This news was worrying, but Merlin insisted we had enough to concern ourselves with. He could take care of himself and would face and outwit fate on his own terms like he’d done a hundred times before. Having done the same multiple times, I understood where he was coming from. Though I still wished he’d let us help. While I may not have trusted the guy completely, he was a fellow Pure Magic wielder and was important to Arthur and this realm, so I felt bad about leaving him to fend for himself.
Alas, Merlin would have none of our assistance. He maintained that we focus on the priorities he deemed our business.
“Crisanta,” he said as we walked across the front lawn. “You’ve seen visions of the Vicennalia Aurora. You know how much more powerful Pure Magic is going to be when the event hits. But this magic fluctuation will not be a sudden change; it will be gradual. The closer the event draws, the more power will surge throughout all the realms. It’s been happening for days now, building up. Even the wormholes that create portals from one realm to the next have been appearing more frequently.”
“I noticed that when we arrived in Camelot,” I responded.
“The intervals between wormholes will only keep getting shorter until the Vicennalia Aurora arrives at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow evening,” Merlin continued. “By then they’ll be coming every few minutes, maybe seconds. This build up will affect all Pure Magic carriers in the same way. As early as the morning, you should start to feel potent magic in the air. Waves of increased magic energy will also roll across the atmosphere during the day, affecting you in short, mighty bursts. Your power will grow more and more until it climaxes during the Aurora. In other words, once you’re healed, with each hour that passes tomorrow you will become stronger, just like anyone else with Pure Magic, including me, Glinda, and all the Pure Magic-wielding witches and warlocks in Alderon.”
“While people with normal magic like the Fairy Godmothers become weaker,” I said.
“Exactly,” Merlin confirmed. “While those with Pure Magic will grow increasingly formidable as the Aurora approaches, those with normal magic will experience the opposite effect. Some people who have normal magic may still pack a punch, depending on their individual strength. For example, I know Morgan La Fay and Morgause are extremely strong; even if it hurts them, they’ll still be formidable. But for the most part anyone and anything powered by normal magic will be handicapped.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I’ve foreseen it. The antagonists in our realm are going to use that as a means to break down the magical barrier imprisoning them. Their Pure Magic carriers and other ploys will be too much for the limited number of Fairy Godmothers assigned to stop them.”
“Have you told the Godmothers?” Merlin asked.
“I tried to warn our Fairy Godmother Supreme about it, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“Even after you alerted her of what you’d foreseen?”
“Well, I didn’t tell her about my vision exactly,” I admitted. “I just gave her a general warning.”
“Why wouldn’t you tell her?”
“Because if Knight admits that she has Pure Magic, then the Godmother Supreme will toss her into Alderon,” Daniel explained, shaking Expecto Bizzario from his pants leg again. “Pure Magic isn’t looked upon favorably where we’re from.”
“In all honesty, it’s not looked upon favorably anywhere,” Merlin said, “given the rate of how it turns people evil. But considering what’s at stake, I would think Crisanta would have sought the path that’s right, not the path that’s easy.”
My eyes narrowed as his words struck a chord.
Is he suggesting what I think he’s suggesting?
A cluster of red-chested hummingbirds flew by. Merlin used it as an excuse to change the subject before I could retort. He was really good at cutting me off when I was trying to think through his cryptic talk.
“Hummingbirds are one of Camelot’s most prolific species you know. Anyhow, as promised …”
My head whirled from the sharp subject changes as he presented me with a cord necklace with two tiny yellows flowers in the tube. “Remember, in order to bring out the memory magic of the Forget-Me-Nots, they need to be brewed with a reverse Sleeping Capsule Spell, so you’ll need a skilled potionist to develop them properly. I take it finding one won’t be an issue?”
“Not even a little,” I said. “One day you’ll have to meet our friend SJ. You two would have loads to talk about on the potions front.”
I slung Merlin’s cord necklace around my neck and tucked it inside my collar. Then I shoved my sword into the sheath Merlin had lent me and secured the strap around my shoulder. Since I couldn’t use any magic at all until tomorrow, I’d transformed my wand into a sword before consuming the first granola bar. My wand could operate even during periods of Magic Exhaustion; it just needed the absolute tiniest spark of my power to work. But Merlin warned that even this could trigger the granola bar’s poisonous erosion, so it was in my best interest not to risk it. As a result, my trusty weapon was now as stuck as I was.
I would have felt a lot more comfortable carrying around a spear, as I was way more skilled with the wand in that form. However, lugging around a five-foot-long staff wasn’t exactly practical. And given how many quick escapes we’d had to make in recent days, I needed something simple and portable.
“A couple more things,” Merlin added. “When you decide to use the Forget-Me-Nots and brew them into the memory potion, you’ll need a single hair from the head of the person whose memories you want to see.”
“All right,” I said, bending down to pat Expecto Bizzario. “Anything else?”
“Two words of advice,” Merlin replied steadily. “Choose wisely.”
The sternness in his eyes stopped me cold. Then Merlin pivoted toward Daniel and gave him a look that was even harsher. It was a combination of warning and worry—like the wizard wasn’t sure whether he wanted to protect Daniel or blast him to dust.
“She’s not what you think,” he said.
Daniel shot me an uneasy swift look.
Before either of us had the chance to respond, Merlin took a fistful of teal potion sand from his utility belt and threw it at the ground by our feet, surprising us.
“Ignus!”
A moment later, Daniel and I appeared in the Shifting Forest. The wall encircling Merlin’s property was about forty feet behind us and Merlin was on the other side of the gate.
“Bye now! See you eventually!” he called.
Another teal cloud exploded around the wizard and Expecto Bizzario. In an instant they were gone and Daniel and I were left in the quiet forest.
“I don’t know whether that guy is crazy or brilliant,” my friend said.
“Trust me,” I said, shaking my head. “The two aren’t mutually exclusive.”
efore we left, Merlin had given Daniel a new map of the Shifting Forest. It was the size of a placemat, but it had magical properties. The map changed with the movements of the forest. So, thanks to a nifty “You Are Here” icon that was linked to the map, we were able to navigate a hundred times faster.
Ugh. I hated that I couldn’t hate Merlin. He was irritating and a mystery, but he was just so darn helpful.
The Isle of Avalon was clearly marked on the parchment. With each step we drew closer to it, and hopefully finding our friends. Continuing to head toward our mutual goal was our best bet to reconnect with them. And thanks to this map, our odds of reaching them before Jason’s death, and reaching Avalon before our enemies, was way more likely. Not even the couple of monster attacks we had along the way deterred my spirit. With our swords and teamwork, Daniel and I bested whatever was thrown at us.
We traveled earnestly for the rest of the day, stopping only once to rest. Even then, we barely paused for a few minutes. As soon as we heard rustling in the trees, we booked it. There were too many things out there that wanted to kill us or capture us or eat us if we slowed down. Now that the Vicennalia Aurora was barely more than a day away, I was beginning to
feel the pressure of the climax. Jason’s death, Excalibur, and my next confrontation with Alex were drawing close.
I was distracted by this thought when Daniel lifted up his hand and stopped.
“Do you hear that?” he asked.
I paused and listened, looking at the elongating shadows of the trees. Night was nearing. We probably didn’t have long before it got dark.
“Voices,” I said quietly, making out the vague murmur of several people talking. “Maybe thirty feet away.”
“Let’s move,” Daniel whispered.
We accelerated our pace through a cluster of trees but halted again when we heard more voices. These were much closer—probably fifteen feet away. Thinking fast, Daniel and I skidded down a steep slope and ducked inside the hollow trunk of a tree.
It was a tight fit and we were crammed together pretty closely. The voices grew nearer and I tucked my knees against my chest as we waited them out.
A few minutes later, all was silent again and we crawled out of the tree. I was astounded at how much darker the sky had turned in just that interval. A shade of shivering blue soaked the land. We’d have to stop and make camp soon, but not yet. Every ounce of daylight mattered when you were up against the clock.
“We’re supposed to go north, which is that way,” Daniel said, pointing. “But maybe we should hold off. Whoever was up there could still be in the area. It’d be safer to go east for a bit and then arc around.”
“No way,” I replied, unwilling to sacrifice any amount of time. “We stay the course. Straight north; no delays.”
“Knight, I’m just as adamant about finding the others and Excalibur as you are, but we need to think smart. An extra half hour playing it safe isn’t going to kill us.”
True. But it could kill Jason.
“Daniel,” I said calmly. “Our friends are in trouble more than you know. I had a vision a while back about Jason, but he made me promise not to tell anyone. I’m keeping that promise, but you have to know that when I say we can’t afford to waste any time, I mean it. That vision is going to come true very soon and I need to be there when it does. Otherwise …” I shook my head. “Otherwise nothing. We just have to get there as quickly as possible, okay?”
I expected Daniel to protest, but much to my surprise he nodded.
“Okay,” he said. “I’m with you.”
He reached up and picked a small twig out of my hair. Then he adjusted the sheath of his sword and began to climb back up the inclined earth. I followed. We had to stop halfway as the forest shifted. The vibrations were strong, but thankfully short. We continued our ascent not half a minute later.
When we reached even ground, Daniel checked the map to reorient our path before pushing on in the growing dark. Everything was bathed in the shadows of twilight. As a result, my partner and I failed to immediately notice the color of the leaves.
Daniel was walking slightly ahead of me. I stepped over a root and ducked under the low-hanging branches of a willow tree, pushing one away to clear my path. When I did, I looked up and paused.
Are those leaves blue?
In this light everything looked that shade. I paused and really studied the leaves.
They were definitely blue, which meant someone had been through here recently.
“Daniel—”
From the depths of the forest, I saw a coil of brown spiraling toward me. I sidestepped in the nick of time. The net ensnared the helpless tree to my left. I threw myself to the ground as a second net came hurtling after it. When I glanced up I saw what I’d been afraid of.
Dang it! Again?
A surge of magic hunters sprinted out of the trees. I leapt up instantly. Daniel raced toward me, but a volley of arrows forced him to dive left while I went right. There were at least twelve hunters and they were spread out.
Why did these guys always have to travel in packs?
I drew my sword and met the blade of an incoming attacker. I kicked him in the chest, pushing the hunter back as I whirled around to block the strike of another.
While Daniel fought the four men closest to him, I rammed the neck of a magic hunter with the hilt of my sword, sliced some guy’s forearm, and ducked a blow to the head. With a roundhouse kick I launched another hunter against a tree then bounded aside and narrowly avoided being shish-kabobbed by a sword.
Daniel and I were managing to hold our own despite being greatly outnumbered. However, several magic hunters had elected to stay out of the fray and launch nets in our direction whenever they saw an opening. I felt one after another whizz by as I fought. The nets were connected to their firing mechanisms via long ropes. Whenever a net missed, the hunters flipped some sort of switch on their guns and the nets detached as new ones loaded into the barrels.
I was mid strike when the edge of a net caught hold of my sword and pulled it out of my grip. A long blade swung toward my face. I rolled to the side. Just as I was about to reclaim my weapon, another net fell on top of me. Instead of the net being released, it tightened around me and started reeling me in toward the hunter who’d scored the hit.
“Daniel!” I shouted.
He tried to come after me, but now that I was out of commission, all the other hunters turned their attention to finishing him off.
They formed a circle around him. Daniel was one of the greatest sword fighters I’d ever known, but even he couldn’t fend off so many attackers alone. Realizing the same, he did the only thing he could. He ripped the cord Merlin had given him from his neck, threw it to the ground, and slammed his foot on it.
Crud. I didn’t see that coming. I thought the payoff for that gift would come much later in the story.
A huge cloud of mauve smoke erupted and the hunters instinctively withdrew. My hunter temporarily stopped reeling me in. I twisted a bit to get a better visual on what was happening. When the smoke cleared, a girl with wavy black hair, olive skin, and intense dark eyes appeared. I almost had a stroke from the shock. Daniel was even more stunned.
Kai.
Daniel’s girlfriend took in the situation in half a heartbeat. She had a sword in a sheath swinging from her shoulder and she pulled out the blade as a magic hunter charged. Instinct kicked in and she gracefully side-stepped him, ramming her elbow into his face, pounding her pommel onto his hand, and slamming her boot down onto his foot as he passed.
Daniel evaded the blade of a different magic hunter, popped up next to Kai, and the two were back to back.
Kai was clearly surprised but all she said was “Hey, Daniel.” She didn’t ask any questions or demand any explanations. She merely kept fighting as if she were engineered solely for that purpose.
In that moment, I could understand why Daniel liked her so much. Years of being a bladesmith’s apprentice had made her skilled and strong. As outnumbered as the two of them were, they now posed a serious challenge to the hunters.
It made me feel embarrassed for having been taken out of the game so easily. I was better than that. However, I didn’t have much time to dwell on my shame as the hunter with the net gun had started to reel me in again, dragging me across the forest floor.
Eep!
Seconds later I arrived at the hunter’s feet. He drew a large, deadly sharp axe from his sheath. With no weapon and no wand, my brain squeezed out the only non-magic idea I had left.
Fake it ’til you make it.
“You might want to duck,” I said, pointing behind the hunter.
There was nothing there, but the hunter didn’t know that. When he pivoted around, I used all my force to plow a kick into his front leg. His fall forward made him pass close enough to me that I could reach my hand through a hole in the net, grab him by the jacket, and throw him hard against the dirt to my left.
He and his net gun crashed to the ground. I spotted a knife at his side and clambered forward to try and reach it. Unfortunately, the hunter recovered too quickly. He launched himself toward me and tackled me flat against the grass again. Quick as a whip, he snatched his
dagger and rotated his arm back. My eyes widened in panic. Then, from out of nowhere, a boot went into the small of the hunter’s back and he flew forward. I rolled to the side to keep from being hit by his body and blade.
Kai stepped in front of me triumphantly. With classic Crisa style she kicked the hunter in the ribcage, then the head to knock him out. She lunged down and sliced through the front of my net with her sword.
“Hey, Crisa,” she said, giving me a wink before shoving her sword into its sheath and grabbing the net gun the hunter had dropped. With a small frown, she studied the mechanism momentarily. Then she flipped a switch, which released the rope attached to my net and reloaded the barrel. Kai took aim and fired. A net spiraled out and trapped a hunter charging us. The gun had a lot of kickback, but she’d braced herself well and absorbed the shock.
I climbed out of my net as she flipped the release switch and loaded another shot. It looked like the gun had two rounds left. Kai used the first on a pair of hunters sparring with Daniel. The net ensnared them both, but this time the mechanism’s kickback slammed her shoulder hard. She winced but shook off the pain and prepared to fire again.
She aimed her last shot low at two more hunters. The net entangled their feet, causing them to trip. Daniel darted over to us as I kicked the last of my net off my ankle. He had picked up my sword along the way and tossed it to me without breaking stride. I caught it and shoved it in my sheath. Kai dropped the empty net gun and the three of us broke into a run. This was our only chance to escape. Several hunters were still on their feet and the entrapped hunters were already breaking free.
We bolted through the forest for thirty seconds before reaching the edge of a cliff. The crumbling, jagged ridge dropped off into a gorge below. Four separate rivers rushed over the ledge, creating waterfalls that spilled into silvery water churning eighty feet beneath us.
Crisanta Knight: To Death & Back Page 34