Elinora

Emily was by my side the whole time until the others came around. While we waited she told me how she saw me leaving, already guessing I was doing something very stupid, and informing my mom on the way. Emily had placed a tracking spell on the ship, and with mom’s help, they were able to organize another ship, following my tracks. 

The others arrived soon. I couldn’t look at any of them. Not even Emily who was pretty instant on trying to comfort me. All I wanted to do was disappear. The fewer people saw me like that, the better. But of course I couldn't, and no matter how dire my situation was, Arine’s was even worse.

I struggled to push my own emotions back, but it wasn’t working nearly as well as when I was still used to this body. Every attempt at suppressing them was in vain as new ones would emerge. It was only after Kat kneeled down to me and forced me to look at her when I was able to tell them what they needed.

“There’s some kind of invisible barrier hiding a castle.” It took all my strength to not break down after Kat let go of me. Emily and Lyn came to my side and helped me up while Kat was rushing back to convey the information to whoever else was with them.

“What happened? Is Arine safe?” There were more questions from Lyn and Riley but I was too focused on the ground to answer any of them. Interestingly enough none of them were guilt-tripping me but I knew that was only until we were back to safety.

We met with Kat again in a small clearing, and I saw the person who was with them. When I saw her I wanted to run away, but Lyn and Emily blocked my escape. 

“Eli?” She said, taking a step forward. There was not a hint of blame, instead only worry. “Oh my god Eli, come here.” Without another word she rushed toward men. Emily and Lyn let go of me and mom hugged me as if she might never see me again.

With soft soothing motion she started to stroke and reassure me all would be fine. It was hard to believe. After all, I was a disappointment. Not only to her, but to everyone. I failed Arine, my friends, and even defied my mom's advice. I didn’t deserve her. I didn’t deserve anyone.

“Eli, Eli please, you need to tell us what happened.” I knew I had to tell them, and I had to tell them now. Arine was in grave danger after all, but I was so useless. I couldn’t help her. I couldn’t help anyone. The words wouldn’t leave my mouth and with each passing second it became harder and harder not to start crying again.

When I still didn’t answer mom's hand rode down my back, leaving a warm sensation in its wake, “Oh no.” she whispered, “It’s worse than I thought.” Needless to say, that was the last thing I wanted to hear from her.

Carefully as for the others not to hear, she proceeded her whispering, “Someone drained all magic out of you.” It wasn’t a question and I already knew it. Not only did Jenna herself tell me but could also feel it being true. There was nothing in this world I felt anymore. Not the streams of magic, not the connection I shared with the spirit being when I first entered, and not even the twisted magic of this forest. It was all gone, and to tell the truth, I don’t know which was worse. Losing the body I tried to deny for so long, only to realize that it was all I had ever wanted, or losing the magic that found a home in me, that gave me a sense of belonging. Of truly being a part of this world and the feeling like I mattered.

“Jenna did this, didn’t she?” There were still no words coming out of my throat. I buried my head in her shoulder and nodded. This was enough for her. She pulled her arm tighter around me and I felt her fingers digging into my flesh. 

Mom let go of me and when I looked up at her expression was different. It wasn’t the one I was used to. Not the same one she had when Arine and I did the trip to the old tree. No, this was a look of pure fury. I had never seen her like this before and though she could be frightening before, this was another level.

“Girls, get behind me.” she told them through gritted teeth. It hurt not being included in the term anymore, but that was my life now, and I had to accept it at some point. The only question was if that point would ever come.

The girls were all as terrified of mom as I was and wasted no time getting behind her. We all took a few steps back and Emily started to hold my hand. It was a nice gesture but it didn’t have the desired effect. I pulled my hand back and Emily got the hint. The only thing that mattered for me now anyway was getting Arine out of there. I believed in my mom, and after that, I could disappear forever.

The ground started to tremble, and I didn’t need any magic to tell the change in atmosphere. A chill ran down my spine and endless runes started to appear on the ground. The last surviving leaves in this deserted forest had stopped falling down and were defying gravity now. Surging upwards as the rune circle grew wider, it encompassed the whole forest.

All around us a mystical blue shimmer broke from the earth, reaching high into the sky. The same blue haze mom was engulfed in as her hair started to fly in all directions. The display of raw power was something to behold, but the real spectacle hadn’t even started yet. 

When her hair calmed down, the ground stopped shaking and the blue haze lifted, the same rune circle started to appear again, only in the sky. And when it reached its length, the sky started to open up, bringing the stars that seemed so far away not mere moments ago within arms reach. They connected each other and though their light couldn't pass through the sky, their heat banished the cold of the night.

“What..what is this?” All of us were speechless. I guess none of us had ever seen mom’s magic in action before. 

“I’ve read about it once, ” Riley said, lost between the endless sea of stars hovering above us, “it’s Astral magic.” 

I was as speechless as she was, and the next moment one of the stars disappeared in a giant ball of light, raining start dust all over us. It wasn’t only a visual spectacle either, as the dust settled on the previously invisible barrier. More and more dust-covered the barrier until it became a golden dome, shattering into a million pieces and disappearing into the night again.

With the barrier gone, we all could now see the top of Jenna’s castle but mom wouldn’t leave it at that. Another star disappeared and a small beam of light emerged from the center of it into the ground. Over time it grew larger, soon covering everything in front of us.

When the light disappeared, it had obliterated everything it touched, revealing an empty landscape devoid of nature or structure, only dry earth and Jenna's followers that were now exposed without the castle's protection.

I saw a few of the guys I passed in their hallway earlier now frantically giving direction to others as they tried to calm the masses down. Portals opened and people started to flee. In the scramble, I tried to search for Arine but couldn't see her anywhere. I already started to worry when the first portals began to close. Was it too late? Did they abduct Arine again? But out stepped three people, and one of the was Arine.

Jared was still constraining her and when mom saw him her knuckles grew even whiter. It was obvious what she wanted to do but she had to control herself. We couldn't risk hurting Arine. With every step the three did, the air became unbearably denser and soon they were close enough for us to hear them.

“Mara, ” Jenna hissed, “I should have known it was you. Of course, you wouldn’t just let your precious little daughter wander into this forest all alone.”

“I see, you’ve found our son,” Jared started to mock form beside, “you know, when I first saw what you did to him, it broke my heart. His own mother, absent for sixteen years, and as soon as you get a hold of him, you force your ideals down his throat.”

Mom was uncomfortably calm when she responded to him, “You have no right to talk about her. You stole her from me, you made her life miserable and now, ” she stopped speaking as golden runes started to form on her arms, and seven golden glowing circles appeared in all directions above Jared, “you will pay.”

Not a second passed and ephemeral chains started to break from the circles, attacking Jared. Occupied with fighting off mom’s chains, he had to let go of Arine who used the opportunity to sprint towards us.

“Where do you think you’re going? We’re not finished here.” Jenna put her hand on the ground and her summoning circles appeared in every single last corner. They started to glow and before we could really start to comprehend what had happened, an army of hundreds, if not thousands of Jenna's monsters were being formed. 

Seeing the new threats, mom was forced to let go of Jared, “Emily, you protect Eli. I’ll try to get to Arine; and you,” she was referring to the other girls, “Try and hold those things for as long as possible.”

Emily slowly pulled me back and wrapped us both in a green bubble, “don’t worry, this will work, this will work.” She wasn’t sure herself and no matter how hard she tried to hide it, she was just as nervous as me.

From the safety of the distance we watched as the battle unfolded with Kat throwing one fireball after another, Lyn letting ghostly weapons rain down from the sky and Riley standing back and supporting the other two with whatever magic she had. It didn’t look too good for us, as most of the monsters, especially the large ones seemed to be immune to most of their attacks. Luckily, I could also make out mom, wherever she would go, a beam of light would follow and destroy everything in close proximity. Her magic was working but she still had a long way to go and I started to worry that we might not make it.

In an instant, a purple orb came crashing right down into the horde of monsters attacking Kat. I could feel the shockwave even here, a few hundred feet away. The smoke lifted and while some purplish static was still left in the air, cracking, the monsters were gone, revealing a rather worn Arine.

Seeing our chance, mom created a lighting wall behind Arine, separating us from most of the monsters, but it wasn’t over yet. A dark stream of smoke manifested itself around Arine and started to drag her back towards Jenna who was engulfed in the same mist as her. What was strange though, was that there was no trace of Jared. This couldn’t be good.

Mom was just about to cast a wave of her magic down on Jenna, now that there was no risk of hurting Arine again, when burning red cracks opened up beneath her, swallowing her whole.

The cracks disappear and Jared stepped out of the shadows behind us, “That should buy us some time.” I turned around and there he was, right next to me again. “Your mother’s pretty annoying, but how about we end this now.” 

Without any kind of effort he tore down Emily’s bubble, kicked her against a tree, and opened a portal with his right hand, “Time to go home.”

He grabbed my neck, and I felt the panic rise up inside me as I got closer to the portal. Just when I thought it was over, a spear of light emerged itself in Jared's chest, and then another, and another. “Don’t you dare touch her ever again.” I heard my mom say as she appeared from a golden portal above, the same one the spears came from. 

She hovered above us with astral wings, like an astral being descending from heaven, “This is over now.” With a swift motion she brought her hand down and the sky started to brighten up once more, creating a rain of heavenly spears that found their way onto anything that resembled darkness.

Where they touched a monster, it started to dissolve into a glowing stream of dust, and where they hit the ground it started to radiate light. Soon nothing was left, and we were surrounded by a meadow of light. When Jared's being started to dissolve, he turned to mom, “You really think this cheap trick is going to kill me? How disappointing.” Without another word, his body turned to dust, descending into the sky. It was over.

Mom returned to her normal, mom form, and we all started to assemble around Emily who was still unconscious.

“Will she be alright?”

“What happened?”

“Is it over?”

Everyone was asking one question after another, it was impossible to tell who was speaking until mom put an end to it. “Girls, calm down. We need to get Emily out of here.” Lyn and Kat put Emily over their shoulders and we made our way back into town.

Back in town, we brought Emily onto the ship where a few specialized mages were already waiting for us. Apparently mom had ordered the ship after she found out where I was. With Emily in good care we started our trip back to Alos.

“So, what was that? Did we finish them? Are they gone for good now?” It was Kate asking, she was still pretending to be all about all this but I knew it was only for show. If I had to guess, this was the first real fight any of us had, well if you count me in on fighting that is. We were all still pretty shaken and processing what had happened.

“I don’t think so.” Mom replied, “ Jenna and Jared got away and they have the book. It’s only a matter of time until they show again.”

“Wait, wait.” Lyn interrupted, “I’ve just seen Jenna and Jared turn into dust?” That got a questioning look from all of them. She was right, I saw it too after all, and I’m sure Kat and Riley did too.

“Jared created shadow copies of themself. They used the opportunity to escape with the book. I noticed it after activating lumina fractionis.”

“Lumina fractionis...” I heard Riley mumble next to me. something about it must have piqued her interest as she was frantically searching her head for answers. “I’ve read that somewhere...”

As mom heard Riley thinking, she quickly left us on our own with a short goodbye, “I’ll see how Emily’s holding up, you girls don’t stay up too late, there are cabins ready for you. It’ll be a long ride till we’re back in Alos.”

“I remember!” Riley shouted up, getting a look from all of us. “uhh, sorry about that...”

“What is it?” Kat spoke up from next to her.

“The spell your mom mentioned…I remember reading about it once in a book about ancient magic...” she got quieter as she continued, “it’s forbidden.” 

Lyn was first to ask the obvious “Forbidden? Why?”

Casting her eyes down onto the wooden board, the atmosphere, which just started to lift a little, became completely sober again. “It’s eating up your lifetime. Once cast it’ll cost you five years of your life, the next time, ten...”

I had to get away, this was too much. Without a word I left them and shuffled into my small cabin. Not only was my life now over, but I also cost mom at least five years of hers. I was worthless. I'm worthless. Why did people even bother with me? I wondered if anyone would notice if I left at the next stop. Would they miss me? No, why should they, one less burden for them. 

“Eli, Eli...what wrong?” I was so absorbed in my own tears, it completely flew over my head when Arine entered and put a hand over my shoulder. “Hey, everything gonna be alright.”

“Nothings gonna be alright! It’s over I’m done, I’m..”

“Hey, it’s okay. We’ll find a way to revert what Jenna did.” It was nice being held by her, even if it felt wrong now. A part of me wants to run and hide, never to see the light of the world again but another wants to be with her, to be held tighter and to never let her go. “I know how it feels, it’ll be okay.”

How could I have been so blind? Before, I could just accept that my life was shit, maybe even find some kind of happiness in never knowing what had caused it. After meeting mom, that had obviously changed, but no matter how hard I tried to hate the changes, the truth was that I loved them, I needed them. But the whole time, I never really had a good grip at understanding how it must have been for Arine. I always just took those things and feelings for granted, never thinking too hard about them, but now that the one thing was taken away from me and gravity of my situation hit, I realize what Arine must have gone through. 

“Ari… I’m so sorry.“ Was it the first time I spoke again since Jenna took my will to live? Maybe, but with Arine by my side I managed, even though it was only a small whisper. “I think I understand better now. Like...how you feel and stuff.”

“I don’t think I have it as bad as you.” she chuckled a bit before composing herself, “Sorry, that was uncalled for.”

“What do you mean?”

She took a deep breath and prepared herself to tell me what I could only assume few people knew about her, “It’s hard to describe really. But sometimes I wondered what it would be like, living as a girl, you know? I even talked to my sister about it once but that’s it. I could never tell anyone about it and it wasn’t like an obsessive thing I did every day, only like maybe once or twice a month? I don’t know.”

“So you actually wanted to be a girl? But I thought you hated it?” I remembered the conversation I had with her right after the incident in Alos. I mean, she never outright said she hated her body or anything for the matter, but at the time she didn't seem thrilled either.

“Well, no. Like I said, I thought about it sometimes, but I probably would have never done anything. There’s so much trouble to go through and you have to tell people, and that all sounded much too stressful. Maybe if there was, say a button to, magically change reality or stuff like that I might have pressed it.”

Listening to her pouring her still confused feelings all over me had a kind of soothing effect, as it distracted me from my own right now. “I mean, being kidnapped into another world and getting this forced on me wasn't what I’d imagined it would be, but the thing that hurts the most is not knowing if I’ll ever see my family again. I can’t stop thinking about how they are doing, how they probably think I’m dead… it’s just..” 

This time it was me. We tightened the hug we shared, as the pain became too much for her. We stayed like that for a good amount of time till we decided to get some rest. Arine refused to leave my side, and so we ended up cuddling together, waiting for the ship to take us back home.