by Dyan Chick
I collapsed to the ground, panting. The world was spinning and I saw stars. I had to work hard to stay conscious.
Ashton dropped to my side and wrapped an arm around me. “Stay with me.”
I offered a weak smile. “I did it.” Then everything went black.
I woke in an unfamiliar bed with the headache I now associated with using the strange powers I possessed. I sat up slowly and looked around the room. Saffron and Ashton were sitting at a small table, deep in conversation.
“Hi,” I said.
Ashton jumped to his feet and crossed the room in one large step. He pushed my hair away from my face and focused his green eyes on me. “Thank the gods.” He pulled me in for an embrace then held me at arm's length. “It’s amazing to see you do that, but scary waiting for you to wake.”
Saffron sat down on the bed next to me. “Ashton told us that you passed out from fear in the first encounter.”
I shifted. I was grateful that Ashton had kept his word to keep my magic a secret from my brother.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “Everything happened so fast.”
She nodded. “Ashton caught me up on everything. Why didn’t you want to tell Max you found your element?”
I shrugged. “Seemed easier at the time. He was so eager to get rid of me.”
She sighed. “He’s doing his best, you know. There’s a lot of pressure on him.”
“I know.” Something tugged inside me. “I just - I’m not ready for him to know.” I searched my mind to find a reason I could use to keep her from telling him. “I don’t want to add extra worry for him. Please, let me tell him when I’m ready.”
Her mouth made a line and she was silent for a few moments. “Fine. But it needs to be before your wedding.”
I nodded. That’s a start. My eyes darted around the small, windowless room. “Where are we?”
“An inn. We had to get you off the road for a bit. Don’t worry, nobody saw you.” Saffron stood and walked back to the table. She picked up her sword and returned it to the sheath on her waist. “We can’t stay any longer. We have to move again.”
Ashton squeezed my hand. I squeezed back, enjoying the warmth of his touch. I turned to him. “How long was I out this time?”
“Four hours,” he said. “Better than last time. I think with more practice, you’ll keep getting stronger.”
I hadn’t thought about practicing my new talent. The thought sent a tingle to my fingers. It was like the power inside me was asking to come out again.
Four hours. “That means it’s dark. Is it safe to travel at night?”
Saffron handed Ashton his dagger from the table. “I don’t think anything is safe for you anymore. The Reapers will keep hunting you until they finish the job. I don’t know if that means death, or worse.”
I bit the inside of my cheek as I imagined what could be worse. Being undead is worse. Saffron tossed me a pile of clothes. “Put these on. We’ll see if a disguise helps at all.”
Ashton’s cheeks turned bright red. “Um…”
Saffron pointed to the door. “You can ready the horses.”
I held back the smile as I realized that Ashton had probably pictured me in my underwear, or less.
Saffron gave me men’s clothes. She tied my hair back and stuffed it into a hat to hide it. She was already dressed in trousers and armor, making her look like a man. She tucked her own hair into a hat.
“Hopefully we’ll look like three men while we’re riding. Much less likely to be bothered by anybody.” She handed me my quiver and bow. “You’ll want to wear these. In case we come across any human foes while we ride.”
I stumbled as we made our way to the stable in the darkness of night. Clouds covered the stars and the moon, making it darker than usual. I saw a small light in what must be the stables and followed Saffron. Ashton was waiting for us when we arrived, horses ready.
“It’s harder to ride at night,” Saffron warned. “We’ll go slower. Trust your horse and make sure you can always see me in front of you.”
She looked at Ashton. “Do not let her out of your sight.”
He nodded.
Saffron and I mounted our horses. Ashton extinguished the lantern before mounting his. We headed out at a steady canter. We passed a few buildings of the very small town we were in. None of them had a light on. It must be really late. Or early. I searched for the moon to give me some sense of time but it was still obscured by the clouds.
We didn’t talk as we rode. My mind wandered. I thought about these new powers I had and what they meant. I didn’t know anything about sorcery. All I knew was that I had aligned with water. How did that result in the flames that I produced? They felt like ice when I made them. Maybe they weren’t flames? But there was heat. Hopefully I could find somebody I to talk to about it at the trials.
We rode for a few hours in silence before the sky started to lighten. At first, I thought the moon had returned, then I realized it was the first watery light of the dawn. I could see the terrain we were crossing and realized we were going up. The trees had changed from the leafy ones we saw yesterday to the pine trees I’d grown used to at the Raven camp.
Saffron cut into the trees and led us to a stream. She broke the silence, “We need to rest the horses for a bit.” She dismounted and guided her horse the the stream.
I climbed off of my horse onto shaky legs. I leaned against my horse for a moment until I regained my balance. My body still felt like it was in motion. I shook my legs one at a time then took my horse to the water.
“Are we in the mountains?” I asked.
“We are. Only a few hours more until we reach the check in point,” Saffron said.
My shoulders relaxed. I’ll be safe when we get to the trials. I sat down on a rock and rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands.
“All right?” Ashton frowned.
“Yeah, just a little headache.” I smiled at him. Just another day of fighting for my life. How strange my world had become. It was turning into one large blur of people trying to kill me. I looked down at my hands, recalling the magic that had come from them. You’re not as helpless as you used to be.
“You sure?” Ashton’s eyebrows were furrowed in concern.
I nodded. For the first time, I was starting to feel like I was gaining some control over myself. If I could learn how to master this magic, maybe I’d be able to prove myself useful enough to avoid marriage.
“Well, if we’re all okay,” Saffron interrupted, “We better get going.” She looked up to the pink sky. “I’d like to get there before noon.”
We rode for a while without incident. The trees around me had lulled me into a sense of security. Without warning, my fingers started to tingle and I straightened in my saddle. I gripped the reins tighter. Something was wrong.
“Don’t worry,” Ashton said from behind me. “You’re feeling the magic.”
I glanced behind me. “What do you mean?”
“That tingle? You feel it, right?”
“It’s almost like the Reapers.” I realized it was similar but not the same as what I felt with the Reapers.
“You’ll get used to it.” He laughed. “You’re well on your way to being a sorcerer. It took me years before I started to feel magic. Your brother was right, it is strong in your family.”
I focused on the tingling. Trying to isolate it, memorize it. It was as if I didn’t even know my own body anymore. Figures. Literally everything in my whole life had been turned upside down. The landscape in front of me started to look fuzzy, like it was going in and out of focus. I squinted.
“You see that?” Ashton called up to me. “It’s the ripple.”
Saffron stopped riding. “Ashton, you’ll need to go first. I can’t see magic.”
I stopped so he could get in front and she dropped behind me. The landscape in front of me was rippling as if it was covered by crystal clear water. It was hard to believe that Saffron couldn’t see it.
A rush o
f cold, then warmth flowed through me as we crossed through the ripple. “What was that?”
“We passed through.” Ashton explained. “Only those who are invited can enter.”
“With guests?” How hard would it be for the Reapers to tag along with somebody who had been invited here?
He looked back at me. “You and Saffron were added to the list yesterday. We sent a dove ahead.”
We turned a bend on the trail and I saw a man standing off to the side. He smiled at us as we approached.
Ashton stopped his horse and dismounted. I climbed off my horse. The man in front of us was wearing burgundy robes and had long, black hair. He was probably only a few years older than Ashton.
“Welcome, friends.” He bowed to the three of us. “Will the member taking the trial please state their name?”
Ashton stepped forward. “Ashton Robert White.”
The man in the burgundy robes nodded at him. “Please tie your horses to the posts.” He motioned across from him to three posts that had not been there before. “And drop all weapons in this box.” A box materialized at his feet. My fingers tingled in what I now recognized as a response to his use of magic.
Ashton and Saffron placed their weapons in the box. I hesitated and tightened my grip on my bow.
“Excuse me,” I began, “may I turn in my arrows and keep my bow on me? It was a gift and I don’t want to part with it.”
The man looked me up and down. “When are you taking your trials?”
My eyes grew wide. How did he know I had magic? “I don’t think I’ll be taking the trials.”
“You eighteen yet?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Seventeen.”
“Next trials, then.” He nodded.
I opened my mouth to respond but closed it when I realized I didn’t have anything to say.
“You may keep the bow,” he said.
I let out a breath. “Thank you.” I dropped my quiver into the box and took a step back from it. The box vanished. I gasped.
“It will be here when you leave,” he said. “As will your horses.”
I looked over to where Saffron had tied up our horses and found that they were gone. I blinked a few times to make sure I was seeing things clearly.
The man handed Ashton a coin. “This will take you where you need to go. Good luck to you, Ashton Robert White.”
Ashton thanked him and gestured for us to follow him down the trial. We walked a few yards before he came to a stop. I saw the ripple clearly this time and recognized it for what it was. The tingle was no longer reliable because my hands had not stopped tingling. I wondered if it would go away or if it would last through the whole trials.
“Are we going through?” I asked.
Saffron turned to me. “Another ripple?”
I felt a pang of guilt that I was able to see the magic and she could not. I nodded at her.
Ashton pushed the coin through the ripple. It melted away before my eyes revealing a sprawling meadow filled with colorful tents. People walked through the meadow and around the tents. All of this was hiding right in plain sight. I looked behind me. I saw the rocky mountain landscape filled with pine trees. In front of me, the gentle hills of the lush green meadow didn’t match up. I followed Ashton onto the soft grass. It was like being in a dream.
Ashton smiled. “Bet you didn’t see that coming.”
My mouth was open. “It’s amazing.”
“It’s a portal,” he explained. “The coin is the only way in.”
“Wow.” I looked around the meadow. There were patches of yellow flowers scattered throughout and a blue butterfly flew in front of me. “It’s beautiful.”
I started to reach for Ashton’s hand then remembered that Saffron was with us and pulled back. I bit the inside of my cheek. I have to let him go. I can’t keep doing this to myself. My heart felt like it was being squeezed. How do you let go of something that feels so right?
Ashton pointed. “Our tent is over here.”
We stopped in front of a purple tent. It had a sign posted outside of it with the number 47 written on it. Ashton pulled back the flap for us to enter. I followed Saffron inside.
There were three beds in the tent and on each bed were the supplies from our saddle bags. Everything we had on our horses was here.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.” I shook my head.
“Just wait until you see the trials,” Ashton said. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
18
After finally convincing Saffron to get some sleep, Ashton and I went to explore. I got used to the tingle of magic as we spent the afternoon getting to know the trial site. The meadow housed tents for all of the students who would be taking the trial, along with everything needed for the trials. He showed me the spaces they would use for the different tests he had to take. There were three public fields with stands set up for viewers and three large, closed in structures for private tests. Ashton would take his exhibition test first and then move on to the second round behind closed doors.
Where I grew up, there were no sorcerers. I had heard of them, but mostly in fairy tales or in whispered stories about the king. As I walked around the camp with Ashton, I studied all of the different people I saw. We passed a man wearing a purple scarf wrapped around his head, and a woman with a dress that looked as if it were made of feathers. I’d never seen such different clothing styles and the variety was overwhelming.
“Are all of these people sorcerers or apprentices?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Most of them are. Some are younger apprentices who are just observing. Some are family members who don’t use magic.”
My eyes darted from side to side, trying to take it all in. “There’s so many of them.”
“The Sorcerer’s Guild is made up of three kingdoms. So these are sorcerers from Illaria, Gallia, and Sardina.”
Knowing they were here from other places made it seem a little less daunting.
“Ashton?”
I turned to see a petite girl with dark brown hair and tan skin running over to us. She threw her arms around Ashton.
My stomach clenched. I crossed my arms and glared at her. Who is this girl? And why is she hugging Ashton?
“I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since I saw you.” She twisted a lock of hair between her fingers. “Last time we were here, we just watched. Now it’s our turn.” She slid her arm through his and guided him away, ignoring me completely. “Come on, I want to show you something.”
Ashton took a step back. “Hold on, Celeste.” He pulled his arm away from her. “I want you to meet my friend, Wilona.”
Friend? Do you kiss all of your friends? I dropped my arms to my side but stood planted where I was. I forced a smile across my face. “Hello, Celeste.”
He reached for my hand and tugged. Reluctantly, I stepped toward her. She was very pretty and I wondered what kind of friendship she had with Ashton.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” She smiled at me. “I must not have seen you standing there.”
Likely story. I held my smile.
“Are you training with Max, too?” she asked.
Before I could say anything, Ashton cut in. “Yes, she’ll be testing at the next trials, she just missed the age cut off..”
Celeste raised an eyebrow and locked her green eyes on me. “First visit?”
I nodded, still holding my fake smile.
Celeste nodded her head in my direction but spoke to Ashton. “Can I trust her?”
Ashton didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely.”
“Well,” Celeste tapped her fingers against her legs. “Why don’t you come, too?” She glanced down at my hand, which was still clasped inside Ashton’s.
“Great,” he said, “lead the way.”
Celeste took us into her tent. There was only one bed inside hers. For a moment I felt bad for taking away Ashton when she was clearly here alone. Ashton squeezed my hand, and the moment passed.
She
lifted a small box that was sitting on the ground next to her bed and held it out to us. Her eyes flashed and her smile lit up her whole face. “I finished it.”
Ashton let go of my hand and took the box from her. “You’re kidding.”
She shook her head. “See for yourself.”
He opened the box and it emitted a purple glow. Ashton put his hand in and lifted the glowing purple orb. “It’s amazing.” He smiled at her. He set the box down on the bed and moved the orb from hand to hand. “I can’t believe you did this yourself. I don’t think anybody has made one in a hundred years.”
I stared at the purple light in awe. It was beautiful. It was so bright, I thought it would hurt my eyes, but instead, it was calming. I wanted to ask what it was, but I didn’t want to look stupid in front of Celeste, so I kept my mouth shut.
Ashton turned to me. “Here.” He set the orb in my hand.
It was warm and smooth. How you would imagine a star might feel. It made me feel calm. Every muscle in my body relaxed and I decided that maybe Celeste wasn’t so bad after all. I shook my head. What is this thing? I handed it back to Ashton and instantly, my tension returned.
“It’s amazing, Celeste.” Ashton placed it back in the box.
She smiled broadly. “And it’s only the model. Once I’m officially a master, I can start working on the real one. Can you imagine how much more powerful it will be with a real dragon egg inside of it?”
“I still can’t believe your uncle is letting you have that egg,” he said.
“Dragon egg?” I knew there had been dragons in Illaria, but nobody had seen one in a thousand years. “I didn’t know anybody still had them around.”
Celeste closed up the box. “There are a few surviving eggs. Nobody was ever able to hatch a dragon, but they retained their healing properties. When I build the real orb, I’ll be able to use it to heal people. It’s a very ancient magic. I started studying it a few years ago. We’ll have to talk some time. I’ll tell you all about it.”
