WendyFlames lick the sky, and smoke chokes the air. I push through the haze, my eyes burning from the heat. All around me, the walls are on fire.“Wendy!”My heart lunches. That voice! It’s Brynn!“Brynn!” I whirl around, looking for the first friend I made at Hawthorn. I haven’t seen her since we split up when the Silver Hunters attacked the school, and since then, I’ve constantly been wondering if she’s okay. Or if she’s even alive."Where are you?" I yell."I’m here! Help!"I spin around again, and suddenly, I'm in the wishing well. The cool water dances, and at the very bottom of the well, the Golden Coin sparkles."Up here!" Brynn calls.I lean back and catch sight of her at the very top of the stairs. She clutches the railing and looks down at me, her eyes wide and panicked."Hold on!" I run up the stairs."Hurry! They're coming!"A looming figure appears behind her shoulder, and my breath catches in my throat. I want to scream, to warn her, but it's like my voice
HeatherSomething creaks nearby, and I stiffen, every muscle in my body going tight. It's like there's a hand around my lungs. I can't breathe. I can't move.I'm a coward. The lowest of the low.Biting my lip, I peer through the crack in the ceiling. Several Silver Hunters walk down the top floor hallway, their swords in hand.So, they're still patrolling the school.Are they ever going to leave? Or do they just live here now?Tears fill my eyes, and I shut them, wishing all of this would just go away. None of it seems real. None of it is fair.What did I ever do to deserve this? I was just sleeping in my bed, minding my own business ... and then came the explosions and the screams.I tried to go out my dorm window, but there were Silver Hunters in the courtyard. They would have seen me if I escaped that way.So, I did the only thing I could do. I hid.The attic crawl space, separate from the main attic, has always been my secret spot. The only way to get into it is through
Wendy"I think that's deep enough." Alec stands back and wipes his brow, leaving a smear of dirt on his forehead.I twist my lips at the hole we've dug. We both know it could be deeper, but we've already hung around in one spot for an hour. We're pushing our luck when it comes to evading the Silver Hunters.There's an awkward moment as we stand there. Professor Trowles's body is next to the hole, her eyes closed and her face pale. All of her energy and sparkle is gone. She's nothing but a husk of the person she was.Anger and sadness ripples through me. I barely even knew her, but she was one of the few people at Hawthorn who welcomed me in with open arms. She didn't whisper when I entered a room or treat me like I had the plague.Which one of the Silver Hunters was responsible for her death?My fingers curl into the dirt. I want to find that person. I want to make them pay for what they did.Energy courses through my veins, and I close my eyes and focus on my breathing. I'm d
WendyBecause it seems like the best place to go when you need information, we head for the local library. After an hour of looking through archived news articles, we shift to the computers and try online searches."No Igor Rhodes anywhere in Maine." Sighing, I sit back in the chair and stare at the library's computer screen.Next to me, Alec's face bunches. He's been on his own computer, looking for leads."I guess he's someone who doesn't want to be found," he says.I scrub my face. The internet should be our best bet for locating someone, and yet it's taken us to a dead end."We just need to ask around some more," I say.He nods, but there's no spirit in it. We've already tried asking around. If only we knew where to start, maybe we'd have a chance. Instead, it feels like we're randomly bouncing around this city.A bell rings, and a voice comes over the speakers announcing that the library will close in ten minutes."Anyway, we can't stay here." I reluctantly close my bro
Wendy"You're sure this is it?" Alec asks.I check the address on the scrap of paper. Check it again."Yep." Nodding at the mailbox, I stuff the paper into my pants.Alec rubs his head. "I don't know. This seems off."It's hard to disagree with that. The address the old woman gave us brought us to an old warehouse. The place is definitely abandoned, and the whole place has a creepy vibe.The fence surrounding the warehouse is twisted like a pretzel. The chain link has tarnished with age, the metal corroding and warping. A tree has found purchase on the fence and grown halfway over, branches reaching out towards the warehouse as if to throttle it. The old warehouse has been abandoned for a long time, with smashed windows and a cracked sign.It looks like no one has stepped foot in this place for years.So, why would Igor Rhodes be here?Anger rises in my chest. "We came all this way for nothing," I grumble.That woman must have been lying. She tricked us into giving her that
AlecMy feet hit the ground, and the impact reverberates through me, shaking my bones and making my vision blur. Wendy's hand slips out of mine, and I desperately reach for her."Wendy!"But she's not there.Choking on my inhale, I whirl around. There are noises and sights everywhere.Stalls and tents line what seems to be some kind of underground tunnel, candlelight glinting off the brass and silver merchandise. Fire sparks between magic wands and their brandished spells, the strange sounds of incantations and foreign tongues breaking the peaceful quiet. People from all worlds and all races bustle about. Fairies and elves, giants and halflings, everything from the most fantastical stories to the most absurd myths. Smoke from the marketplace rises into the air, choking the air.The marketplace is larger than any I've ever seen. I went to a magical one once, when I was a kid, but that was nothing compared to this."Wendy?" I call.She's still nowhere to be seen.My heart pick
WendyIn the tunnel, Alec paces back and forth, his fist pressed to his mouth. I can nearly feel the energy crackling off him."I don't know whether to trust him or not," he says.Sighing, I take a seat on a barrel. "What does that even matter? Like it or not, he's all we have."He shakes his head. "He's freaked out. Afraid of something or someone.""Yeah." Using the toe of my shoe, I draw a line in the packed earth. "He didn't seem to be scared of the Silver Hunters, though. It's something else.""And I doubt he'll tell us what.""If he'd just tell us, we could move on.""I don't think he wants to move on," Alec says. "I get the sense he's been underground for a long time. I might actually be worried about him. If he doesn't rejoin the world soon, I think he might go crazy."I nod, agreeing with him. "There's something about him that's just ... off.""What do you mean?"I wrinkle my nose. "He's not a bad guy, but he's been closed up in that cave for so long.""You mean h
WendyAfter a long bus ride, Alec and I finally make it to Lockeport, Nova Scotia, a little after dark. Freezing rain slices through the night, coming down on my shoulders and hair and making me shake. Hunched over, we sprint for a restaurant's overhang."Ugh." I rub my hands against my arms. "I didn't even think about rain.""Soon it'll be snow."My lips draw thin. This is the wrong time of year to do an in-depth tour of thirty-eight hundred islands."The Silver Hunters could have been a little courteous and attacked in spring, don't you think?" I ask.It's a poor and tasteless joke, and it's no surprise that Alec doesn't laugh. Apparently, my new way of dealing with stress is resorting to humor. Whether that's healthy or not, I'm not really sure."They probably have rain ponchos." Alec nods at a tourist shop across the street. "Let's pop in and see.""Sounds good."Igor gave us a little bit of money to get by on, but we'll still need to be tight with expenses. Even though