I woke up in a cold sweat as my body jumped into a sitting position. Another dream, but this time it wasn’t about my family.

  It was about Greg.

  My heart raced a million miles an hour, and my gaze shot to my wrists. No restraints… I breathed a sigh of relief. But… I could still feel the pain surging through my arms as if they were there. I couldn’t help but scream, wishing it to stop.

  “Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Finn ran over to me, sitting on the edge of my bed as he grabbed my hands in his. A faint green light emitted from his hands, implying he was using magic.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  The light disappeared. “I was trying to use healing magic, but that doesn’t seem to help with your type of pain.” I couldn’t see his expression in the dark.

  I glanced over at Aidan’s bed, realizing it was empty. After eating yesterday, we decided to stay in the village since it was already sundown. Finn had asked to stay with me and Aidan, so Marge volunteered to give up her spot.

  “He left some time ago,” Finn explained.

  I shivered, not from the cold, but from the fear. I wrapped my arms around myself, closing my eyes. But that only made me see Greg’s evil smirk in my mind’s eye.

  “It’s okay,” Finn whispered into my ear as he pulled me close to him.

  I shook my head, my body involuntarily moving with it, to disagree. I choked out a couple of sobs before realizing Finn had gone ice cold. I looked up at him—

  No…

  My body slammed backwards against the headboard, my feet caught in the blanket. Stupid blanket, move! The part of the blanket wrapped around my feet burst into flame before disintegrating. I stumbled out of bed, falling chest-first onto the ground. I pushed myself up. I needed to get out of here. Nobody was safe with me here.

  I had somehow managed to encase Finn in ice.

  I ran out the door of the house. The village didn’t have an inn since they don’t get many visitors, but they did have a couple of unused houses, one of which they were kind enough to lend us.

  I wasn’t sure where I was going. I just kept running and crying, wanting to get as far away as possible. I had erroneously thought my magic was under control—that my emotions didn’t cause it to manifest anymore.

  Stupid! Of course it still did!

  I ran and ran until I noticed my feet were no longer on the ground, and I was running through the air. I was… flying?!

  The thought terrified me, and I came plummeting back down.

  Thoughts of Greg filled my mind, icing my hand and freezing the grass beneath me.

  Calm down, Elaina! You can’t keep panicking, or your magic is going to spiral further out of control!

  “Ow!” I screamed as pain surged through my wrists.

  Rain poured down around me as my hands iced over. Pathetic. Some Ethereal I am… Rosalie can see the future, and Maverick can teleport to other worlds. I can’t even recall memories like I’m supposed to. Only my own painful ones. They’re both strong, yet I was strongly out of control.

  It’s not fair!

  Fire erupted in front of me, causing me to stumble back. At this rate, I would…

  The theater…

  “Elaina!” Hands gripped my shoulders, but I couldn’t care less. In fact, I could barely register that my shoulders were even being touched.

  “Listen to me, Elaina.” I was turned around so that I was face to face with Maverick. His hair was matted down to the sides of his face due to the rain that seemed to only encompass us. “Don’t do this… It’s… It’s going to be okay.” He shook me, but I could barely feel it.

  “I hurt Finn…” My voice was barely above a whisper.

  “You didn’t mean to. Listen, I… I know how it feels. I know how you feel.”

  “You… you do?” I wiped the rain out of my eyes, which was stupid because I just added more water.

  “When I was first learning how to use magic, I made a lot of mistakes. Mistakes I would do anything to take back. I don’t want you to do the same. Elaina, please don’t—”

  “Ella!” Finn came running towards us. I could’ve sworn I heard Maverick growl as he stepped away from me. “Ella, I was so worried about you… I saw you run away, but I couldn’t do anything—”

  “Because I froze you in place, yes. I could’ve killed you!” I cried. “The last thing I wanted to do was to hurt either of you!”

  “You’re scared, and rightfully so. I know the last thing you ever expected was to wake up with magic one day, and then get experimented on. I’m sorry I failed to protect you…”

  I frantically shook my head, my hair accidentally flinging water droplets onto their faces. “You didn’t fail me. It’s because you two were there that we got out alive.”

  “You’re selling yourself short, you know,” Maverick said. “If your magic hadn’t awakened when it did, we would all be goners.”

  “Don’t forget the master too,” I added. It wasn’t all me, after all. “Earlier today… No, further back. When I almost died to the Falor Ghula, the pain was unbearable… Just like in that facility. As stupid and childish as it sounds… I don’t want to feel pain again!” I cried. “I want to go home! Back to the manor! Back where things aren’t trying to kill me! I want to lock myself in my room and know that I’m safe under Sylvis’ protection! I don’t want to be here anymore!” I screamed into the open field.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  The two looked at me. I wasn’t able to make out their expressions with how dark it was outside. I couldn't decide if they were worried, upset, or something else altogether.

  “You’re just scared. It’s okay to feel scared after everything you’ve been through,” Finn started. “You went through an unusual amount of pain that I imagine most people in your world won’t have to go through.”

  “I don’t know about that. Their healthcare is decades behind ours—” Maverick immediately shut up when he was elbowed in the stomach.

  “You’re not going to feel that pain again, Ella. I’m going to protect you.” Finn took my hands in his. The rain cleared up, and with the little bit of moonlight, I could see his smile. Right, he would protect me. He squeezed my hands gently.

  “Idiot, you’re not the only one who’s going to protect her. If I had acted sooner like an Ethereal should, I could have prevented this.” Maverick balled his fists at his sides.

  “It’s not that I don’t trust you guys,” I began, "but if even Avaline couldn’t defeat those things, I'm scared that we're just throwing ourselves into more danger. Somebody is going to get hurt, and there’s no way to prevent it.” And that someone would most likely be me… “Can’t we just… I don’t know, steal some pegasi and fly back to Meridia?”

  “Avaline would never allow it. But we know their weakness now—we can kill them faster, safer.”

  “And you don’t even have to fight if you don’t want to. You can just stand back where it’s safe,” Finn added.

  “We can’t protect her forever, Finn. She’s going to have to learn how to fight eventually.”

  “Maybe I can’t, but you can. Besides, who practices fighting on a giant evil animal? That just seems stupid.” Finn shrugged. “Ow.” Maverick whacked him on the head.

  “I just hope you’re right.”

  We walked back to the house in silence. I couldn’t help but wonder what it was Maverick was trying to tell me…

  I woke up to find Finn already gone, but Aidan was quietly snoring in his bed. I wondered where he’d gone last night…

  I opened the door to the other room to see that the others were missing as well. That’s strange…

  There was a sinking feeling in my stomach as I wondered if they had abandoned me. Of course they hadn’t! Besides, why would they leave Aidan?

  I walked out of the house to see Zephyr playing with a few kids, using his illusion magic. Marge was sitting on a bench under a tree with a long line of people walking up to her. I eventually found Finn tending to a bed of flowers.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, crouching down next to a bed of flowers that had begun withering.

  “Last night’s meal was on the house since we had saved the village or something. Today we have to work for it,” Finn explained.

  “And playing with kids is working?” I raised an eyebrow.

  “It would seem so.” Finn shrugged. “There isn’t much we can help with since the villagers rely on magic for just about everything.”

  “What’s Marge doing then?” I asked, glancing back over to where she was. The line had only gotten longer.

  “Predicting people’s futures. They don’t seem to have any kind of seer around here.”

  “Isn’t Marge’s ability kind of… random and unreliable?”

  “Yep.”

  I glanced back and noticed her shaking her head at someone, then the next person, and the next, before she finally talked to the fourth. The other three walked away, hanging their heads low. Unless something important was happening within the next 48 hours, they were going to be disappointed regardless.

  “Where’s Maverick?” I asked.

  “Helping in the kitchen.”

  “Maverick? Cooking?” I had to stifle a laugh.

  “It seems a lot of people here eat meat.” He shrugged, and I recalled last night’s dinner.

  “So… what are you doing here? I mean, I imagine these people are capable of watering their own plants, right?” I asked.

  Finn paused what he was doing, taking a step back from the bed of flowers. He wiped the sweat off his forehead using the back of his palm. “What do you notice about these flowers?”

  “They’re dying,” I said, matter-of-factly.

  “Why are they dying?”

  I looked closer and noticed the light brown soil. I dragged my finger across it to confirm what I already knew. The soil was dry.

  “Correct.” Finn smiled.

  “So they need water?” My hand moved instinctively towards the flowers. I could use my magic to— No… my magic had gotten out of control last night… With my luck, I’d burn the flowers, and there would be nothing left to save.

  “You can’t think like that, Ella. The more you fear your magic, the more your magic will become the thing you fear. You’re right, they need water. Go ahead and use your magic to—”

  “I’m scared.” I took a step back before giving myself a hug.

  “It’s okay, Ella. I’m right here—nothing is going to happen. You’re not going to hurt the flowers with a little water.”

  “What if I drown them?”

  “If you did, I would be impressed. Here—take my hand.” He smiled at me as he extended his hand across the flower bed. I took his hand and squeezed. Okay, someone was with me to keep my magic in check…

  Right… Just a little bit of water, not too much…

  Water poured out of my hand in between my fingers. I couldn’t help but smile in delight as I watched the water drip out, like my palm was some sort of fountain. I twisted it back and forth, watching the water move according to gravity—the wind delighting my senses, reminding me of when I used to play in the fountains at my park as a kid.

  “See?” Finn said quietly. “You’re doing it.”

  I nodded in excitement. Once I decided the flowers had had enough, I shut the imaginary fountain off.

  To my shock, the dark brown soil immediately dried up again.

  “And that’s our problem,” Finn said.

  “I see now why you would’ve been impressed if I had drowned them.” I sighed.

  “What do you think the problem could be now?”

  How was I supposed to know? I literally saw grass growing out of a rock yesterday, which defied everything I was taught in school! Maybe my senior year of high school would’ve covered this. I bet you learn a bunch of secret information nobody talks about but every adult knows.

  I looked around to see if anything else was unusual. Well… we were fairly close to a river of lava… Maybe the heat had something to do with it?

  “No, that wouldn’t explain why the other flower bed is just fine.” He pointed to the one inches away. “Unless…”

  “Unless what?” I asked.

  “Take a step back.”

  I did as I was told and watched as he summoned his lance. Listen, if you wanted to kill the flowers, my fire would’ve been just as— Oh, he stabbed the nearby dirt with his lance. He stabbed it a few more times, making a bigger hole until lava came bubbling up to the surface.

  He moved towards the other flower bed, repeating the same process, but this time there wasn’t any lava. Just more dirt.

  “Somehow, the lava entered through the ground and has settled under this area. But how are we supposed to—” Finn was cut off.

  Footsteps sounded behind me, and I turned to find Aidan walking up to us. Something about him seemed more vibrant. His hair, perhaps? His eyes also seemed brighter.

  He raised his hand over the hole of lava, and it disappeared, revealing only dirt. He then crouched over the flowers, using his hand to water the soil the same way I had. When he was done, the soil retained its dark brown color. He then motioned with his hands, and the flowers regained their vibrancy and stood tall, no longer drooping over.

  “How did you—” I wanted to ask, but he walked away.

  “I’m worried about him.” Finn bit his lip. “He seems… different.”

  “You would know, I guess. Being a mind reader and all. Anyway, it looks like Zephyr’s getting tired.” He was now hunched forward, his chest heaving up and down. “Let’s find out if Maverick has been hiding his secret cooking talent all this time.”

  He was not. The food was dry and flavorless. I couldn’t believe we (they) had spent all morning working for that.

  Maybe I could get Maverick to teleport some pancakes from my favorite diner back home…