A Time for Magic

by Jessa Ford

  “Thank you for telling me,” Cora looked in earnest at the pair next to her, “I’m going to go share this with my family.” They said their goodbyes, and Cora raced to the wagon. She looked again at the Cofferts and pulled out a notebook from her bag. She grabbed her belongings and made sure there was no trace of her ever being there. She left a note on the wagon and closed her mind to the noise around her. She felt the familiar hum of the magic in her blood, and without looking back, she took off into the night.

  ✽✽✽

  Marta Coffert watched her girls curl up in the back of the wagon. She laid a heavy blanket over them both and pulled a shawl around her shoulders. She glimpsed once more at the dimming light from the fire, hoping the girl they’d picked up hadn’t wandered far. The roads were never too safe to travel at night, but there was something in the air lately. It made her feel even more anxious to get home. She sighed and went to turn her own bed down when a piece of paper caught her eye. It was rolled neatly and placed on top of her blankets. She unrolled it and her eyes widened.

  I won’t forget your kindness.

  If you ever need anything, come to Starbury.

  Dari LaFore

  EIGHTEEN

  It took Cora nearly two whole days to finish her journey. When she finally saw the Star Point bridge appear in a haze in front of her she felt to her knees. She wondered for a moment if the Coffert family had passed through the previous day. She still felt bad about leaving in the night, but she knew it would keep them safe. The talk of time bending made her too jumpy to put them at risk. She’d moved at a quick pace, stopping now and again to check her progress. It was a relief to move unnoticed, but she could hardly keep her mind at ease, for fear something had happened to her friends and family in her absence.

  The stone pillars that stood on either side of the entrance to the bridge boasted an emblem Cora couldn’t quite make out from such a distance. She’d need to get closer. Without thinking, she slowed down time and made her way to the bridge to examine what lay ahead. The bridge itself was not heavily travelled. She noticed a few merchants with carts set up on either side. Guards stood on the opposite end, in front of a large wood door which served as the main entrance to the brick wall surrounding the city.

  The city, Cora soon realized, was indeed Arvendry. She took a closer look at the emblem on the bridge to ensure she had seen it clearly. It was the same symbol each Arvendrians placed on their skin. Every citizen had one. Though Cora would be permitted to pass through the gate, as a foreigner she would be watched closely. Worse, she would be required to leave after just one day’s time. She now understood the need to enter through the tunnel. Cora returned to a spot back on the hill and made sure she lay low in the shade of the tall grass. By the time the sun had set and the light of the moon began to illuminate the sky, Cora determined only two things stood between her and her quest to find her destination.

  Cora studied the guards for the entirety of the next day while she finished the last of her food. It was an excruciating exercise in patience to be this close, but she needed to know the guards’ patterns. She only had one shot to pass under the gate. The guards changed every quarter of a days’ time, but were never far from the door. Still, she would have to pass directly under the bridge to remain undetected. The second issue, however, was not so easily solved.

  The bridge passed over the river. The river, Cora assumed, was actually a tributary which lead to the ocean. It flowed at a pace that terrified her. She had not so much as stepped a foot into an open body of water like this, but Cora saw no way to pass under the bridge without doing so. She had only travelled over solid objects using her time bending gift. She was determined to figure it out; she hadn’t come so far to be stopped by a river.

  She sat thinking back to everything Xave and Dari had told her about time bending. She should be able to either pass quickly over the water or freeze time and pass without stepping completely in the water. If she froze time, it wouldn’t necessarily freeze the entire river, so she’d still need to move quickly. Cora wasn’t sure which option was worse, and the wrong choice could mean the end of her journey.

  Cora debated her options until the sun set again. After a fitful few hours of sleep, she rose while it was still night and began to formulate a plan. It was raining, but she made her way to the river to plot a route. She decided freezing time would give her the best option of staying above water. A wrong step across the river and she may not be able to stop herself from plunging into the water, so the slower she crossed the better.

  Sneaking closer to the river’s edge, she noticed thick stalks of grass growing near the water. Cora collected as many as she could carry back to her spot on the hill. She decided she would cross the following night, and hoped the extra coverage the dark provided outweighed benefit of the noise of travelers during the day. Cora quickly got to work tying the stalks of grass together. She hoped she could find a river rock large enough to act as an anchor when she got to the river. She began to create a rope with the grass to help guide her across the water. Cora forced herself to work at a normal pace to ward off any idle time. The longer she thought about crossing the water, the less confidence she had in her magic. She would need to be fully concentrated if she hoped to make it into Arvendry

  ✽✽✽

  Xave paced back and forth in a small home while an older woman sat in the corner watching him over a steaming cup of tea. His mind was calculating the infinite number of ways his plan could, or already did go wrong. After this much time had passed, he should have heard something about his fellow Time Bender. “You’ll do yourself no favors fretting over her,” the woman stood and moved to pour Xave a cup of tea. “I should have news by now. It’s been too many days.” He shook his head and sat at the same table the woman departed. The chair creaked in response as he sat down, and he stretched long limbs in an effort to release tension. It didn’t help.

  The older woman came back with the cup and sat down across from him. “Have you even slept?” Her kind eyes studied the lines which had begun to form in his forehead. His hair was unkempt and he wore the same clothes he’d arrived in days prior. Xave held his beverage and shrugged, “On and off.” The woman sighed, “You have to trust she’ll make it.” Xave hoped with every fiber in his being that Cora was as strong and resourceful as he perceived her to be. He also found his mind taking him back to their last seconds together, but if anything, it only heightened his fear.

  ✽✽✽

  Cora’s arrival at the edge of the river was only evidenced by the slight sway in the grass under the bridge. The sun was setting and turning the sky to orange, leaving her completely in shade near the base of the bridge. She began searching for a river rock that would hold her rope in place. After a few minutes she was successful and tied one end of her grass rope around the rock. She would wait until the next changing of the guards to throw the rock across. The chatter of the men should muffle the sound of the rock hitting the bank under them.

  Though the river was not terribly wide, maybe only ten or fifteen feet, the current was fast. The earlier rainfall had also allowed the river to rise. It was a combination of the worst possible conditions for Cora, but she forced herself to rid her mind of such thoughts. She found since learning of her time bending gift, her patience for the passing of time had worn thin. She should have only hours to wait before the guards changed, and she could not sit still.

  Cora again let her mind wander to Xave, and she prayed he was not in any danger. Her stomach fluttered when she thought back to their kiss, but she blamed it on her nerves. Even if she allowed herself to enjoy that moment, it was unlikely they would repeat it. It was just adrenaline, she told herself. He’d never shown any interest before and she certainly hadn’t entertained the idea herself. If she admitted, which she never would, Soph’s original description of Xave was becoming more accurate the longer Cora knew him. Underneath his exterior she discovered he was kind and thoughtful. Even his constant smirking was less aggravati
ng than it once was. Above all, she owed him a tremendous debt for allowing her to escape Starbury. The courage and selflessness she witnessed that day would stick with her for some time.

  As soon as Cora heard the large doors creak and signal the guard change, she sprang into action. When she was certain the guards were engrossed in conversation, she tossed the rock across the river while holding in to the opposite end of the rope. One solid thud was the only sound it made, but Cora froze, sure the sound had echoed loudly enough to draw attention. Letting the seconds pass like hours, she waited until the door to Arvendry closed again.

  Cora began to concentrate on everything around her. She focused on the water, the space it occupied, and the weight of her body on the surface. She secured her end of the rope around her waist, fastened her bag high on her back, and edged one foot onto the surface of the river. Her foot broke the surface of the water, but she found it moved slowly as if through a thick mud. She was able to pull it out with ease, so she held her breath and began to cross.

  Each step required an immense amount of concentration, as it proved difficult to slow down the river water for an extended period of time. Since the water kept flowing from its source, she could already see it start to slowly build at the edge of her time barrier, and she allowed it to slowly trickle behind her as she crossed. Cora moved as quickly as her body would allow her, closing her eyes to concentrate and using the rope to guide her. After many steps she opened her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. She was just a few paces from the other side; she could see the rock anchor clearly in the moonlight. Her pause to celebrate caused a slight break in her concentration, and the solid rock was the last sight she saw before her leg was completely submerged in the river below.

  Cora gasped, but forced herself to reach out and focus on her magic. She thought about the water, it’s patterns, it’s molecules all moving around each other and her interruption of their flow. Though time slowed, Cora kept sinking further into the river below; she was panicking too much to have a strong hold on time. Her thoughts began shifting from holding the water to the horror of falling deeper into the river, and the water began to flow faster around her.

  Cora’s heart pounded and her vision became pitch black as her head submerged. She started to thrash about. Since she was still trying to freeze time she couldn’t kick her feet and sunk further and further down. Using her last bit of energy, she released the river around her and moved her legs as quickly as she could, hoping her speed would propel her far enough to reach the bank. She felt roots from the trees sticking into the water scratch her face and arms. She held tight as the water roared around her.

  Her chest ached for air, and Cora climbed and clawed at the roots until her fingers reached the surface where she finally grabbed a hold of the soil. She dragged herself up, kicking with her feet to free her skirt from being tangled in the roots and branches below. When her she finally emerged, she lay on the river's edge, gasping for air and clutching her bag to her chest. She shook until the adrenaline left her body, and sat up, taking in her surroundings. The star map in her boot was ruined from the river water, but it mattered not. Silently and on shaky legs, Cora rose to explore the base of the bridge.

  Thankfully, it did not take long for her to make out the shape of an opening where the bridge met the wall. The tunnel Xave described was as promised. Cora moved toward it as quick as her aching body would allow. Fear began to rise in her again, as she was walking blindly through the tunnel to Arvendry. There were laws against illegal entry, and she would surely be jailed if caught. After walking a few paces, the tunnel’s darkness had turned to gray until a distant light shone ahead of her. Cora found she did not have enough energy to freeze time, so she took off her boots to lessen any sound of her arrival. She held her breath as she approached the opening, but found it brought her into an alleyway.

  Garbage was stacked high on either side of the entrance and in front of it, blocking anyone’s view of her, should they happen to pass by. Cora put her boots back on and crept to the side of the garbage. The tunnel lead directly into one of Arvendry’s trash depositories. She held her breath and hurried toward the opening of the alley. The lights from the windows of the adjacent buildings provided more vision and Cora paused to listen for anyone in the vicinity. Though she had no idea where she was in Arvendry, nor her distance from her destination, she knew she needed to keep moving. The sun would be completely up in mere hours and it would be impossible to hide then.

  ✽✽✽

  Argyn lay a map of Caslya on the table and slammed his fist down. “They could be anywhere by now,” he seethed. Niko Delmarno watched as his oldest follower grew more agitated. Though eager to find the Time Bender, Nikol was accustomed to waiting. After all, he had waited this long to test his new theory. “Can we be sure he was assisted?” he asked Argyn calmly, stepping forward to look at the map. “He could not have escaped otherwise. It would take a Time Bender of much greater skill than a novice to evade us with no trace.” “No matter,” Niko waved his hand as if to brush off the matter entirely, “our contact in Telgria will get us the results of the blood test soon. I find that it only takes a family member or two to coax even the most stubborn of people out of hiding.”

  “Even so,” Argyn lowered his head in respect to Niko, “I would like to continue searching the areas surrounding Telgria with a few of our hunters.” Niko busied himself in a list of names. “Do as you wish. Before you leave, make sure you check our newest recruits. I’ve heard they have not all been so willing to join our noble cause when it comes to measures of persuasion.” Argyn bounced light between the palms of his hand, his eyes turning dark. “I have no doubt I’ll be able to persuade them with a demonstration of our expectations.”

  ✽✽✽

  Cora stepped out onto the street and kept her head down. Her wet clothes left a trail of water behind her. She hoped Arvendry was set up similar to Telgria, but found quickly that was not the case. In Telgria, the outermost streets donned the homes of its citizens. Businesses, trolley stations, and few parks made up the rest. More restaurants and businesses appeared as you neared the city center. The city center housed the School of Knowledge, the School of Magic, and the Governor’s Mansion.

  Arvendry, on the other hand, was a maze. Cora could not determine which gifts or classes belonged to the streets she wandered, as they all looked similar. She had already passed multiple bakeries judging by the smells that lingered in the air. None had a blue door. She had been moving further and further into the city when she decided to turn around. She began making her way around the perimeter of the city, moving a few streets in from the edge at a time. She was losing a race against the sun, which was inching closer and closer toward the horizon. Finally, she thought she saw a glimpse of blue in the distance and began to race toward it, not caring if anyone saw her.

  Cora reached the door and stopped to catch her breath. Her old black school skirt was torn, wet, and ragged. Her hair fell from her usual bun and stuck out in all directions, still wet from her plunge into the river. She was afraid to see how deep the scratches on her face were. If any passers-by noticed her they’d think she was a beggar. Looking up to make sure she indeed found the right place, Cora knocked twice then stepped back into the shadow. Based on the smells alone, she knew she found the right blue door. Her stomach growled in protest. Cora realized she hadn’t eaten since arriving at Star Point Bridge. It was funny to suddenly be so concerned about something as normal as eating.

  Suddenly, a familiar face peered out, causing Cora to peer out from her hiding place and gasp. “You must be Cora,” the woman mused, beckoning her inside. Cora stood in front of a softer, smaller version of Xave; there was no denying the resemblance. She, too, had almost snow-white skin, hazel eyes, and hair as dark as the night sky. Cora stepped inside quickly, suddenly feeling nervous for reasons that had nothing to do with the events of the past week. The smells of the bakery engulfed her, and she began to scan the room for a familiar face.
/>
  As if able to read her mind, Xave stepped into the room in a rush. As soon as he saw Cora his shoulders instantly relaxed. Though his face was void of any emotion, she couldn’t miss the dark circles which had formed under his eyes. He looked as if he’d rested less than Cora since they parted. “Allow me to introduce my mother, Malen,” he walked past Cora to stand at his mother’s side, and Cora stiffened at his formal behavior. She ignored the voice in her head and turned toward Xave’s mother, “Thank you for welcoming me into your home, Mrs. Zellows.” Malen flashed a curious look toward Xave and beckoned Cora to sit at the small table in the corner. “Actually, dear, Zellows isn’t my surname.” “Oh, sorry, Mrs…” The woman shot her son another glance and he nodded. “My name is Malen Delmarno.”

  NINETEEN

  Cora found it impossible to hide the shock on her face. “I think I should explain,” Xave said to her as he pulled her chair out, and nudged her forward to take a seat. Her skin felt electric where his hand brushed her back, however brief their contact was. She was also very aware of how she must smell. She was suddenly desperate for a bath as Malen joined them at the table. “Allow me,” she began to speak and Cora nervously traced the grains of the wood in the table while she listened.