rylan’s voice snapped me out of my shock. What is happening? I feel your fear.
Behind me, a howl echoed in the forest. The sound was too close to ignore. I whirled around to face, for the second time in a few short days, a werewolf. The ugly creature was nothing like I’d imagined. Its elongated snout and yellow, gnarly teeth were obviously the main threat, but I noted the oddly long arms and the sharp-looking claws. I watched as it lifted its nose and took a long, deep breath. Yellow eyes pinned me with a look that spelled trouble. My heart thundered in my chest, my hands shook, and a sweat broke out on my forehead. My muscles tensed as I brace myself to run. Wait, no, I couldn’t run. Jasmine needed me! Shit, what was I going to do?
Rylan! Jasmine’s been taken, and I’m surrounded by werewolves. What do I do?
Rylan’s answer was quick, confident, and authoritative: Hold as still as you can. Running will cause the werewolves to chase you, and you will not win. They are stalking you now, waiting for you to drop your guard. I am sure they sense you are different and assessing how dangerous you are. Where are you?
Just past the site where I blacked out. I’m standing next to a lake.
I am coming. It was Rylan’s only response.
Despite how we’d left things earlier, I was relieved to know he was on his way. I prayed that he would get here soon.
I tried to keep my breathing steady, but as another howl picked up where the last one left off, closer this time, my deep breathing turned to gasps. I caught movement off to my right. I turned my gaze in that direction, and my breathing stopped as the second werewolf crept towards me. It had been hiding in the darker shadows.
Oh. My. God, I gasped in alarm in my head.
Keep calm. Remember, do not run. Rylan’s voice was calm. I hadn’t realized that I had connected with him in my moment of panic.
The second werewolf took a step towards me while the first one remained still. It took all my willpower not to retreat. The creature took another step towards me. It assessed my reaction and then advanced again. Each time it took a step, it growled. Was it grinning or was that just a permanent snarl on its face? My body shook hard. I was about to get mauled by a monster.
As my terror mounted, a familiar pulse reminded me that I had a weapon not being utilized. My power hummed under my skin— I was more than a mere human. The other day I had missed my mark when I tried to hit the werewolf when it had emerged; what if I missed again? Would it get angry and attack? I pushed the panicked thought away and braced myself. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t hit my mark. They didn’t know I couldn’t hit them, and that was all the advantage I needed. I called up my power, and it answered at once. The tree closest to me exploded into violet flames. The werewolf paused and tilted its head to one side.
I pushed power from my fingertips and more trees began to catch fire. Violet lightning bolts shot up from the rocky shore, and the ground began to shift. Somewhere nearby, out of sight, a third wolf howled. Another from farther away took up the howl, and it was followed by a fifth. The werewolf I stared down snarled at me but took a step back.
“Get out of here asshole, or I’ll set you on fire, too!” I yelled at it with a false bravado.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t try to call my bluff. There was no way I had enough control to hit a specific target. The werewolf snarled again before it turned tail and sprinted into the woods. The second one glared at me for a moment longer before turning and taking off. I let out a sigh of relief and then whirled around to face the water. I forced my power to settle under my skin as I tried to figure out what to do next. Behind me, the trees crackled as they burned.
The werewolves are gone, I updated Rylan.
Good, Rylan’s voice was subdued, but I could feel the ghostly tension that was eating at him.
I continued to scan the water. Maybe if I could somehow get the creature’s attention and draw it towards me, I could figure out a way to reach Jasmine. I searched for some sign of the creature, but the water was calm and clear. There wasn’t a single ripple. But I knew Jasmine was down there and needed my help. With a deep breath, I took a step into the water.
Do not engage with whatever has taken Jasmine, Rylan warned as if he could read the plan in my head. I winced at his tone, but I couldn’t let Jasmine die.
“Hey, Lake-o-puss, come get me!” I yelled as I strolled deeper into the cold water. I slapped and kicked at the lake water as I waded into the lake. I prayed that the sound would attract the monster. I waited a moment but nothing happened. I tried not to panic as I thought about how long Jasmine had been underwater. I splashed around harder.
“I said, HEY LAKE-O-PUSS, COME GET ME! Afraid I’ll turn you into sushi? Once I get my hands on you, that’s exactly what I’m going to do, so get ready to be wrapped up in some rice and seaweed! I bet you’ll be fucking delicious you oversized, slimy, piece of shit!”
I splashed and splashed. Furious that nothing was happening and terrified that Jasmine could already be dead, I slammed my hands against the water and allowed my power to surge outward. The moment my hands connected with the lake water this time a violet electrical pulse shook the entire body of water.
“Give me back my fri—,”
Suddenly, there was a ripple. The water in the middle of the lake began to bubble rapidly. I stumbled backward out of the water and stared, wide-eyed, as seven large tentacles shot out of the water straight up into the sky. They kept climbing upwards and onwards. Even from here, I could see the suction cups on each tentacle twitching open and closed. I stared, shocked at the sight before me. My heartbeat was loud in my ears.
The tentacles paused their climb upward. They twisted and curled, reaching or searching for something. Then the eighth tentacle emerged, bloodied and flailing around weakly. There, in the grasp of that eighth limb was Jasmine who hung limp. I screamed her name, but she didn’t move. No, no, no, she couldn’t be dead. I refused to believe it. I screamed her name again.
The moment my scream passed my lips, the seven large tentacles jerked towards me. My mouth dropped, and I stumbled backward, closer to the forest. The suction cups on each tentacle opened and closed in unison as they came closer. I was about to be octopus food. I had seconds to decide what to do.
A dark shadow closed over me as the tentacles reached the shoreline, stretching over me, hovering just above where I stood. Any minute they would come crashing down to crush me or to grab me to pull me under. Running was not an option, standing here waiting for these things to get me wasn’t an option. So, I did the only thing I could do: I decided to fight back.
Already pulsing beneath my skin, my power was there and waiting for me. I looked towards Jasmine who was still hanging limp in the middle of the lake and prayed that I could save her. I rushed towards the water and with a deep breath, I forced everything I had outwards towards the creature hiding in the depths of the lake. My power bled from me, dispersing into the water. I braced myself as the first tentacle crashed down.
The ground vibrated with the impact of the tentacle, which missed me by mere inches. Water splashed up over me, and I inhaled a mouthful of lake water. I didn’t have time to catch my breath. A second tentacle slammed down on the other side of me. As the first two tentacles slid back into the water, they began to curl around me. The others fell all around me, causing water and dirt to fly in every direction.
Even as chaos reigned down around me, I refused to break my focus as I continued to push my power outward. I directed it towards the middle of the lake as best as I could.
I shrieked as it burned through my veins. Every inch of me protested the violent outburst. My skull felt like it was cracking under the pressure. My heart squeezed painfully in my chest. Just as a tentacle wrapped itself around my body, I felt it flinch violently. The slimy limb let go of me, and all eight tentacles retracted back into the lake.
I screamed in denial as the tentacles began to submerge themselves under the water. Jasmine disappeared. I forced more power into the crystal clear water. Around me, the water was glowing violet and it began to bubble and boil. The water around my ankles grew hot. But I couldn’t stop. I wouldn’t fail Jasmine.
In the middle of the lake water exploded upwards, and a guttural, animalistic screech of pain reverberated through the air. Violet flames chased the water upwards and turned it to steam. A large bulbous, slimy head rose from the lake. Two huge black eyes appeared to melt out of their sockets. The mouth was beak-like and when the creature opened it, I could see terrifyingly sharp teeth. Violet flames shot outwards from that beak as it cried out again. Eight tentacles rose from the water and thrashed around uncontrollably. The tentacle that held Jasmine threw her across the lake in my direction. Unfortunately, she landed in the deeper water and began to sink almost immediately.
The creature began shaking violently. The tentacles curled in on themselves. It let out a final cry before its entire body erupted into flames. I would forever hear the agonizing wails the creature made just before it exploded into a fine ash. Abruptly my power came to a halt. It felt like I had hit a wall while running at full speed. I couldn’t breathe. A flash of pain in my chest caused me to stumble backward. The pain intensified. I gripped my chest. My veins felt sandblasted. The pain was mind-blowing.
