It didn’t happen like she expected. Previously, she’d had intense feelings, one’s clearly not her own. And even a few flickers of images in her mind. But this vision came to her like a waking dream. One she could walk through and witness, like a silent observer.
Meghan caught her breath. Apparently, she could not walk far. There was a rounded edge all around her. She was standing in the middle of a stone pillar. A dim light cast down over her, just enough to see a rough outline of the edge. She knelt down and crawled to the edge, peering cautiously over the side.
Nothing. Just darkness. All the way around.
How high up was she? Her heart skipped a few beats. She couldn’t get stuck inside a vision, could she?
“H-hello,” she called out in a hushed whisper. It echoed back at her, bouncing off walls she could not see in the darkness.
A noise from behind startled her. She slid around apprehensively. About ten feet away and out of reach, another dim light snapped on, exposing another pillar. A body lay on it, moaning.
“Hello,” she stammered. “Are you okay?”
The figure rolled over, facing her.
Meghan’s breath hitched.
It was Jae. And he was covered with bloody gashes. An arm stretched out to her, and a weak voice pleaded with her.
“Don’t let it come back. I can’t fight it. I can’t fight it.”
She searched in desperation for some way of getting to the other pillar, groping the edges of her own, until she came face to face with Jae again. Her blood drained to her feet, an icy sweat erupting on her brow.
“Please, don’t let it happen again,” he repeated his plea.
“What is happening, Jae?” she asked him desperately. He did not reply, only stared into her eyes hopelessly. Meghan squeezed her eyes shut. If this is what she had to look forward to, by being a Firemancer, she didn’t want any part of it. She took a deep breath and reopened her eyes. Her gaze widened and froze on something new: a faceless silhouette rising over him, out of nowhere. She looked back down at Jae; he saw the fear she could not hide.
“You can’t help me,” he cried weakly. He rolled onto his back, accepting his fate. Or maybe in this vision, he had no choice but to follow through with it. Meghan didn’t really understand.
The silhouette expanded, fanning out into a dark mass that pressed down over him like a thick blanket he could not remove. Jae’s hands went up to his face in defense.
“Leave him alone,” begged Meghan, but the dark figure did not stop.
With ragged breaths, Jae screamed out, “No. Not again. I won’t! I won’t do it.” In payment for his refusal, a new gash slashed across his face. It wasn’t blood that came out this time though. Darkness. Like inside his body was just darkness and nothing more.
His head fell to the side.
Meghan stared back in horror. Tears streamed down her face. She called out to him but there was no answer. His eyes flicked open and she gasped, falling back to the middle of her pillar.
His eyes were solid black. Soulless. Wicked.
Then, with a blink, they returned to the normal molasses brown she’d grown accustomed to.
“You’ll have to kill me,” he whispered.
Meghan had no idea if he was talking to her, or the thing trying to hurt him.
Jae rolled his head to look up, and dare the shadow.
“I won’t do what you want. I’d rather die.”
Meghan collapsed. She didn’t want to watch anymore. She’d finally given into the flames, letting them take her into this vision, and she wasn’t any clearer about what was happening to Jae than before. She was forced to witness this dreadful thing that she could not stop, but only watch. What purpose did this serve?
The dark silhouette released Jae. But it did not leave. Instead, it transformed next to him, from a faceless shadow to a solid cloaked being. It leaned over and picked up Jae’s limp body. He didn’t even fight. The figure dangled him over the edge of the pillar, threatening to drop him into the dark abyss.
“Please don’t!” cried Meghan. She groped the edge of her pillar, trying desperately to reach Jae. “Why are you doing this?” she sobbed in helpless horror. What purpose did this gift serve, if she could do nothing but watch her friend suffer and die?
She took a daring glance at the being. Black burnished eyes pierced her own. She screamed, stumbling backwards. With a snarl, the being dropped Jae into the black abyss.
Meghan stumbled too far and fell over the edge. Her screams grew distant. Like a dream she was waking from. Her eyes fluttered open and she was on the bath-room floor in the Mochrie house. She was panting. But even more disturbing, her hand was lying in the fireplace. Only hot and pulsing embers remained.
She pulled out her hand, it was fine. Not a burn. It didn’t hurt at all.
Sunlight was creeping into the room; somehow, it was already morning. Her eyes wouldn’t focus and she thought for a second she might be sick. Hands wrapped around her waist, picking her up off the floor. No one spoke, someone just helped her into a chair.
She took a few deep breaths waiting for the nausea to go away. She stretched her eyelids getting her sight to return. Her gaze drifted upward, to the person who had helped her. Another pit opened in her gut. This time, filled with irritation.
Ivan Crane sat in a chair blocking the door, almost as if he’d been standing guard and not letting anyone else inside. He stared at her, not saying anything. Just how long had he been here? The vision had only felt like minutes, and yet it was morning.
She pulled her robe around herself, tightly. “Thanks?” she returned flatly as if asking a question.
“I’d gather it was a pretty bad dream.” His voice showed no concern. She didn’t want to discuss it, especially with rude stranger boy, who never spoke more than a few words in passing.
“I don’t remember,” she lied, lifting her chin defiantly. “I’m fine now.”
Ivan took the hint. He moved the chair away from the entrance and opened it to leave. He stopped halfway through though. “I’ve had bad dreams,” he mused, “but nothing that ever made me scream like I was being murdered in my sleep.” His voice taunted her to argue, but she ignored it.
She bit her tongue, a hundred different retorts forming.
“Don’t worry. No one heard you, if that’s what you’re worried about,” he replied arrogantly. “I used magic to mask the noise, so you wouldn’t wake up anyone else.” His statement intimated she’d awakened him with her screaming. Meghan had no idea if she should be cross with him, or thank him.
Cross was winning. Was it possible for him to speak, without sounding smug?
And she didn’t like the idea of screaming in her sleep, around anyone, but of all the people to get stuck with... weirdo boy!
With exhausting effort, she made it to her bed and crawled in. Within minutes, Mireya was stirring and getting up.
Meghan just wanted to sleep. And forget. But the vision replayed over and over in her mind. She wondered if there was any way not to be a Firemancer. If she could just ignore it, and maybe it would just go away.
Mireya got up and dressed. Colin followed just minutes later. Jae must have never come home, or come up to bed; there was no movement from his bedroom cubby.
Meghan stayed quiet, and kept her mind block firmly in place. She didn’t want to talk to her brother just yet.
After she was alone, she sat up and grabbed her journal. But just as she put pen to paper she froze. Suddenly unsure about writing it all down. Somehow, it would make it real. Make it so she had to accept what she’d seen in her vision.
And how could she possibly ever forget? Every detail burned into her brain like it had been branded there.
Still, she had promised Juliska.
She decided to do it. But left out Jae’s name and changed it to unknown boy. She wrote furiously, taking up page after page and when finished, let out a breath so deep and long she wondered if maybe she’d been holding it the entire time.
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Meghan set down the journal just as there was a light rapping at the bedroom door. She flicked her curtain back to look.
“Who’d be knocking?” she muttered under her breath. “Ugh, please not Ivan,” she droned. “Come in,” she called out apprehensively.
Her brother poked in his head. “You up, finally?”
“What are you doing knocking? Usually you just invade my head.” Even with the block in place, she could sense him trying to contact her. But she hadn’t since he’d first awakened that morning.
“I’m trying to be more... what Uncle Eddy said. More privacy. I figured if you weren’t awake yet you needed more sleep.”
“Oh. That’s really nice of you,” she answered, caught off guard by his behavior.
He shrugged. “Breakfast is ready and it’s Saturday, so no school. Oh, and no tutor today either. She can’t make it.”
“I’d forgotten it was the weekend. And no tutor! We’ll get an actual day off.” She liked that prospect. She came close to telling Colin about her vision, but decided to keep it to herself; besides, she didn’t want Colin to worry about Jae (more than he already was).
Nona stirred. The fast growing kitten had been curled up in her blankets all night. It pawed at her arm softly. Meghan picked her up and nuzzled her against her cheek. They headed down to breakfast a bit later, dressed and ready for the day. Spirits were good around the kitchen table. Jae had fallen asleep on a sofa downstairs and just stayed there all night, but even he seemed happier this morning.
Meghan did her best to shake off the nightmarish vision. It hadn’t gotten her any closer to finding out what was wrong with him.
“That kitten is getting bigger fast,” said Mireya, playing with Nona.
“She follows me almost everywhere now and sleeps on my feet at night,” said Meghan. “Way too big to fit into a pocket now.” Nona looked up at Meghan just then, her white eye gleaming. Her head turned side to side, almost as if she was listening to something. She hopped onto Meghan’s lap and curled up, but not before giving her a lick on the arm.
Once they’d cleaned off the breakfast table, Jae suggested they take their homework to the wharf. It was nice outside, sunny and warm. It had been raining for the last three days. Quite a few students had gathered near the shore to study. Everyone wanted to be outside enjoying the weather.
Jae and the twins found a comfortable spot to sit and study. Nona scampered off to chase something. Probably a mouse, assumed Meghan. She watched the other students; some had their noses glued to the inside of a book. Some were questioning each other. A few were practicing actual magic. All were prepping for the exams looming over them.
Mireya, being a level above the three, studied with another group of friends she found nearby. There was a lot of giggling and pointing to a few cute boys not far away though. They weren’t getting much studying in.
The twins and Jae decided to take turns questioning each other for a written part of the exam. Mostly they questioned Meghan. Jae already knew the answers and Colin had no trouble remembering them either. This part of the test required them to recite (in written form) the predetermined answers they were to give when in the outside world. In order to keep their magic a secret.
They’d heard Jae say a few of these things when they’d first met him back in Cobbscott. And now that they were learning it themselves, they realized how many rules he’d broken when he’d gotten stuck there.
Meghan had a thought pop into her head. She wondered if this was part of what was wrong with Jae. Was he feeling guilty? About the rules he broke, or how he got his family in trouble? She was sure he had to feel that, at least on some level. But even so, she didn’t think it was all of it.
They spent an hour having Meghan recite the answers. She was slow, but did eventually get them all right. She wished she had Colin’s memory, he was so much better at this sort of thing.
Nona returned, sauntering back to curl up on Meghan’s lap. She stroked the kittens back absentmindedly. After reciting answers for an hour, they moved on to memorizing the Svoda Goals. Again, the main theme being that each of them was responsible to maintain the safety of the group. And live a life that was conducive to helping, not jeopardizing, the end goal: getting back home to their island off the coast of Maine, permanently.
Jae and Colin also had these down, so Jae questioned Meghan.
“Um... the first one was something about secrets,” she replied, shaking her head in annoyance of her poor memory.
“Yes, it is,” encouraged Jae. “But you’ll need to be specific if you expect to pass.”
Colin put the words own actions in her mind as a clue.
“Oh, right, I got it. As Svoda, we must make sure our own actions don’t divulge any magical secrets to the outside world since that would compromise our safety.”
Jae grinned. “Good job. How about the second goal?” This one was easier since it was an offshoot of the first.
“It is also every Svoda’s responsibility to watch over our fellow Svoda, and if compromises are witnessed, report it to the proper authorities,” she answered.
“You’re on a roll, Sis,” boasted Colin.
“Maybe we should stop while I’m ahead,” she jested.
“It won’t help you pass if we don’t keep at it. But maybe for today it’s not a bad idea.” He sighed, lying back on the ground. “This might be one of the last nice days of the year. The sunniest anyway. We can do more memorization later.”
“We could do actual magic practice,” suggested Colin. Meghan sneered. Her brother was always up for this. He’d even begun to draw small crowds of other students who couldn’t believe he never got tired. Meghan was glad Colin’s confidence was building, but she unfortunately, showed little improvement.
Jae agreed and got up with them. They collected driftwood, rocks, and books they’d brought, and practiced moving and stacking them. They had to coax Meghan to try; she failed miserably each time. They both feared she might not pass the practical part of the exam. So far, she’d never been able to stack the pillows in class, never mind move them. But they encouraged her nonetheless.
When she tried, she felt every eye staring at her. Normally this would not have bothered her, but for some reason when it came to using magic, she just didn’t have the confidence her brother did. It didn’t help that everywhere she looked she swore there was someone pointing and whispering.
Why? Because of what she was? Was being a Firemancer really such a freak thing? Their leader was one after all. Nona shifted between her legs. Maybe it was because she owned a Catawitch. She just didn’t get why they still did this. They weren’t the strange newcomers any longer. And they didn’t do it to her brother.
After a bit they gave up on the stacking and moving, Colin and Jae getting their kicks by throwing rocks out into the ocean. They had a contest with a few others to see who could throw the farthest, and make the biggest splash. Jae got frustrated and quit halfway through. His throws, getting worse and worse. But then so did each student, except for Colin.
Meghan grimaced. Instead of pointing and whispering, the other students clung to Colin almost like... “Oh my God. He’s popular,” she sputtered in realization, watching them adore him. “How the heck did that happen?” Her brother was never popular. The teachers all loved him too.
Colin grinned over the attention. His cheeks a bit red, and he still stumbled over his words a bit. But they all loved him. Meghan didn’t know how to feel about this. And from the look on her brother’s face he had no idea he was popular. He just really liked doing magic and was good at it.
Before long, the sun was setting and it was time to head home. And far too fast, the weekend was over and Monday rushed in with a vengeance. Any weekend relaxing they’d done was gone. Each student now keenly aware that the fall exams loomed, a mere week away. Tension reigned thick throughout the town, from parents, teachers and students alike.
The weekend before the exams, the twins finally got the leaf
they had been waiting for. It was safe to visit their uncle. The twins took Jae aside after lunch to let him know.
“Finally got a message from Uncle Eddy, it’s safe to go. We won’t be gone long though.”
Jae nodded that he understood.
Timothy met them outside of the wagons and led them down a pathway they’d never been on before.
“New place,” explained Timothy. “Your uncle scoped it out yesterday.” He floated in circles over their heads as he talked, looking for any potential hidden dangers. Shortly, they were in a clearing near a small pond with their ghostly uncle hovering back and forth, waiting.
“There you are, there you are.” Eddy let out a ghostly sigh of relief. “Getting along better than the last time we were together, I hope.”
The twins glanced sideways at each other and grinned in reluctant agreement.
“Good. There’s no lesson today, and I’m honestly not sure it’s safe for you to be here. But I wanted to see how your progress is coming along. Do either of you have any questions pertaining to your exams? I realize you must both be anxious.”
Nona trotted along with Timothy, playing near the edge of the woods. Meghan watched her as an excuse not to discuss the exams.
“I don’t think the exams will be too hard, Uncle Eddy, but we’ve certainly never been so busy.”
“It’ll keep you both out of trouble,” he chuckled, winking.
“I don’t get into trouble,” argued Colin.
“Ah yes, but if you were not so busy, would you?”
“I don’t get into trouble,” he repeated.
Uncle Eddy laughed and changed the subject. “How about you, Meghan, how do you feel about the exams?”
“Okay,” she shrugged.
Colin knew she did not feel good at all. He didn’t feel any better about her prognosis than she did.
“I think the written part will be okay,” she told him. “But the magic, it’s just not happening for me, Uncle Eddy. I suck.”
“You don’t suck, Meghan, never think that about yourself,” he spoke kindly. “All you can do is concentrate, and do your best.”
Fated Fantasy Adventure Page 31