Mixing Magic [Draft 2]: Chapter 10.1

She didn’t know how long it took before Cinder’s eyes blinked open, but when they did they were a natural brown, not fiery red, and at that sight Ayda broke down and wept again.

“Hey, hey now.” Cinder’s tail flicked up and brushed her gently. “I’m me again. It’s okay. How did you do it?”

Ayda sniffled and wiped her eyes. “It was Madeline’s idea. The necklace around your neck is a talisman — look inside.”

Cinder pushed himself up to a sitting position, wincing, and stared at the talisman. He frowned. “Is that —”

“Two types of magic. Mine and Madeline’s.” And she went on to explain how they had discovered a way to mix magic, and how that had led to Madeline’s idea.

“And you didn’t tell me about this sooner?” Cinder was indignant.

Ayda glanced down. “Everything snowballed after that. There never seemed to be a chance.”

A pause. “You’ll have to keep it on all the time.”

“I understand,” Cinder said, a low growl rumbling deep in his throat. He tried to push himself to his feet. “We need to get to Vjorin. We have to get Madeline to safety, and they need to hear what I know now.”

“So you… remember?”

“I remember everything.” The fur along Cinder’s back prickled.

She had to ask. “Is Xaniphe really — ”

“Yes. Yes, he’s really dead. And I killed him, and I’d really just rather leave it at that.”

“I’m sorry,” Ayda whispered.

Cinder sank back down, putting his head on his paws. When he spoke again, his voice was so soft Ayda had to strain to hear it.

“Being controlled… it twists you. It makes you into a version of yourself, but all your thoughts, all your goals align directly with hers. You know everything you knew then and you’ll use it however you can to do what she asks. She can’t read your mind, but anything she wants to know, you’ll tell her. And you have no conscience. And then coming out of it is like waking up from a bad dream, except it was real. And you remember everything.”

Ayda couldn’t think what to do. “I’m sorry,” she said again.

“Ayda, this is what she’s done to every member of my race. To my family, my friends, every Shade I’ve ever known.” Cinder’s voice was harder than steel. “I’m not going to waste time feeling sorry for myself. I’m going to free my race. I’m going to stop her. And then I’m going to make that psychopath pay for everything she’s done.”

“And I’m going to help you.” The fervor in her voice surprised even her. Nadra had destroyed both of Ayda’s homes and hurt or killed people she loved. And each time, all Ayda could do was sit in shock. Or run.

That was going to change. Nadra was collecting magic. They had seen something Nadra had worked very hard to keep a secret. And she had Madeline on her side — the only other person with Nadra’s type of magic in the Three Kingdoms. There had to be a way to take back the magic she had stolen, to untangle that mess Ayda had seen. And she would find it.

Cinder bared his teeth in a grin. “That’s what I hoped you would say. With what we know about what Nadra’s doing, and what you just told me about mixing magic — we can work out what she’s doing and stop it.”

He moved too sharply, and let out a pained breath. “We’ll rest for a while. But we need to move as soon as we can. Before the other Shades come back.”

Ayda tried. She leaned back against a comfortable, sun-warmed pebble and tried to rest. But she wasn’t nearly as exhausted as Madeline and Cinder, and images of Crescent Moon burning, of Cinder chasing them, of Nadra with her twisted magic, played every time she closed her eyes.

She needed to do something. Anything. So she flew up the hill, hoping to get an idea of how far away the other Shades actually were.

And as she flew, she thought. Thought about what she had seen of Nadra’s power. How they had broken her hold over Cinder. Over and over again, the image of Nadra’s magic, a dozen different colors jumbled together in a way that was so inherently wrong, flashed through her mind. And a plan started to form.

She reached the top of the mountain, flying low to the ground and darting from rock to rock, but when she reached the ley point there was no one immediately in sight. She looked closer and saw that two of the Shades were hidden among the bushes that lined the bottom of the other side of the hill.

And they were coming back up. Ayda’s heart thudded, but then she calmed herself — they weren’t moving quickly. They had time.

She took a long drink from the river and flew back down to Cinder and Madeline. She found them awake and talking softly.

“Why?” Madeline was saying, her voice high and frustrated. “Why does she want me? I’m nobody.”

“She wouldn’t tell us,” said Cinder quietly. “But she’s planning something big, and not just to take over the Three Kingdoms. Whatever it is, she needs you. That’s why she decimated western Arvania before moving to more strategic targets. Part of it was to take more magic, but she was also looking for you.”

“I was going to go home,” Madeline said, miserable. “We’d made it work.”

“You might still be able to,” said Cinder. “If we can get the right materials in Vjorin.”

But they would need her to defeat Nadra! Ayda flew around a rock, announcing her arrival, but decided not to comment on what she’d overheard. “They’re coming back. We should have enough time, but we need to leave now.”

Madeline sprang to her feet. “Then let’s get out of here. What’s the plan?”

“We get to Vjorin. The dragon king will be leading the resistance now,” Cinder growled. “We need to tell him what we know.”

They descended into the valley, where there was more cover from bushes and even the occasional tree. Their pace began to pick up, and Ayda estimated it would only take them two hours to reach the city.

“I have an idea,” she finally said. “About how to defeat Nadra.”

“So do I,” said Cinder. “But let’s hear it.”

Madeline looked back and forth from Cinder to Ayda, eyes wide.

Ayda ignored her. “Well, it’s simple, really. My cleansing pattern restores the plant’s magic to its natural state. Whatever crazy mixture Nadra’s got is definitely not natural. We’d do the same thing we did for you, but apply it to Nadra herself. Once all her extra magic is gone, she’ll just be a human again.”

“Exactly my thinking,” Cinder praised. “It should sever her link to us, and then she’ll be on her own. The problem is the implementation.”

Ayda nodded. “We have to get close to her.”

“Hold up,” Madeline stopped in her tracks. “What on earth are you doing? That woman has two of the three Kingdoms under her control. She has every type of magic in Arvania and then some. And you two think you can stop her?”

“I won’t rest until she’s been put down.” Cinder lashed his tail against the earth with a crack.

“And neither will I.” Ayda met Madeline’s eyes.

Madeline was the first to look away. “Maybe it will work, if you can get close to her. But you promised me I could go home, and I’m running out of time. I’ll make and activate the talisman for you, but coming with you? What if it doesn’t work?”

“It will. It’ll cost you an extra two days, tops. And how are we supposed to get in front of Nadra?” Ayda folded her arms. “Face it, you have the perfect opportunity. If she captures you, you’ll go right to her. Then all you have to do is touch her, activate the talisman, and it’ll be over. If we go without you, we’ll never get in front of her, and even if we do she’ll notice the activated talisman as soon as she looks at us.”

“We’ll find a way. The dragon king will help.”

Ayda opened her mouth to keep arguing, but Cinder shot her a glance that said wait, and Ayda relented. “He’d better,” she muttered, turning to fly down the trail again.