We sat in silence in the cave for three long hours. I was leaning on Dakota, the only alert person/animal among us. Ashton fiddled with her hair wrap, occasionally casting dark glances at Camryn who seemed to be half-asleep. Mary kept sniffling over the fate of the village of Niyuu, while Shannon threw her knives at the wall. Meg paced back and forth in front of the cave, looking for Jared, who had vanished.
“He’s back,” the Minnesotian girl whispered. Camryn yawned and staggered to her feet, looking almost drunk. Not that I would know how drunk people act, but from what I’ve seen in movies, she seemed drunk. Which was impossible since we hadn’t had anything to drink but water.
Jared dashed into the cave. Dakota jumped at him, barking happily and dumping me onto the floor. “Stupid wolf,” I muttered, getting up.
“We might want to get out of here,” Jared said, running his fingers through the fur on Dakota’s head. “I think I made Asjanel mad when I threw the rock.”
“You threw a rock at Asjanel?” Ashton asked incredulously. “Why?”
Jared shrugged. “What he did wasn’t right, so I punished him. I was going to kill him, but a certain someone has all the weapons.” He glared at Shannon.
Wow, this was certainly turning interesting. Jared having homicidal impulses, Camryn claiming to be a sorceress, the grass being blue…my kind of world.
Not.
We trooped out of the cave and stood for a moment, staring down at the fire. It took a little while for that to register.
“Fire!” Mary screamed, pointing at the flames licking the trees not too far away. Those stupid warriors, in their haste to capture us, were trying to set us on fire. Again. To accomplish that, they had set the whole forest on fire. Not too smart.
We turned and ran.
“Halico is five miles away!” Camryn yelled. “Just keep running till we get there!”
It’s amazing what fear will do to a person. Normally, I can’t even run for one mile – barely even for nine minutes straight – but we all found inner strength as we tried to outrun the fire. We ran for two whole miles before we stopped at a river. It was too wide to jump, and looked too deep to swim in our clothes. We halted, desperately sucking in air. I don't know about everyone else, but my chest was burning, my legs aching.
Camryn kicked off her sandals, tossed them across the river, and splashed into the water, gasping for breath. “Hurry up!” she snapped, then coughed harshly and swam slowly to the other side.
“You’re trying to drown us!” Ashton accused.
“Oh, that’s ridiculous!”
Meg yanked her sneakers off and threw them to the other side of the river, barely making it. The rest of us followed, although Ashton had moccasins. Those with glasses didn’t pay any attention to them as we swam across the river. Dakota followed Jared. He actually seemed to enjoy the impromptu bath.
We waded out of the river, snatched up our shoes, and kept running without bothering to put them on. That really hurt, since we were walking on top of twigs. Mary fell into a bush and I had to help her disentangle herself. Luckily, that gave us time to get our breath back.
We burst out of the forest and almost ran into the wall.
“Well,” Camryn said in satisfaction. “That’s Halico, then.”
We took a little while to wring out our clothes and put our shoes on, and then we walked to the gate. When we got there, we found someone waiting for us.
Asjanel.
“You!” he hissed, pointing at Jared, who made a gesture that plainly said, “Who, me?”
Dakota barked and bared his teeth, snapping at Asjanel. The magician of the plains ignored our hunting wolf and advanced on Jared. The rest of us prudently backed away, except Camryn, who placed a hand on Jared's shoulder and whispered something to him.
Asjanel stopped, staring at Camryn. “You’re the witch!”
“You might say that,” she murmured.
Jared nodded and darted forward, grabbed a wicked-looking knife from Asjanel’s belt, and held it to his throat. “I’m sorry I couldn’t kill you earlier,” he apologized. “Allow me to correct that.”
Camryn slipped around them and yanked on the wooden gate, dragging it open and waving at us. We cautiously slipped around Jared and Asjanel and into the necropolis of Halico. Camryn quickly slammed the gate closed and looked around. Then she pointed at some stone steps leading to a watchtower. “Allison, come with me.”
I followed her as we mounted the steps to peer over the wall. Jared still held Asjanel at knifepoint, apparently enjoying the moment. Camryn mumbled something.
“Sorry, what?”
“I was contemplating the best way to get Jared inside and keep Asjanel out,” she said calmly. “I’m not letting Jared kill him. I might need that barbarian later.” She lifted her hands above her head and then called, “Oh, Jared?”
Jared glanced up and was airborne. He literally flew over the wall and landed beside us on the stairs, which we descended.
“I was trying to kill him,” Jared complained.
“Later,” Camryn said shortly.
Then a young lady in a white robe materialized beside us. “What have you brought to Halico?” she demanded.
“Some warriors from the plains,” Camryn said. “And a magician.”
More figures appeared, but the young woman pointed. “There is a large building in the center of the necropolis,” she said. “That is the Academy of Halico. Go there and wait for one who will come.”
What could we do? We rounded up our friends and set off for the Academy.
Now we understood why Halico was called a necropolis. The place was deserted. Most of the windows were broken, and one door swung off its hinges as we passed. I saw movement in an alley, but it was only a rat – a scrawny, pathetic rat. This place was truly dead.
Except for the Academy. The Academy was very much alive.
In fact, it looked absolutely regal. No ordinary metal for the mages – gold and silver. When we walked through the door, the light of a diamond chandelier dazzled us.
There was a deafening explosion behind us. “That was Asjanel,” Camryn muttered. “He likes lightning, I guess.”
We passed through a hallway and into a small room that could have been a jail cell, except that it was more like an expensive hotel room. And waiting there for us was the most perfect man I have ever, will ever see.
“Welcome,” he said, “to Halico.”
*Shannon*
It was love at first sight. Or, as Camryn would say, lust at first sight. God, this guy was hot. His face was perfect. His body wasn’t so muscled as to be disgusting, but he definitely got his exercise. He had short black hair and warm gray-green eyes.
“Hi,” I said. “I’m Shannon.”
He smiled at me – at me and only me! “I am Hedaris, Crown Prince of Telaia.”
“Is that the country we’re in?” Camryn asked calmly. I shot a glance at her. How did this guy not affect her?
Oh, yeah. She was already in love with the whole damn world. Screw Avrien, I wanted Hedaris. Even his name was perfect!
Jared gagged. Mental note: strangle him for that.
Hedaris waved a hand at the room. “You may rest here while we deal with the barbarians of the plains. Then the Council of Mages will meet concerning your…special situation.” He looked at Camryn, who actually blushed and stared pointedly at her feet. Then he swept past us, turning for a moment to say, “Oh, Lady Shannon – would you come with me?”
He called me a lady! Sigh. I followed him like a puppy dog. I heard Jared giggle and I could practically see Cam’s wicked grin.
As we walked down that wonderful hallway, he looked at me. “Lady, I was wondering if you could possibly tell me of the Sorceress Kitana?”
My heart sank. He liked Cam! Or maybe not. If he liked her, he would have made her come with him to…wherever we were going. Right? Right.
“Oh, I’ve known her forever,” I bragged. “She’s a strange little pickle.”
He nodded slowly. “A pickle. And her powers – what do you know of them?”
I shrugged. “I’ve only seen her use them twice. Back at Tent City, she knocked, like, two hundred men over with her hands. She didn’t even touch them. And at the gate – well, I couldn’t see too well, but she levitated Jared over the wall.”
“I see.” He bit his lip. “She says no incantation? She uses no components?”
“No.”
He sighed. “It is as I feared. Listen to me, Lady Shannon. Your friend, the sorceress, is a great danger to Telaia – and indeed, all of Avrien.”
“Camryn? Hey, she has no weapons.” I pulled out a throwing star and waved it at him. “She also has no pain tolerance, even for other people.” That’s the truth – Jared’s double-jointed, and Cam can’t stand to watch when Jared bends his elbow the wrong way.
He sighed. “I hate to argue, my Lady, but I am a Seer of considerable might. Only the Oracles can verify what I have seen.” He paused and stared at me for a moment. I felt my cheeks growing hot. How marvelous his eyes were!
The lady in the white robe appeared in front of us. “Your Highness, we have driven the barbarians back, but they will attack soon. The Council has been called. Bring the children.”
“Who was that?” I asked after she disappeared.
“Head Mage Ghidoli,” Hedaris said. “Come, let us fetch your friends and the sorceress.”
It took ten minutes to walk to the Council Chamber, which might have been more impressive if it hadn’t been so dark. There were a few candles, that was all, but in their light we saw glittering jewels. Hedaris led us to six chairs. We all sat, except Camryn, who was forced to stand. I glanced around and saw what seemed to be a jury standing in one corner. Ghidoli sat on a throne before us.
Ghidoli stood. “Welcome to the Council,” she said. “Today we find ourselves in a unique position, my friends. Two years ago, the Oracles foretold the coming of one who would bring the world into an age of darkness. They spoke of the one as being young of age, but strong in power, and appearing out of nowhere.”
“That’s me,” Camryn said. “Definitely me.” Her blue eyes were steely cold as she stood there, shivering in her harem-girl clothes, her hair dripping, since we hadn't had a chance to dry off all the way from our swim across the river. “And that’s what I want – to bring Avrien into a dark age.”
Hedaris, who stood beside Ghidoli, shook his head. “Then what are we to do with you?” he asked. “These innocent people will not aid you – how do you intend to accomplish this?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. Dakota, who had followed us, growled at her. Jared reached down to pet him.
I jumped up. “Excuse me, but why can’t we speak? I’ve known the – the sorceress forever and I really don’t think she means it. It’s just the shock of being in a different –“
Camryn – no, Kitana, Camryn wouldn’t do it – raised a hand and twisted. I choked and sat back down, clawing at my throat. She spread her fingers and I could speak again. I coughed. Allison hit me on the back a few times.
Ashton stood up. “We’ll rehabilitate her,” she offered, glaring at Camryn. “I’m sure we can help somehow.”
“I know how you can help,” Ghidoli said. “The six of you and your wolf will go with the prince to Mount Kayan to consult the Oracles on this matter.”
“And me?” Camryn demanded.
“You’re coming with us,” Hedaris said. “I will watch over her, Head Mage, and make sure she does nothing to harm the girls – or Avrien. To this I pledge Telaia’s crown.”
Ghidoli sighed. “If it must be done, Hedaris, then so be it.”
And that’s how we really got the job of consulting the Oracles. Asjanel would have you believe that Camryn used her magic to force the mages of Halico to let us go. The lesser mages insist that it was Ghidoli’s idea. Camryn took the basic conversation and twisted it around to make it look like she wanted to go and wasn’t under an honor guard. But it was really Hedaris.
We got horses this time, ten of them – seven to ride, three for our winter clothes. No horse would carry Kitana, which is cliché but true. They don’t like evil mages, I guess. She walked with Dakota, talking animatedly to him about her job, how much she hated gym class, and assorted other Earth things.
Hedaris let me pick my own horse. She was a beautiful black horse with a white mane and tail. Her name was Lady, which Hedaris said was fitting for me. He insisted that I was a Lady. I thought it was weird then, until the Oracles told me otherwise.
But that’s neither here nor there.
The point is, we set off in the early morning, sneaking through the dusty, deserted streets of the necropolis of Halico. After all that work, we had only spent one night there.
We didn’t know it then, but we would never return to Halico.
*Mary*
I bent my head as we passed under a branch. Behind me, I could hear Camryn chattering at Dakota about an evil ball or something. I wasn’t listening. I was still mad at her over what had happened to Niyuu – and what Ghidoli and Hedaris had told us at Halico, about the coming dark age.
Normally, I’m a nice girl. I’m not part of the popular clique, but lots of people like me. Allison calls me “perky.” But I do have morals, and I didn’t like that Asjanel had burnt Niyuu to the ground. I really didn’t like that it was Camryn’s fault.
Ahead of me, Hedaris and Shannon were talking. Allison rode beside me, looking insanely jealous. I didn’t see why. Sure, he was cute, but I’ve seen cuter.
Camryn stopped talking, so I quickly glanced back to make sure she wasn’t running away. Hedaris had told us all to be on the lookout for her to do something evil. But no, she was walking with Dakota, half-asleep. She stumbled over a tree root and mumbled, “What an amazing thing.” Somehow, I didn’t think she was talking about the root.
Something poked me in the back. Jared had a stick. Wonderful. He poked me again. I whirled, almost fell off the horse, and hissed, “What do you want?”
He grinned at me and switched his attentions to Allison.
Suddenly there was a loud shriek. My horse reared up, effectively throwing me to the ground. I curled up in a ball and covered my head as the other horses reacted similarly. Our packs broke open as the packhorses bolted off, and a long cloak covered my head. I tore it off and sat up.
Chaos. Complete and utter chaos.
About twenty of the barbarians had surrounded us. One of them pointed a spear at my chest and said something in a harsh language. Without knowing that she was doing it, Allison translated, “You will come with us and submit to the judgment of the great magician Asjanel.”
“I don’t think so,” Camryn said calmly. She pushed me out of the way and touched the spear.
It melted.
The spearhead just melted. It turned to soup and dripped onto the ground. The wood charred and peeled, then dropped off in large pieces. Camryn laughed, moved forward, stood on tiptoe, and placed her hand on the barbarian’s forehead.
He melted. His skin bubbled up, turned white, then black, and fell off. He screamed once, then fell over, clutching at his stomach as he turned into a puddle of flesh, blood, bone…
“Amazing,” Camryn said clinically. “It actually worked.”
I took fierce pleasure in the man’s death. It was gruesome, but I imagine it must have been the same for the citizens of Niyuu he had murdered. Apparently, though, my stomach wasn’t fine-tuned to the whole “eye for an eye” deal, since I very nearly threw up.
The other barbarians backed away, except for one brave man who ran forward, intending to skewer Camryn on his spear. At the time, I didn’t know how Meg did it, but she jumped – jumped right over one of the horses and landed behind him, grabbed him, and broke his nose with her elbow before kneeing him where it hurts.
Jared laughed. “Do that to Asjanel next time,” he told Meg. “But I get to kill him.”
Meg grinned back.
Dakota snapped at two of the men, who had been about to throw their spears at us but thought better of it. The remaining barbarians ran off. Trying to ignore what had been a man only a few minutes before, we surrounded the groaning barbarian Meg had attacked.
“Why does Asjanel want to kill me?” Camryn asked gently, putting her slender fingers under his chin and turning his head up. I shuddered, expecting a repeat of the melting thing, but she didn’t hurt him.
“Kill a sorceress, gain power,” the man gasped.
“Oh, really?” she murmured. “Is that how it is with the Plainspeople?”
“Yes! All magicians must kill to get power. Kill a mage, get more.”
“I see.” She ran her other hand through his long, blonde hair. I could practically sense the dishonesty inherent in her seemingly kind voice. “My dear friend, how did you know where to find us?”
His eyes gleamed. “Asjanel has a piece of white that tells him the future.”
Camryn’s eyes widened. She stopped stroking his hair and fumbled through her pockets, then cursed violently. “That son of a bitch!” she cried. “He stole my – piece of white.” She laughed weakly and tilted the man’s head further up, so that he screamed in pain. “Tell me, dear – where is the magician Asjanel?”
He shook his head, trying to wrench free, but she held fast. “I cannot!” he shrieked.
Camryn touched his nose, which still bled where Meg had broken it. “I imagine that hurts.”
He writhed in agony, screaming in pain. I hadn’t seen the little gesture she had made, but her magic was more powerful than we had thought. His bones had shattered into little fragments.
“He waits for you in the mountains!” the barbarian yelled with his last breath. “He will catch you and – kill you…” His voice faded out. It took us a few moments to realize that he was dead.
“That about settles it,” Camryn noted, standing and wiping her hands on her harem pants. “We need an alternate route to Mount Kayan.”
Hedaris nodded. Strangely, he didn’t seem upset. “Thank you for saving the girls,” he said, as if he didn’t consider Camryn to be a girl. I couldn't see Jared, but imagined him raising his eyebrows at being left out. “Your torture methods are most intriguing.”
Someone gagged behind me.
We rounded up the horses, as well as what we could salvage of our supplies. We had lost two of the horses, and the third packhorse was limping, so we had to send it back to Halico. With seven horses remaining, we had to double up. Allison rode with Hedaris. I looked around, intending to ride with Jared, but he wasn’t there. When I thought about it, I realized that Dakota hadn’t barked in a long time.
“Where’s Jared? And Dakota?” I asked.
Shannon frowned. Camryn, who had been in the act of persuading one of the horses to let her ride, glanced around.
Hedaris gasped – rather overdramatically, I thought. “The wolf and the young thief must have been kidnapped by the barbarians!”
Meg looked toward the mountains. “We’ll never get to Kayan if we look for her,” she said. “But if the barbarians have her, Asjanel will know. We’ll just have to go looking for him.”
It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was all we had. We finished packing up, mounted our horses, and rode off into a blazing sunset that only seemed to carry more fire and misery for us. Behind me, Ashton started to berate Camryn. “You are a sick young woman, you know that? When we get home, you are going into massive therapy…”
*Kitana*
Oh, the agony of prolonged horseback riding!
We had been at it for almost a month now. We had only gotten into the mountains three days ago, and it was really, really cold. I have absolutely no tolerance for being cold. I had wrapped myself in three cloaks and a nifty little scarf. I shivered, entwined my fingers in my horse’s mane, and closed my eyes.
I have a bit of a confession to make. The others were convinced that we were stuck here, but we weren’t. I alone held the power to stop this from happening. I thought about Earth, about my other half there, and BANG! I was in her head.
She was at work. It was late on a Tuesday evening and she was bringing in the garbage cans. It had been raining and her hands were cold. I pressed my ghostly, slightly warmer hands against hers, and she jerked in shock.
“Great timing,” she muttered. “You couldn’t have gotten here an hour ago, could you? I needed help.”
I grinned, although she couldn’t see it. Camryn didn’t like me much, since I had a habit of showing up just in time to seriously disrupt her life. I held the door open politely as she wheeled the garbage can inside. Then I picked apart her memories.
To her, we had been separate for a long time. It had been October when I had last been a part of this world, and now it was late March. She was busy preparing for her birthday in two weeks – we would be fifteen.
We finished closing up the library and got into the car to go home. As I stared at the barely-familiar streets of our little town, I realized that it looked weird. No longer was this my town. I had stopped being a Wisconsinite – I was a Sorceress to the core.
Stop thinking like that, my other half thought angrily. This is my life. This is my home. Stay in Avrien forever if you want – I don’t care. I belong here.
I felt suddenly sick. Yes, she belonged here, but could she remain here? I was in charge; I was the dominant one. I wanted to stay in Avrien. Sooner or later, she would disappear as Ashton and Allison had.
I left her body when we got home and went into our bedroom, where I wrapped myself in my blanket and cuddled my stuffed sheepdog. I would never type up a story again. I would never see my sister grow up. Oh, God, I would never finish high school!
“That’s mine.” I looked up. Camryn was standing over me, staring at her sheepdog – our sheepdog. “That’s mine,” she repeated. “You can’t have him.”
“I need him,” I whispered.
“I need him more.”
I stared at her, so identical to me, so different. She didn’t know about the barbarians I had killed. She didn’t know about my plans for Avrien. She was a normal girl – average student, going out for soccer in a month. I was not. She didn’t know that it could not remain this way, the two of us, one person in two different places, two different times.
I didn’t intend to tell her – not now. Not yet. Let her live, assuming that she would stay here long enough to go to college. Let her live, secure in the misconception that she would be a part of the corrupt, evil society of this place called Earth.
Let her live happily for a little while.
I sighed, got up, let her have our sheepdog. “I’ll come back in time for our birthday,” I promised.
“We’re having a party,” she told me. “Come back early and help me clean this room.”
I didn’t reply, but disappeared, flitting back to Avrien, where I wrapped my arms around my horse’s neck and tried not to cry over the things I would never do.
My horse stopped, and I sat up, drawing my hood over my head. “We leave the horses in a nearby cave,” Hedaris announced. “We must continue to Mount Kayan on foot.”
I had no problem with that, so I climbed off, patted the horse, and led him forward. We left them in the cave, which was heated by an underground hot springs. We gave them food enough for three days and took everything we could carry.
Then we started up Mount Kayan.
I’ve never seen anything as beautiful as that mountain. It was huge, covered in the soft snow that gleamed too bright in the sun. It stretched above us, an everlasting monument to life, endless and incomprehensible.
We left tracks in the new snow as we climbed, higher and higher. I paused to wrap my scarf tighter around my nose, and the others rounded a corner. I scrambled after them and almost crashed into Asjanel.
He stood before me, where no one had been before, but he was not alone. A young barbarian, perhaps a little older than I was, stood behind him. He was skinny, his clothes ragged, and he had a persistent cough. He carried a primitive clipboard and a lump of lead that was apparently supposed to be a pencil.
“Die, witch!” Asjanel hissed. Then, in a normal tone of voice, he spoke to the boy. “Ryac, make sure you get accurate notes on this.”
I backed away, slipped, grasped at air and tumbled several feet down the mountainside. Asjanel laughed, and then I heard him shout something.
The entire mountain shook, rumbled. I flung myself out on my belly, wrapped my arms around my head, and screamed, “Avalanche!”
I don’t know if the others heard me; I couldn’t hear myself over the roar of several tons of falling snow. I was caught up and flung into space, falling, falling…
I twisted around, grabbed blindly for anything, anything to hold on to, but there was nothing but the snow, falling with me. I screamed once as I fell, tumbling into blackness, knowing perfectly well that landing would kill me.
I wouldn’t be alive to go to my own fifteenth birthday party. Just add that to the list of things I’ll never do.