AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She placed a gentle hand on Toan’s back as she stepped up next to him and he gave her a soft look, eyes still sad with grief. While her words might have told him Winona didn’t blame him for her death, believing that was going to take him longer.
She stepped out into the clearing and paused. There was a weird feeling that coated the clearing. Instead of running from it, Claire stepped further into the clearing and took a few deep breaths to center herself and identify what she was feeling. It took a few moments but her eyes widened as she realized what it felt like. It felt like death had settled here.
Even though plants still grew in the clearing and the trees around it looked healthy, one could feel that death coated every living essence. It was eery and the hair on Claire’s arms raised. Small blue flowers dotted the clearing, their deep blue looked like tear drops on the Forest floor, like the Forest had cried and left a small tribute to a fallen Royal.
She settled into a seated position among the flowers in the center of the clearing where the feeling was heaviest. She didn’t need her magic to tell her what had happened here. This spot, right here, was where her mother died.
She laid back on the ground, looking up at the leaves of the trees that guarded the clearing. Sinking into grass, she tried to take in every detail of the canopy above her. It was, after all, the last thing her mother had seen before she passed. She bit her lip as it felt like all of the feelings rose up in her body at once, causing her throat to tighten. She felt simultaneously light-headed and like her body was a solid weight trying to sink deep into the Forest floor and never get up.
She sucked in a deep breath and held it for a moment, before blowing it out. Trying to find the journal and finding the dark magic instead had given her an idea. An impossible idea according to what Claire had been taught about magic so far but an idea.
Helene’s words from earlier this summer rang in her ears. “You are stronger than you allow yourself to think. When you fully recognize your power, there will be very little you won’t be able to do.”
If she truly believed that, and her magic was as strong as everyone believed, she might be able to relive the memories of the trees surrounding the clearing from the night that her mother died. She took another breath, hesitating again.
If it worked, she would be able to see what happened and get answers they didn’t have. But if it worked, she was also going to use her magic in ways she never had before. And she was going to have to watch her mother die.
Was she ready for that? Was anyone ready for that? Claire couldn’t be a coward now. She couldn’t afford to. Not with a missing journal that held critical answers to who was behind all of this.
She bit her lip. She had to do this. But she didn’t have to do it alone. She strummed along their bond, silently calling him to her and Puck’s soft wings beat in the air before he landed next to her. He settled softly on her stomach, his tail draped along her legs with his paws on her chest. He rested his head on her neck carefully so his beak didn’t press into his skin. His weight grounded her. Ready or not.
She took a deep breath and opened up her magic, pulling it out of her center in a steady stream and sending it into the ground and the trees around her. She pulled more than she ever had before, focusing on her intention to see what they had seen right before the death Energy had settled in the clearing. Puck’s magic was there too, not hindering but guiding her magic and making sure it went where Claire directed. It was restless and fought her at first, as if sensing all of her feelings and trying to protect her, but after a few moments it relaxed and did what Claire asked.
She closed her eyes, sinking into the magic strumming through the trees around her, finding their Energy and sinking deeper, asking to see what they saw. Behind her closed eyes, magic began to build the scene in her mind. The ghostly image of the trees in the clearing formed out of a pale green magic, glowing like the sigils had on the gate to the Elven Forest. She was ‘seeing’ through her magic again.
The pale green glow solidified as the shadows lightened. She could make out the details of the clearing, but barely. They were fuzzy still, like the shadows Claire still saw after she touched the Fae dagger for the first time. The ghostly leaves blew in the breeze. It was like Claire was standing on the edge of the clearing. No, she was, she was one of the trees. And something was coming. She could feel the vibrations of the Forest floor. Someone was running. Two someones actually. A heavier pair of footsteps and a lighter pair. And something glided through the air above them, its Energy disturbing the leaves as it went. Claire could feel the rustling of the leaves down the tree she was in. It was like all of the trees were connected to each other in that way as the disturbance grew closer.
Two pale white figures burst into the clearing, followed by a smaller flying figure. Claire pushed more magic into them, she needed to see details. The figures solidified and Claire recognized Winona’s dark hair and ghostly features. She went to cross the clearing with who Claire realized was a younger version of herself.
She had the same curly hair, even as a child, and her eyes were a light blue and unfocused. Younger Claire was quiet, as if she knew the seriousness of the situation, even as Winona’s lips moved.
I need to hear them, Claire pushed more magic into that intention. She needed to hear what Winona was saying.
The vision changed and Claire jolted as the ghostly Winona and Claire jumped. A dark red haze of Energy blocked their path across the clearing and Winona pushed the younger Claire behind her.
A hooded figure stepped out from behind the dark red Energy. It felt like dark magic but… lighter? It was strange and Claire filed it away for later, trying to hear what they were saying. She fed more magic into the tree, so much that her center was starting to feel empty but Claire couldn’t quit now.
As she fed the magic, she started hearing the murmur of their words. She pushed more into it.
“I didn’t want to believe it was you,” Winona was saying, her voice faint. “How could you betray the Academy in this way?”
The Academy? Whoever the hooded figure was connected there? But the Academy was supposed to be neutral?
Whoever the hooded figure was, Claire couldn’t hear their response. It was like the dark magic protected them.
Whatever their response was, Winona reacted instantly. A light brown Notus that must have been Winona’s familiar dive-bombed the hooded figure, distracting them. Claire watched as Winona let go of the younger Claire’s hand and pushed her other one into her chest before the hooded figure could react. It was like younger Claire’s body folded in on itself and then she disappeared. This was when Winona sifted Claire away.
Claire watched as Winona and the hooded figure fought in furious flashes, moving too fast sometimes for the trees to follow. Their Energy clashed around the clearing. But as they battled, the dark magic grew. It expanded in a circle around Winona, blocking off all chance of escape. Winona was tiring, her Energy growing weaker. It didn’t make sense, she was supposed to be one of the most powerful sorceresses but she was flagging. Something had already drained her Energy.
She had, Claire realized. Younger Claire’s eyes were already unfocused in this scene and Toan had said Winona must have bound Claire’s magic after she left the Capital. Winona must have just bound Claire’s magic before encountering the hooded figure. Had she known this was going to happen? If she did, why? Why let this happen?
Claire couldn’t dwell on it too long as the battle in front of her picked up. A burst of dark magic caught the Notus in the chest and Claire felt Winona’s cry as if it were her own as the Notus fell to the Forest floor, its Energy fading. The death of the Notus seemed to unleash Winona and her hits became faster and stronger but the hooded figure matched her every blow. The dark magic circle closed in around her, lashing first onto one wrist and then the other, pinning her in place. The hooded figure walked up to Winona, saying something that Claire couldn’t hear as hard as she tried. Her magic was almost drained.
Whatever they said to Winona was said quickly and then the figure stuck their hand against Winona’s chest and drained her Energy. Claire watched in horror as Winona’s body dropped to the ground, unmoving. The hooded figure stood above her body for a few moments. Were they gloating? Were they feeling guilty? Winona knew the person so they must have known her. Yet they killed her anyway.
The hooded figure knelt next to Winona and took out a knife. He sliced her arm open and let the blood drain into a small vial. After he capped the vial, he pressed her arm against something else. Claire’s magic was draining but she pushed harder. She had to confirm what that was. Puck’s magic aided her, and she was able to make out the details of what the figure held. It was a journal. Winona’s journal if Claire had to guess. The latch popped open and the figure opened it and scanned it quickly as if confirming there were words on the page before tucking it back away. They stood and with one last look at Winona’s body, stalked off into the Forest.
Claire knew she had to pull back her magic and come out of the tree’s Energy but she couldn’t seem to. The Forest mourned with her, it seemed as she watched the trees shed their leaves until Winona’s body was covered except for her face. Claire watched as time seemed to lapse and the teardrop flowers bloomed. She saw Toan come to the clearing and watched him collapse at her mother’s side, shoulders shaking with sobs Claire couldn’t hear but the trees felt. Oh how they felt and shared his grief.
