by A. J. Macey
We set up camp with efficiency. It was only our second night, but our focus was intense. Xan had a fire roaring within minutes, and we could finally relax a little. Aris sat between Caspian and me, her fingers entwined with mine but her attention mostly on Cas. I could feel his narrowed eyes on me every so often, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask why he was angry this time. Sighing, I pushed the rift between my brother and me out of my mind and finished eating.
Being hungry and tired wasn’t good for anyone, including me.
November 27th
Wednesday Morning
Aris
Despite being huddled close to Drayce in our sleeping bag, I woke up shivering. Even the precautions Torryn had taken couldn’t stand up to a cold front in the wilderness. Snuggling closer, I tried to fall back asleep, but my body had other thoughts, and a low rumble from my stomach forced me out of bed. Drayce grunted and shifted, remaining asleep as I shimmied my way out of the bag and threw on an extra layer before walking outside.
“Morning, Muse,” Xan whispered, giving me a sleepy smile from his chair in front of the fire.
“Morning,” I greeted him, leaning down and kissing him on the head before hurrying off to find a spot to pee. What I would give for a nice, warm bathroom right now. Ugh.
Walking back toward camp, I heard the other guys starting to move around, the chilly morning and bright light forcing them up way earlier than normal. Xan had the fire even bigger by the time I got back.
“Morning breath?” Caspian asked, his eyes barely opened as he took a swig before handing me the magical mouthwash bottle. The moment the minty concoction was in my mouth, I felt the bubbly tingle that meant it was cleaning my teeth. Thank the Gods Tor had thought of everything. I can pee in the woods, but I at least need clean teeth to feel normal.
Kye joined us last, his eyes red-ringed and watery, showing me he hadn’t been handling what happened to his family as well as he let on. Not wanting to bring too much attention to him from the others, I walked around the group quietly as they packed up, wrapping my arms tightly around him before he could protest.
“I’m alright, Sweets,” he murmured softly, his breath moving my hair atop my head with his words.
“You don’t have to pretend, Kye, but I’m here for you if you ever need to talk or someone to hug,” I whispered. Squeezing me tightly, Kye conveyed his gratitude. Stepping back, I looked up at him with a soft smile, popping up on my toes to give him a kiss.
“We need a new plan. This cold front is supposed to get worse,” Torryn announced, pulling my attention from Kye. Tor handed out cold biscuits as we thought about what to do next.
“Can we go to Ignis?” I asked hopefully, already imagining the warmth of my home territory. Torryn wasn’t convinced the portal was our best option, and I couldn’t blame him. Here, we had the home advantage, but the other worlds where we’d end up were full of unknowns.
“That’s always an option,” Torryn agreed, “though they might expect us to go there. Getting close to any of our family is a terrible idea right now.” We all fell silent, the reminder of Kye’s parents making my heart hurt again.
“Well, if it’s between staying far away from them and possibly freezing to death when we inevitably run out of these leaves, I’ll take avoiding the Calistos,” Kye deadpanned, scooting closer to the fire.
“My family has a summer cottage on the edge of Ignis,” I suggested, but Torryn was already shaking his head.
“They’d check anything associated with our families,” he countered with an apologetic smile.
My smile faded to a frown. “But showers… and a bed.”
“We’ll get you those things when we can, Cupcake. Promise,” Caspian said, looking just as upset as I felt.
“What about the Volcanic forest in Ignis? It’s not exactly full of people,” Xan suggested.
“No, but it’s also uninhabitable,” I laughed, remembering the school field trips to the ashy lands. It was mostly made up of ash and volcanic rock. The only cover we’d have would be the blackened ruins of the old town.
“Untrue.” Xan smiled, his face lighting up in the telltale sign he was going to drop some truth on us. “Most people choose not to live there, and there aren’t any established towns. However, it hasn’t erupted in approximately two hundred years, and it isn’t going to now. There’s actually an abandoned museum there the council voted to shut down when they reallocated some funds to the academies. It was a big vote my dad talked about.”
“If it was a museum, then it might have generators,” Tor said, perking up.
“And old supplies and food,” Kye added, Raptor squawking in agreement.
“They might even have old blankets or something in the back… which means warmth,” Drayce groaned.
“Well, guys, I guess we’re going home,” I said excitedly, already picturing the sun and warmth. “Let’s go!”
“Calm down, Sweets!” Kye laughed, the mood in our camp already lifting. Of course, Torryn already had his maps out, marking out the quickest and safest route to Ignis. The Ash forest was on the outer edge, making our journey a bit shorter than it could have been.
We let him plan while the rest of us took down the camp, saving the fire for last. By the time we were ready to go, Tor was confident, and I was excited. Funny how a bit of hope could erase the exhaustion and weariness in mere minutes.
“What’s the first thing you’re going to do when this is all over?” Drayce asked the group.
“Shower,” Kye deadpanned, sniffing his clothes and groaning. “I’ve never felt more disgusting.”
“Well, you’re a cute hobo, Kye,” I teased, blowing him a kiss when he turned around to glare at me.
“You too, Sweets. That whole mud-streaked look is doing it for me,” he said, laughing and dodging the pinecone I picked up off of the ground to toss at him.
“Don’t make fun of my lack of coordination. You’d think with five boyfriends, someone would always be around to catch me,” I teased, laughing at Caspian and Torryn’s matching looks of indignation.
“Angel, keeping you from tripping is a task even a group of five can’t handle,” Drayce said, laughing hysterically when I huffed and proceeded to catch my foot on a root, only staying on my feet thanks to Xan reaching out, catching my elbow, and steadying me.
“Shh!” Torryn hissed, all of us freezing in place at the urgency in his voice. My breath caught in my throat as fear built. I tried to listen, but my heart was beating so hard in my chest, it felt like I would pass out.
We stayed like that for so long, my legs started to hurt. Carefully, I lowered myself to the ground, sitting on my bag and waiting. I trusted Torryn and knew if he told us to freeze, it was serious.
A few minutes later, the sound of something whirring overhead broke through the silence. It was a sound I’d heard before and knew well. The council had sent the flock after us. Shimmering glass birds soaring through the sky, the wave of clinking filling the air as their wings flapped, each enchanted bird, no doubt scanning the forest around us. The problem was they weren’t just showing video footage; they could pick up on heat signatures, which meant we were flying without a broomstick.
“They found us. New plan. Time to find that portal,” Torryn said, his voice solemn.
November 27th
Wednesday Midday
Aris
We moved as quickly as we could, Torryn and Xan working tirelessly to spell the space around us so we would blend more seamlessly into our surroundings. While they couldn’t completely erase our heat signatures, they could have us read colder than normal, so we could move through the forest and back to the capital without the flock following us.
After an hour or two, the edge of the forest finally appeared, Divus only a little way down the road. Even from here, we could see the council building standing tall and proud in the distance. Acid burned my stomach as we lit the lanterns, fear and panic starting to ice my veins. The thought that we had to move through the
city unnoticed, then sneak into the building before finally locating the portals terrified me. Taking a deep breath, I tried to silence the worries swirling in my mind.
Easy peasy. That’s what I kept telling myself as we walked. My adrenaline had slowly seeped out of my body over the time it took to reach Divus, but as we neared the building almost another half-hour later, I felt the prickling of it starting to grow once more. Glancing around at the guys, I noticed they all had tense shoulders, harsh frowns, and worried gazes, no doubt struggling with everything that was happening.
“Alright, there’s an entrance on the side of the building; it’s an old cellar door used to transport prisoners. They hadn’t used it very much in the few years before I came to Aether since they’d started to use a new expansion,” Xan explained softly from the back. We had paused our movements and hugged the wall of the business closest to the capitol building to figure out the plan. “Let’s hope that’s still the case.”
“Good plan. You lead the way,” Torryn directed from the front. Nodding, Xan started forward, snaking our line behind him. Mr. Stripes chirped softly as we neared the old set of wooden doors.
“Shh,” I cooed in an attempt to calm him. His little arms clutched to my head tighter, his body pressing into my hair. “I’ll pet you as soon as I can, baby,” I whispered. With one final chirp, my familiar fell silent.
Once Xan was within reach of the iron handles to the cellar door, he leaned down. Heaving, he pried open the low-lying doors, struggling with the angle of the doors. He didn’t want to break the line we had formed and become visible, so he had to work one-handed. By the time he had the worn oak door open, his forehead was coated in a layer of sweat, black hair sticking to it in odd places.
My heart thudded painfully in my chest, the pounding in my ears muffling any possible noise around me. Light filtered into the stone hallway through the open cellar door, the soft glow only somewhat brightening the dark and musty space. Dust coated the floor, and cobwebs clustered in the corners and dangled from the ceiling. Wow, wonder how long ago this was abandoned.
As much as I wanted to be relieved there was no chance of someone being down here, I couldn’t. Every few seconds, I felt a sneeze build up as I ducked under webs and waded through clouds of dust, making the relief we had an abandoned entry into the building short-lived.
“Are we almost out of this tunnel?” I asked softly, a building sneeze burning my nose as I tried to keep it in.
“Should be. I used to run around down here to escape the tediousness of day-to-day life in the capitol. Being the son of a councilman was boring, and I constantly wanted to run off and explore. Knew it like the back of my hand back then, so if I remember correctly, the door should be… right here,” Xan explained, the jangle of the iron handle filling the space.
Thank hellsticks. I feel like my sinuses are about to explode from all the sneezes I’ve tried to hold in. My eyes took a moment to adjust to the soft glow of the hallway we’d stepped into, the magically powered lantern flames flickering in their sconces. We took a moment before moving forward, all of us sucking in fresh air.
“Any idea where the portals actually are?” Drayce asked Xan, the rest of us looking to our line leader. Based on Xan's grimace, that was a no.
“I have a couple ideas, but that information is kept under spell and key, so we’re going to have to either split up and search or hunt for it.”
“I don’t think separation is a good idea,” Kye stated simply, the rest of us agreeing.
“Alright, then we’ll start looking. Best bet would be near the council chambers. That area of the building is kept under constant supervision, and there’s an area where they don’t let any outsiders in. If not there… then probably somewhere here in the basement.”
“That would take an entire day to scour,” Caspian added. “If we didn’t get lost first.”
“I agree. I know the outskirts of the basement well, but not the middle portion. It’s a maze.”
“Upstairs first, then,” Torryn decided, his tone brokering no argument from the rest of us.
Not that he would actually get any. I sighed. I think my feet may fall off if I don’t get a chance to sit down soon.
It was slow going and nerve-wracking. I jumped at any noise, holding my breath when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. We hadn’t passed anyone by the time we started up the stairs and reached the main floor of the council building. It was odd being able to move throughout the floors of the building, unbeknownst to anyone else.
I found myself watching the workers and their supervisors, seeing those dressed in fancier clothes and council sigils, signifying their higher position, yelling at those they saw as beneath them, berating them for menial things. My lips curled into a frown. We’re all witches. Why do those with certain powers or positions think they're inherently better?
Then it dawned on me; it didn’t make them better. Each time I saw a witch in a prestigious position throw a dirty look to witches like Brynn because they didn’t think they were worthy, my anger built even stronger.
The sound of a metal dish falling to the floor in a clatter startled me, pulling me from my observations and back to what we were doing. The council messenger who had come and gotten us from Aether was scrambling to pick up the tray of mail he had been carrying, the cream envelopes scattered around the stone floor. Another wave of irritation filled me as one of the enforcers used his air element to blow the items around. How would he like it if I blew him all over the place?
Before I could stop the wash of power, a large gust tunneled through the hall. A gasp fell from my lips when I realized what I had done. The enforcer was swept up, being carried at a dizzying speed down the hall, where he collided with the wall.
“What the…?” the messenger murmured, looking around. When his eyes fell on us, I realized what happened. The wind had not only blown the guard away, it had extinguished the flames in our lanterns.
“Oh, hellsticks,” I exclaimed. “I was just getting so angry, I wasn’t thinking about my powers acting up.” Rushing to explain, I glanced at the guys, worried about the expressions I would see. While they looked at me with wide eyes, I think we were all too stunned at what happened for them to be upset. At least that’s what I’ll keep telling myself.
“You,” the messenger breathed, his finger pointing to me as he gaped. “You guys are going to take my advice, aren’t you? To take the portals?”
“You’re S? Do you know where they are?” I asked, stepping away from the guys despite their protests. Kneeling down, I started to pick up the envelopes, using my power to collect all the ones scattered too far to reach.
“Unfortunately, I don’t, but I’m Sebastian,” he whispered, taking the pile of mail. Standing sharply, he started to glance around frantically. “You guys have to go; the guards will be coming any minute now. I’ll try to distract them. Go!”
“Wait! I never got a chance to thank you,” I called as Torryn darted out, pulling me along as they started to run.
Raising the stack of envelopes, he shook it with a smile. “You just did.”
“As much as I love your big heart, Sweets, maybe don’t blow our cover next time,” Kye huffed as we scrambled through the halls.
“It was an accident,” I defended, my stomach sinking with the sensation that I’d messed up again.
“We can talk about this later,” Torryn cut in. “Let’s just find the portals.”
Caspian’s arm shot out when we rounded the corner, a literal wave building at the motion. When the water crashed into the two guards outside the council chamber, it was just enough time to dart into the room. To our relief, the circular room was empty. Xan beelined for the door directly behind the prime minister’s throne-like chair without pause. Yanking it open, we filed into the hall.
My heart as if like it was going to gallop from my chest, adrenaline pumping through my veins as Xan led us down yet another hall. Mr. Stripes held tight to my head, his back feet clawi
ng into my bag straps so he wouldn’t fall in our frantic escape.
“Xan!” a feminine voice exclaimed.
“Mother,” he murmured, the pain in his tone nearly palpable as we skidded to a stop before her.
“You guys ran,” she stated, looking up at her son with wide eyes and a conflicted gaze. Her statement wasn’t one of confusion or hurt as I expected. The lines etched in her face made her look older, tired. They told me she knew what we had been facing and was struggling with which side to choose—her husband or her son.
“I can’t let the council use Aris, use us as weapons at their disposal. We need help,” he pleaded. “We need the portals.” Josephina didn’t flinch at the request, a sad smile appearing on her face as she cupped his cheek.
“I’m so proud of you for standing up for your family, Xanthius. I hope someday, Edmund will be proud, too,” she whispered. Rolling her shoulders back and taking a deep breath, she glanced at the rest of us. “Follow me.”
The relief that flooded me nearly brought me to my knees in my exhausted state, but I forced myself to keep going. Turning another corner, we started down a long spiraling staircase.
I heard an alarm blaring in the air, the wailing making the hairs on the back of my neck stick up. Now, everyone within the building would be on the hunt for us. With that terrifying thought, my adrenaline surged once more.
Each step was rushed, Xan and his mom leading the group while Kye and Caspian took up the space on either side of me as we reached the basement. Drayce was in front of me, Torryn bringing up the back in a protective barrier around me. Panting harder, the further we moved through the maze of hallways, I started to slow, my body finally reaching its capacity of physical exercise.