Wolves: Chapter 5

          The beds were in a pile in one corner after my magic had fallen. Thankfully it was just soft bedding so nothing was broken. After the masks left, Annette had come to check that it was safe, then helped everyone down. I awoke to several small faces hovering over me, one dribbling water into my mouth via spoon. As soon as my eyes opened, one ran for Annette. She came quickly, checking my vision and pain levels, making sure I was drinking enough.

            “You probably have a small concussion,” she said. “But you’re mostly weak from your magic exertion. You need rest. Lots of it.”

            I sat up, pushing her away gently. “I can’t rest. I have to get these girls to the other side before the masks come back. We have to go over tomorrow.” I rested my hand on hers and said quietly, “You need to stay this time.”

            “No!” Annette stood, backing away from me. The entire house turned, falling silent. “I won’t leave!”

            “Annette…” I stood tiredly, stepping towards her. “Please….it will be safer if it’s just me. You should stay and help the newest girls acclimate. If you return with me, you will get caught. Rescuing you will jeopardize all we’ve worked for.”

            “All you have worked for.”

            I lowered my gaze in acknowledgment.

            She stalked angrily to the pump, retrieving more water and attending to several of the youngest girls. I knew it would be a while before she’d speak to me again, but she’d come around eventually. She knew I was right. Staying with the girls was her best option.

            “Maylie?” Kailah appeared at my side with a furrowed brow.

            “Yes?” I turned my attention to her, motioning for her to come sit beside me on my pallet, which had been retrieved from the ground below the window. I picked a few stray grass blades off and met her gaze. “What is it?”

            “You have magic,” she said slowly.

            “Yes.”

            “I’ve never seen anyone wield it before.”

            “I’m not sure ‘wield’ is the right word for the cheap party tricks I do, but yes, I do use it. And yes, it’s fairly rare in this world.”

            “Is it common in others?”

            “I haven’t portal-jumped in so long, I don’t remember. It’s not common in the world I’m taking you to, so you don’t have to worry.”

            Her eyes widened. “You’re taking me to another world?”

            “Yes,” I nodded. “It is far safer than this one. I take all my sisters there so they will be safe.”

            “But you do not go?”

            I shook my head. “My place is here.”

            There was a moment of silence as she considered. Somewhere in the room, Cara’s baby cried as she unbuttoned her shirt to nurse. I waited, knowing Kailah had more questions.

            “If we’re going to another world,” she said at last. “You must have access to a portal.”

            “I do.”

            “How? A portal hasn’t been discovered in this world in centuries.”

            “I had to create one.”

            Kailah’s jaw dropped. “You…created a portal?”

            I nodded, expressionless.

            “But that would take more magic than…than the entire wizard court combined.”

            I looked down at my hands, the creases lined with dirt.

            “Wow,” she said softly. “You must be really powerful.”

            “I’m pretty average most of the time,” I said honestly. “But if I work on something for a long time, I can make it pretty big. The portal took me ten years to finish.”

            “That’s a lot of dedication. The only person I’ve known who could conjure that much magic was my aunt. Her name was Faula.”

            My breath caught in my chest. “Faula?”

            Kailah nodded. “Have you heard of her?”

            Quietly, I responded, “She saved my life.”

            “You knew her?”

            “She saved my life,” I repeated.

            “How?”

            Annette appeared at my side, holding a cup of tea. I took it, pulling her wrist gently so she would join us on the bed. She sat, brow furrowed. “Is everything alright?”

            “Kailah knows Faula,” I said quietly. “She is her aunt.”

            Annette’s mouth fell open. She glanced around to make sure no one could hear, then leaned forward and whispered loudly, “You’re Faula’s niece?” she looked Kailah up and down. “Well, did you get any of her magical powers?”

            Kailah shook her head. “She tested me when I was little, and I don’t have any.”

            “I know that test,” I said. “She did it on me when she found me.”

            “Tell me about her?” Kailah looked so hopeful, so eager to hear about her aunt, I couldn’t refuse her.

            “Come with me,” I said. “Let’s walk.”

Wolves: Chapter 4

           They awoke me shortly after dawn. A girl was walking towards the edge of town, toward the Nolus forest. Girls laced my boots for me and Annette buttoned my jacket as I pulled my hair into a tangled braid. Time was imperative.

            I nearly fell down the front steps running after her, still tired from the fight.  My boots crunched on a thin layer of snow and my breath tainted the air white as I walked briskly toward the edge of town. A faint green smoke rose from the treetops as far as the eye could see. An eagle flew overhead but turned back when it reached the smoke.

            She was standing at the edge of the trees when I got there. Her body flinched when I spoke.

            “Hey,” I said, trying to be gentle though I was out of breath. “What are you doing?”

            “Leave me,” she answered, her voice cracking.

            “Why are you doing this?”

            She turned to me. Her eyes were red but she wasn’t crying. I waited a moment but she didn’t answer. She didn’t have to. I had talked to enough girls at the edge of Nolus to know why she was there.

            “I can’t go back,” she whispered.

            “You don’t have to go back.”

            Her eyes flickered.

            “I have a safe house,” I said, taking a step towards her slowly. “You can come.”

            “For how long?” her dress was ragged and her form exhausted. “I cannot hide forever. They will find me again.”

            I shook my head. “No. I’ve done this many times. I have helped many girls escape. You won’t stay here. I can take you somewhere safe.”

            She hesitated.

            “What is your name?”

            “Kailah.”

            “Kailah. I’m Maylie. Please…come with me. The forest magic will crush you if you go in.”

            Her eyes filled with tears. “I’m so scared,” she sobbed. I stepped forward and she leaned into my arms, crying on my shoulder. I brushed her hair gently and held her.

            From the house I heard a quick tempo.

            I looked up quickly. Smoke rose from the other side of town. The masks were returning. They must have seen me leave.

            “Kailah,” I said, forcing urgency and fear out of my voice. “We need to go.” I slowly started walking, pulling her with me. She wiped her nose on her sleeve and came willingly, still trembling.

            We barely made it to the house before the masks did. Xandra pulled Kailah up to the roof and I flung the beds to the ceiling, wrapping them in invisibility just as the door flew open.

            The masks stormed the house, pulling up floorboards and smashing the windows. I didn’t move, just stood in the corner, watching them destroy what little they could get their hands on. My bed was thrown out the window and the pump was allowed to flow freely, pouring out of the new holes in the floor and watering a few bedraggled dandelions which grew underneath the house.

            One of the masks finally turned to me, shoving me against the wall with its forearm pressing my jugular. I gasped for air; my eyes felt like they would slip right out of their sockets as my vision blurred. My toes lifted from the floor. The magic on the beds weakened. I couldn’t let them fall.

            “We know you have them,” the mask growled, its red eyes inches from mine. “Where are they?”

            I choked in response, unable to speak even if I’d wanted to. Its hold on me was painful but oddly convenient. It released me and I crumpled, coughing.

            “They…aren’t…here…” I spluttered. “You know I’m a town councilman. I would never break the rules so vagrantly.”

            “You’ve been under suspicion for years,” a mask snapped. “Do not assume your position protects you from retribution.”

            I stood, one hand on the wall for support as I rose. I stepped forward and curtsied dramatically, sarcasm dripping from my voice. “Never.”

            With one motion, the mask backhanded me and I crashed into the wall. The air was stolen from my lungs as I crumpled yet again into a motionless, gasping ball.

            When my vision and breath returned, they were gone.

Wolves: Chapter 3

            They broke down the door without even knocking to see if I was inside. I swung around, nearly knocking a glass of water off the table.

            “Gentlemen,” I said evenly. “What brings you to-”

            “We know you have the girls,” the closest one snarled. “Hand them over, and we will show you mercy.”

            “‘Mercy’ isn’t a word in either of our vocabularies. But as you can see, they are not here.” I spread my arm in an inviting gesture, drawing their gaze to the empty room. The only things visible were a single cot in the far corner under a window, the pump, and the table of water glasses.

            “We heard singing,” another mask spat. “How do you explain that, witch?”

            I tilted my head toward the glasses. They were each filled with water at a different level and I pulled a thin strand of green magic from the air, swirling it around the rims. Beautiful voices rang forth as I pulled them from the water.

            The masks were made of a fabric cursed to be sensitive to magic. But the magic I had pulled to create the singing glasses covered the effect of the magic suspending the girls’ cots to the ceiling and making them invisible. The masks would not be able to detect the cots. Hopefully.

            “My entertainment for the council ceremony,” I replied. “Singing glasses.”

            The masks eyed the room with suspicion, but there was clearly no one else. One ran to the window and peered down, but even the blood from the wolves was gone. The ropes had been drawn up, and no evidence gave away the girls’ presence.

            Several of the masks convened quietly, out of my earshot. I listened for footsteps from above but none came. The oldest sisters were succeeding in keeping the younger ones quiet.

            I knew the masks were discussing taking me in for questioning. I wasn’t frightened of questioning – I had done it before – but if I left, the magic would leave with me and the bedrolls would no longer be hidden. If more masks came, I couldn’t protect the girls. The house itself would struggle to stand without me.

My breathing was forcedly even as I waited.

            The masks began filing out as the leader turned to me. “We will not take you for questioning this time. But if you spill so much as a drop of that water at the ceremony, we will know why you are out of line. And we will burn this house to the ground.”

            I smiled bitterly and gave an acknowledging half-nod. They disappeared into the night, their torches burning an image in my mind I would want to erase for the rest of my life. I waited until I was certain the masks were gone before signaling for the girls to come down. Michelle and Xandra came first, helping the younger girls in through the window. Annette was last, calm as ever. I let the invisibility on the bedrolls fade and lowered them to the floor. Everyone began arranging them back to their regular places, ready to get back to sleep after the events of the night. Annette crossed the room quickly to embrace me. I nearly collapsed in her arms.

            “You need rest,” she said, concern filling her voice. “You have done enough for us tonight. I will take care of the girls. Sleep.”

            I couldn’t even protest as she led me to an empty pallet. I was asleep before she pulled a blanket to my shoulders. I wish I could say my sleep was dreamless.