My breathing becomes loud and uncontrolled.
My eyes start to freeze, the wind is picking up harder. Only my vision begins to blur. I see the clouds in the sky switch and change shapes. I see a woman walking toward me, I try to blink to clear the image.
“Eliza…you can do this, you’re my daughter. Instinct, my dear.”
Mom?
Was my mom talking to me from her spirit? I can’t tell. But I know the voice, it was her…my mother was reaching out to me. She vanishes as the snake slaps its tail across my mouth. I calm down. A snake’s tail is covering my mouth, so I breathe through my nose. Roots prevent me from moving, but my hands are free.
So think, Eliza…
“There you go, Eliza, don’t disappoint me!” Charlotte shouts, “Remember, you don’t have a broomstick, what can you do? Think it out, you’re a smart witch.”
Closing my eyes, I let everything I fear and worry about escape from my mind, releasing all the tension I’ve been feeling for the past few months.
I allow Donovan out of my mind; being a myth, Dawn, Jared, Ravamere, and my dad all flow out. Pursing my lips together tightly, I manage to cleanse my mind, so I dig my fingers into the ground.
My markings freeze and burn simultaneously. Energy surges within, I breathe in deeply and then release all of it. I’ve never been so numb and frozen before. The tips of my fingers are tingling. I open my eyes.
“That’s it…Eliza, now don’t lose control.”
I can’t control all this energy within me, I’m struggling to breathe.
“Yes, you can…it’s in your blood. Focus.”
I’ll show you focus all right…I create fists with my hands in the dirt. I grab a bunch of soil, a loud pulse vibrates across the field. I do not release my grip of the earth. I specifically focus the energy on the roots, they burn off from my sides and legs.
I hear the root monster crackling and roaring from behind. The roots break off one by one, the energy is too much. I redirect it immediately to the snake’s grassy tail; it burns as well. The snake slithers away from the pain, I then levitate up.
“There we go, that’s what I want.”
Now for the strategy. I need to distract Charlotte or knock her out, since she’s the one controlling the monsters. Both of our eyes are beaming at one another.
She struts toward me down the field. Her wrist flicks in the air as the rock monster releases the sand that circled above me.
I figure I’d strut toward her as well. I notice the sand falling toward me. Flicking my wrist, I mimic her motion and re-direct it to her. She flips out of the way and chuckles to herself.
“Clever, you’re learning, so that’s good…what about this one?”
Bending down, Charlotte takes both of her hands and brushes them against the ground. Three more snakes develop. One sprints through the grass for me, the second is already behind me and the third springs up from the dirt and slithers around my body.
This is my only chance, I need to get to Charlotte.
I break for the moment available, one snake slams its tail on the ground trying to trip me. I dodge the tail and roll onto my side. Getting back up, I see Charlotte clearly, so I keep running for her. Splaying out my fingers, a snake rises up in front of me and snaps at my fingers.
Moving my hand out of the way, I twirl around to the other two snakes and wave my fingers at them. Razor sharp leaves swirl around my body and cut the two snakes in half.
Swiping my arms in a slick motion, I redirect the leaves around me as I twirl them to the other snake…that one is also cut in half.
My arms move effortlessly, like the waves of an ocean, I feel as light as a feather. My bones are rubber as I flex. My markings freeze against me but I will not lose control, I will maintain focus. I step through the grass as the sky turns a dark gray. The wind picks up my hair as I move through it.
Charlotte snaps her fingers and her snakes are revived. I prevent them from attacking by snapping my finger. They are now controlled by me. One of the snakes gets between my legs as I ride it toward Charlotte. She seems shocked that I controlled her snakes so easily.
She looks at her root monster, tilting her head, ordering it to attack me. A rock flies through the air toward me; I quickly form a vine from the ground to wrap around it. Everything I do has become so easy. My mood ring is still around my finger and I feel fine.
Leaping off the snake, I attempt to kick Charlotte in the face but she dodges the attack. I land on my feet and then strike with a punch to her face. She ducks and dodges that attack as well.
She bends down to swipe my legs, I leap to knee her in the chest and she falls to the ground. I fall with her, but she grabs my neck and tosses me across the terrain.
I dig my fingers into the earth, allowing vines and roots to wrap around her, strangling her, but they immediately burn off. She chuckles to herself, as if that was a newcomer move to make. She twirls her finger in the air as vines wrap around me instead, but I redirect them back to her.
This time, I gather all of my energy to do so. I wrap the razor leaves, sand, and rocks, grass, and vines around her. She chokes from all the pressure and is forced to her back.
I stand up to look at her, then turn to her rock and root monsters. I flick my fingers, controlling them to stand behind me. The three snakes slither around the scene.
I look down at her.
“I win.”
Stepping away from her, I hear movements and gasps from behind. I whirl around—all the witches in Vaelle are looking at me, amused and in shock. Audrey stands among them all, their beady eyes staring at the scene. No one moved to help their teacher.
Alice comes forth from the crowd. She must’ve seen the whole thing too. I can feel their fear, excitement, and anger. The anger at a myth, which is me. My eyes stop freezing and I am numb once again. I feel like I can’t breathe.
I collapse.
Chapter 13
“Charlotte, is she okay?”
Fresh morning dew slides on my skin. I lay on the grass. Placing my hands on the ground, I breathe in the fresh, crisp air, allowing the flowers’ scents to travel and explore throughout my senses. A finger traces down the side of my cheek, I grab the person’s wrist gently as I wake. Blinking twice to fix my vision, I wipe the crust out of the corners of my eyes. Donovan’s sitting next to me and Audrey’s hand is hovering above my chest.
“Donovan, for the fifth time, she will be fine. The girl can take a punch or two, well, in this case, several.” Audrey’s smile and calm spirit soothes my emotions, the scar on my lip fades away as her hand radiates warm pulses of magic.
Charlotte places her hand on the top of her shoulder as Audrey’s eyes fade back to their normal color. She grins at me and pats my forehead.
“Brand new,” she exhales and skips to her friends.
“Thanks, Audrey,” Charlotte says.
“No problemo.”
Donovan puts my broomstick on my stomach. I look up at him, confused as to why he’s here with me. I didn’t think he’d care, he’s a Verel and this is how it’ll be from now on. He looks at Charlotte. She turns around, scanning the area to see if anyone happened to be watching the three of us. We’re in a special garden behind the main building where all the sand and wrecked parts were. We aren’t too far away in case we need help; it’s a place for elves.
“You know you’re not supposed to be here. If Alice finds a Verel in this place, she’ll have you killed,” she says, looking at me. “You have five minutes. Eliza will know when the time is up.”
“Thank you,” Donovan says to her.
Charlotte grins at me. She looks very calm, but from what I recall she’s as fierce and scary as I am in elf form. The power she had, I would think she’d be related to Miss Canary, so I know for sure not to push her to her limit. Charlotte turned around as soon as I thought that; was she in my mind? Walking over to us again, she bends down to grab her jacket.
“Five minutes,” she repeats.
> “It won’t be long,” I croak.
“Why’d you have to say that?” Donovan looks at me, laying down by my side. I breathe in the air and sigh. I watch the birds flying past us, and the trees flow against the wind. The warm breeze pokes at my skin. I wonder why he’s here.
“Because you always seem to leave. When will you ever stay with me? Not that I care if you don’t or anything. I mean, I would like for you to stay. I kind of liked us as a team.”
Donovan takes my hand into his, our markings proceed to burn.
“You like that feeling?”
“I’m kind of used to it by now, doesn’t really bother me.”
Donovan reaches his arm around my shoulder, he gets into a push-up position on top of me. He looks deeply into my eyes, biting his bottom lips. He lowers his face as the tips of our lips graze. He breathes into a light kiss, our markings sizzle, and I can feel the heat. I wrap my arms around his neck but he forces them back down against the grass. Donovan’s lips release their hold on my mouth as he checks out my neck and then back to my face.
A scratch is on the side of his cheek, I rub it with my thumb. I trace the tips of my fingers down the middle of his neck past his Adam’s apple.
“You’re hurt.” I frown.
Donovan moves his chin away from my thumb, clearing his throat.
“Why are you doing this, just why? Please tell me.”
“I came to warn you that—”
I grab the collar of his jacket, pulling him back down against me. I press my lips against him again. I don’t know what he’s planning to tell me, but I want this last moment to be memorable. He forgets what he’s come here to do, I stick my fingers into his hair. We’re sizzling but I ignore the feeling because this jerk is mine and I’m not going to lose him too.
“Time is up, Eliza,” Charlotte whispers in my head.
I roll my eyes at someone standing in the trees behind Donovan. I blink a couple of times, my eyes narrowing at the only brown haired guy I know. He’s standing still in the trees, eyes beaming and focused on me as his markings glow angrily. He smirks then climbs up the tree, running on the branches, vanishing into the forest.
“Donovan—Christian—he was in the trees,” I whisper calmly. I stand up in the middle of the field, waiting and watching the forest call for me. Christian’s laughter taunts my ears. I twist to the right, thinking he’s in the forest. I hear another whisper pick at my left ear. Something brushes behind me. I turn around, screeching at Donovan; my heart races and my markings light up.
“Babe, calm down. He isn’t here, corrupt mystics can’t enter this place.”
“Donovan, he was right there.” I point at the trees. “Don’t think I’m crazy. I saw him on that branch.” Donovan wraps his arms around my waist and lays his chin on my shoulder. He pecks my cheek.
“You’re afraid of nothing, why would you be afraid if I’m here with you? There’s nothing to be frightened about.” He nibbles on the bottom of my ear. I move my ear away from him. I don’t lose focus, I watch the trees sway, my eyes wandering every which way.
I know that was him. Christian’s stalking me in Vaelle.
Go for him…chase him.
I hear the other me inside my head whispering. I shudder.
“I have to go, I’ll see what I can do to come back. In the meantime, stop being so stubborn. You need to stay here; please try to learn something from these people.” He takes my hand, kisses it, and hands me my broomstick. I ignore what he says, he releases his grip. He comes and goes as he pleases, it’s becoming irritating. I watch him leave, hearing his boots brush through the grass and his jacket rustling from his movements.
I know Christian is here and I’m not going to stick around while he stalks me. Biting my bottom lip, I step backward.
“I hope you feel me wherever you are, you’re not stuck in a dream. I’m the one for you, just you and me…you’ll see.” The trees pull me into their whispers.
A rock hits the back of my neck. I turn around from the pain, seeing the same witch who fought against several Vaelle witches. Her gray eyes stare down at me from where she stands on a tall grassy hill. “I wanted to see if the monster would come out.” She snickers.
“Really funny.” I roll my eyes, walking back to the patch of grass where I laid.
She turns on her broomstick and swings her silver sword back and forth. Evelyn’s pretty tall and tomboyish, the right side of her head is shaved and the other full of stringy, sweaty hair. I guess some witches are tougher and scarier than Donovan. I chuckle to myself at the thought of anyone meaner than him.
“What are you laughing at?” She appears in front of me rather quickly. “Huh?” She presses her chest against me, knocking me onto my back. Positioning myself back on my feet, I push against her. I don’t care if she’s taller than me or not. She sizes me up and down slowly, the sound of her smacking on her gum irritating me.
I notice her markings twirl around her neck. These are more jagged and deeper into her skin, ending with sharp lines; they’re black and not silver. Witch markings are silver, smooth looking, ending with a curved line. Her markings are rather sharp, like a knife’s edge.
“Nothing. Nice to meet you, Evelyn.”
I shove my shoulder against her and walk up the hill back to the main entrance. She grabs my shoulder and forces me to look back at her.
“It’s Eve. Watch yourself, rookie.”
“What’s your problem?”
Clicking her broomstick, allowing it to shift into a large shape, she lifts her wrist slowly. Her whip coils around my arm, tickling the mid-section of my neck. Its metal blades scratch on my skin but I don’t look away from her as her eyes beam into me. The wind picks up, the leaves crash and play against one another in their trees. Audrey appears behind Eve on the hill, she’s screaming out to us.
Eve clicks her broomstick as the whip quickly recoils back from where it came. It cuts the side of my neck slightly. I flinch from the quick pinch, glaring at her.
“Oops.” She laughs to herself, walking into the middle of the field, and disappearing into the trees from which Christian stalked me.
“Hey, Eliza!” Audrey calls out for me again, I wave out my hand.
Eve vanishes into the trees, and I turn to Audrey. We walk down the hill and back to the village. She keeps talking but I’m not really paying her any attention. The girl can talk anyone’s head off, but she’s too adorable to hate officially. I notice she dyed the tips of her hair red, so basically she and Charlotte were elf twins now. Except Charlotte had turquoise tips.
“Dyed your hair?” I figure I’d converse.
“Oh, this.” She twirls the ends of her hair and says, “I wanted to try something new. Why? Does it look bad?” she asks, as her eyes grow wide.
“No, calm down, it looks great.”
She smiles as we walk down a gravel path to the village, the sky becoming dark. The lights of the little cottages blink on one by one, like little fireflies.
Charlotte tells everyone to come to the meeting hall. I glance back down at Audrey’s hair, it reminds me of Dawn’s. I’ll find a way to save her and Jared, although I think Jared is pretty much good by himself. Each light blinks off. People open their doors and rush out to the meeting room, their swiftness and flexibility show as some run by us on the trail. A screeching sound fills the sky, it rings in my ears. I stop walking as several witches run to the meeting hall.
“What’s that noise, Audrey?”
“Quickly, Eliza, it’s an emergency call. We need to get to the meeting hall.”
We run in the same direction as everyone else, approaching a tall, gray building. We stand in the darkness and watch as witches quickly enter. Flashes of memory black me out and blur my vision. I stop running, pacing myself, it’s a struggle to breathe. The houses around us, it’s where my mother and grandmother lived. It’s where Jared was taken away. I narrow my eyes at the wooden sides of the homes, the golden lights, the musty air. Standing still in
place, my heart picks up, not in exhaustion but in fear. My legs are weak and standing straight becomes difficult. My thoughts trail off, dipping into my memories, drowning into my projection ability. I’m on the verge of leaving, projecting back in time.
“Eliza?” Charlotte’s voice echoes me back to reality. She says, “It’s right there, stay close.”
I breathe in, shaking my head. My hand rises to my temples, it’s like horrible whiplash.
I notice Luvie with her bat, she’s dancing in the middle of the emergency call. It’s not affecting her one bit, she hums with the screeching. Twirling her wrists in the air, she allows her markings to glow. We enter the building as Luvie follows us.
Charlotte stops in the middle of the doorway. “Are you okay?” I ask. Her eyes are glowing, I feel her freezing and sense her powers working.
“There’s a mystic in this building. I don’t know which, but I sense it in there,” she says.
“We’ll be fine, there’s a ton of witches here.” Luvie sways her hips side to side.
“She’s right, I think we need to find out what the emergency is,” I say.
We are pushed in by other witches behind us. The building’s dark inside. Dust and wood tickle my nose. Charlotte’s standing in the middle twirling her fingers in the air, a vine is constricting around someone. I push my way through, wanting to know what all the commotion is about. Audrey, Luvie, and I manage to get through the crowd.
“We found this in the forest today.”
Slobber and blood drip onto the ground, its hairy arms stuck behind its back. The mystic lifts its face, glowing yellow eyes stare back at me.
“This shifter was caught in the training field’s forest,” Charlotte spits.
She flicks her fingers, tightening her vine’s grip around the mystic’s neck.
I can’t help but wonder if Christian had anything to do with bringing a corrupt mystic into the sacred Vaelle lands. Everyone gasps as they are too shocked to speak. The witches cover their mouths and look around, worried how the mystic entered through the portal. A buzz of murmurs fill the space we clump in.
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