Into the Gray

by Geanna Culbertson

  I flexed my fingers and knelt down, placing a hand against the cold, moist earth. Then I let my magic flow. “Lead me to the rebels hiding in this forest. Show me the way.”

  A series of golden energy pulses poured out of my hand and into the ground, then along its surface they rippled out—spreading to touch every blade of grass and tree and bush. The forest started to contort. Thick bushes squished together to clear a pathway. Blades of grass flattened in some areas to form a sort of road. Trees ahead twisted, countless branches literally bending to point me in the right direction.

  I smiled.

  Okay, this is cool.

  I followed the route deeper and deeper into the forest. Time ticked on, the types of plants changed, but the constant guidance remained. All forest surroundings had felt the pulse of my magic and come to life with the sole purpose of leading me to my destination.

  Suddenly, rustling bushes up ahead put me on high alert. I began to creep. When I was about a dozen feet from the spot, two men popped straight up like toast in a toaster.

  “Stand down,” a guy with a man-bun said. He and his buddy both had their bows and arrows drawn, pointed at me.

  “No. You stand down.” I gave a curt wave of my hand and my golden energy infused into the arrows precisely as the men launched them. The arrows followed my will and not only missed me, but arced around and zoomed straight at the men, skewering their loose sleeves and yanking them to the grass. I walked over calmly and with another wave aimed my magic at some nearby tree roots. “Trap,” I commanded. The roots broke free of the dirt and entwined my attackers.

  “Y-you’re Crisanta Knight,” Man-Bun stuttered.

  “Aw, what gave it away?” I rolled my eyes. Because of my Pure Magic trial, everyone in the realm from royalty to lowlife knew who I was. I glanced around the area. “You’re lookouts, right? That means the commons rebellion outpost is close by.”

  “We don’t know what you’re talking about,” said the second guy, a redhead.

  “Yes, you do.” I walked away from the men and saw that many of my enchanted trees had twisted around an epicenter. They were converging on a clearing. That had to be the entrance. I started moving toward it.

  “Don’t go any farther,” Man-Bun called, struggling against the roots. “Please, we have no quarrel with you specifically. We just aim to bring fairness to the realm. You’ve been treated unfairly by those in power. Surely you can understand.”

  I paused. Something cold and sort of painful surged through me, like a flu shot fused with liquid nitrogen. I turned around and marched back to the men.

  “What I understand is that rebels like you attacked my home, hurt my family, and have killed a lot of people. I aim to bring fairness to the realm too, and sometimes that means inflicting on people what they deserve. And you deserve me.”

  I had not planned to speak those words. But as they flowed out of me, I knew they were true. And they felt good to unleash. I’d lost a lot of people and witnessed a lot of death, and it had all started the day the commons rebellion attacked my castle in Midveil. That was the turning point in this story and the day my character arc changed trajectory. The anger and hatred I felt snapping at me here was fair.

  I was not an inherently vengeful person, but I was protective and driven by a desire to do good and stop bad. These rebels may have had good intentions at one point, but they’d done too many bad things to achieve their goals. They had this coming. I was going to ensure that Lenore captured them, not just because she wanted it, but also because I craved the same thing. And there was no one around to second-guess how I served them their fate.

  I approached the clearing and scanned the area closely. As a girl with plenty of experience falling into traps, I was getting skilled at discovering them—in this case, a couple of nets in trees, a trip wire, and two mechanical arrow launchers in the bushes. I crept around them and narrowed in on an abnormally large tree at the rear of the clearing.

  In Neverland, the Lost Boys and Girls had their elevators and stairwells hidden in big trunks. It wasn’t absurd to believe the rebels employed the same kind of system.

  Okay, assuming the bad guys are underground, what is the best way to get to them? Going down into closed, unfamiliar territory would put me at risk. What if I bring them up?

  I took an ample number of steps back so that I was a decent distance from the clearing. Then I bent down and unleashed an enormous surge of magic, commanding the earth within this sector of the forest to come to life and regurgitate any living creatures hiding beneath. What happened next was a terrible, amazing display.

  My golden light rushed into the dirt and vanished, seeping below the ground. A moment later the terrain tore itself apart. Trees, dirt, grass, and bushes lifted together as large portions of the ground ripped up and flopped to the side like they were the hatches of a massive trap door. The earth seizured as if it were vomiting. Mounds of dirt bolted up in heaps, shooting out people all over. The gushes regurgitated so many rebels mixed with parts of their home base that I had to jog back as they continued to be ejected. When the expulsions finally stopped, there were massive holes in the forest floor. Golden energy wafted out of them like exposed sulfur gas.

  Dang. That was effective.

  There were no less than forty people splayed out in the surrounding area. Some were probably injured; many were in shock. A few started to stand, shaking the dirt off themselves and looking around in confusion.

  “Hey!” Man-Bun shouted, trying to get the attention of some of his people. “It’s her! Crisanta Knight! Get her!”

  Oh, crud.

  The rebels who had already risen—maybe a dozen of them—focused on me then, as one, started toward me with cries of anger while the rest of their compatriots hastened to join in.

  Yikes!

  I turned and ran as fast as I could.

  Plan, plan, plan!

  There was no time to pause. No time to release another big burst of magic. These guys—adult men who seemed to be in very good running shape and knew the forest better than I did—would be catching up in no time. Quick glances back revealed that some were splitting off from the main pursuant party, likely intending to take a shortcut through the trees and cut me off.

  I activated a little magic in my hands—about all I could manage while sprinting—and focused on four rapid words: Trap when I say. At that, I began running in a circular pattern through the forest, touching trees here and there and infusing them with that goal. The people on my tail started to close in. I barely leapt away from one rebel’s grasping arms and ducked under the reach of another. Nevertheless, I kept on my tight circular path.

  Finally I had nowhere left to go. I’d been acting like a kid with a giant honeycomb on a stick—running in circles through a meadow and drawing all the bees to the same spot. What these bees didn’t realize, however, was that I wasn’t the one who was stuck. They were.

  I stopped, and the rebels around me paused too—a couple dozen of them spread out in the vicinity. Then my hands glowed brighter. “Now,” I cried, and every tree I’d touched sprang into action. Across the surrounding forest, trees of all shapes and sizes lunged at the rebels—some grabbing with branches, others entangling with roots, a few even firing off splints of bark to spear pant legs and shirt sleeves to the ground.

  The rebels who weren’t trapped in the first few moments bolted. But now I had time to fully harness my magic. I injected another great pulse into the earth with the same command to trap. The golden ripple sped through the woods and caught up with the deserters. The forest floor opened beneath them and swallowed them up to their waists like quicksand. When the last rebel was ensnared, I curtly felt the pressure around my chest release. My body relaxed and the yearning that Lenore’s command had filled me with vanished. My genie service was fulfilled. I pulled out my Mark Two.

  “Lena Lenore.”

  After several seconds, the Godmother Supreme’s face took up the looking glass.

  “I’m do
ne,” I said.

  “I’ll be right there,” Lenore replied. “That Mark Two I gave you has a tracker.”

  “Of course it does.”

  She hung up and five seconds later, through openings in the tree canopy, I spotted a sparkling red comet sailing across the sky. Lenore’s magic sphere splashed onto the ground in front of me. When the Godmother Supreme materialized, cries of dismay rose from the trapped rebels around us and they struggled harder. I ignored them. They were not my problem. I protected innocent people, good people. People like this could rot.

  Lenore looked around.

  “There’s probably more of them trapped deeper in the forest,” I said. “So you may want to do a sweep. My magic reach extends pretty far.”

  “I am impressed,” she said. “Your first act of genie service was a tremendous success.”

  “You didn’t exactly give me a choice.”

  “Perhaps not, but you don’t seem heartbroken about it. Maybe you enjoyed yourself?”

  “I wouldn’t put it that way.”

  Then an itch at the back of my mind second-guessed the reply. Had I enjoyed myself? I think a part of me did. Not the part where I was forced to obey Lenore’s orders and act as her magical servant, but I certainly appreciated being able to use magic without being judged by others. It also felt satisfying to unleash some justice on bad people who deserved it.

  Not that I was going to admit any of that to Lenore.

  Conflicting feelings fluxed inside of me. I bit my lip and gazed at all the people I’d trapped. “What are you going to do with them?” I asked, a small wave of compassion seeping in.

  “Do you really want to know?”

  I paused as I saw the depths of Lenore’s unforgiving eyes.

  “No.”

  “Good. You can go now, Crisanta. I will summon you again when I need you.” She held out her hand and I gave her the Mark Two. Then she waved her wand and I started to dematerialize into a raspberry red energy ball.

  I felt tingly until I completely melted, at which point my entire atomic structure went berserk and it was like I was everywhere and nowhere at once. Thankfully, the sensation was short. Before I knew it, I was erupting out of a sphere of raspberry magic on the floor of my room in Chance’s castle, back in my pink pajamas.

  It took me a couple of minutes to get my head on straight. I was not used to that form of travel and it was VERY jarring. I sat down on the edge of my bed feeling nauseous and overwhelmed and waiting for the faintness to fade. When the disorientation lessened, I reflected on what just happened.

  I’d been dreading what my genie servitude to Lenore would be like, and as it turned out, the first episode had been a strange but not unpleasant experience. I didn’t feel bad about what I’d done. I only felt bad that I didn’t feel bad about it.

  Was that weird?

  I hadn’t abused my power. I’d merely been decisive, merciless, and efficient. In completing my genie task I’d served and protected the realm like Lenore and I both wanted. Yes, I was a bit intense out there. But my magic was used in a controlled manner under the influence of smart choices that delivered justice to the appropriate people. No Magic Instinct at all. There was nothing wrong with that.

  I stood up and decided to get on with my day. I needed to shower, change, and regroup with my friends. I had a lot to tell them.

  By the time I found SJ, she was too busy to sit down and talk. She had a full afternoon of potions training planned with Merlin and Julian via Mark Two. With Blue and Jason taking a tour of the town with Chance, I decided to wait until tonight to share my revelations. The whole gang could have a conference call once Javier was back at school with the others. SJ was onboard with this plan and said she’d make the “necessary preparations.” Whatever that meant . . .

  Friends occupied, I spent the rest of the day exploring the castle. It was pretty peaceful. At some point in the early afternoon I wandered down a hallway with golden sun wallpaper and came upon a playroom. I peaked my head in. The triplets were inside; Agatha spotted me.

  “Crisa, come play with us,” she called.

  I walked in and discovered the extent of this little princess paradise. There were miniature stuffed animals to ride, a tank full of glowing fish, mounds of toys, three tiny vanities loaded with makeup and plastic tiaras, and forts constructed of pillows and blankets. Agatha and Adiana were playing makeover at a vanity while Isabelle colored with crayons. Suddenly Thurgood poked his head out of one of the forts as I passed and I almost jumped in surprise.

  “Sit here,” Agatha commanded, gesturing at the chair next to her. I obliged, but when she sashayed over with a palette of blue eye shadow, I held up my hand.

  “Uh, why don’t I do you instead?” I suggested.

  Agatha shrugged. “If you think you can handle it.” She plopped down and handed me the makeup. I started to apply some, but was distracted when next to me Adiana snapped her fingers. Her eyes flashed gold, and then the plastic tiara she’d been holding turned to solid gold.

  “How many of you kids have magical gold powers again?” I asked her.

  “Me, Chance, Cereus, Daphne, and baby James,” Adiana replied. “But only Chance and me can turn stuff to gold by snapping our fingers.”

  “Hey!” Agatha protested.

  I refocused on her and realized I’d just covered her ear in blush. “Sorry.” I moved the makeup brush to her cheeks, gave a few swipes, and then picked up a lip gloss before glancing at Adiana again. “What can the others do with their powers?”

  “It’s more fun to see for yourself,” Adiana replied. “I don’t know how much control James has over his magic yet, but usually if you say ’shiny’ he’ll do his thing. Now if you’d like to see Daphne and Cereus use their powers, they usually play battle in the training room around this time. Want me to take you there?”

  “Awk, Crisa!”

  A gloopy pink streak decorated Agatha’s cheek. “Shoot, I’m sorry.”

  “The answer to your question is yes, Adi,” Agatha huffed. She took back the makeup palette. “Makeovers are for people with focus and Crisa’s is obviously elsewhere.”

  She wasn’t wrong. I apologized to Agatha again and let Adiana take my hand and lead me out of the room. She was a very cute, small magical person. On the way she told me about her favorite riding ponies, her favorite ice cream flavors at the local shop, and how she believed all rainbows actually did have endings where they touched down; people just never looked hard enough.

  “Here it is,” she eventually announced, pointing at a tall, thick door. “This is Cereus and Daphne’s special training room. I’m not allowed inside. Mommy says combat is for grown-ups.”

  “Well, I don’t know about that,” I said. “But thanks for showing me the way.”

  “You’re welcome. Bye-bye.” She waved and skipped back up the hall.

  I opened the big door and found myself in a type of observation room. Three simple wooden benches faced a rectangular window that took up most of the front wall. Next to the window was another door that connected to the combat zone beyond.

  The training room looked like any other room in the castle, except for it being mostly empty. The floor was composed of unevenly dispersed gold and white marble tiles. The sparse furnishings, light fixtures, and fireplace were inlaid with the familiar infusions of gold too.

  At the center of the space, Daphne and Cereus squared off, both holding shields. I watched in awe as Daphne—the towering, fierce redhead—harnessed her version of the family’s “gold magic.”

  In tune with her arm movements, the gold on the walls melted and rushed out in waves that Daphne thrust toward Cereus. He blocked the surges with his shield as he simultaneously stretched out his free hand. A jagged chunk of gold roughly the size of a dagger yanked itself from the fireplace mantle and went spiraling at full speed toward Daphne. She diverted it with her shield and raced forward.

  Cereus sent more chunks of gold toward Daphne, but she was too quick. As she
ran, the gold tiles she passed liquefied, conjoined together, and created a sizable wave in her wake that charged at Cereus at the same time she did. The crest of the gold wave was high, probably eight feet, and Cereus lifted his shield to block it from splattering his head. Daphne took the opportunity to slide low and ram her shield into his legs. Cereus stumbled, but then threw himself into the fall, rolling to the side of the wave and to his feet.

  Cereus was about to outstretch his hand, but Daphne—standing again—cut him off. “You may want to rethink that.” She pointed at his feet. Large sections of gold tile behind him had already liquefied and risen around his backside, threatening to collapse on top of him.

  “Do you surrender?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he huffed.

  She released her hold on the gold and it splashed to the floor, clear of Cereus. “Shall we reset and go one more time?” she asked.

  “I actually have to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony this afternoon and need to review my speech. We’ll continue tomorrow.”

  “Fine. But we must push our session back half an hour. I have to oversee a town hearing regarding magic dust mining regulations.”

  “Fine.” Cereus nodded.

  I leaned against the window and watched in amazement as the twins summoned their respective powers to put the room back in order. Cereus commanded each shard of gold to reattach itself to its original location. Daphne collected all the liquid gold and siphoned it back into place, where it then hardened.

  At that they started to walk toward the door that connected to the observation room. I assumed the window was probably a two-way mirror so the observers would not distract the combatants. But now they were going to know I’d been watching them. I considered making a run for it, but there was no time. I went for bold nonchalantness instead.

  Daphne and Cereus came through the door and halted upon seeing me.

  “Hey there,” I said with a wave.

  “How long have you been here?” Cereus asked.