“That,” Jabir breathed, his amber eyes wide, “is awesome.”
Phoenix turned and winked at her sister who smothered a laugh. Picking a spot, she reached deep inside, pulling at the energy within her, shaping it, pushing her will outward as the only image she had of the Seven Kingdoms formed in her mind.
She rose into the air, flying in a tight circle. The flames of her wings and tail crackled with energy as she flew faster. The light began to shimmer, and a moment later, a swirl of golden fire ignited before her, spinning and twisting, forming into a portal.
The inside flickered—a hazy image forming within the rippling flames. Through the portal, a rainbow-colored bridge formed. In the distance, there was a faint image of a kingdom. Before Phoenix could even finish stabilizing it, the boys surged forward.
“Wait—!” she called.
They skidded to a stop, colliding with each other in their excitement to get through. Phoenix grinned, distracted momentarily by the comical scene below her. She was pulling her focus back to finishing the portal when a loud buzzing sound cut through the air. Seconds later, screeching shrieks ripped through the garden and chaos exploded as Alice and Adaline barreled into the boys.
Phoenix wobbled, trying to escape the bright yellow, black, and orange shape that streaked away from Alice and Adaline. Below her, the two girls were screaming, trying to get away from the pollinator attracted to the colors of the portal.
Her cry of warning came too late. The girls, in their panic, knocked into the boys. One minute the boys were teetering on the edge of the opening and the next everyone was falling through the unfinished portal.
“Don’t—”
Phoenix’s concentration snapped when energy surged through her. The portal fractured. Phoenix watched in horror as her sister grabbed for Adaline. Unfortunately, Roam had grabbed Alice’s hand, who had ahold of Adaline, and was pulling her in the opposite direction. The portal’s force yanked Spring off her feet and through the opening like the tumbling dominos they like to play.
Phoenix stared in horror. A silent cry echoed through her mind as she tried to regain control of the portal. Light splintered in all directions. A moan of frustration slipped from her when Amber and Jade released a loud wahoo before disappearing through the opening.
Phoenix knew she was the only hope of the others ever finding their way home. With a final helpless cry, she twisted in the air and flew into the portal as it began to close.
She glanced backward, and the last thing she saw before darkness swallowed her was one of the palace gardeners stepping into the clearing. He looked around him with a confused frown before he spotted something on the ground. She realized it was the bag of opened chips that Jabir had been munching on.
Frowning, he bent down, picked it up, pulled out a chip, and popped it into his mouth. His eyes widened with delight.
“Mm, that’s good,” he muttered, turning just as the colors from the portal dissolved into a brilliant burst of sparkles.
Chapter Five
A strange pulse shuddered through the bridge—just once, like a heartbeat skipping out of rhythm. Phoenix frowned but shook it off.
Everything is probably fine, she silently hoped.
The vibrant, multicolored threads, a swirling river of light and shadow, flowed together ahead of her, exactly as she recalled from her previous trip to the otherworldly realm. The endless, vibrant road of energy twisted through shimmering dimensions, humming with power. With a powerful thrust, her wings flared wide, leaving a glittering, fiery trail as she soared through the vibrant, swirling tunnel.
Only when she saw the others far below, moving like shooting stars along separate paths, their voices echoing faintly through the swirling, chaotic expanse, did she realize something was terribly wrong with the portal. The bridge fractured before her, not in one clean break, but in a multitude of shimmering cracks, spreading like a spider's web—the sight causing her eyes to widen. Only a single bridge should span the chasm, not many.
Her heart hammered a frantic rhythm against her ribs, a deafening sound that mirrored the terror rising in her chest as she realized what was happening. Each of the threads, thin and delicate, snaked off in a different direction, promising a unique destination. Her gaze darted to the end of the path, her eyes scanning the distant horizon. At least the opening was singular, a relief from the possibility of many. Even if separated by vast distances, they'd still be on the same world. She just hoped it was the one she had visualized.
“Spring!”
She twisted in midair, trying to reach for the others, but the force of the portal’s fracture was too strong. She couldn’t pull the threads back together.
A frantic beat echoed in her chest as the thread, carrying Roam and her sister, swerved sharply left, disappearing into a deep emerald tunnel that glowed with an otherworldly light. The air crackled with the scent of ozone, a fresh, almost metallic fragrance. The echo of Roam’s wild whoop of exhilaration, mixed with her sister’s growl for him to go find his own thread, faded as they moved farther away.
Her head whipped around when they suddenly disappeared through an opening filled with huge trees that reminded her of the one in the garden. Before the opening slammed shut, she caught a glimpse of her sister's dragon; her scales shimmering, a brilliant white and shocking pink in the fading light.
To her right, Alice tumbled into a shifting blue and silver thread, reaching out as if trying to hold on to it. She vanished when a thick mist suddenly formed before Phoenix could reach her.
“No!” Phoenix cried out in frustration, but the sound was carried away as she swept past where Alice had disappeared.
She turned her head, frantically trying to reach one of the others. Any of them. Her gaze flew upward when a red thread danced just a few feet above her.
Her gaze locked on Jabir. He was spinning around in a slow circle, clutching a new bag of chips between his hands. He grinned and waved down at her as he spun past her.
“Jabir, wait for me!” she called, trying to find a way over to his thread.
