Young Writers Society

The ground felt hard and bumpy under her back, but her head lay raised on something soft. A cool hand caressed her face, and Asha because acutely aware of the pain and pressure on her throbbing head. She groaned, eyes still closed.

“Asha?” a familiar voice asked. It felt distant, almost as if it were under water. “Asha,” the voice said again, clearer and more insistent. “Asha, are you awake?”

Asha groaned again, opening her eyes. “Yuni?” she asked blearily, attempting to prop herself up on an elbow.

Yuni’s gentle hand on her chest held her down. “Lie down Asha. Your head is bleeding.”

“What?” Asha asked, her loud voice hurting her own ears; her head ached like the beating of a drum. Beginning to notice her surroundings, she asked more quietly, “Where are we?”

The bumpy ground beneath her back was splintering wooden planks, the view outside was obscured by iron bars. “They captured us,” Yuni said, her voice nearly a whisper. “When they put you and Durra out of commission, they overpowered us. We- I- was not strong enough. I am sorry.” Yuni turned away from Asha.

“It’s not your fault, Yuni. It’s not anyone’s fault but the council’s. Those sorry excuses for mages were the ones who did this, not you.”

“But-”

“There’s no buts, Yuni. You’re just caught up in this. Repeat after me: it is not my fault.”

“No,” Yuni said, her voice wavering. “If I had been a little stronger. If I had been able to rescue you-”

“Say it,” Asha commanded.

Asha watched Yuni bite her lips; several moments passed. “It is not my fault.”

Asha nodded. “It’s not your fault. It’s not anyone’s fault but the people who did this.”

Yuni nodded earnestly, coffee bean eyes glossed over with tears. Abruptly, the cadence of the moving wagon stopped.

“What’s happening?” Asha asked, straining her neck to look outside.

Yuni shushed her and placed her fingers on her forehead, pushing gently. “Lay down, and stay quiet. I suspect that they are setting up camp.”

Nodding absently, and wincing when it jostled her head, she said, “We have to get out of here.”

“Later,” Yuni whispered. “They will most likely eat and then sleep in a few hours. The sun is only now going down. Now rest, you need to if we are going to escape.”

“Wait,” Asha muttered. “Where are the rest?”

“The rest of the prisoners?”

“Yes,” Asha breathed.

“In other wagons. There were a lot more that were hidden. I think that the plan all along was to ambush. I do not know why we are apart from the rest.”

“Okay,”’ Asha murmured, eyes begging to slip closed.

“Sleep,” Yuni commanded. “I will too.”

Carefully, Yuni lay down and maneuvered herself so that Asha’s head rested on her chest. Asha had no control over her eyelids as they slipped shut into sleep.

Asha opened her eyes to the same black that played on the insides of her eyelids. Her head throbbed dully, and she let out a low groan.

“Asha?” Yuni whispered. “Are you awake?”

“Yeah,” Asha mumbled. She blinked hard several times, trying to make her eyes focus and adjust to the darkness. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she propped herself up on an elbow.

“Wait,” Yuni hissed. “Allow me to check your wound.”

Asha nodded, humming. She sighed as Yuni’s cold fingers carded through her hair. As Yuni pressed gently on the gash, she let out a deflated groan. Hushing her, Yuni smoothed a gentle hand over Asha’s head. “It has clotted, for the most part, but stay still. I am going to tie this around your head.”

Asha braced herself as a strip of cloth, presumably the one that had been used to staunch the bleeding before, was wrapped around her head, placing pressure on the cut. Breathing out, she winced at the low whine in her voice. She took another breath, sighing. “Done?” she asked.

“Yes,” Yuni whispered, seemingly only an inch away from her ear. Asha felt the phantom touch of her warm breath on the shell of her ear.

“What’s the plan?” Asha asked.

“What do you mean by plan? All you have to do is use magic to get us free and away from here.”

“You mean to say that you didn’t think of a plan while I was lying unconscious on the floor?” Asha hissed, a growl entering her voice. How could Yuni have been that stupid?

“I-”

“Magic doesn’t fix every problem, Yuni,” she said, voice low in an attempt to smooth out her rough tone she spoke with before. “I’m weak right now, and I’m not sure that magic is going to be easy for me. This cut is really messing with my head.”

“I am sorry,” Yuni said thickly. Her voice trembled and cracked, and Asha could almost see her eyes well up with tears, even though there seemed to be a velvety black wall between them.

“No, no; it’s fine. I’m just a bit out of it.”

“Are you going to be able to use magic?” Yuni asked, her voice strained and trembling, like a rope that’s been broken down to the last strand and is about to snap.

“I’ll try. We need to get the others out first. Then, I’ll worry about us.”

“Okay,” Yuni whispered.

Asha really didn’t need to close her eyes, but she did anyway; old habits were hard to break. She envisioned the layout of the camp in her mind. Taking a deep, measured breath, she sapped the energy from the few dying plants around her. The slavers must have chosen this place on purpose. With her head aching, she could only focus on one thing at a time, even trying to find one thing in her mind’s eye was exhausting. She inhaled shakily, breathing out slowly as she pushed a tiny amount of the energy from her core to one of the locks keeping a wagon shut. Her hands trembled at her side as she focused on twisting and then sliding the locks open. One by one, she unlocked all of the wagons, her energy stores becoming dangerously low.

It was much harder to concentrate and conserve her energy as her head pounded like a war drum. She mustered up the rest of her energy to unlock the last wagon. Agonizingly slowly, taking every ounce of concentration she had to preserve the last embers of energy glowing in her core, she twisted the metal latch.

She was empty. The ember had been snuffed out. There was no more energy.

“Asha?” Yuni’s tentative question shattered the wavering silence.

“There’s no more,” Asha whispered. “I couldn’t free them all.”

“What?” Yuni asked. “What do you mean?”

“There’s no more energy. I have to take my own.”

“Asha,” Yuni breathed. “You cannot-”

But she did. She drew a string of energy from her heart and slid the latch open. They were all free. Everyone except Asha and Yuni.

“I am going to teleport.”

“Asha,” Yuni cried, no longer attempting to be quiet. “You could-”

Asha stopped listening. She clutched Yuni’s hand, and she breathed in.

She breathed out, expelling all of the energy she could manage. She did not hear the familiar crack. She did not feel the earth moving beneath her. She did not know where she was going. All she knew, was nothingness.