by Meg Bonney
I didn’t respond, not at all sure what to say. Ara stayed there, just staring at me. Her usual smile was replaced with a scowl.
“Uh, Ara,” Jason stammered, walking to her. “Can you braid my hair, too?”
Ara looked away from me and nodded.
“Make me look like Katniss,” Jason said, closing his eyes as Ara ran her fingers through his hair to begin braiding it.
I shook my head and turned back around to face Ren.
“Don’t mind her. She and Sinder have a past,” Ren whispered. “How are you?” he asked softly, shifting around to get comfortable.
I raised an eyebrow. “I have no idea.” I sank to the ground next to Ren. My legs tingled, and I realized how tired they really were.
“We will get Ruth back, Madison. And we will set the Magics free. My father would be very proud if he could see what we are planning to do.”
I smiled uncomfortably. “Your father.”
“Hey, it was not you. You know that. Everything that happened with my parents—that was not you,” Ren reassured me.
I sighed. “I would hate you. If it were me, I mean. I wouldn’t be able to help myself,” I replied, not looking at him. “How can you forgive me so easily?”
“I guess we just come from different worlds,” he answered and chuckled.
“Oh my god, Ren Raker!” I laughed. “Did you just attempt humor?”
He smiled widely. “The key word is attempt, I suppose.”
I laughed again as my stomach growled. “Any chance they will feed us some real food at the temple before they try to kill us all?”
“No, it is unlikely,” Ren said, smiling.
Jason and Ara returned to where we sat against the white trees. Jason slumped down on the ground. His hair was in three French braids running down the back of his head and then all tied together at the nape of his neck.
He put his hand on my knee.
“Madison, you are hungry,” Ara said. It was more of a statement than a question, but I nodded anyway.
“Like the wolf,” I agreed.
Jason shot his arm up. “Jason is hungry, too!”
Ara turned. “Gullway,” she said rather loudly. “Gullway!”
“Gullway!” Ara yelled again.
This time the troll woke. He rolled on his back and grunted.
“Gullway, are you hungry?” Ara asked.
At that, he sat up and yawned. “Eaaaat.”
Ara walked over to where he sat. “Gullway, I will be needing your help,” she said slowly to our new troll companion.
Gullway nodded.
Ara stood up and placed her hands on his shoulders. Gullway gazed up at her with a gaping smile.
“Follow me, Gullway.”
The two of them walked out of the wooded cover. I stood to watch them. As Ara walked, she unwrapped the chiffon-like fabric that she had wrapped around herself, set it on the ground, and continued, naked, out of the forest.
“Where is she going?” I asked.
Ara jumped onto Gullway’s back as they crossed the path to the cliff’s edge that overlooked the water below. I squinted in the dimming sunlight and could only see their silhouettes. Ara climbed and stood up on Gullway’s shoulders. I gulped as she sprang from his back, and I heard her splash into the water below. Then Gullway walked to the edge and climbed down to follow her.
“Whoa!” I gasped.
“Do not worry. Ara is an amazing swimmer. She will come back with fish, no doubt. We had better start a fire,” Ren said as he started to get up.
“I got this, pal. Rest up.” Jason stood quickly. “Want to help, Mads?”
I nodded with a smile.
Jason and I walked over to the edge of our little area and started collecting more sticks and twigs. He began handing them to me, and I cradled them in a stack.
“How you doing, Maddy?” Jason asked.
“I honestly don’t even know anymore. This has been such a frickin’ crapstorm,” I said. “Nothing has been going our way. I’m just trying to keep it together.”
Jason plopped another branch in my arms and stopped to look at me. “Nobody could handle this as well as you, Maddy. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. You’re doing great.”
“I have no clue what I’m doing, actually. A week ago, my biggest issues were which show I was going to start binge watching this summer and how much I hated running track. And now…now I find out my real dad is the tyrannical Strongblood leader of the Ember Isle, which is at war with the Magics formerly led by my Witch of a mother—who is missing, by the way. Oh! And my aunt that I used to complain about is actually my good aunt but she’s missing and my cousin actually wasn’t in cahoots with my estranged evil father who plans to kill all the magical folk in what is actually my native land that I am the heir to. That was just something cooked up by my evil aunt, who I beheaded in a cave,” I said in one breath.
“Well…yeah. That too.” Jason shrugged.
I sighed. “Do we have enough sticks?” I asked, looking down at the cluster in my arms.
Jason eyed the pile. “Yeah, should be. Now it’s time to see if I can start a fire.” He clapped his hands and rubbed them together.
I dropped the wood in the pile that Ara and Jason had started. Ren was already there, on his knees, digging a hole in the ground. He started arranging the sticks in just the right way.
“All right, now, lighting it might be the tricky part, but I think I can do it,” Jason said with enthusiasm. “We better get started. It’s getting pretty dark out here.”
Ren looked at Jason, pulled something out of a pocket, and tossed it to him.
A lighter.
“Cheater,” Jason said under his breath. He bent and ignited some dried leaves, and the fire started immediately.
We all sat down around the fire and silently watched it spread, crackling, over the sticks. As I stared at the longest stick, an ember landed on it. It started to glow, followed by an orange flame. The flame soon climbed the stick, leaving nothing but blackness in its wake.
My mind wandered to the very spot that I had been avoiding: my parents. I had a father and a mother. And I had spent countless hours of my childhood dreaming that this was true. So many daydreams of the perfect family that I wanted so badly.
I missed the versions of my parents who existed in my mind. I had held onto them for so long, it felt wrong to replace them with the actual people.
My heart beat faster. Did my mother send me away? Did she send me away with Aunt Ruth to live in another dimension? I searched my mind desperately for any memory of a woman coming to visit—someone that Ruth called a family friend, or something like that. But my racing mind was searching for something that didn’t exist. My mother had never come for me.
I clenched my jaw as I thought about my real father. Not the baseball team coach and grill master who I had imagined in my mind. Nope. My dad was a madman, hell-bent on killing the Magics.
I thought of him hurting Ruth. Sinder. The Magics.
Me?
How could my father be a monster? I sighed. He can’t be.
What if everyone’s wrong? Or maybe they’re lying to me? I balled my fists. Why would they lie? Why?
“Oh, wow,” Jason said, breaking my trance. “Maddy!” He shook my shoulder.
I blinked rapidly as the flames in front of me flared up. My skin felt prickly.
The fire had swelled up so high, it was taller than a mountain troll, and it licked at the lower-hanging branches above us.
“Back up, Madison. You have to back up,” I heard Ren call to me.
“I am not…” And that’s when I realized. “Wait…is it me? I’m doing that?”
“It’s getting too high!” Jason yelled.
Oh god.
I closed my eyes and took a deep, calming breath. I cracked open my good eye. The fire had gone down a little, but not to the manageable level it had been.
“Grab a cloak!” I heard Ren yell.
I stepped around the fire to see them scrambling. Ren threw a cloak onto the fire to smother it. Flames shot up through the fabric as holes burned into it immediately.
“No, wait,” I said frantically, shifting my stare to the flames that danced in front of me.
Focus, Madison, I could almost hear Aunt Ruth saying.
I held my hands out, palms down, and imagined the flames lowering and calming. I inhaled and exhaled slowly and thought of Aunt Ruth. I pictured her standing in front of me, going over that stupid breathing technique that she made me do for relaxation at the gym. Breathing in and out slowly.
Calmly and slowly.
I opened my eye to see that the fire had died down to a mini version of the threatening campfire it had been. And standing there with their mouths open were Ren and Jason.
“Well…that’s new,” Jason stammered.
And I grinned widely back at them.
CHAPTER 28
“Maddy, how on…how did you do that? You just controlled fire!” Jason yelped as he and Ren rushed over to me.
“Are you okay?” Ren asked, looking me over.
I met Ren’s concerned stare. “I’m fine. I feel great, actually.” I smiled, feeling exhilarated.
“Fire, Maddy! How did you do that?” Jason pressed.
“I don’t know. I was staring at the fire and I started to think about―I started to get upset, and then the flames just grew,” I explained.
“That is amazing. It must be the Witch thing!” Jason exclaimed.
“How did you get it to go down again?” Ren asked.
They stood around me, shocked and excited.
“I cleared my mind and did some of those dumbass breathing techniques that Aunt Ruth used to make me do. She always said that it was important to learn how to calm myself.” I smirked, remembering how insistent she was about it all.
“Huh. Do you think she knew?” Jason asked softly.
I looked back to the fire.
“I don’t know,” I muttered.
Jason shook his head. “Amazing! My best friend controls fire. Just amazing.”
“Let’s just get you away from the fire, to be on the safe side, Madison.” Ren grabbed my elbow walked me into the trees. “Jason, can you mind the fire?”
“Yep.”
I turned back to look at Jason, who promptly waved me away with a wide grin on his face. I winked at him, then realized I had winked with the eye that was covered with the shell patch. Nice going, Madison.
I followed Ren as we wove through some trees. Lucky for us, the moon was near full and bright, making the forest easy to navigate. Ren stopped at a small clearing and turned to face me.
“That’s better,” Ren said warmly. “Do you feel calmer now?”
I nodded.
Sinder and Kaya were wrong about him. They had to be. They just shared the same view of him as every other bitter Everlian.
“That was pretty cool, but next time, try not to burn the forest down.” Ren smirked. “You had me worried.”
“Don’t worry about me, Ren,” I replied. “I won’t let you down. I will get to that temple to do the ritual and set the Magics free and get Ruth out. I won’t let anything get in the way.”
He almost grimaced at my comment. He didn’t speak, but I could see that he was troubled as he scrunched his eyebrows in thought.
“Madison, you mean more than just the ritual. The ritual is important, yes, but so are you,” he said.
“Ren?” I asked, looking into his eyes. “I’m not good at this stuff.”
Ren tilted his head to the side. “What stuff?”
“People.” I shook my head and laughed nervously. “I do―what I mean to say is, um…” I stopped and chewed on my lip.
Ren took a step back and nodded. “I am not very good with people either.”
“It’s just, I don’t have many friends, and now I…” I growled in frustration at myself. “I’m really glad you aren’t dead.”
Ren grinned, clearly amused by my flustered state.
“I mean―never mind.” I smacked my forehead with my palm.
Ren leaned forward. “Thank you, again.”
“Oh, yes. Um, for what?” I asked, feeling bumbling and awkward.
“For saving my life. You are pretty amazing,” Ren said. He pointed to my earring pinned into his shirt and smiled. “Don’t worry. It’s still me. That shouldn’t have been the first time I thanked you.”
I laughed nervously. “You’re welcome.”
“Here.” Ren reached into his pocket, pulled out a canvas-wrapped book, and handed it to me.
His journal.
I took the small hardcover book and flipped it open. “What is this?” I asked, pretending I hadn’t already seen it. This time, the fake book jacket was gone.
“It has the ritual in it. In case we are separated at the temple. It is on the first page.”
I nodded. “Thank you for this. And thank you for having faith in me.” I paused, then went on. “And for not killing me like you had planned. Although you might have regretted that one a time or two on this trip.” I smiled at him.
“‘I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or you hate them than to travel with them.’” Ren winked at me.
“Oh yeah?” I raised my eyebrows.
“Mark Twain wrote that.” Ren gave me a proud nod. “In the book Tom Sawyer Abroad.”
“I guess I should give that a read.” I smiled back.
“Yes, you should. I picked it up the last time I stopped into your world,” Ren said, not meeting my eyes at first. “I can lend it to you when this is over, if you would like?”
“Let’s just focus on getting to the temple and getting out alive,” I said. “Then we will talk books.”
“Maddy! Ren!” I heard Jason call, interrupting us. “Come on.”
Ren and I made our way back just as Ara and Gullway approached. Ara wrapped her dress around herself as she walked. Gullway carried a cluster of fish.
“Thank you, Gullway. I can take those now.” Ara reached her hand out.
“Gullway cook.”
“You want to cook?” Ara raised her eyebrows. “Gullway, that would be lovely. Thank you. I have a knife in my bag if you’d like to use that.”
Gullway shook his head and pointed at the burlap bag the size of a potato sack that he had been carrying. Ara took her seat by the fire as we all turned to watch Gullway.
Needing the light of our fire, Gullway picked up a small boulder and moved it over by us. Out of the corner of my good eye, I saw the group collectively tense at the sight of Gullway with a boulder, and I smiled.
To my surprise, Gullway pulled a pot and a handful of vegetables out of his bag. He cleared his throat as he unrolled a cloth on top of the boulder. The cloth contained several small paring knives. He then pulled out what looked like a small grate with legs, and he placed it over the fire.
He moved with authority, unlike the clumsy oaf of a troll that I’d had him pegged for. He was skilled and worked diligently.
Without a word, he began preparing the fish, slicing the meat into pieces and putting them into the pot. Gullway’s large hands moved swiftly as he sliced the vegetables and added them to the pot with some water. He stirred his concoction with a wooden spoon, and he threw in pinches of what looked like herbs.
“Wow, Gullway,” I said, breaking the silence.
“Dude, you just made a fish stew in like ten minutes. That was cooking show-level stuff. You are, like, the Gordon Ramsay of trolls, Gullway,” Jason said, also impressed.
Gullway leaned over and set the pot on the metal grate, then laid a few pieces of the fish right on the metal. The fish cooked quickly, and the smell made my mouth water.
“We should go over the plan,” Ara announced.
Ren nodded. “Well, we will get to the templ
e gates and pretend that Jason is a Magic and we are the Cloaked bringing him in.”
“Pardon?” Jason scoffed. “Why am I the decoy Magic?”
“Because you will be able to get out of the courtyard, being that you are non-Magic.” Ren pointed at Jason. “Annnnnd…because I used your cloak to get the fire under control.”
“Right.” Jason gave a defeated sigh and frowned.
“And what about my—my father?” I asked. “Will I…”
“No, Madison. You will not be able to see him. If he knows you are there, your safety will be comprised. He cannot know who you are. It is too dangerous,” Ren answered, knowing what I was about to ask.
I crossed my arms and sniffed. “Then what happens?” I narrowed my eyes.
“Well, according to my father’s research, you will go to the center of the courtyard and do the ritual. That will end the prison spell keeping the Magics there, and we will be able to escape,” Ren said looking at me.
“I will call on the fae to help get everyone out. The Magics may be weak if they haven’t been fed for days,” Ara added.
I nodded.
“Madison, the spell on the courtyard may weaken you, but the spell should not affect me or Jason, so we will help you,” Ren continued.
“But aren’t you a Magic?” Jason asked.
“No. I am a Porter. My father was a Strongblood, and the Porter curse does not make me a true Magic. It just makes me less of an Everlian.”
I frowned. “That isn’t true.”
“Could one of you do the spell, then?” Ara inquired.
Ren met my gaze. “It must be Madison.”
“And you are sure that all this will work the way you have planned? Truly?” Ara asked Ren. “And that the ritual will work with Madison’s blood?”
“It was my father’s research. I do not doubt him,” Ren replied confidently.
I leaned over. “Then neither do we.”
I flipped open the book as Gullway handed me a wooden cup filled with stew. He looked so proud. I thanked him and started eating. The vegetables and fish in the stew were delicious. The carrot-looking pieces were still a little crunchy, and the broth warmed my throat. I tipped up the cup and poured more into my mouth, then went back to looking through the little book in my lap.
