Raelia (The Medoran Chronicles Book 2) (16 page)

“You’re insane,” Skyla snapped.

Alex jerked in shock and carefully said, “I wasn’t insulting you, Skyla. It was a compliment.”

“Oh.” Skyla twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “I knew that. People compliment me all the time, so I guess I’m just used to it.”

Alex mentally shook her head and moved forward again, intent on finding some mushrooms before her partner’s ‘specialness’ began to rub off on her.

Thankfully, they had their first fungi sighting just a few steps later, much to Alex’s relief.

After twenty minutes of following the mushrooms, Skyla broke the peaceful silence.

“Are we almost there?”

Alex grumbled under her breath, “I sure hope so.”

“What was that?” Skyla demanded.

“I said, ‘I think so’,” Alex covered. “There are more mushrooms now than there were before. That’s probably a good sign.”

It was true. At first the fungi had been sporadic at best, dusted around the forest floor so infrequently that Alex had been challenged to find a clear trail. But now that they were further along, the mushrooms practically formed a straight line to follow.

“I’m hungry,” Skyla said. “Do you think these mushrooms are edible?”

Why don’t you try one and see?
Alex thought. But then she realised that if anything happened to Skyla, it would be she who had to carry her out of the forest. So, in a very firm voice, she said, “It’s probably not a good idea to eat them. They might be poisonous.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Skyla said, her disappointment clear. “Oh, look! That’s much better than mushrooms!”

Alex turned around to see what the other girl was talking about only to find Skyla walking away from her and heading over to a massive tree. Resting on a branch at eye level was a picnic basket bursting with food.

“Skyla, wait!” Alex said, knowing that the food was clearly a set-up. And an obvious one at that. She had no doubt it would be booby-trapped by Hunter.

“Stop telling me what to do,” Skyla hissed, ignoring Alex’s warning and stomping towards the branch.

“No, really, you need to listen—”

“Look,” Skyla interrupted, “I know you’re all, ‘blah, blah, let’s get this riddle nonsense over with’, but I won’t take long. And I’ll share too, since I’m so nice.”

“
Skyla!
” Alex yelled, trying to get the girl’s attention, but she just wasn’t willing to listen.

“Seriously, Alex,” Skyla said impatiently. “You need to get over your—
AHHHH!
”

“
SKYLA!
”

Alex sprinted over to the massive hole in the ground where Skyla had previously been standing. She dropped onto her stomach and wriggled the last few feet, balancing her weight so she wouldn’t fall in as well.

“Skyla, can you hear me? Are you hurt?”

“I’m all right,” Skyla answered weakly, her voice echoing up the deep hole.

Alex released a breath. “How far down are you? I can’t see anything.”

“Not too far, I think,” Skyla said, her voice shaky. “I didn’t fall for long.”

“Can you see me?” Alex asked, knowing there was at least
some light shining on her and hoping it was enough for the other girl to see.

“Yeah,” Skyla answered. “But you’re too far away for me to reach.”

“Okay, hold on.” Alex wriggled away from the hole and stood up. She looked around the area, hoping to find something to help them, and settled on a long, sturdy branch attached to a tree. It took some twisting and pulling—and earned her more than one splinter—but finally Alex was able to yank it free.

She scurried back to the opening of the hole and lowered the branch down into the darkness. “Try to grab hold, Skyla.”

After a few moments of silence, Alex wondered what the other girl was waiting for.

“Ready when you are,” she added.

“I can’t stand,” Skyla whimpered. “I think I’ve sprained my ankle. I can’t reach the branch without standing.”

Alex had to stifle a groan. She had to get Skyla out of the trap, but how could she do that without a rope?

“Skyla, can you use your gift to lengthen your arm?” Alex asked. “Or just shape-shift it into something long enough to reach me?”

“I don’t have supernatural elasticity, Alex,” Skyla returned in a pained voice. “I can only shift into other people. And I don’t know anyone who has ladder arms.”

It had been worth a try, if nothing else.

Standing up again, Alex began pacing around the area, hoping for some kind of inspiration. She’d only taken three steps when she managed to trip on her cape yet again.

“Stupid thing,” she muttered, flinging it over her shoulder and continuing onwards. But then she froze as an idea came to mind, and she unclasped the annoying garment and hurried over to the hole, shoving the material down as soon as she was close enough.

“Can you grab my cape?” Alex asked.

“I still can’t reach it,” Skyla answered, her voice hitching. “Please don’t leave me down here.”

“I’m not going to leave you,” Alex promised. “Are you able to throw your cape up to me? Can you do that? I might be able to tie them together so they’re long enough to reach you.”

“I think so…” Skyla said, and Alex had to quickly grab the material as Skyla flung it towards her face.

“Good job,” Alex encouraged. “Give me a second.”

She tied the two capes together, securing them tightly, and threw one end of the cloth back into the hole.

“I’ve got it!” Skyla cried.

“Make sure you hold on,” Alex called down. “And help me if you can.”

Now for the hard part
, Alex thought, as she strained to lift Skyla out of the hole. It wasn’t an easy task given that she was lying on her stomach and could only use the strength in her upper body, but between the two of them, they managed to get Skyla out of the trap. Alex’s arms burned from the effort, but she was more concerned about Skyla’s ankle. What were they supposed to do if she couldn’t walk?

“Can you stand?” Alex asked once they had scrambled a safe distance away from the hole and caught their breath.

“Maybe, if you help,” Skyla said in a pained voice.

Alex reached out and gently pulled Skyla to her feet. She was wobbly and couldn’t place any pressure on her left foot, but at least she was upright.

“Do you think you can continue? Or do you need me to go and find help?” Alex asked.

“Don’t leave me alone out here,” Skyla pleaded again, clutching desperately at Alex’s shirt. “Please, don’t leave me.”

“It’s all right,” Alex soothed. “We’ll stay together. But that means we have to finish the task. Hunter was pretty firm about not dismissing us until it’s done. Unless—you know him better; do you think he’ll be lenient because you’re injured? Should we just go back now?”

Skyla shook her head, her face pale. “Tom snapped his wrist in class last year—the bone was poking out and everything. But Hunter just wrapped a bandage around it, gave him a vial of pain reliever, and made him wait until the task was finished before he was allowed to leave with the rest of us. Hunter said it was character building.”

Alex felt sick at the thought. “Right. Let’s just—let’s just hurry up and finish this, then. We’ll be back in no time, I’m sure.”

Bearing most of Skyla’s weight, Alex helped her hobble along the mushroom path deeper into the forest. A few times she noticed more evidence of Hunter’s traps—a tripwire that crossed their path; mushrooms of a slightly different shade that led in a different direction; and even a rope snare on the ground that would have trapped their feet and hung them upside-down in the air. Alex wondered what would have happened to them, had they fallen victim to any of those perils.

After what felt like forever, they came to the end of the mushroom trail. It led them into a clearing where the fungi grew in an almost perfect circle. The moonlight streamed through the trees, creating a beautifully eerie atmosphere.

“That’s a fairy circle,” Skyla said, hopping backwards a few steps and dragging Alex with her. “No way am I stepping in there.”

Alex looked at the mushroom ring then back up at Skyla. “Don’t tell me you’re superstitious?”

“It’s not superstition,” Skyla said, her voice thick with nerves. “You read the note we were given. Even Hunter knows how dangerous the Fae can be. Uh-uh, no way.”

“He didn’t say they’re dangerous, just that they’re tricky,” Alex argued, amazed that she wasn’t debating the possibility of fairies being real, but whether or not they were a threat.

“He said there could be a price to pay!” Skyla replied, her voice rising. “Everyone knows that if you step into a fairy circle, you might never come back!”

“No, he wrote to be careful what we
say
, not what we
do
,” Alex reminded the frightened girl. “I’m sure Hunter wouldn’t make us do anything that would result in us getting stuck in… wherever the Fae live.”

Skyla folded her arms stubbornly. “I’m still not stepping in there.”

Alex sighed and looked at the circle again. It was large, filling most of the clearing. But what caught Alex’s eye was the small statue in the centre—apparently the rhyme’s ‘figurine of clay’ that they needed to retrieve. The only way to reach it was by entering the circle.

“All right,” Alex said, propping Skyla up against a tree trunk. “You wait here and I’ll go get it, okay?”

“No, you can’t!” Skyla shrieked. “Then I’ll be stuck here all on my own!”

“I’ll just be over there,” Alex said in her most calming voice. “You’ll be able to see me the whole time.”

“Not if you disappear—then I’ll probably
die
out here!”

“It’s nice to know you’re so concerned for
my
welfare,” Alex commented under her breath. Louder, she said, “Listen, the sooner I grab that statue, the sooner we can get out of here. Just relax. We’ll both be fine.”

Ignoring the desire to hesitate, Alex walked forward and determinedly stepped over the edge of the mushroom ring into
the clearing. Once both feet were inside the circle, she released the breath she hadn’t realised she was holding. She then turned to look back at Skyla with a reassuring smile.

“See, I’m—”

Alex stopped dead.

… Because Skyla was gone.

Nine

Alex whipped her head around, frantically searching
the moonlit clearing. She was in exactly the same place, mushroom circle included. Nothing had changed, and yet,
everything
had changed. Because the clay statue was now missing. And so was Skyla.

“This is like a scene straight out of
The Twilight Zone
,” Alex murmured, her body tense with anxiety. “What am I supposed to do now?”

A whisper in the wind answered her: a musical voice, poetic and lilting.

“Enter in, if you dare,

As one who seeks out Meya;

Be strong of mind and pure of heart,

For your journey begins at Raelia.”

“Cryptic, much?” Alex whispered, more than a little creeped out.

“
Cryptic is as cryptic does
,” replied the same whimsical voice.

“Are you going to show yourself? Or maybe tell me who you are?” Alex said, squinting into the shadows but seeing no one.

“
I would ask the same of you
,” the voice said, “
but I already know who you are, so there is no need
.”

Alex was muddling over that when a figure appeared directly in front of her, startling her so much that she stumbled backwards.

“Lady Mystique!” Alex cried, trying to regain her balance.

“Hello again, child,” the old woman said. “You’ve come a long way since last we met.”

“What are you doing here?” Alex asked, her eyes wide with incredulity. Their last encounter had been at Ye Olde Bookshoppe in Woodhaven—a shop that didn’t actually exist, as Alex had since discovered.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Lady Mystique indicated to the basket she carried. “I’m picking mushrooms. Raelian mushies are the best you’ll find anywhere.”

Alex gaped at the woman, too surprised for words.

“But I’m more curious about why
you
are here,” the woman said.

“I’m not here intentionally. I just ended up here.”

“Did you not step into the circle?” Lady Mystique asked.

“Well, yes—”

“Then you
are
here intentionally.”

Alex didn’t bother arguing the point. “I don’t suppose you’d mind telling me where ‘here’ is, exactly?”

“Look around you, what do you see?”

Humouring her, Alex answered, “A forest clearing inside a mushroom circle.”

“Look closer.”

Alex frowned but did as she was told. As she focused on her surroundings, the moonlight strengthened, illuminating the area. Where the clearing met the trees—just beyond the mushroom ring—Alex could see multiple pathways leading out into the forest. They were all around the edge of the clearing, at least eight different trails, none of which she had noticed before.

“What is this place?” she whispered, feeling a sense of awe.

“This is Raelia,” Lady Mystique answered. “In the common tongue, it translates to mean ‘The Crossroads’. It’s a sacred place. A place of direction, of
destiny
. Look around and see
your choices; which path do you take? Do you go left or right, forward or back? But don’t be fooled, for it’s much more than a geographical crossroad. Raelia represents
opportunity
. It yields to the desires of one’s heart. It offers temptation, sacrifice, hope and victory. The choice of direction lies with each individual who sets foot within its boundary.”

After a pause, Alex admitted, “I’m not sure I understand.”

“You will, Alexandra. You will.”

“And
that
I definitely don’t understand.”

Lady Mystique wheezed out a husky-sounding laugh.

“Why does everything have to be so confusing?” Alex asked, rubbing her forehead.

“Oh, sweet child,” the old woman said, patting Alex’s shoulder. “When the time comes, you’ll have the answers you need.”

“I can’t wait,” Alex said, somewhat sarcastically.

The Lady sent her a wrinkled smile. “It’s time for you to return to your friend.”

“Hang on a second,” Alex said. “When I first arrived here you said something about Meya. Any chance you want to elaborate?”