Cail.
The fog took on substance, the sound of his breathing freezing me for a second. I could almost feel his warmth, his excitement, rippling off of him and increasing my fear. I felt his magic pulse, one influx of energy reverberating through the heavy sludge of magic inside of me. It was enough to serve as a warning. So I ran.
My feet carried me swiftly out of the clearing, plunging me into the pitch dark of the forest. I ran as my eyes adjusted to the black and starless night. The trees flew by me as I picked up speed, my own magic attempting to carry me faster. I could still hear his foot falls behind me, the crunch of the dying plant life as he passed, marking his progress.
He was getting closer, his breathing louder, almost right behind me.
“Run Joclyn, run to my master!” he yelled from behind me, but I barely heard him. I picked up my pace and ran faster, only to feel the world around me shift and change. As I slowed in confusion, I could feel carpet under my dirty feet and the air no longer smelled so crisp and vibrant. Everything here was dying.
I looked down the hall. Once again I was in a place I knew, but nothing about it was quite right. The cream colored walls were dirty and covered with black spider webs of soot and flame, the carpet burned away in giant patches. Part of the wall to my right had been blown away, leaving a gaping hole into the night sky.
I walked along the burnt fragments of carpet toward the door, a door I had entered almost every day of my life – Ryland’s. My heart thudded angrily in my chest as I moved closer, the slab of wood dangling by one hinge.
I ducked underneath it into his room, unsurprised to see the space gutted by flame. Embers still glowed in the corner where fragments of his bed were scattered. I stepped cautiously around the partition to where his big squishy couch sat. The sofa was torn into pieces that lay haphazardly around the space, exposed stuffing melted into the carpet and walls.
“Jos,” Ryland’s tender voice spoke from behind the battered couch. “You came.”
I stepped around the couch, my feet guiding me to him.
“Ryland!” I almost threw myself into him. He was broken and bruised, the way I last saw him. His body crumpled in on itself as he fought for control over his mind.
Burrowed into a bit of the broken couch and sections of his collapsed closet, embers of a still burning fire glowed near him, the light shimmering in his hair. I sat next to him, careful to avoid the smoldering and broken bits of the room around him.
“What did you do to your hair, Jos? I always loved your hair.”
“My hair is long again, Ryland. See.” I pulled the braid Ilyan had given me around so he could see, but his eyes were focused somewhere off in the distance, his arms lifted slightly as if he was reaching for something.
“…Steal the car…” His voice faded in and out before he slumped even further. His body giving out as his arms fell. I grabbed at him, summoning the sludge inside of me, determined to get him out of there. My hands shook as I looked around, my heart pulsing frantically. But ultimately, I knew there was nothing I could do.
“What? Not going to save your love?” I froze at Edmund’s voice, my body tensing.
“Edmund,” I gasped, moving closer to Ryland in fear.
“Go on,” he taunted, his voice deep and menacing. “Save him. Let me see how powerful you are.”
I refused to take my eyes off Edmund. He was right there – right in front of me. My magic may have been useless, thick and stagnant inside of me, but my heart beat heavier and my desire for revenge grew. I looked away from him to grab a small burning stick and hurl it at him, hoping that my weak attack would at least let him know that I was willing to fight.
“Now, now,” Edmund said, “none of that. After all, what’s the point of your useless weapons when I possess the most powerful weapon of all?”
“Miss me beautiful?” Ryland’s twisted voice whispered beside me and I spun to face him. My stomach plummeted as I came face to face with the pitch black eyes of Ryland. The Ryland who had lost his fight with his father, whose memory had been erased.
“No!” True terror filled me at seeing him.
“I believe you have something that belongs to me.” Ryland’s hands pulled me to him and lifted the back of my sweater, letting his hand come in contact with my skin. I began to scream in fear as his magic rushed into me the second I felt his cold touch. It flowed in an angry wave that spread to the very tips of my toes and lasted a moment before it began to sweep out of me again. As the heat left, so did my magic.
The thick, useless, almost dead bits of magic that hid inside of me seeped away and into Ryland. My screams died down as the pain left with my magic, as I was left weak and helpless from the lack of power. I slipped out of Ryland’s arms and onto the ash covered floor.