Young Writers Society

Harry and Stean stood in front of their target. A large glass bowl, inside of which a small book, something barely the size of a pocket notebook lay hovering at its center. It didn't appear to be supported by anything to the naked eye but Harry could see the streams of magic that kept it in permanent suspense.

"Stean, watch for surprises, I'll start the extraction process," said Harry.

"That kind of sounds like you're about to extract a tooth," said Stean," but sure."

Harry smirked. "Yeah, probably should've worded that better."

He began to chant in Ancient Hydranese, getting the streams of magic to slowly redirect and bring the book closer to the edge of the glass bowl.

Once it was close enough, he reached inside and pull it out in one seamless move, phasing in and out of the bowl as if the glass wasn't even there. He reached out a hand and Stean put an identical book in it. Harry put the copy in place of the book they'd just "Burrowed".

He stopped chanting and the new book returned to the same state the original had been in. It looked just as it had moments before.

"Wait for it," said Harry and Stean nodded.

Soon there was a blinding light and a surge of energy passed through the area. It was probably strong enough to be felt by the others above.

"Okay, job done, Captain," said Stean.

"Mission Number yeah I don't even to way to say that number its too large is officially accomplished, come one, lets get you three home and then I have to sort out Mage's issue."

"Hmm, you want any of us to stay behind and help," said Stean, "we can find a free hour or two between us."

"Thanks, Stean, I'll let you know if that's needed," said Harry.

The two of them jumped out, just as Harry heard Mage say "Did Harry and Stean just finish?"

"Yes we did," said Harry," thanks for keeping it distracted, now everyone back to the vent we came from."

Mage jumped when Harry suddenly appeared and answered his question.

He did his best to play it off as the group went back into the vent, but he was sure that at least Harry had noticed his reaction. If he hadn't, Vankous probably had-

Mage hit his head on the top of the vent again. He resisted the very strong urge to make a pained noise like he had on their way into the ruins; he didn't need to feel even more embarrassed than he already was.

And then the group was finally out of the ruins. Mage had been so busy trying to hide his embarrassment that he hadn't actually seen what they had retrieved. Giving one last look at the vent, he went over to Harry.

"...What did we just get?" he asked.

Harry gave Mage a smile.

"A book," said Harry, "with some very important notes that could stop a pretty big war...before it happens."

Mage didn't say anything for a moment.

Everything else seemed so different here, but he knew the effects war could have. There was a pit in his stomach. He tried his best to ignore it. He hadn't seen his parents in years. It shouldn't have hurt so badly when he couldn't even remember their faces.

"...Then I'm glad I helped get it," he finally said.

Mage looked a bit troubled but Harry didn't think too much of it. He smiled in reply to Mage's response.

"Yes, thank you for your help on this one. You've just helped save probably a few million lives," said Harry, "which is definitely no small matter. Anyway, on that note, I believe we can stop this detour and get to what we set out to find in the first place."

"Well, if that's the case then, I'll make sure this package is delivered to the right general," said Vankous. "I'll be going right away then."

"Alright, good luck, tell that old codger I said hi, and the geese have migrated to the sixth."

"What?' said Vankous, "have you finally lost your mind?"

"No, he'll understand, just make sure you tell him," said Harry.

"Okay, well, peace...it was nice meeting you Mage," said Vankous. With those final words, Vankous was gone in a flash of purple light.

"So, you need either of us to stay and help?" asked Stean," I might be able to get an hour or so off. James what about you?"

"Uhh..sorry, I think I'll need to tend to the situation in Colfiara."

"Oh, of course, yeah, call Sean and get a portal then," said Stean.

"Yes, I'll do that, well, I must be off too then, good luck you three. As Vankous said, it was nice meeting you Mage," said James, "Harry definitely trusts you more than he's trusted quite a few people so I'd say you're a pretty good person."

With that, James also walked off into the jungle. Harry could hear as he made a call. There was a slight surge of energy from that direction and then, silence.

"Okay, Stean, well, uhh, what stands ahead of us shouldn't be too bad, but an extra hand could be handy depending on what we end up running into. What do you think Mage, you alright with Stean tagging along till the end, or not?"

Mage glanced between Harry and Stean.

He wanted to do this with just Harry, but Stean had been...nice to talk to. And even though he felt more comfortable around Harry, they could probably use the extra help.

His tail swished behind him.

"...I am," he finally said.

Harry nodded as Mage finally voiced his reply.

"Okay then, " said Harry, "Stean, you're okay with hanging out till we get on location?"

"Yeah, as long it doesn't take obscenely long, I can manage, I'll probably have to leave before you can help Mage return home," said Stean.

"Great," said Harry.

"So where exactly are we going?" asked Stean, "and what exactly do we need to find?"

It didn't take long for Harry and Stean to explain where they were going and what they were looking for. It helped that they were already almost there. Once they finished the explanation, the three of them headed back into the woods.

Mage had been scared of them earlier, but now he just felt tired. It had been a long day filled with more battles than Mage had ever been in. He wouldn't have been surprised if he slept for a week after this was all over.

But as they went further and further into the forest, Mage couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He couldn't explain what the feeling was. Maybe it was just his nerves getting to him.

Still, he moved a little closer to Harry as they walked.

Harry looked around as they crossed through a particularly dark spot in the woods. The spirits of the woods had clearly recognized Harry because most of them were keeping their distance, making the usually very haunted woods relatively clear in the areas that they walked. As he looked around however, he got the uneasy feeling that they were about to run into something. It was hard to put a finger to exactly what it was, its not like he was the expert on death, but something didn't seem quite right.

Next to him, he saw Mage also looking a little concerned and he frowned, looking at Stean. He also seemed a little troubled. That was definitely weird. Something had to be happening around them but it was hard to decide whether it was the natural feelings the forest itself was cursed to give off, or something they had to actively worry about. He tried not to think too much about it as they walked. They were getting quite close to where they needed to be and once that was done, they could all go catch a well deserved break.

Mage glanced over at Harry.

“Is...is something supposed to be here?” Mage hesitantly asked. He was starting to feel like he had whenever Kiera had told one of her ghost stories. Everything would seem normal, but there would be a creeping feeling he couldn't quite shake. He'd feel a chill race up his spine. He'd have to fight the urge to start trembling. With Kiera, that had been because he had wanted to seem cool. She was his everything back then.

He wanted Stean and Harry to think he was cool to some extent, too, but he mostly didn't want the two of them to think he was too weak to handle being here. Mage balled his hands into fists and dug his fingernails into the palms of his hand.

"Umm," said Harry, scanning their surroundings. He still couldn't spot anything that was particularly close to them. Several beings, a few lost souls and a couple of cursed souls were around them, but not close enough to be considered a threat. They were just minding their own business. "If you're seeing something like shadowy figures in the distance, that's probably those three souls running around there, but they're nothing to worry about."

"Wait really, I was starting to worry about those," said Stean,"although, I get the feeling there's more."

"More?" asked Harry, "well I'm not Jason, but there's nothing I can see immediately around us."

"Okay," said Stean.

"Mage, do you see anything besides the shadow figures?" said Harry, turning to Mage. Mage looked a little tense, with his hands balled up into fists. That wasn't a good sign.

Mage held his breath.

...He hadn't seen the shadow figures.

Now that Harry had had pointed them out, it was impossible to not see them. He could see them in the distance. They looked like people, but they also didn't. They weren't saying. Harry and Stean had finished talking, too. All Mage could hear was the sound of his heart pounding in his ears.

"No," Mage whispered. Then, remembering that he was supposed to be brave right now and not act like a little kid, he said louder and more confidently, "I don't see anything besides them."

"Yeah, so looks like none of us can see anything else lurking around, so I vote we just continue here, and if something pops up we react accordingly when said thing pops up," said Harry.

"Alright," said Stean, "but everyone keep your eyes peeled for any sign of anything."

Mage started to nod, but then he caught sight of something moving out of the corner of his eye. At first, it didn't really look like anything. It wasn't until their eyes met that the appearance finally clicked. There was a woman standing on the very edge of the woods. Her wild, auburn hair was thrown back into a low ponytail like it always had been. Her clothes were just like the outfits she'd wear on any typical day: a loose-fitting, usually stained button-up shirt, dark pants, and a pair of worn boots. She had the same kind but strong look to her silver eyes that she always had, too.

But it couldn't be her. Mage knew he had seen her die, and knew from all of the ghost stories she had told him that ghosts didn't haunt places they had never been before.

Mage wanted to believe it was really her, though. He wanted to believe it more than anything in the entire world.

"Kiera?" he whispered, breath catching in his throat.

She gave him the warm smile he had missed so so so much. "Hi, Mage."

Harry was about to start walking again when he heard Mage whisper something. It sounded suspiciously like 'Kiera'. Somehow Harry was quite certain Mage wasn't referring to the Alrixian word for waffles. It was probably the tone.

Then right next to him, he heard Stean mutter something in an eerily similar tone. "Grandma."

That couldn't possibly be right. Stean's grandmother had died quite a while ago, and as far as he knew, she wasn't supposed to be hanging out in the middle of a very cursed forest on this planet of all places. Something had felt off about their whole situation for some time, but this was just another level of weirdness and to top it all off, it looked like Stean was looking in the same direction as Mage.
Shi
He followed their line of sight to see. Harry almost stumbled back a few steps. It was...no it couldn't be. Standing barely a few metres away was Shiyara. The very same black dress she always wore. Midnight black wings folded in that slightly crooked way because of the injury to her back. The smile that had gotten him through many a day in the arena. She was the only thing close to a parental figure he'd ever had. But it simply couldn't be. She was from a time before this time, a reality that was long since dead. He shook his head. This wasn't possible.

"Mom?" he voiced, without even realizing that his mouth was moving. A solitary tear formed in his eye.

And the the illusion shattered. He saw it. A dark blackened creature, the worst scourge of the underworld. Anger rose within him, even as the pain of the day he'd lost Shiyara tore through him like it had happened only yesterday.

He tried to call out to the other two and warn them to snap out it. "Mage, Stean, its not real." But the creature worked fast and he was too late. It latched onto him, summoning memory after memory from the arena. He was momentarily overwhelmed. It was like a visit to the Land of the Eternally Bound.