Young Writers Society

Last Line(s): His blood in his brain pulsed. A headache was coming on. He was worried. About what? That maybe they would fail their mission, would be taken back to the dungeons, and executed.

Three meters.

There was a pop! and Herschel appeared before them in a shimmer of silver.

Chapter 20

Never had Obraya seen Herschel so calm. He looked as if they had just been talking about how many pounds of peaches were being sold at the market tomorrow morning. Two minutes of silence later, he sighed, then rubbed his forehead. “Where are you guys off to?” he asked.

Obraya raised her head slightly, but didn’t say anything. Herschel nodded at her. The couple held hands, rubbing the back of each others’ hands for comfort. Zoya tensed. Julian sucked in a breath. No one said anything. The cold wind whipped against their skin, trying to move them along.

“One,” Julian said under his breath. Herschel couldn’t hear him. “Two.”

Herschel repeated his question.

“Why do you care?” Zoya spat.

“Three!” Julian exclaimed, and ran ahead, past Herschel, shoving him to the side, putting so much force that Herschel fell over. Audrey and Will let go of each others’ hands and ran behind him. Zoya sprinted ahead of the couple and Obraya pulled up the rear, making sure to slam her foot hard on Herschel’s face.

“Keep on running!” Julian exclaimed, turning his head over his shoulders but kept his eyes trained to the front, dodging tree branches and what not. “He probably has guards hidden somewhere - I’ll distract them.”

Guards spilled out of the gates, running after both Julian and the rest of the group - who had split up. Under the darkness of the night, though, they couldn't be seen properly. Julian did his best impression of Will’s voice, trying his best with the British accent. “Audrey, over here!”

Julian let out a yelp, pretending to trip over a rock.

“To the right, you fools!” one of the guards yelled, pointing towards where Julian was running.

***

Akol gaped. “What the heck?”

“That’s how it is, darling,” the Queen stated, brushing the invisible dust off of her gown.

“You made me stay here a whole night just to tell me they never even came here?” Akol raged. His cheeks had blotches of red on them and his eyes were wide and fiery. You could almost see the fire in them.

The Queen raised her head, her nostrils flared. “You seemed tired -”

“Tired my foot!” Akol yelled, slamming his fist on the dresser in the guest room he was escorted into last night to rest in.

The Queen didn’t flinch but raised an eyebrow in disgust. “Pathetic,” she spat.

Akol clenched his jaw and sucked in a breath, trying to be as patient as possible, but obviously was not successful by the tone of his voice. “Your soldiers,” he said in a hiss. “Are being killed. By the Angels. The Painter and Writer were supposed to come here to make ties with your people so they could, together, go and destroy the Angels.”

He whipped his head back around and faced The Queen. Her green eyes were emotionless and her gown was so poofy, Akol did his best not to shred it.

“Do you not understand?” Akol growled.

She huffed. “Hon, I don’t see any way that those Humans could have helped us.”

The Devil squinted at her. “Are you okay, lady?” he asked, wrinkling his nose. “They were chosen.”

“What do you mean now, dear? Did I mess everything up?” she asked, raising her brow higher. If that was even possible.

He shook his head tiredly. He stopped. “Yes, as a matter of fact. Yes, you did mess everything up,” he said. “You should have sent your soldiers out to find the Painter and Writer so they could come back unharmed.”

The Queen let out a gasp and looked offended. “Excuse me but I gave you a place to stay -”

“I could have slept in a tree, you -” Akol squeezed his eyes shut to block out the horrified expression on The Queen’s face and clenched his hair into his fists. “Your Majesty.”

There was silence as Akol paced the wide guest room as The Queen watched him. “Who knows where they are right now? And Zoya?” he muttered under his breath.

The floating cars outside honked and beeped. The two royals could hear the occasional roar of a lion or whinny of a horse. The purple trees were waving happily around in the wind like there was no problem at all - Akol had a perfect view of them from the room he was in and it took a lot of effort not to smash the window. The green sky was brightening as fake-Sweztyn rose.

Since the Wizard’s lived underground, everything was different down here - much more colorful too. But the nature down here wasn’t real. It was all artificial, made up, unreal, and created by magic only.

“Well?” The Queen said softly.

“I’ll find them.” Akol paused. “I’ll go back to the Portal and find them and bring them back here and we’ll figure things out.”

The Queen nodded curtly. “Will you have breakfast befo -”

Akol shot her a look. She pursed her lips and glided out of the spacious room. Since Akol didn’t bring along any belongings, he didn’t need to pack up. He took his grayish green hood, slipped it over himself and exited the guest room he was staying at. The guards saluted at him as he walked past, and he gave them a slight nod. Akol trotted down the stairs, and bumped into The Queen who was walking gracefully with her hands clasped over her silky gown. Akol rolled his eyes. “I’m leaving,” he informed her.

“Very well, lamb,” she replied. “Not like you would let me throw you a goodbye party. And you were here for only a night,” she said.

Akol pursed his lips. “I’m in a hurry.” He swept past her. “Good day,” he called, and jogged out the tall blue doors the guards had kept open for him. He trotted down the stairs and ran towards the gate that the guards had opened up with him. It was the perfect weather for a nice walk but Akol was in a bit of a rush. He

***

Will, Audrey, Zoya and Obraya huffed and puffed as they sprinted through the woods, leaves whipping at their faces, thorn bushes snagging at their clothes, twigs snapping beneath their feet and critters jumping out of their path. A few minutes later, Zoya clasped her sweaty hands around Will’s wrist. She was gasping for breath. “Stop,” she pleaded. Everyone slowed down.

“Are you okay?” Audrey asked, sitting her down on the dirt ground.

Zoya shook her head and gestured for water.

Will paled and shared a glance with Audrey. Then he looked at Obraya who sighed, waved one hand and a blob of water appeared in mid-air. Zoya scrambled to get up and drank it all in. Audrey and Will gawked. They still weren’t very used to magic. It had only been three days.

“Three days,” Audrey said. “Only three days and it feels like twenty,” she added.

Obraya sat down as well. “We can’t wait too long, y’know. The guards’ll realize that they been wastin’ time an’ they’ll come after us.” She looked up. “And Sweztyn is rising too, we better be quick.”

Will paced and Audrey bit her lip, wringing her hands. “Can I have water too? We haven’t had food in so long.”

“Berries!” Will exclaimed from a few feet away. “At least I think they are.” He took a bunch and brought them over to the group. “I mean, they look like blueberries.” He grinned and brought a batch over to the others. He showed Obraya.

“They’re blueberries,” she approved.

The group hungrily devoured the blueberries, each of them with their own handful of the juicy berries. A few minutes later, everyone looked bright and happier with stomachs that were most definitely not empty.

Will helped Zoya up and Obraya started leading the way. Audrey brought up the rear this time. They speed-walked through the woods and soon enough, they could hear the soft chiming that could be heard whenever one was near the Portal. The soft purple fog could be seen through the trees.

Hope blooming in her chest, Obraya ran towards it, blocking her face from the nasty branches that scratched at her clothes and skin. “It’s here, it’s here!” she cried out with joy, when everyone caught up to her, panting for breath.

The couple and Zoya were all awe-struck at the beauty of the Portal. They were in a clearing now, and the Portal was right in the middle. It was a shimmering purple-blue vortex with a black hole in the middle that had little white sparks shooting out in every direction. There was a slight humming-chiming sound to it as well.

Audrey walked up to it, reaching her hand out to touch the fog.

The humming got louder.

So did the chiming.

Obraya faltered. “What in the -”

Zoya bit her bottom lip, shaking noticeably. “Someone’s coming, and they seem angry,” she said. Audrey backed up, and reached for Will’s hand. Zoya stopped chewing her lip. She hid behind the couple, with Obraya right beside her, frozen in her place. “This has never happened before, but I’ve read it in books and they’ve taught us about it as well and I’m not really sure if -”

The humming stopped, and so did the chiming. The middle of the vortex became larger and larger as every second passed and it looked as if someone had been spat out.

It was Akol.