by Megan Linski
But then there was more than the sound of our footsteps crunching the earth. Someone was giving an audible shout.
A cry for help.
“Did you hear that?” Sophia looked at me.
I paused to listen for a second, then nodded when I heard the voice again. “Yeah. Someone’s in trouble.”
Esis took off. He leapt off my head and started jumping from tree to tree toward the screaming.
“Esis, wait!” Sophia cried. We broke into a run to keep up with him. He became a little white dot in the leaves, zig-zagging this way and that.
Sophia was ahead of me. She didn’t look where she was going, and someone stepped onto the path, who Sophia slammed into.
“Oof!” the figure cried. Imogen again.
“What are you doing here?” I asked her as she untangled herself from Sophia. I helped both girls up and stared at Imogen. She was wearing these large bunny ears that looked like antennas poking out of her hair. Sassy was nearby, rising on her hind legs curiously.
“I had some free time and was out looking for wolpertingers. Sassy loves to play with them,” Imogen said. “We were adventuring until we heard screaming, and we came this way.”
I was pretty sure whatever Imogen said didn’t exist, but I went along with it. Another voice broke through the woods.
“Oy! There you guys are!”
From behind us and with a bunch of twigs in his hair came Jonah, grinning like a wildcat.
“Jonah? What the fuck?” I asked. Squeaks was having a hard time getting through the trees. The hippogriff crushed bushes and knocked over saplings on her struggle to get to Jonah, squawking her irritation at him.
“I saw you and Sophia go into the woods together, and I got curious.” Jonah waggled his eyebrows. “But then… I got lost.”
“Typical.” I rolled my eyes. Jonah wasn’t very good with directions.
Esis was hopping up and down in the tree ahead of us, peeping and wanting us to keep up. There was another scream.
“Let’s go,” Sophia said, and she led the way.
“Isn’t it so interesting how we’re all going on such an adventure? I think we’re going to be very good friends,” Imogen said pleasantly amongst the backdrop of the horrified wailing.
“Yeah. We’re a fucking group, all right,” I mumbled. The Kogini girl who couldn’t conjure fire, the gay Yapluma guy who was too big to be from Yapluma, the weird Nivita girl who creeped everyone out, and me, the Familiar-less cripple. This joke was too damn perfect. If anyone saw me together with all these people at the same time, I’d be a laughingstock.
The trees eventually ended and cleared. Below us was a large cliff about fifteen feet tall, and at the bottom was a thick black tar pit, sticky and deep.
Tar pits weren’t unusual around here. There were quite a few dotted throughout the woods. Most people knew to stay away from them, but apparently not this time.
The yelling was coming from Professor Perot. He was submerged in the middle of the pit up to his neck, the only thing being free his arms and his head. His peacock Familiar, Baxtor, was fluttering around the pit trying to get Perot out. But he had changed. Baxtor’s body had morphed into a bird representing a cloud. His body, feathers and plumage were transparent and white, and he fluttered over Professor Perot frantically. With each beat of his wing, he tried to summon the winds to get them to lift Perot out of the muck, but his magic just wasn’t strong enough. All the rampaging air managed to do was buffet the trees around and knock a few limbs down. The lower Perot sank, the weaker Baxtor got. He was sinking too, struggling to keep himself aloft as Perot gasped for air.
Perot’s eyes caught us on the cliff. “Children!” he shouted. “Go away from here! This isn’t something you can see!”
“We’ll get you out!” I yelled back.
“It’s too late! Leave!” Perot coughed, the thick tar rising up to his chin.
He already considered himself a goner. Not on my watch.
“We need to find a teacher,” Jonah said. He went to run back the way he came, but I snagged him by the arm to hold him back.
“There’s no time. He’ll be dead by the time we get help. We’re going to have to work together,” I said.
I raised my hands. My power searched the tar pit below for some sort of liquid. It was in there, but it wasn’t much. I gritted my teeth and tried to make the liquid beneath Perot move upward. I managed to budge him up for a moment, but once I let go, he sank right back down.
“There isn’t enough water in there for me to manipulate. Tar is earth. Do you think you could try, Imogen?” I asked.
“I can.” She took a deep breath and stepped forward. She raised a hand toward the tar pit. We stood around her in a circle, waiting for something to happen. The tar pit bubbled and rumbled, but nothing else happened. Imogen gasped and dropped her hand.
“I can’t.” Imogen wiped a bit of sweat from her brow. “I’m sorry, Liam, but I’m just a First Year. If I had a bit more experience, I could.”
“Fire won’t help. If I try to burn it, he’ll be killed in seconds,” Sophia said.
“Air is already useless,” Jonah said grimly, staring at Baxtor.
“We’re going to have to figure out another way.” I put my hand to my mouth and thought. We had ten minutes, maybe, before Perot went under. But if our powers didn’t work to get him out, what would?
“There!” Sophia interrupted my train of thought by pointing to a loosely hanging tree branch Baxtor had blown free. She walked up to the branch and ripped it off, handing it to Jonah.
“Jonah, can you get your Familiar to dangle this over the professor? Maybe she can yank him out,” Sophia said.
“Worth a shot,” Jonah replied. He handed the branch to Squeaks, who took it with her beak. She flew over Perot and dangled the branch over him.
“Professor! Grab the branch, and she’ll pull you out!” Sophia cried.
Professor Perot reached up to grab the branch. Once he had ahold of it with two hands, Squeaks pulled. His upper body rose out of the tar, but from the waist down, he was still stuck. No matter how hard Squeaks pulled, she couldn’t yank him free.
“It’s not working,” Jonah said. He appeared tired at Squeaks’ struggle. “She’s not strong enough.”
Sophia looked desperately at me. I got an idea. “Here.” I pulled the rope Haley had thrown at me out of my pocket. It was just long enough. I tied a loop, then handed the end of it to Sophia, Imogen and Jonah. “We’ll slide down the embankment, then get this around him. With all of us, we should be able to pull him out.”
Sophia nodded. “Right.”
This was way dangerous. We had an equal chance of falling in and getting trapped ourselves. But there wasn’t really any other plan. I slid down the embankment first, on my back, then Sophia followed, trailed by Imogen and Jonah. At the bottom was a thin strip of dirt we could stand on. Perot saw what we were doing, and his eyes widened.
“Don’t risk your own lives, children! I’m not worth it!” he yelled.
“Yes you are,” I said firmly. “Let go of the stick for a moment. We’ll lasso you and pull you to shore.”
Meekly, Perot did as he was told. I concentrated, focusing my eyes on him. We only had one rope. If I missed, it was game over.
I tossed the rope, and thankfully, it looped around Perot. He adjusted it so it was around his waist, then reached up to grab the branch Squeaks was dangling again.
“All together!” Sophia shouted. “Pull!”
We yanked on the rope. It wasn’t an easy task. Perot really was stuck. Even with all of us pulling, he remained trapped.
“Harder!” Sophia shouted. “I know we can do this!”
Her confidence wasn’t helping me, but it obviously did something for Jonah and Imogen, because Perot began to move through the tar toward us. Baxter flew forward and latched his talons under the branch Squeaks was holding, helping her pull up. Sassy lunged forward and sank her teeth into the rope to help Imogen pul
l. Esis hopped up and down on the cliff above and cheered us on.
“It’s working!” I shouted. Perot was getting closer and closer to shore. “Keep pulling! He’s almost there!”
With a monumental effort that was gonna pull out my back, all of us yanked at once. Perot came free of the tar pit and landed onshore, heaving. Squeaks dropped the branch and Baxter flew forward, landing on the shore and pecking at Perot’s head.
“I’m fine, Baxtor,” Perot breathed. “I’m fine.”
“Professor, are you all right?” I asked him. “What were you even doing out here?”
“I was looking for magical mushrooms for our class next week, before I tripped and stumbled down the embankment,” Perot said. “I didn’t see the pit, and fell in. I would’ve died if you and your Familiars hadn’t come along.”
Perot was obviously very weak, and his clothes were stuck to his body. Sophia moved forward and said, “Come on. We’ve got to get him back to the castle.”
Shadows loomed overhead. We looked up and saw that Madame Doya was there with Naomi, as well as Head Dean Alric. Valda landed by his side, staring down the pit. She was amethyst dragon, with brilliant gemstone eyes that stared down in concern at Perot. Her large leathery wings blocked out a portion of the sun as she stared down at us.
“Perfect timing. Thanks for all the help,” I grumbled.
“Perot! Can you stand?” Alric called down.
“I… I am strong enough to make it up the embankment, but not to walk much after,” Perot said.
We helped Perot up the hill before we climbed it ourselves. By this time, I was exhausted. I still had a long walk back to the castle before I sank into my nice, warm bed. With help from Alric, Perot climbed onto Valda’s back, and she spread her wings to take him to the medical wing.
Now that Perot was out of the pit and safe, Baxtor changed back into a regular peacock. He cooed as he followed behind Valda to safety.
“You children are remarkable. Thank you for risking your lives to save Perot’s,” Alric said to us. “I’m afraid the situation would’ve ended quite differently, if you weren’t involved. Madame Doya and I were just on our evening walk before we heard the shouting. I daresay we wouldn’t have reached him in time.”
The guy was practically astounded that we’d stuck out our necks to rescue a teacher. People had morals every now and then, didn’t they?
Madame Doya didn’t look happy. In fact, it looked like she was almost displeased we’d saved Perot’s life.
“It’s nothing. Don’t mention it,” Sophia said, smiling.
Don’t mention it? Are you kidding? I wanted to scream at her. Wasn’t there some sort of award we’d get for this? Really?
“Yes. Well.” Alric forced a grimace at her. “I think it’d be best if you returned to your dormitories. I also think it best if we keep this between us, and prevent gossip from spreading.”
Jonah nodded like a brainless doll, and I took the first opportunity I could to get the hell out of there.
Great. We weren’t even going to get any credit for this. All because of Sophia.
Sophia, Imogen and Jonah followed me back to the castle. I expected us to split up at the door, but they kept trailing me, along with their quirky Familiars. Esis was sitting on Sophia’s shoulder again, and was singing some sort of peppy tune.
Ancestors, it was like the soundtrack to a sitcom or something, and I was living it.
“You guys want to eat together?” Sophia gestured toward the dining hall. Her cheeks were a bit pink. “I… well, I usually eat alone, but it’d be nice if you’d like to join.”
“I’m in.” Jonah rubbed his stomach and threw an arm around Squeaks. “Me and Squeaks are always down for some grub.”
Imogen’s smile spread wide at Sophia’s invite. “Sure! Liam, you want to come?”
I was starving, but I wouldn’t be seen with them. I wanted some alone time. “I’m not hungry. I’m heading back to my dorm.”
I turned my back before they said anything else. Sophia’s face was crestfallen. I felt bad about being a dick, but still. I knew that I’d messed up.
It was one thing to be polite and be acquaintances. Maybe even friends. But being in a life-or-death situation was an entirely different story. I didn’t want to be that close to anyone. I was supposed to be the lone wolf.
I’d formed a bond with these people, which was a critical mistake.
The next day, Sophia was still following me around like a puppy dog, which was irritating. She couldn’t stop talking about how amazing it was that we’d saved Perot. Since I wasn’t getting some type of reward, I just wanted to forget about it.
“You were pretty cool yesterday,” she commented after she’d caught me coming in from Water class, and I groaned. “You’re a good leader.”
“Don’t say that. I don't like helping people,” I growled.
“You helped me earlier.” She leaned against a window in the hallway. Esis was in her arms, and he did that weird staring thing with his eyes again when he looked at me, his little mouth forming a tiny grin. That fluff ball was gonna give me nightmares.
“Totally different.”
“Uh-huh. Sure it was.” Sophia’s tone was so smug I no longer doubted she was a stolen Koigni child.
“You were the one who came up with the plan,” I said. “I just helped.”
“What I said earlier is true. We make a good team.”
“Oh, yeah. Fire and Water. Great mix.” I rolled my eyes. “Think whatever you want, Soph.”
I didn’t mean to call her that, but I did. She brightened like a lightbulb, and I wanted to hit myself. By the ancestors, it was so hard not to let her in.
“Out of the way!” a teacher’s loud shout caught my attention. Baine was clearing a path through the hallway, shoving students aside and directing them to get to the wall. A massive group of professors were behind them. Their faces were drawn and grim, not worried but accepting a dark fate. Students froze like statues, clinging to their Familiars as they saw what was behind the teachers.
Some creature was in the back of a wagon pulled by a black chimera. I couldn’t tell what it was, because the animal was covered in a black, velvet shroud. It was utterly still, and didn’t move.
The sight of the black shroud caused my body to convulse. I gagged, and almost threw up. Pangs of agony shot through my spine and spread throughout my back, and the room turned wavy. I got lightheaded. My body shuddered violently, and I turned away from Sophia so she wouldn’t see, pressing my head against the cool rock and shaking.
“Liam?” I felt Sophia’s soft hand on my back. “Are you okay?”
I took a few deep breaths and blinked back tears. “I’m… fine.” I forced myself to regain my composure and turned back, forced myself to watch the gruesome scene, where I already knew what had happened.
Behind the cart was a boy. Carter. He was from Yapluma. A guy was on either side of him, helping him walk. Carter’s face was ashen, and his steps were staggering. The guys more or less carried him as he dragged his feet, his eyes dull and lifeless. All the color had gone out of him. It looked like someone had sucked everything out of him that made him… himself. He said nothing, eyes staring straight ahead, dried tears on his expressionless, void face. Saying he looked half-alive would be a compliment. Carter was more or less a walking corpse. It was the scariest thing to witness.
He was nothing. A shell. There wasn’t anything left.
I’d looked the same way when they brought me in. I felt the same way. I was the only one in this hallway who knew what Carter was feeling, because not so long ago I had been the one trailing behind that cart, staring at the lifeless form that had been Nashoma, buried under that black shroud.
I jumped when I felt someone coming up behind me. It was Imogen. She snuck between the two of us and kept her voice low.
“You guys hear the news?” she said.
“What’s going on?” Sophia asked, confused. I kept quiet and let Imogen ex
plain. This was too painful for me.
“It’s Carter. He and Tiara had an accident in Flight class,” Imogen whispered.
My stomach sunk. “What happened?”
“Carter misdirected her. They hit a tree, and Tiara spun out into the target they were supposed to fly through. It impaled her through the heart,” Imogen hushed. “She died while they were trying to get her back to the medical wing.”
Imogen sighed. “Poor kid. He did so much, too. Volunteered for the community, captain of the sports teams and everything. All that’s done now. But at least he accomplished something while he was here.”
I felt like I was going to throw up again. Sophia was really pale. Horrified screams began echoing down the hallway. The girls turned their heads, but I just closed my eyes and wished it was over.
When the wailing got louder, I was forced to look. I knew him. James, from Nivita. He was beside himself. A couple of girls tried to comfort him as he sobbed. His screams shook the walls as tears streamed down his red face. He was cradling his small dragon Familiar in his arms tightly. He couldn’t fly on him yet, but I think that they were in Flight class with Carter and Tiara, too. I bet they’d watched the whole thing.
“Poor James,” Imogen said softly. “It’s just so sad.”
“Are James and Carter really close?” Sophia asked.
“They’re best friends,” Imogen said lowly. “Or they were. James knows he’s gonna have to say goodbye soon. Carter’s a goner.”
“What do you mean?” Sophia asked, and my heartbeat quickened. “He’s okay, isn’t he?”
Imogen shook her head. “No. He’s not. Elementai can’t live without their Familiars, and vice versa. Carter’s as good as dead.”
“You mean… if you lose your Familiar, you die?” Sophia hushed her voice as the procession passed us by.
Imogen waited until the group was gone before she nodded solemnly. “Yep. It’s how it works. You can’t survive without your soul.”
There was a lump in my throat that was hard to swallow. Yeah. Except for me.
“How… how long can you survive without your Familiar?” Sophia said, pulling Esis closer to her.