Young Writers Society

The next days were spent in a state of perpetual nausea as Asha teleported both herself and Yuni across the Kuwhan plains. At night, hoping that the royal mages wouldn't find any of the circles of dead grass she had left was all she could do.

Yuni refused to talk to Asha in the short times of rest they had before she could bring herself to teleport again.

She had found a puddle a few nights before and had scryed for an image of the closest town. It was a colonial plantation several miles southeast of where they were currently.

The combined effect of the uncomfortable silence between Yuni and Asha and the sense of dread and urgency that followed her around like a cloud threw Asha into a waking nightmare. Her mind had shut down and her body was working autonomously for the same goal that had kept her going in the weeks following her departure from Merdon.

As they drew closer to the plantation, Asha felt as though she could see black clouds blooming above the horizon, though in her head, she knew it was the product of sleepless nights and dread.

Asha's ears began to ring with the sound of the teleportation, that loud crack became almost distant compared to the high pitched noise that constantly whined in her ears. Absently, she wondered if she might go deaf after the ordeal.

She took a deep breath and began to gather the energy once more, no longer closing her eyes. She wanted to see the destruction she sowed. She deserved to see the death she left behind, all to save lives that she had somehow deemed more important.

Logically, she knew they were just plants, but exhaustion had begun to take its toll on her mind. The ground seemed to constantly be roiling under her feet, never recovering from being shaped to Asha's will.

A familiar crack cleaved the earth in two and the world reshaped itself around the women once more.

Slowly, Asha began to make out a silhouette on the horizon. Though she had never seen one herself, she knew it had to be a colonial house. Righteous fury boiled in her chest at the sight of the building. No doubt the colonists would help the High Mage in his terrible endeavor. It would only take Asha one more session of teleportation to reach the house.

For the last time, she drained her surroundings of energy and with a resounding crack, the world reshaped itself to Asha's will once more.

Though they had agreed that one could never get used to travel by magic, the two were proved wrong. Though they were both in a perpetual state of nausea from the travel, the time it took for them to recover had shorted drastically.

Within minutes, Asha felt well enough to open her eyes and look around. The grass near the house was not tall and brittle as the native grasses of Kuwha, but lush and immaculately groomed much like the way men's facial hair was styled in Merdon.

Yuni groaned quietly, but Asha still hushed her. Being that close to the house called for silence. Asha waited another few minutes for Yuni to fully recover.

"This is a colonial town, so things might be different here. I don't think that they would ransack it like the others. There are Mallanders and Kuwhans here, though they are kept separate barring the Kuwhan servants," Asha whispered.

Yuni nodded wordlessly and stood. "I believe I hear voices," she breathed.

Asha held her breath and strained her ears for the voices that Yuni mentioned. "I hear them," she murmured, "but I can't understand what they're saying."

"We must creep closer," Yuni finished.

Placing her feet carefully, Asha crept closer to the side of the house. When she reached the corner to the other side, she stopped.

Yuni nearly tumbled over Asha, not expecting the abrupt halt. Asha swiveled around and caught Yuni before she fell, helping her up. Two pairs of brown eyes, not quite the same shade met for what seemed like forever and a day to Asha, but somehow, all too soon, Yuni's eyes darkened and she glanced away.

"How many are you willing to give?" Asha's stomach dropped at those words.Though the voice was unfamiliar, she knew in her gut who it belonged to. The person who had left husks of towns behind him. A trail of dead bodies miles long.

"I need most of them for the field work. I get that it's easier to take them from here, but unless your mages are going to help with the harvest, I need them here," another man replied.

"It is your duty-"

"It's my duty to care for my family. Not give the field hands away to the High Mage."

"You will regret this," the slaver insisted.

Asha got a sick feeling in her stomach. None of it was right. No matter where they went, the Kuwhans were slaves. Asha felt like shouting, crying, using her magic to somehow make it all okay, but she didn't. She couldn't.

Asha stood there petrified like a fossil imprinted into stone. It wasn't until the men had left and all was silent for several minutes that Asha allowed herself to move again.

That perfectly manicured grass rustled beneath Asha's feet as she and Yuni snuck across the grounds. Asha's heart pounded in time with her feet as they hurried across the lawn, but all of the progress came to a screeching halt as an iron fence seemed to have sprouted out of the ground.

Yuni glanced at Asha. "Can you teleport us?"

"Too loud," Asha muttered. "We'll have to climb."

"How does one climb a fence like this?"

"You're going to give me a boost," Asha decided. "Once I'm over, I'll find a way to get you over too."

Yuni nodded tightly, pushing her long black hair from her face. Asha absently considered lending Yuni one of her hair ties. Why hadn’t she done that before? “How will I lift you?” Yuni asked.

“Cup your hands like this,” Asha commanded as she demonstrated with her own hands. “Bend over, and I will step on them. You’ll lift me up- don’t worry, I’ll help as much as possible. I should be able to pull myself over the top with just that, but if I can’t I’ll step on your shoulders for extra height.”

Yuni’s eyes narrowed. “Are you certain that will be successful?”

“I can’t think of a reason why it wouldn’t work.” Asha ran a hand through her curls, she cringed at how matted she had allowed them to get. No time for combs or washing when on the road.

Yuni nodded once more, taking a deep breath. She cupped her hands with interlocking fingers, just as Asha had shown her. She bent and Asha gingerly placed a foot on her pale hand. Asha’s own brown fingers closed around the iron bars as Yuni lifted Asha up.

“Can you get me any higher?” Asha murmured.

She couldn’t see Yuni’s face because of her heavy skirts, but she heard the strain in her voice. “No,” Yuni grunted. “Step onto my shoulders.”

Carefully, Asha moved her dangling foot back and placed it on Yuni’s bony shoulder. “This isn’t hurting you is it?” Asha asked.

“I am fine,” Yuni ground out.

Asha knew Yuni was lying, but she steeled herself and placed all her weight on the foot on Yuni’s shoulder as she pulled herself up further. With an embarrassing grunt, Asha pulled herself atop the fence, Precariously balancing between two scarily sharp looking points. She cursed the embellishments under her breath, and closed her eyes, steeling herself as she slid off the other side.

In her attempt to not injure herself, she landed, straight legged on her feet, and shocks rolled up her legs. She groaned and steadied herself on the bars.

Before she had even recovered from her painful drop, Yuni landed next to her in a graceful crouch. She stood and swept her hair behind her shoulder. Roses bloomed on her cheeks as she met Asha’s eyes.

“How did you get over?” Asha asked incredulously.

“I am taller than you,” Yuni said. “I realized that I could simply pull myself up.”

Asha scowled. “Right.”

“Where are we going now?” Yuni asked.

“I don’t know,” Asha replied. “We’ll head into town first. We’ll see if we can find the slavers. Or maybe we’ll warn everyone.”

Yuni’s brows furrowed, but she nodded. “If that is what you think is best.”

“Remember what we did in that first town?” Asha asked.

“Yes,” Yuni replied. “I should do the same here?”

“Exactly. So you should lead the way.” The almost began walking, but she stopped abruptly. “Not yet,” she said, taking off her cloak. She balled it up and passed it to Yuni. “Put it in the bag,” she said. “Being seen here in mage robes would probably only invite trouble.”

“Of course,” Yuni murmured, placing it inside the bag, somehow making it fit though the bag was small.

They still looked rather shabby and in odd clothing, but nothing notable that would invite anything further than a second glance.

“Now we can go,” Asha said.

This is mainly a question for Bisc as they've read it all. How's my pacing so far? If you need to reread to figure it out, you can ignore this, but if you have thoughts off the top of your head, I'd really like to know.