Page 4

Curiosity got the best of me.

“How odd,” Sloane said.

She reached for it at the same time I did. The backs of our hands brushed a hairsbreadth before we touched the handle of the mirror. The moment my finger pressed against the cool metal, my hair swirled around me on a phantom wind. A roaring filled my ears, louder than any train I’d ever heard. I glanced at Sloane, and her eyes were as wide as mine felt, shock and terror filling her face. I tried to pull away from the mirror but found myself frozen.

“Sloane?” I cried out, trying to be heard over the deafening roar.

Her eyes widened even more, showing the whites all the way around, and she opened her mouth. Her voice was lost to the wind. The rocks rumbled under our feet, knocking me off balance. I fell backward, the mirror still under my hand, the metal ice cold. My head slammed against something, and the world went dark.

I couldn’t feel my body, couldn’t move my hands or feet. It felt almost like I was swimming, my mind light and yet overwhelmed at the same time. There was nothing outside of the feeling—no place or time. Alone, my mind drifted along the waves.

Eventually, the strange sensation faded.

Low voices surrounded me. They spoke in short, hard syllables I couldn’t understand. I tried to open my eyes, but they felt glued shut. My entire body felt as if it had turned to concrete. Something pressed against my head, and I whined. I tried to pull away, but my body didn’t respond to my urging.

Time slipped away from me.

When I was aware again, arms were wrapped around my body, and I was pressed against a warm, hard chest. I took in a deep breath, trying to find my way back fully into my body.

It smelled of moss and rot… and blood.

Paramedics. It had to be an EMT that carried me. I’d hit my head, so of course a paramedic would be pulling me from the rocky shore and getting me help. I wanted to ask them to grab our bags, to double-check our phones and wallets were still where we’d left them so we could get back home. My tongue was even heavier than my eyelids, though. The person’s steps were steady, but the low hum of voices didn’t crystallize into understandable words.

Time was nonexistent. Five minutes or five years passed. I couldn’t be sure.

Eventually, I was laid on a bed of some sort. The voices continued around me, and someone touched the back of my head. I gasped, but my body was still too heavy, entirely unresponsive. The touch came a second time, and I was pulled back under the crushing waves, blackness sweeping over me again.

2

AMETHYST

Idreamed of a boat. Not a boat like the tour boat Sloane and I had been on earlier that day but something older and more complex. It was wood and metal with three large sails and miles of cord. It felt like it belonged in a museum dedicated to the maritime technologies of centuries passed.

The sun beat down on me, so bright it was nearly blinding. It should have felt warm. Instead, it was nearly cold enough to have me shivering.

People raced around me, their faces twisted in worry and fear. I frowned, turning in a circle, trying to figure out what had everyone so concerned. My gaze caught on the wooden deck. Twisted among the dark wood, stained a blue so dark it was nearly black, was a symbol of some kind. A coat of arms? Or the crest of the ship? How did old ships decorate themselves, anyway? The stained wood twisted around itself. Vines surrounded a lotus overlaying two down-turned, crossed arrows. Despite having never seen anything similar to it before, something about it felt familiar, felt… like home.

Confusion settled in my stomach, and I forced my gaze away from the odd design. Along the right side of the ship, far enough away to only see the most indistinct shape, rose land. I slowly turned, trying to orient myself. A cloud passed over the sun, dropping the ship into sudden shadow.

I glanced up and then frowned. Instead of a cloud, there was the outline of a dragon.

What in the hell?

“Nearly there, Your Majesty,” someone said just behind me.

Nerves and anticipation I didn’t understand twisted my stomach.

A high-pitched shriek drowned out whatever reply was given.

Between one breath and the next, the energy of those around me changed.

“Alholím!” someone cried closer to the front of the ship. “From the south!”

“Ready the bolts!” a man behind me shouted. “Mages, prepare for fire!”

Another dragon blotted out the sun. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from it, from them, as more filled the sky. Wonder and dread filled me in equal measure, twisting together until my chest ached with the combination.

“Your Majesty, get below deck!” a woman called from near the railing. I swung my gaze to her as I frowned. Your Majesty? Her eyes were wide where they locked on me, but her hands were steady as they worked to reload a crossbow larger than me. “Go! Quickly before they realize you’re aboard!”