White Witch, Black Magic

I ’m home, safe and warm. My house is filled with the gentle crackling of a fire. Mama is stroking my hair, telling me to wake, that I must wake. I don’t want to open my eyes. Mama shakes my shoulder.

“Wake up, Emma! Please!” But her voice is all wrong. She shakes me too hard and her hands are too rough. I moan. It’s hot. Too hot. “Emma, please!”

It isn’t my mother trying to rouse me. My eyes flicker open. I become aware of how wet I am, and how overly warm my sodden clothes are. Jacob is leaning over me. Wren and Avaysia are off to my left; Bella is on my right.

“Thank God. I thought you were…I mean…” Jacob trails back, sitting back on his heels. “The others were trying to breathe already, but you...” he doesn’t finish his sentence.

I open my mouth to reply, and a fountain of water pours from me. Jacob rolls me onto my side and tells me to relax and to try to breathe. He pats my back while I choke up every bit of water I can.

When my lungs are functioning again, I stagger to my feet. We’re still in the ogre cabin. The pot is lying on its side about five feet away and its contents are spilled across the ground. Oli is spinning in circles on the other side of his cabin, squealing.

“Where tail? Where tail?” he shouts.

“Keep looking!” Jacob calls back.

“Here, little taily,” Oli says, spinning even faster.

He’s knocking into things, and I guess this is how the pot ended up on the floor.

“You came back,” I say to Jacob. “Why?”

He shrugs. “I’m too soft for my own good. Here, this is yours.”

I take my dagger from him and slip it back into its sheath.

“You aren’t much of a thief, are you?” I say.

“I guess not.”

Bella, who has just finished coughing up her guts, says, “What in the world is he doing?”

“Looking for his tail,” Jacob replies matter-of-factly.

“And why does he think he has a tail?”

“Because I told him he does. He isn’t that smart. Hey Oli! Your tail just ran out the door!”

“Taily!” Oli squeals. “Come back!”

Oli charges to his door, throws it open, and sprints off into the woods. The door slams into the wall and bounce shut behind him, trapping us in the cabin. I feel my heart sink. We’ll have to wait until Oli comes back, but he’ll probably just try and eat us again.

“How are we supposed to get out of here?” Wren asks.

“We could climb through the window,” Jacob suggests.

Avaysia teeters over to us. “What happened?” she asks.

She’s on her feet, but looks very unsteady. She’s tripping over her dress and falling about, as though she’s drunk. Her eyes are a little unfocused, but she’s coordinated enough to make it to Wren.

“You don’t look so good. Maybe you should sit down for a while,” Wren tells her.

Avaysia sways on her feet but doesn’t answer. Wren sits her down and tells her to breathe slowly.

“So what happened?” Bella asks Jacob. “We’ll have to fill Princess in later, since she’s a little incapacitated at the moment.”

Jacob smiles. “By the time I showed up, you were all in the pot. I came down through the window and convinced the giant—”

“Ogre,” I correct him.

“Right. Sorry, I’m not very good with all these different names. I can’t even tell a griffin from a chimera. Anyways, I convinced the ogre he had a tail. He started trying to find it and knocked over a bunch of stuff in the process, including the pot. Then you guys woke up and Oli ran out the door. That’s about it.”

“Tail all gone!” Oli shouts in the distance. His voice is coming closer.

“Hurry!” I say. “We have to get out of here before he comes back!”

“H-h-how?” Avaysia asks, her voice shaking.

“Through the window,” Jacob answers.

“Well, let’s hurry up!” Bella says.

She tries to grab the window ledge, but isn’t quite tall enough. It’s about a foot above her fingertips. Wren and Jacob, who both have at least six inches on me, can’t reach it either.

“How did you get in?” I ask.

“There’s a rock under the window I used to boost me up. I dropped down off the window. I guess I didn’t notice how far up it was.”

“Great. Now what?” Wren says.

“Maybe tail in house?” Oli must be nearing the door. “Or maybe in shed?”

“Emma, can you use your magic?” Jacob asks.

“No! Those stupid vines have some sort of enchantment on them that drain my powers.”

“Well, let’s thrown them out the window!”

It sounds like a good idea, but when we go to pick them up, they leave angry red burns across our palms. Mine are by far the worse, the severity decreasing the less time someone’s spent around me. Around magic.

“Well, that didn’t work,” Jacob grumbles. “Now what?”

His palms are red and stinging, but they’re far better than mine. Somehow, Avaysia is completely fine, but Bella has blisters on her skin. Wren’s hands are raw and the skin is peeling away. My palms and fingers look like someone lit them on fire, and they feel like it, too.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow,” I say, tears pricking at my eyes.

“Here, let me see,” Avaysia says.

She stretches out her fingers as if to touch the ruined skin. I snatch my hands away.

“Don’t touch them. You’ll only make it worse!”

“Oli find tail in house, maybe.” The ogre is right outside the door.

There’s the sound of metal on metal as the latch is lifted. The door swings open and Oli stands in the frame, staring around at us.

“Dinner on the floor? Not in pot? Does Dinner know where Oli’s tail went?”

“Um…did you check the trees?” I ask the ogre.

“Tail not outside! Oli think Dinner tricked Oli!”

“Oh, no, we wouldn’t do that,” Bella says, unconvincingly.

Oli folds his arms. “Dinner going to be eaten, cooked or not. Oli hungry now!”

An idea occurs to me. There may be a way out of this yet. Ignoring the burning in my hands, and wave at Oli.

“Hey! I don’t want to be eaten by a scrawny little weakling like you!”

“Oli not scrawny! Oli not weakling,” Oli says indignantly.

“Is that so? Well, I met an ogre just down the road who can break a log in half with his bare hands.”

“Oli can too! Watch!” Oli grabs a log and snaps it clean in half. “Like that?” he sasks, showing off the broken wood. “Oli is strongest ogre around!”

“No, the other ogre is stronger. He can rip a door right off its hinges.”

“Emma, what are you doing?” Wren hisses. “Why are you making him mad?”

My answer is drowned out by the sound of ripping metal as Oli yanks his door from its hinges. He holds it out to me, waving it proudly.

“Like that? What else? What else can other ogre do?”

“Well, the other ogre can tie himself up with vines and break free in a matter of seconds,” I reply.

Oli seizes up the magic vines, which don’t seem to bother him in the least. He binds himself to one of the support beams that hold up his shack. When he’s secure, Oli looks at me.

“Like this?” he asks.

“You have to break out, first,” I tell him. “Then you’d truly be the strongest ogre around.”

Oli begins to strain against the vines. Normal ones would have snapped easily, but these are magical. They stretch a bit, but don’t break. While Oli struggles, red lines appear across his body where the vines burn his skin. He doesn’t seem to feel it, though, and just keeps pulling against them.

“Come on guys,” I say, running for the place the door used to be.

“Genius!” Wren shouts.

“Brilliant!” Jacob cries.

“Nice job,” Avaysia says, which is the only nice thing she’s ever said to me.

“Totally wicked!” Bella giggles. We all look at her. “What?” she asks.

“Totally wicked?” Jacob questions.

“Completely awesome,” she explains.

“Dinner, come back!” Oli shrieks.

I turn just in time to see him throw himself forwards with so much force the support beam cracks. The roof comes down on his head and the whole cabin collapses. Wren shoves Avaysia out of the way of a cooking pot that’s bouncing towards us. As they get to their feet, we turn back to the billowing dirt. When the dust settles, all that’s left is a pile of rubble and a very angry ogre.

“Run!” I cry as Oli bears down upon us.

It’s hopeless, and we all know it. There’s no way we could possibly outrun an ogre. Then, out of nowhere, Neverard, Dusty, and Winter appear. Bella mounts Dusty while Wren and Avaysia swing into Winter’s saddle. I jump onto Neverard and pull Jacob up behind me.

The horses outdistance the ogre soon enough, and we stop when we’re sure it’s safe. There’s a little stream nearby, so we wash our burns. I’ll be the first to admit, it hurts a lot.

“Here, let me see it,” Avaysia says.

“Why do you want to look at my hands so badly?” I ask.

Avaysia shrugs. “I’ve watched the healer at home treat burns that the bakers get. Maybe I can help with these.”

I place my left hand in Avaysia’s. She inspects it, and then washes it in the water again. When she’s satisfied that both my hands are cooled down a bit, she wraps them in clean white bandages from one of the saddlebags.

“That’ll have to do. I don’t know how to do anything more than that,” she says.

“It’s better than nothing,” I reply.

She wraps up the others, and everything seems much better under clean white linen. Wren and I decide that we can trust Jacob, so we give him back his weapons. He tosses the blowgun aside, claiming it’s broken, but stows the knives back under his clothes.

“Have you still got my compass?” he asks me.

I’d completely forgotten about it. It’s still in my pocket, so I hand it over. I think there might be a few extra scratches on the top, but it otherwise looks the same. Jacob carefully wipes the water off on his shirt and rubs the glass clean. Beneath his fingers, the arrow is still going in loops.

“What good is a broken compass?” I ask.

Jacob shrugs, but doesn’t say anything. All the same, he slides the compass into the same pocket I pulled it from earlier today.

We set off again, following the path west. Our travels before have been mostly silent, but Jacob makes conversation and we spend far more time laughing than I would have thought possible.

“What was your name again, Princess? Vaylea, or something?” he asks.

“Avaysia. Princess Avaysia Rosalind Christiana Regalda, to you.”

“That’s quite a mouthful. I think I’ll just call you Vay, if that’s alright with you.”

“It most certainly isn’t!”

“Splendid. All the more reason to use it.”

“If you call me Vay, I’ll call you…uh…Jake.”

“Was that supposed to be threatening?” Jacob chuckles. “Because it wasn’t. By all means, call me Jake. In fact, the rest of you can call me Jake, too. It doesn’t have to be just Vay.”

If looks could kill, Jake would have been dead on the spot. But the most Avaysia can do is ignore him. Of course, we’re all laughing by this point, and her new nickname sticks. From then on, we all refer to her as Vay.

“Jake,” I say to him at lunch. “What did you do before you became a thief?”

“How do you know I haven’t always been a thief?”

“Bandits don’t rescue people. And they don’t have callused hands like yours. Not unless they were farmers first.”

“It’s a long, sad story. I’ll spare you all the misery.”

“Come on, you can tell us,” I beg, but he refuses to say anything more on the subject.

We rotate which horse doesn’t carry two people, but since Neverard is my horse, I ride him most often. I like riding Neverard. He’s so solidly built and so big, it makes me feel invincible. Of course, I feel a little less invincible after a tree branch slaps me across the face and I nearly fall.

“Careful!” Jake, who’s sitting behind me, grabs my arm and steadies me. “It’s a long tumble from way up here.”

“Well, I don’t plan on falling. If these trees would just keep their branches to themselves, we wouldn’t have a problem.”

“Maybe I’d better hold onto you,” Jake says, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Or maybe you should keep your hands to yourself,” I reply.

I send a little electric shock through my torso and into Jake’s arms. It isn’t enough to do any damage, just surprise him a bit. I make sure not to shock Neverard, just Jake. Jake immediately lets go of me, rubbing his forearms and looking hurt.

“Ouch!” he yelps. “What was that for? I was only trying to protect you,” he says.

“I don’t need protecting.”

“Emma isn’t exactly one who needs a knight in shining armor,” Avaysia says, looking wistfully at Wren. She’s seated behind him on Dusty. “Not that there are many knights who would want to rescue her.”

Ignoring the comment, I continue. “So keep your hands off.”

He does for a while, but about an hour later, I feel my hair swing loose from its braid. Jake must have undone it.

“What are you doing?” I demand.

“Playing with your hair,” he replies.

“How old are you?”

“Sixteen.”

“You’re acting like my little sister, Hattie. She’s seven, and she’s forever begging me to let her braid flowers into my hair.” I roll my eyes. “Girls. Honestly.”

“Aren’t you a girl?” Jake says teasingly.

“But I don’t act like it. Or, at least, not very often.”

“True,” Jake says.

I let him play with my hair, though. After all, I’ve been braiding and unbraiding Neverard’s mane for the last half-hour, too. When monsters aren’t attacking us and we’re not chasing down thieves, the trip is rather boring. Of course, I’d rather be bored then dead, or in yet another terrifying situation.

“That looks nice,” Bella says as she climbs up behind me.

We’ve stopped to switch riders again. Avaysia is staying with Wren, but Jake and Bella are switching places.

“Thanks,” I say as Neverard takes the lead. “Jake did it.”

“He has clever fingers.”

“Apparently.”

“Hey Jake!” Bella calls, twisting around on Neverard. “Where’d you learn to braid like that?”

Jake looks at her. There’s great sadness in his eyes. “I used to do Christa’s hair. My little sister.”

“Why are you a thief if you’ve got a kid sister to look after?” I ask.

“I don’t. Not anymore, at least. She’s dead.”

I want to tell him how awful that is. But I don’t have the chance. As I’m opening my mouth, the forest comes alive with fleeing animals. The horses are dancing back and forth, clearly nervous. Deer and squirrels race past. Birds flap through the air, screeching loudly.

“Another giant?” Wren says.

“Oh no,” Avaysia squeaks. “Two giants? Wasn’t one enough?”

I’m searching through the animals, looking for the black cat that seems to pop everywhere we go. He’s always there when danger approaches, but so far we’ve escaped all those situations. Maybe the cat is good luck.

“I don’t think so,” I say. “The ground isn’t shaking like it did before. It’s something else. Either smaller, or approaching by air.”

No sooner have the words left my mouth when a roar echoes through the trees. My ears ring with the sound and can barely register anything else. A wind starts up, tossing tree branches and leaves about.

“Look up!” I shout to my companions. “Something with big wings. It’ll be that way!” I point in the direction the roar came from.

The ringing noise is just starting to fade when another roar sounds. It’s closer than the first. I clap my hands over my ears as the wind picks up. A spout of flame appears. It shoots over the trees, lighting a few on fire. They look like birthday candles. Giant birthday candles.

Moments later, an enormous dragon flies over the treetops. Its wing beats are causing the wind. Even as it flames again, I try and think of a word to describe it. There are a lot of them: lethal, terrifying, and, strange but true, beautiful.

The dragon is multiple shades of blue. The tip of its snout is so dark it’s nearly black. The shade lightens as it moves down the dragon’s back, so the end of its tail is a pretty powder blue.

As the dragon nears, I can see that each of its scales is trimmed in gold. The talons are sharp and glittery, as though they’ve been dipped in liquid gold and peppered in sparkles. There are golden markings around the dragon’s eyes, too, and the spines along her back match.

Something about the way its neck arches as it flies towards us makes me think female. Wren must come to the same conclusion as I do, because he shouts, “It’s a girl dragon?”

The way he says the words makes it sound like a question. The dragoness flames again, as if in answer. I notice that, as the dragon spews fire, her talons grow brighter and the gold marks on her scales sparkle more.

By this time, all the forest animals have disappeared into the trees off to our right. The dragon is still approaching. It looks like she’s headed for Avaysia.

Why does everyone want her? I think. And what, exactly, is a dragon going to do with a princess?

As the dragon swoops towards Dusty, the horse freaks out. She rears up, throwing Wren and Avaysia. They both cry out as they go down; Wren because Avaysia’s pointy shoe stabs him in the thigh, and Avaysia because Wren is heavy.

“Sorry!” they say to each other as they clamber back to their feet.

Dusty screams, an unearthly sound that I pray I never have to hear again. The poor animal takes off, trying to escape the dragon. This movement seems to attract the dragon’s attention, because she beats her wings and veers towards Dusty. The horse leaps over a fallen tree. The dragon extends her talons and catches Dusty mid-jump.

“No!” Wren, Bella, and I all cry in unison.

“Leave the horse alone!” I bellow. I can’t stand the screams coming from Dusty as the dragon flies up. “Let her go!”

An arrow bounces off the dragon’s scales. Wren knocks another and sends it towards the dragon’s eyes. It misses, but just barely. Surprised, the dragon opens it’s talons and Dusty drops from her clutches.

The horse plummets. She hits the ground with a loud smack. Her left back leg twists under her, clearly broken. Dusty screams again. An arrow sprouts from her forehead, and she falls slumps back, dead.

“There was no saving her,” Wren says.

I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve become fond of all the horses. It breaks my heart to see Dusty fallen, and it must have been hard for Wren to kill her. But we’ve no time to be sad. The dragon is circling back, getting ready to make another attack.

I wait for Neverard or Winter to bolt like Dusty did, but both stand their ground. Neverard just seems courageous, but Winter has a look in her eyes that reminds me of Hattie when she’s keeping a secret.

I don’t have time to ponder this, however, because the dragon is swooping down on us again. I realize that she isn’t heading for Avaysia. The dragon is after me. I don’t have time to be surprised or curious before I’m plucked from Neverard’s back.

“Emma!” Bella shouts.

“We’ll get you down!” Wren calls up.

“Safely!” Jake puts in.

Avaysia brushes her blonde curls out of her eyes. “Use your dagger!” she screams.

We’re rising higher into the air. The dragon is leaving, now that she has her prize. I don’t know why I’m important to the beast, but I don’t have time to think about it. I pull my dagger from its sheath and begin hacking at the dragon’s talons.

If I weren’t so desperate, the knife never would have made it through the scales. But because I’m trying to save my life, I hack like a madwoman, eventually severing one of the golden claws.

The dragon bellows in pain and rage as the blade slices through her flesh. She drops me. I fall, clutching the talon in one hand and my dagger in the other. The ground races up to meet me and I think, I need wings!

What I get is close enough. My cloak fans out around me, and I grab the sides of it. I spread my arms wide, filling the cloak with air. My fall immediately turns to a controlled glide. I tilt my arms experimentally, and am thrown to the right.

I regain balance and manage to make it back to my friends before the dragoness returns. She’s out for blood, now, my blood, specifically. The place where her talon used to be is dripping blood. It’s a silvery substance, unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

The dragon roars and flames again. My vision blurs in a way that I recognize. It’s the magic in me taking over. As Avaysia would put it, my magic is running away with me. I just have time to shout a warning to my friends before the magic takes over completely.

With power I never knew I had, I draw gallons of water up from beneath the earth. I send the water right down the dragon’s throat, extinguishing her fire.

The dragon coughs, trying to breathe. Her next roar is strangled and weak. I send some fire of my own towards her, targeting her eyes and softer underbelly. The dragon seems to know what I’m planning and manages to dodge.

Though the dragon could probably beat me, she turns on a wingtip and glides away. All that’s left are scorched trees and a thin trail of silver blood. My fingers are still curled around the golden talon.

The power leaves me, retreating with the dragon. I don’t realize I’m shaking until Jake puts a hand on my arm. “How did you do that?” he asks.

“Magic,” I say.

“Yes, but you don’t seem to need a wand or anything. No fancy gestures or complicated spells. You just…shot fire and water all over the place.”

“I don’t need any of those things to make magic.”

“You don’t?”

“No.”

“Then why did you have a wand when we first met?”

“It scared you out of your wits, didn’t it? The point was to make you stop without actually having to hurt you. You wouldn’t have been the least bit frightened if I just looked at you.”

“So it’s all just for show?”

“Yup.”

“Oh.”

“But don’t you go telling people my secrets. It’s nice to be able to scare people by merely pointing a stick at them and acting all dramatic.”

“It isn’t so great being on the other side of that stick,” Jake grumbles.

“Aww, were you scared of me?”

“Was, and still am.”

“Oh, please, you know I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“Not on purpose,” Avaysia says.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Vay?” Jake asks.

Avaysia doesn’t answer. She gives Jake a superior look and tosses back her golden curls, clearly still upset about being called Vay.

“Come on, Princess V. Tell me what you’re talking about.” Avaysia still doesn’t respond, so Jake turns to me. “What’s she talking about?”

“I don’t think I can quite explain it. It’s just sometimes—well, only twice—I’m filled with some sort of rage and then all sorts of crazy things happen…and I don’t really remember them.”

“Her magic ran away with her. It’s occurred before, and it could happen again, if she gets very angry. Who knows what else will set if off?” Avaysia says in a threatening way. “It doesn’t always take a dragon.”

Jake takes a step back from me.

“Yeah, so watch what you say to me,” I tease.

Jake grins. “You wouldn’t hurt me, would you?”

“She tried to hurt me,” Avaysia says. “Because I was telling her things she didn’t like hearing.”

“I’ll just have to watch what I say, then,” Jake replies. “Of course, I can still say what I like to you, can’t I, Vay?”

Avaysia growls at Jake before flouncing off. As she goes, her hair bounces off her shoulders and a curl catches on a branch. Avaysia howls and grabs her head, yanking the curl free. She runs to Wren, who’s crouched next to Dusty.

Avaysia flings herself into Wren’s arms, moaning about how mean Jake and I are. Wren holds her, and Avaysia gives me an evil smile over his shoulder.

“She’s crazy,” Jake says.

“Just figuring that out, are you?” I ask.

We laugh, and Bella gives us a reproachful look. “You guys should have more respect. Dusty just kicked the bucket, and all you can do is giggle?”

“Kicked the bucket?” Jake asks.

“Died.”

“Oh.”

“So have some respect.”

“Vay isn’t—”

“Vay is a princess,” Bella reminds him. “She wouldn’t know how to behave. But I’m sure each of you has suffered some loss. Try and be nice.”

I haven’t had any family, friends, or pets die yet, unless you count a crazy cat that followed me around a couple of years ago. He was flea infested and Mama wouldn’t let him in the house. He used to sit at our front door and howl. He kept the whole town up. Eventually, we had to kill him to make him go away. But I think of how I’ll feel if our mission doesn’t work out, and what could happen to my family.

Jake’s face is a mixture of sorrow and anger. I know he must be thinking about his little sister. What was her name? Christine? No, Christa. For about the millionth time, I wonder what happened to her.

Jake, Bella, and I walk to Wren and Avaysia, who are kneeling by Dusty’s side. Wren has pulled out his arrow, and it left a ragged whole in Dusty’s forehead. Blood trickles down her snout.

“Wren, I’m sorry,” I say.

“Oh what’s it matter? She’s just a stupid horse.”

“Wren…”

“Emma, can you…bury her?”

“I’ll try.”

I raise my arms, willing the dirt to rise. It obeys, swirling up, leaving a big, flat hole. I lower the dirt into a pile, then use my magic to lift Dusty into the hole. I gently set her down and make sure her legs are neatly settled. I layer the dirt over her body and make a nice, smooth mound.

Jake hands me a flat, round rock. “Make a tombstone.”

I place my fingertip on the rock and trace out letters. They burn themselves into the stone as I go. Here lies Dusty, a horse brave and true. We will never forget you. Curse the dragon who took your life. I set the stone on top of the mound.

“Thank you,” Wren whispers.

I nod. “You’re welcome.”

We sit there a while, quite and sad. Avaysia has her arms around Wren and her head on his shoulder. Jake is sitting with his head in his hands. Bella is picking flowers. I silently go over to her, irritated by her lack of empathy.

“You should pay your respects to Dusty. She was a really good horse.”

“I am,” Bella tells me.

“You’re picking flowers,” I whisper. “How is that respectful?”

“I read it in a book. I’m going to burry Dusty in flowers.”

“What sort of books are you reading?”

“The Hunger Games. It was a great book, but the movie was awful.”

“What’s a moov-lee?” I ask.

“It’s sort of like a picture, but it moves and talks.”

I stare at her.

“Oh, never mind. Will you help me?”

So Bella and I fill our arms with beautiful blossoms and then scatter the flowers across the mound of dirt. I make a wreath from maple leaves and tuck bright yellow blossoms into it. Then I drape it over the top of Dusty’s tombstone.

“That looks really pretty, girls,” Jake says.

“Thanks. We really need to get moving,” I reply. “Wren? Are you okay?”

“She’s just a stupid horse,” Wren mutters again. “It’ll be fine.”

He climbs to his feet and we mount the two remaining horses. Neverard carries Jake, Bella, and me, while Winter takes Avaysia and Wren. We’re all silent as we plod along down the path.

When the sun has set and it’s too dark to continue, we stop. Wren dumps his bow and quiver into the dirt, strings up his hammock and collapses onto it without removing his boots.

“I’ll take first watch,” Jake says.

Even though I’ve just met him, after all we’ve been through I trust him to keep us safe. Avaysia helps Bella and me set up her tent, which we all share. It’s easier that way. Jake posts himself by a tree to keep watch.

After everything that happened today, I expect to fall asleep immediately. But when I lay down, I can’t seem to close my eyes. I stare at the top of our tent for a while, then roll over and look at the ground.

I try and soothe myself to sleep with memories from home, but that just makes me sad. Finally, I give up and rise from my blankets. Maybe some fresh air will clear my head and help me relax.

Moving carefully so I don’t wake Avaysia and Bella, I slip from our tent. I take my sword with me, just in case. I’ve learned to expect trouble anywhere and anytime on this trip.

I step out of the tent and look up at the starry sky. Trees obscure many of them, but I can still see a fair amount. I’m still looking at the glittering sky when a voice makes me jump.

“Can’t sleep?”

I whirl around, whipping out my sword.

“Whoa! Easy tiger. I didn’t mean to startle you,” Jake says.

I lower the point of my weapon. “Sorry. I’d forgotten you were out here.”

“Yeah, I’m easy to forget,” he says bitterly.

“That’s not what I meant.”

I sheath my sword and join Jake on the ground. I lean back against his tree. We sit, shoulder to shoulder in silence for a while. Then I say, “Since I’m up, why don’t you go to sleep? I’ll keep watch.”

Jake flattens out on the ground and lays spread-eagled. “I don’t think I’ll be able to shut my brain off.”

“I know the feeling.”

We’re quiet again. Then Jake asks, “Which one is your favorite?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Which constellation. I like Pegasus. Christa always liked the Huntress the best.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask.

“You’ve never heard of the constellations?” I shake my head. Jake pats the ground next to himself. “Come join me. I’ll show them to you.”

I lie down next to Jake and place my hands behind my head. Thousands of stars sparkle above me, something I’ve missed seeing. I used to stargaze at home, but here the trees are too dense to see anything except the undersides of leaves.

“They’re pretty, aren’t they?” I say.

“Beautiful.”

“So what are these con-tellations?”

“Constellations.”

“You know what I meant.”

Jake grins. “They’re patterns the stars form. There are several people, a bear, some dogs, and Pegasus, the winged horse.”

“I don’t see anything but stars.”

“You have to connect the stars with lines to form the outlines of the constellations. See, those stars there are Pegasus’s wings, and there are his legs, his tail, and his head.” Jake points out the stars for me.

I squint at the sky, drawing mental lines from star to star. “I kind of see it. But if you tilt your head a little, it looks a lot like a smiley face.”

Jake laughs. “That’s something Christa would have said.”

“Tell me about her.”

“She was the sweetest person ever. She had the prettiest blonde hair and eyes so green… She was always small for her age…I was two years older than her…”

Jake trails away, not finishing any of his sentences. I’m afraid to ask my next question, but I say it anyway.

“What happened to her?”

“She died. Three years ago.”

“How?”

“She got very sick, and I didn’t have any money. If I hadn’t gotten caught—maybe then—I don’t know—poor Christa. My baby sister…” Jake mutters, more to himself then to me.

He falls silent. I can sense the pain remembering his sister brings. Not knowing what else to do, I change the subject. All I can think to talk about are the stars.

“So, who first saw these con-stell-egation thingies?” I ask.

Jake gives a weak chuckle. “Constellations.”

“Right.”

“Haven’t you ever heard the stories?”

I shake my head. “Will you tell me them?”

“Sure. You already see Pegasus, right?”

“Yeah. What’s his story?”

“Well, he was Hercules’s flying horse.”

“Who?”

“You’ve never heard of Hercules?”

“Nope.”

“Hercules was the son of an immortal, all-powerful god. Actually, his father, Zeus, was the king of the gods. His mother was a normal human being, like you and me. Well, maybe not like you, since you’re a witch. Anyway, Hercules was a demigod.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Half-god.”

“And half…mortal?” I guess.

“Right. So Hercules was amazingly strong. He could lift buildings with one hand. He’s over there.” Jake points to a cluster of stars. After a bit of squinting and connecting-the-dots, I can see the proud figure of a broad-shouldered man. I think he might be wearing a cloak. Or maybe it’s a skirt. “As a birthday gift, Zeus gave him Pegasus.”

“A winged horse? That’s a really cool gift.”

“I know. According to the myths—you know, legends and stuff—Pegasus sired a whole new race. He had a bunch of winged babies and lived happily ever after among the stars.”

“How do you know all these stories?” I ask.

“My dad told me.”

“And how did he know?”

“His dad told him.”

“And did his dad tell him?”

“No. His mother did.”

I groan and playfully punch his arm. “Okay, smarty pants. Where did the stories originate from?”

“Some place called Greece.”

“Grease? Like you cook with?”

“No, G-R-E-E-C-E. Greece. Some kingdom that existed thousands of years ago, I guess.”

“Are there more?”

“Stories or kingdoms?”

I laugh again. “Stories.”

“Tons. There’s Orion, but I don’t really remember what happened to him. Something about a scorpion, maybe? And definitely something about being Artemis’s arch-nemesis. Then there’s Orpheus and What’s-Her-Face. I can’t remember her name, but Orpheus sang his way into the land of the dead to bring her back to life. Almost did it too, but he looked back at his wife’s spirit to make sure she was really there and she got sucked back into the earth. Their constellation is that lyre up there.”

“Lyre?”

“It’s like a harp.”

“So he tried to save her but failed at the last moment?”

“Yep.”

“Well, that stinks.”

“At least they get to live together in the stars forever.”

“True.”

“Then there’s Ursa Major. That’s the bear over there. The goddess Artemis shot it.”

“You mentioned her before. Who is Artemis?”

“The goddess of the Hunt, and something to do with maidens and the moon. There might have been something about snow or winter, too, but I’m not sure. My father would have known. And there’s the Huntress. She was one of Artemis’s sisters-in-arms. They would travel the world, hunting down monsters.”

“How’d she end up in the stars?”

“She died in battle, defending her goddess.”

“Where’s she?”

“There,” Jake says, pointing to a group of stars that really look like a girl with a bow running across the heavens.

“So what do you talk about in your kingdom?” Jake asks.

“In my village, we have fires with all the townspeople and tell stories of old. Or we bounce a story around, each person adding a sentence then passing it to a friend,” I tell him. “In yours, do they look at the stars?”

“My family would. Often. At least, we used to before the war.”

“Which kingdom are you from.”

“Collina.”

“Would this battle be the border dispute Holz started?”

“It would.”

“Did your father fight in the war?”

“He had to. Our village was right at the edge of the border Holz wanted. The war took his life.”

Somehow our conversation has circled back to death in his family. Before I can say I’m sorry—or change the subject again—thunder booms overhead. Lightening flashes, illuminating up the woods.

There’s a squeal and Avaysia comes flying out of her tent. She’s still in her pink dress from the previous day, and her hair is a mess. She doesn’t have shoes on. Thunder booms again and Avaysia shrieks in fright.

“I don’t like thunderstorms!” she screams.

By this time, both Bella and Wren are up as well. Avaysia hurls herself at Wren and huddles in his embrace. Bella exists the tent just as the wind starts up. Huge gusts batter the trees around us and nearly knock Bella off her feet. She drops to her knees and crawls towards us.

“What’s going on?” she asks.

“Thunderstorm!” I shout back over the wind. Lightening flashes again. Avaysia squeals. “Chicken,” I mutter. Then thunder booms out, making me jump.

Jake laughs. “Who’s the chicken?” he teases.

“You don’t see me crying all over the place, do you?”

Before he replies, there’s a ripping sound. I turn in time to see our tent pull loose from the ground. The wind yanks it into the air and sends it swirling through the sky. The possessions we brought with us are tossed to the winds and scattered everywhere.

“My clothes!” Avaysia shrieks.

Lightening showers the world with false daylight. Seconds after everything goes black, thunder booms. Then the real storm starts.