by S A McClure
The creature reared back, its face taking an angry tone as it slammed its fists down into the ground. The whole world seemed to shake as dirt flew into the air and trees shuddered loose and fell. When the dust settled, a giant hole was in the ground in front of them.
Her hands shook as she turned to look at Emma. Her face was paler than it ever had been before.
Emma took her hand and practically dragged her back towards the camp.
The rock monster and its companions continued their pursuit of them.
“What are those things?” Emma huffed.
Normally, this type of run wouldn’t have winded her, but since she’d been bed-ridden for the past several weeks, Iris supposed she’d lost some of her stamina.
“I have no idea!” Iris replied. The stitch in her side began pulling again and she laid her free hand on top of it.
“You alright?” Emma asked.
“I will be if we can get away from these things.”
Purple fire sprang to life behind them. Iris smiled in relief. It was the push she needed to propel herself forward.
The rock monster swiped a hand through the dirt, smothering the flames. It roared as Chiara released another volley, straight for its heart.
“Micah heard the booms and was packing up camp. The horses are ready,” she said as she maintained the stream of fire. “Just go!”
She dug in her feet as she expanded the reach of her flames. They leapt from tree to tree, creating a wild, raging fire. Sweat dripped down her brow and she gritted her teeth.
Iris met her gaze. “You know we can’t leave you here alone to fight against these things.”
“Where did the golems come from?” Chiara asked.
“Is that what they are?” Iris asked. “I was calling them rock monsters.”
Chiara glanced at her, strained expression in place, and Iris laughed nervously.
“I’m not sure where they came from. One moment, I was sitting by myself in the woods. The next, boom, there they were.” She sucked in a deep breath and then said, “Emma can’t fight. Not yet, anyway. She’s still too weak.”
“I’m standing right here,” Emma snapped.
“If it’s the truth, then there’s no reason to be insulted,” Chiara said.
“Thank you for the support,” Emma seethed.
At that moment, Chiara’s fire burned out and she slumped to the ground. The golems roared as they piled dirt on the flames, stifling them.
Together, Iris and Emma wrapped their arms under Chiara’s shoulders. They hefted her to her feet and then supported her as they fled towards the camp.
“Chiara, what do you know about golems?” Iris asked.
“Just the basics,” she said. “Mud and rock monsters controlled by someone else.”
Iris jerked her head towards Chiara. “What do you mean, ‘controlled by someone else?’”
“Just what I said. If I remember correctly, someone has to forge them out of clay and the only way to destroy them is to shatter the smaller versions.”
“How do we know where their smaller versions are?” she asked.
They entered the soft glow of the campfire. Micah had already packed and loaded their belongings on their horses.
He turned around and rushed towards them. He scooped her into his arms. Surprisingly, she didn’t fight against him as he placed her in his saddle and then climbed on behind her.
Iris laid a hand on Chiara’s shoulder. “Is there anything else you can tell me about them?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure what kind of information you’re looking for,” she said, panting. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember much.”
“Honestly, what you’ve told me just now is enough,” she said.
An idea spawned in her. She whirled on Emma.
“I need your help,” she said frantically.
Chapter Fourteen
Iris
Iris gripped Emma’s hand firmly in hers. Every nerve-ending within her vibrated as she contemplated what she was about to attempt. She didn’t know if she was strong enough to pull her sister into the dreamworld with her. She didn’t even know if Emma’s ability to find people would work in the dreamworld.
But it was the only thing she could think of that had the potential to save them from the golems.
“Are you ready?” she asked, squeezing her sister’s hand.
Emma nodded, though her face was peaked and her eyes had agleam to them.
“It’s not so bad,” Iris said, comfortingly.
“You forget that I watched you wander this dreamworld once before, with Grandmother Rel,” Emma replied with too much cockiness.
“It’s okay to be nervous,” Iris said.
“I’m not,” Emma said defensively.
Iris closed her eyes and sighed as she let her mind drift towards the dreamworld. She’d entered it so often that she slipped into it seamlessly. The only difference this time was that she tethered herself to Emma.
When she opened her eyes, she was standing in the middle of a beach. Waves crashed soothingly and the sister moons loomed above them, illuminating the water’s surface.
She breathed in the salty air. This was new. Normally, she landed in the woods or the mountains, familiar places that she wanted to visit again.
She had never been to the beach before.
She glanced around her, searching for Emma. She was there, still clasping her hand. A golden rope was wound around them.
“A true tether,” Iris whispered, her eyebrows raising. She pulled at the knot, trying to see if it would come undone. It didn’t. Even when she slipped her hand out of Emma’s, the golden rope remained wound around their wrists, binding them together.
“What now?” Emma asked.
“Now, we find the person trying to kill us.”
Emma nodded. She closed her eyes and her brow furrowed. As Iris watched, a thin, sputtering line bubbled on Emma’s chest. It wavered for several seconds before completely snuffing out.
“What happened?” she asked.
Emma shook her head.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “It’s like something is blocking my ability. I can’t—” She paused. “It’s like someone knows I’m searching for them and doesn’t want me to find them.”
Iris cocked an eyebrow at her sister. “Has this ever happened to you before?”
“Never.”
With the hand that wasn’t bound to Emma, Iris ran her fingers through her hair. She didn’t like the feeling that whoever had sent the golems to kill them had anticipated that they might search for them in the dreamworld. That meant they knew about both of their abilities.
“Okay,” she said. “This is what we’re going to do.” She explained the outlines of a plan she’d formulated. Even as she was describing it, doubt began to settle in.
Emma gave her an incredulous look. “Do you really think this will work?”
Iris shrugged. “No idea. But what other option do we have?”
“Fair enough. Where do we begin?”
“Take my hands,” Iris commanded.
They faced each other and clasped both hands. Iris smiled at her sister as she focused on finding the spell that blocked Emma from searching for the person.
She found it almost immediately. It was like a black aura hanging over Emma’s head. She didn’t want to think about how long it had been there—or who had placed it—but she quickly shattered the spell.
It seemed too easy, but she didn’t know if that was because all the other spells she’d broken had been more complex, if she was growing in her abilities, or if this was a trap.
Part of her thought it was a trap.
She squeezed Emma’s hands. She felt her sister’s ability surge forward in a wave of heat and opened her eyes in time to see a beam of blue light erupt from Emma’s chest and point towards the ocean.
She inclined her head towards the water. How could they possibly find a person in the sea?
“What now?” Emma asked
, clearly confused by the direction her power was taking them.
Iris turned towards the ocean. If they had been in the real world, they would have needed to give up. Neither of them were strong swimmers. The only opportunities they’d had to swim had been in the river and creek beds, which were rarely deep enough for them to do more than wade in.
But they weren’t in the real world.
Iris rubbed her hands together, the golden rope expanding to allow her range of motion. She imagined the seas parting, providing them a path forward. Her arms shook as she stretched them towards the water. There was a loud swooshing sound as the water slowly rose.
“What the void!” Emma shrieked as the ocean continued to well up, then divided in two.
Focused on keeping the water in place, Iris inched towards the walkway created by the divide. Sweat clung to her brow as she placed her first, tentative step onto the sea floor.
“How did you do this?” Emma asked. “Do you have an ability you haven’t told me about yet? If you can do this—”
“I can only do this here because we’re trapped in a dream, Emma. This isn’t real.”
“But I thought…” Emma trailed off.
“You thought we came here to destroy the models being used to control the golems?” Iris finished for her. “Yes, we are. I know this won’t make sense. If I’m being honest, I still don’t fully understand it, either, but here’s the deal. The things we do here to other witches actually happen in the real world. We can die in here. We can hurt one another in here. And, we can break one another’s spells.”
“I still don’t—”
“The golems are being controlled by a spell. We already know how to break it. We just need to find the mini versions of those monsters and shatter them.”
Emma’s look of confusion quickly shifted to determination as she stepped forward.
“Okay,” she whispered. “If you think this is the way to defeat the rock monsters, let’s do it.”
They entered the pathway in silence. Giant fish shoved against the sea walls. Iris watched them with awe. She had never seen such beautiful and strange creatures before. One of the ones closer to the bottom of the water had fangs sticking out from its mouth and an antenna protruding from its forehead. None of them were able to leap from one side of the watery divide to the other. For that, Iris was grateful. She didn’t want to think about what would happen if one of the fish landed on top of them.
Emma’s blue light remained strong as they crept further and further into the ocean. The walls of water grew taller and the ocean floor sloped downward. There were places were giant cracks divided the ground, but Iris created bridges over them with a swipe of her hand. She smiled at how proficient she was becoming in manipulating the dreamworld.
Without warning, Emma’s blue light began to waver. They shared a look, and then Iris focused on finding the spell that was blocking her sister’s ability. Once again, she found a black aura blanketing Emma. This time, it took a little more concentration on her part to undo the spell. She had to spend several seconds tearing away the layers, but it eventually shattered.
A new doubt began to flood into her. What if this was a game? What if the mysterious strangers from before were simply luring them into the heart of the ocean just to collapse the walls and drown them both before Iris had an opportunity to wake them from the dreamworld.
She clenched her hands into fists and glanced at the ocean walls. They seemed secure, but she had no doubt that they would be able to crush both her and Emma if they came down. She debated revealing her concerns to Emma, but decided against it. If they didn’t destroy the golems, it wasn’t just their lives at stake. Micah and Chiara were also depending on them. Liam was, too.
So, Iris continued forward in silence.
The blue light led them to an underground city. Domes of shell and rock formed buildings. Each building was connected by what Iris could only describe as soap bubbles. It appeared abandoned.
“What is this place?” Emma asked as the shadow of the first structure blocked out the sister moons.
“I’m not sure,” Iris admitted.
Emma placed her hand on one of the bubble-like tubes. Her hand passed through it and she stumbled. The golden rope tugged Iris, and they fell into the pathway.
The blue light emanating from Emma’s chest extinguished in a puff of smoke. Iris immediately attempted to find the spell that had blocked her sister’s ability, but when she searched for a spell, she found nothing. Frowning, she pushed to her feet. She was yanked downward since Emma didn’t rise at the same time.
Footsteps echoed behind them. Iris spun around to find Elilda standing in the middle of the hallway. Her eyes gleamed red and her face was contorted with rage.
“You were supposed to save my coven,” she hissed. “Not murder them in cold blood.”
Emma stepped forward. “We didn’t murder your coven sisters, you hag. They tried to kill us and defended ourselves. It’s called self-defense.”
“They would never—”
“They did,” Iris interrupted. “They went against your direct command to track us. They poisoned Emma and nearly killed her in the process.”
“I don’t believe you.” Elilda sniffed. “Why should I, Spellbreaker?”
Iris closed her eyes and breathed out heavily through her nose. It was back to this, then. She was really getting tired of this witch and her coven sisters blaming her for something she couldn’t choose. It was not like she had a menu selection of powers and just decided to pick the one that put her in the most danger.
“You were the one who sent the golems?” Emma asked.
“Yes,” Elilda replied. She stepped forward. A tiny statue of a golem poked out the top of her skirt pocket. She couldn’t risk motioning to Emma to alert her of the golem.
She stepped forward, praying that the golden rope decided to expand this time and allow her full range of motion without dragging Emma too much.
“You made me a promise, Elilda,” Iris said. “You told me none of your coven sisters would attack us or cause us harm. My sister almost died because what they did. I’m sorry we had to kill them. But you know what, I would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant that Emma and the rest of my friends were still alive to see another day.”
Elilda scowled at her. “Bold words from a witch who’s found herself in the middle of a spiderweb.”
Iris laughed. “You don’t scare me, Elilda. Not anymore.” She took another step forward and the golden rope expanded. “You see, you made me realize something about myself when you sent me into that death trap. I am stronger than any of you, and that’s why you’re afraid of me. You’re afraid that your petty, harsh spells will be”—she snapped her fingers—“crushed, just like that.”
Elilda’s lips parted slightly.
Iris continued to slowly advance towards her. “But what you failed to realize is that if you had just worked with me, taught me how to control my abilities, and helped me grow into the witch I know I’m going to be, you wouldn’t have had to fear anything. I follow the Light, Elilda. Yours is the path of darkness.”
Elilda pulled the golem doll from her pocket and held it before her like a lifeline. She hissed. “Take another step and I swear I’ll order the golems to crush your little friends.”
Iris paused. She hated that she couldn’t see what was happening in the real world. Emma tugged on the golden rope, trying to draw her attention back to her, but Iris ignored it. Her sole focus was on Elilda and the doll.
“If you kill them, you won’t have anything to leverage against me,” Iris said. She kept her tone neutral.
Elilda laughed cruelly. “You have taken everything from me!”
“Who did we kill?” Emma asked, stepping forward. “She must have been someone very special to you.”
Elilda’s grip on the golem tightened as her gaze slid to Emma. She bared her teeth. “You want to know who you took from me? She was my whole world. Crinella.” She whispered the na
me. “She was my right-hand partner through the years. We have—had—been together for over one-hundred and fifty years.” Tears streamed from her eyes. “She didn’t agree with my decision to bargain with you so she took a band of our sisters to rid our world of the Spellbreaker. And you took her from me!”
Iris held up her hands, palms forward.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Sorry? Oh, you’re so sorry.” Elilda laughed as she began pacing back and forth across the hallway. “That’s rich coming from a Spellbreaker. You don’t even understand what you’ve done. You just take and you take and you take and you never even try to make a change.”
Iris took her chance and lunged for Elilda. Her head rammed into the witch’s stomach, sending her careening backwards. She scrambled to get ahold of the golem doll, but Elilda kneed her in the chin.
She reeled backwards, dizziness swelling within her.
Emma was there in a heartbeat. She kicked Elilda in the stomach and then straddled her. With a ferocious cy, she wrapped her hands around the witch’s neck and squeezed.
Iris, still dazed from being struck in the head, swayed forward. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision. He gaze landed on the golem doll laying on the ground, several arms-lengths away from where Emma and Elilda were fighting.
She leapt for it. Her fingertips grazed it when she was suddenly jerked backwards by the golden rope tethering her to Emma. Her shoulder was wrenched out-of-socket as she was flung backwards. She slammed against the wooden door leading into one of the shell and stone buildings. Her head lolled to one side as she slid down the door and slumped to the ground.
“Iris?” Emma asked, shaking her. “Iris!”
Groaning, she looked up to see her sister hovering over her. Her cheeks were streaked and splotchy from crying and snot dripped from her nose.
“Gross,” she said weakly, shoving Emma away.
Emma released a sigh of relief and sat back on her haunches. “Are you alright?”
“Just peachy,” Iris responded more coldly than she intended. She tried moving her injured shoulder. Pain spread through her like wildfire. “I need you to pop my shoulder back into place,” she whispered.