Young Writers Society

Ayda flew out of the portal and almost over the edge of a cliff. She spun around. Madeline was laying on the ground, breathing hard. Behind them, the portal’s black maw gaped.

“Close it! They were right behind us!”

Madeline pushed herself up, alarm in her eyes. She swiped her hand through the air severing the magical thread that spun into the ley point, and the portal faded away to nothing.

They were safe now. It would be a few hours before they could make another portal to this ley point.

Ayda sank down onto a rock and put her head in her hands, hyperventilating. Just last night, she danced, wild and happy and free. Just last night, Xaniphe had told her she would never have to leave her new home. And now Crescent Moon was gone. Xaniphe was dead. And Cinder was a monster. None of it could be real, none of it felt real yet —

No. Not now. She couldn’t deal with it now. She pushed her grief away, boxing it up into a tiny part of her, rubbed her eyes clear, and looked around.

She became aware of the roaring in her ears for the first time. Not only were they on the edge of a rocky cliff, they were next to a waterfall facing east, where the sun was peeking over the horizon. She squinted out across the hills. They had to be near Vjorin, since they had been near Moonwater back in Arvania.

There. Down in a valley, a few hours flight from here, a city sparkled in the morning light, still half in shadow from Mt. Khyst, which loomed above the valley and was the first mountain in the Bryks range.

“They know where we are now.” Madeline had collapsed back to the earth. She drew her ankle close and inspected it. The magical tether had been severed when the portal had closed, and the remains was dissolving into ambient magic. The criticism was in her tone — Ayda should have listened to her. “I was going to make it so the knife would cut the tether.”

Ayda folded her arms. “You didn’t know if it would work. And Cinder would have guessed where we were going anyway. Look, we’re safe now, all right? I know where we are — Vjorin’s just down there. Once we get there, we’ll be safe.”

Madeline closed her eyes. “Give me a minute, okay?”

But when they did start moving, Madeline’s pace was painfully slow. If Ayda could have flown straight down the cliff and towards Vjorin, she would have been there in an hour, maybe two. But Madeline was already tired from stress, a lack of sleep, and a large magical exertion. And now she had to wind her way down a rocky, largely barren slope, with no trail.

And so when a flash of light from the top of the hill heralded the portal’s opening, they were only two-thirds of the way down the hill. Ayda looked just long enough to see four Shades stream out, then dove.

“Get down! They’re coming.”

Madeline scrambled behind a large rock. Ayda joined her, peering over the edge up the slope. Heart-pounding minutes passed, and a dark shape appeared on their side of the ridge and started to pick its way down. As he got closer, Ayda’s certainty grew.

“They’ve split up. One of them’s coming this way. It’s Cinder.”

“I can’t outrun him,” Madeline said.

“Then we have to hide,” Ayda hissed. “Stay behind the rock.”

Madeline drew in a breath. “No. I’m tired of running. I’m going to fight, Ayda. I think I know how we can get Cinder back. I’ll need your magic. But I’ll have to fight him first.”

“What if the others come?”

“Then I’ll save them, too.” Her expression was fierce, and before Ayda could say another word, Madeline sprang out from behind the rock and began to climb.

It was suicide. Madeline couldn’t win. Ayda’s hand went to her pouch and pulled her knife out again, but she stayed cowering behind the rock.

Cinder saw her immediately — her green nightdress was a signal flag against the gray rocks. Now he was bounding towards her, jumping from rock to rock in great leaps. He would be on her in seconds, and there was nothing Ayda could do.

Madeline stopped climbing on a mostly flat ledge. She bent over and touched a large rock the size of her head. Magic flowed out of her in a steady stream, and her face paled from the effort. But she touched another, and another rapidly, until Ayda thought she would pass out from the effort. She’s making them into talismans!

The Madeline stood. The rocks rose with her, hovering at her chest in a protective circle. The girl was shaking all over, but she held herself tall and determined, her hand held up as if waiting to give a command.

Cinder stopped in his tracks, wary.

Now! Ayda darted out from behind the rock and twisted beam of sunlight directly into his eyes. Cinder whined in pain, but instead of shrinking back, he sprang forward, down into Madeline’s circle.

The rocks attacked. Two of them slammed into Cinder’s side and he was thrown, winded, against the slope above. They returned to the circle. The rocks protect her, just like the stick did!

Madeline waited, black hair blowing in the wind, hands thrown out at her sides. Cinder struggled to his feet, yowled a long cry, and lunged again, twisting to dodge under Madeline’s deadly ring.

Madeline shoved her hand forward and the rocks moved as one. This time one of them rocks took him in the head. Cinder fell to the ground again and did not move.

She had done it! Ayda rushed to Cinder’s side, closely followed by Madeline. His flank rose and fell steadily.

“Thank God I only knocked him out,” Madeline said, but she looked sick all the same. Ayda put her hand on Cinder’s shoulder and was shocked to feel exactly how corrupted his magic was. Like a plant riddled with disease.

“Tell me what to do,” Ayda said.

Madeline took a deep breath, rummaging in her talisman bag. “You can’t cleanse his magic because it’s not plant magic. But if you give me the pattern, I can mix our magics to make the cleansing work on any magic. You can tell Nadra’s control is a corruption, right? The cleansing should drive her out.”

Madeline pulled out a necklace with a simple leaf charm. “We’ll use this. Necklaces are good because they automatically affect the wearer. He can just wear it around his neck and as long as the cleansing’s constantly in effect it should keep Nadra out.” She paused for breath. “Sorry, I’m rambling.”

Ayda was already working the seed for the strongest cleansing she knew. She pushed the magic over to Madeline, who twisted her own magic around it and allowed it to sink into the talisman.

This had to work. Ayda didn’t think Madeline could make it anywhere safe before Cinder woke up. The pool of pink magic inside Madeline was terribly depleted, and she was still shaking. The girl had reached the limits of her stamina for the day.

The talisman flashed white. It was ready. Carefully, Madeline lifted Cinder’s head and slipped the necklace over it. It fit snugly around his neck and began to glow slightly, even in the visible spectrum, working its magic to drive out Nadra’s evil. Slowly, his magic returned to its natural gaseous state. He even seemed to be breathing easier.

The only thing left to do was wait. Madeline leaned against a rock and was asleep almost immediately. Ayda sat on a pebble beside Cinder’s head and forced herself to keep her eyelids open.