Link ran his fingers through the mane of his horse, Wildfire, as it noisily chewed the handful of grass it had just grazed. Looking out ahead, he caught a glimpse of the rising sun as it peered over Iralda’s immense southern wall, gently bathing the world in its soft amber glow.
Every hair on his body stood on end, thinking of all the hardships that lay ahead of him and Alex in that bustling city. Since that day in the café, Link had dwelt on Xavier’s words almost every waking minute, trying to find a compromise besides killing Kilaydis. But deep down, he knew there wasn’t one. If Xavier had created this world and thrown them in the brink of it, then Link knew he and his sister were just ants in an ant farm, completely at his mercy.
Iralda was where Link and Alex’s long road to killing Kilaydis had begun. It was where Taytora and Deonis entered the Golden Gauntlet and made their way to the finals. After the tournament, the heroes were drafted into a squadron led by a character they had created named Talox. Link knew he was imperative to the story’s plot, a vital key they needed to defeat Kilaydis.
But before they could even think about the Golden Gauntlet, they would first need to prove their worth to the battle-hardened mages at Baylor’s Academy. Undergo their rigorous training schedules, attend all their classes, and devote all of their time and energy into becoming a weapon of magical destruction.
The only advantage they had over Taytora and Deonis was they knew every plot twist of the story, every main character, every city. So Link knew the moment they strayed from what happened in the book, was the moment they’d become goners.
Alex’s grey, scrawny horse nudged his way past Wildfire to get some attention. Link stroked his nose gently, causing the horse’s eyes to grow heavy. To his displeasure, Alex had named him after the cat they owned back home: Mr Fluffles. The same cat that peed and pooped outside his door and hissed at Link whenever he walked past.
“You like that, don’t you, boy?” he asked.
The horse nuzzled his head into Link’s chest and whinnied quietly.
Maybe this particular Mr Fluffles isn’t so bad after all, he thought.
Link had insisted Alex get a bigger horse when they were at a stable in Vardis, a horse that might be able to carry her to Iralda without collapsing from physical exhaustion. But when Alex had made up her mind, Link knew it was futile to try to tell her otherwise.
The stable owner had said the stallion was on its last legs, so they were doing him a favour by taking the horse from him. But after three days of journeying from Vardis, Link had to beg to differ. Mr Fluffles had twice the endurance as his swollen horse, Wildfire. Always spurring forwards even after a day’s worth of traveling, always whinnying and snorting whenever they stopped in one place for too long.
Alex had told Link Mr Fluffles reminded her of one of Grandma’s horses back on her ranch in Texas, which she used to visit nearly every year on school holidays. Looking back now, Link wished he had visited the ranch as much as his sister. To him, riding a horse was like trying to stay astride a bucking bull.
As there was no need for horses in Orban’s mountainous terrain, it meant Deonis and Taytora had never ridden one before in their lives. Which meant Link had to acquire the skill on his own. No shortcuts. That thought made him sullen.
Link stomped his way through some thick undergrowth, using the Eternal Source to intensify his sense of smell. He closed his eyes and inhaled, sifting through the hundreds of scents. If he focused hard enough, he could almost taste the fresh minerals in the air. The smell guided him down to the steady stream.
Link’s heart raced as he approached her, dreading what he knew he had to tell her now his hand had been forced.
Alex was kneeling over the stream, her back to him. Behind her was one of Taytora’s scrolls. It was rolled out in the dirt, and even from there Link could see all the detailed step-by-step illustrations of how to perform the Chain of the Spell she was attempting.
As he got closer, he realized Alex was levitating a giant ball of water, her eyes closed in concentration. The waterskins she was supposed to be filling lay scattered by her side. No surprise really, ever since she’d unlocked her Gate she had been infatuated over manipulating water. Just like the real Taytora, Alex had a close affinity to the elements of wind and water, just as Link had with Deonis’ elements of fire and earth.
“If I were you, I’d take a dip in this stream before we set off today,” Alex said, flicking her hair over her shoulder. “I could smell you from a mile away. What do you want?”
Link leaned his shoulder against the nearest tree and chuckled. She was getting better at branching out her senses.
“Just observing,” he said.
Alex slowly stood up, and the ball of glistening water rose with her. “Well, observe from a distance; you’re ruining my concentration.”
“Make me,” Link said, folding his arms stubbornly.
Alex moved both her hands in semi-circles, and the water shifted as if it were a giant blob of playdough being manipulated in her hands. The ball of water soon turned into a strand, and that strand swirled around her gracefully, like a crystal-clear snake.
Link was so completely infatuated with the beauty and control of her water magic he hadn’t even seen her wrist flick. In the blink of an eye, Alex had used the strand of water as if it were a whip and slapped him in the face. Link took a few steps back, holding his wet and welting cheek.
“Sorry!” she said, both hands over her mouth, “I didn’t think that would work.”
“Is that right?” he said, rubbing his tender jaw. “Two can play that game.”
Link closed his eyes and pushed open his Gate, focusing solely on the earth beneath his boots as his body buzzed. He could sense the faint tremors of small animals in the distance—hares, by the way they were bounding—the weight distribution of Alex’s stance in front of him, even the deep roots of the trees as they spread deeply through the ground like veins.
Link disregarded all this information, and instead focused on what was in front of him. The water Alex hit him with had fallen to the ground and mixed in with the dirt. He solidified his stance and delved deeper into the Source, took two quick steps forward, swept both his arms outwards in an arc, then thrust them both above his head abruptly—the exact Chain the earth scroll in his backpack had shown him.
As he lifted his hands, a small wave of mud rose from the earth like a blanket, smothering Alex from head to toe. The impact of the Spell caused her to fall backwards on her butt. She cursed out loud as she wiped the sludge out of her eyes with a hand.
“You’re going to pay for that,” she said, spitting out a mouthful of mud.
“Stop,” Link warned her, knowing what was about to come next, “or you’re going to get hurt.”
Alex sprinted at him full pelt, and before Link had time to even think of another Spell, she had tackled him to the ground and climbed on top of him, slapping his face repetitively. He wasn’t used to her being this strong.
“OK, OK,” he shouted, laughing. “You win. Now get off.”
“Not until you admit that your little sister just whooped your butt.”
“Never!” he yelled, tilting his head to avoid one of her erratic slaps.
“OK, then I’m just going to have to slap the words out of you.”
Alex continued her relentless slap barrage until she ran out of energy, then she rolled off Link and they both burst out into laughter. They laid there for quite some time, side by side, covered in mud, watching the clouds of their make-believe world roll over them in the baby blue sky. The moment was almost too perfect. Making it all the harder for Link to say what he knew needed to be said.
“I have something to tell you,” he finally said after building up the nerve.
Alex rolled over to face him, propping her head on a hand. “What is it?”
Link’s eyes were tracking a cumulus cloud above, fixed on its movement as it briefly blocked out the sun and dimmed the land of Nocera. “When I tell you, promise you won’t hate me?”
Alex’s sapphire eyes widened. “Tell me, Link; you’re really starting to freak me out.”
His eyes watered so he covered them with the back of his hand. Never in Link’s life had he been faced with anything as hard as this.
“What’s wrong?” Alex asked, placing a hand on her brother’s shoulder and shaking him gently. “Don’t cry. If you cry, I’m going to cry. You know I have no control over my tear ducts.”
Link scrunched his eyes shut, attempting to stop the tears from pouring out, then he sucked in a deep breath and composed himself. “I know why we’re in this world.”
Alex looked at him, puzzled, like when a puppy hears a weird noise and cocks its head to the side. “Is it the same theory you had last time? That the book’s cursed?”
“No, no, not that,” he said. “I just—I just need you to listen, OK?”
“OK,” she echoed softly.
And so, Link told his little sister everything: the car crash, her being in a trance, him being shifted between worlds, Xavier, the physical bridge between Nocera and the real world. He spared no details. At first, Alex didn’t believe him, but after the realization had dawned on her he might be telling the truth, she asked him question after question. Questions like if Mom and Dad were OK, how the accident happened, what the crash had to do in relation to the dreams of Nocera. Link answered them all to the best of his abilities, but the others he assumed only Xavier held the key to unlocking.
After he had finished, Alex sat up with her head in between her legs, cradling her knees with her arms as she sobbed. Link wrapped an arm around her and held her close, trying to find the right combination of words that would give her the most reassurance. After they both had sat in silence for what felt like an eternity, the best he could conjure up was:
“We’ll be OK, I promise.”
“So right now, I’m in a hospital room, stuck in a trance?” she asked. “And you could either be sleeping or going about your day in the real world?”
Link nodded. “Right now, I’m sleeping. If I wasn’t, though, you’d be dealing with the autopilot version of me.”
“I can’t—” Alex said, massaging her temples frustratingly. “My mind just can’t process all of this information.”
Link pulled her close to him with an arm. She pushed off his chest.
“Do you think we can actually kill him?” she asked, wiping her runny nose with her sleeve. “Kilaydis, I mean?”
“Yes,” Link lied as he cleared his throat. “I . . . I think we can.”
“You’re such a bad liar,” she said, scoffing. “Even I know it’s suicide. But I guess we don’t have a choice, do we?” She stood up abruptly and knuckled the small of her back. “We better get our horses saddled; we’ve got a tournament to win.”
“Don’t do that,” Link said.
“Do what?” she mumbled.
“Pretend like every thing’s OK.”
“I’m fine; I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Alex, stop.”
“At least now we know why we’re trapped here, right?” she said, waving her hands in the air. “Now all we have to do is kill Kilaydis. You remember him? That overpowered villain we created that’s over, like, a hundred years old?”
Link stood up and put both his hands on Alex’s shoulders, waiting until she held his gaze before he spoke. “I pinkie promised I’d get you out of this world, Alex Hunter, and I would rather die than break a pinkie promise; you hear me?”
“Am I interrupting anything?” A voice Link hadn’t heard since the café sounded to his right.
Shoving Alex behind him, Link propelled open his Gates and drew upon the Source. He flicked his wrist and turned towards the voice. A blazing fireball flickering idly in one hand, his steel gripped firmly in the other. Xavier stood across from them with his arms folded, dressed in his usual attire: all grey.
“Easy boy, easy,” Xavier said, hands out in front of him as if calming down a rabid dog.
“Who is it?” Alex whispered from behind him.
“Xavier,” Link said, his eyes never leaving him.
“Where is he standing?” she asked. “I can’t see him.”
As soon as Link pointed to his whereabouts, Alex scooped up her bow and quiver and nocked an arrow. Before he could tell her it was pointless, she had released her fingers and sent the arrow whizzing through the air. The shot was on target, but Link knew the attack would fly straight through Xavier, just like it had when he had touched him in the alleyway and the café.
That’s why Link was so surprised when he heard a sickening thud, like a dart hitting a waterlogged dartboard. When he looked up, it took his eyes a few seconds to comprehend the scene that was happening in front of him.
Xavier was clutching at his chest as blood oozed from an embedded arrow, staining his grey suit with a dark pool of scarlet. He attempted to yank the arrow out, but at the last moment seemed to think better of it, and instead, dropped his quivering hands to his sides as if to concede defeat. Xavier took one last look at the arrow protruding out of him, let out a wheeze of air, then collapsed backwards into the earth, motionless.
Link was stuck in both minds. Should I congratulate Alex or move closer and check to see if he’s actually dead? He did neither. Instead, he just stood there awkwardly, looking at Xavier's body and watching carefully for any signs of life from a distance.
“Did I get him?” Alex asked.
“What do you think?” he answered, his eyes never leaving Xavier’s body.
“I can’t see him, remember?” Alex said. “All I saw was my arrow hit an invisible wall and then drop.”
“Yeah, you hit him,” he answered breathlessly.
Link extinguished his fireball as his throat constricted, still not believing any of this was real. Maybe it was only the real world in which objects passed through Xavier? Maybe in Nocera he remained materialized and was susceptible to damage?
“Well, why aren’t you celebrating then?” Alex asked, reaching backward in her quiver for another arrow. “Is he still squirming or something? Does he need another arrow?”
Link didn’t answer her. His mind was powering ahead. If Xavier was dead, what would that mean for them? Would they wake up from these dreams of Nocera? Or had Alex just sealed them in this world for eternity?
Link’s train of thought was derailed when Xavier began chuckling hysterically. He bounced to his feet with a conniving smile and then jerked the arrow out of his chest as if it were some kid’s suction dart, tossing it to the ground carelessly. The arrow had left a hole in his chest and clothes the size of a nickel. But as Link watched, Xavier’s flesh had begun to knit itself back together. A minute later it was as if the wound had never existed; the only trace being the pool of blood-soaked fabric.
“So, how was my performance?” Xavier asked promptly. “I always wanted to do a death scene. I know what you’re thinking; the wheezing was a bit over the top, but I felt like I had to do something a bit left-field to make myself stand out, you know? Maybe I should have staggered a bit before I dropped to my knees?” He took off his hat and crumpled it in anger. “Damn it. I swear at times I’m my own worst critic.”
“How did you—” Link started, but the words eluded him. “What did you—”
“Unbelievable,” remarked Xavier, scowling. “I created the entire land you and your sister conjured up in your spare time, and yet you’re amazed a harmless little arrow had no effect on me? Sort out your priorities, Hunter.” He glanced down at his suit then punched the air angrily. “Damn it! Tell your brat of a sister she just ruined my ageless ensemble. I’m colour clashing now. Red doesn’t go with grey.”
Link’s body trembled with rage. He was tired of Xavier’s incessant blabbering, over his trickery, sick of his avoidance of answering his questions, and even his stupid, pale white hollowed face was starting to make his blood boil.
“Why are you doing this to us?” Link roared, causing Alex to jump beside him. “We deserve some answers at least.”
“Link, why are you—” Alex started, but he cut her off with a raised hand.
“Why are we in this world?” Xavier asked, imitating Link’s voice surprisingly well. “I want to go back home. Why is this happening to me of all people? Honest to God, kid, you’re making my ears bleed.”
“Do you get some sick pleasure out of torturing us?” Link asked. “Is that why you’re doing this?”
“You call this torture?” Xavier asked, grinning darkly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. “My dear boy, I’m only tickling you with a feather right now.”
“Look at yourself,” Link spat. “You- You’re a monster. If you created this world and can heal yourself like that, then obviously you have more powers. And you- you’re just abusing them when you could be helping people!”
“Hmm, you know what,” Xavier said, massaging his jagged jaw thoughtfully, “I’ve never really thought of it that way, Hunter.” He pressed a cigarette to his lips then nodded slowly. “I tell you what: you’ve really opened my eyes up, kid. I’m going to change my ways from now on, I swear it. No more darkness and despair. I’ll only spread rainbows, sunshine and happiness to those that walk this Earth from now on!”
Link attempted to speak but Xavier talked over the top of him.
“Hold that thought,” he said, patting the outside of his pockets in search of something. “Can you bring that fireball back and give me a light? I seem to have misplaced my lighter.”
Link scowled at him.
“Rude.” Xavier snapped his fingers. An ember emerged from his index finger. He lit the cigarette, inhaled deeply and blew a steady stream of smoke into the air. “You can stop looking now; I found it.”
“Link, what’s going on?” Alex asked. “You can’t just leave me in the dark.”
“I’ll explain later,” he said. “I promise.”
“Enough chit-chat,” Xavier said irritably, flicking his ash into the stream beside them. “We have to get a move on. Got a long ride ahead of us. Well, technically you guys do, because you know, I can fly and teleport around this world when need be.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not bragging either; just stating facts.”
“We’ll leave when we’re ready,” Link said, gripping the handle of his sword tighter. “Not when you tell us to.”
Xavier feigned a look of surprise. “Is that so? Well, I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but even I know you guys need to get to Iralda quick-smart. I don’t know if you’ve read the book but at this stage, Taytora and Deonis could do a lot more than make puddles and levitate pebbles. So, let’s go.” He clapped his hands together, and shouted, “ANDALE, ANDALE! ARRIBA, ARRIBA!”
“Not until you tell us why you’re doing this,” Link said, planting his feet into the ground defiantly. As much as he wanted to get to Iralda as quickly as possible, he had too much pride to let Xavier dance them around like two puppets. He and Alex would move on their own accord.
Xavier took a long drag of his cigarette, his eyelids half closed in annoyance. “What part of ‘you’re not ready’ don’t you understand?”
“I am ready.”
“Far from it, Hunter.”
Xavier cracked his neck and then took to the air, gliding towards Link and landing only a foot away. Xavier’s head barely came up to his chin. He tilted his head up and blew a puff of smoke in his face. Link scrunched up his eyes, expecting the smell or heat to hit him. Neither did.
“I hope I’m not wrong about you, kid. I really do,” Xavier said, almost solemnly. His ice blue eyes were locked onto Link’s, searching for something, like Xavier could look past his eyes and see into his soul. Link shifted his shoulders uncomfortably.
And then the staring contest stopped. Xavier rolled up his sleeve and glanced at his silver wristwatch. He looked up at the sky, studying the sun. “Hmm, by the positioning of that blazing fireball up there I’d say it’s about 10.23 AM. We’d better get a move on if we want to reach Iralda before tomorrow night.” Xavier giddily motioned them to follow him. “C’mon guys, I’ll lead the way.”
He flicked his cigarette butt into the stream behind him and whistled a pleasant tune, waltzing past them and heading back in the direction of their campsite. But when he realized neither Link nor Alex were following him, the whistling stopped, and so did he.
“We’re not moving,” Link said. “No matter what.”
“No matter what?” Xavier wheeled around to face them, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “Please tell me I’m not sensing a power struggle here? I hope not. I hate power struggles.” He cleared his throat and then swelled his chest out like a puffer fish. The next time he spoke his voice was as deep as a baritone.
“Thanks, Cheryl. Expect to see some partly cloudy weather over Glayridge today with a low of fourteen degrees. Those Glayridgians just can’t catch a break, can they? On a brighter note, as spring begins to rear its beautiful head, Veridan is set to experience some sunny weather for the first time in months today with a high of 64. Now, over to Iralda. There’s some threatening storm clouds formulating from the north, south, west, and east, with some torrential rain and gale force winds expected within the next minute or so. I, for one, would not want to be caught outside without an umbrella. Back to you, Cheryl.”
Without so much as an explanation, Xavier shot his arms into the air and tilted his head up at the sky. The world dimmed, and the hairs on the back of Link’s neck prickled when he followed Xavier’s gaze. Warped storm clouds blanketed out the sun, drifting together more quickly than he had ever seen clouds move. They were combining as one big cumulonimbus formation right above their heads.
Flocks of birds took flight overhead, fleeing as fast as they could from the impending storm. Link looked back down at Xavier, arms outstretched, his eyes full of focus, then back to the darkened sky. His heart almost came to a complete stop when he realized Xavier was the one influencing the weather.
Alex tugged him by the arm. “Please tell me what the heck is going on. Is he the one doing this?”
“I think so.” Link wrapped an arm around his little sister’s shoulder, both their eyes fixated on the dense storm clouds forming above them. The sky was flashing neon blue now. Gusts of wind ripped through the woods, snapping twigs and swirling dead leaves in their faces. Alex managed to catch her Spell Scroll just as it was blowing away.
“Let there be rain!” Xavier roared. And as soon as the words had rolled off his tongue, cold rain trickled down from the sky, slowly at first, but after a few minutes, it felt like they were in the heart of a hurricane. Link and Alex darted for shelter underneath a cluster of trees by their campsite, their hoods up and their heads tucked down. All the while Xavier stuck to them both like a parasitic leech, laughing over the sounds of the downpour.
“Neat trick, huh?” Xavier asked while they huddled underneath the bough of the biggest tree they could find. “Guess you were right, kid; I did have more powers up my sleeve.”
Link jammed his hands underneath his armpits and glared at Xavier. Raindrops were falling straight through his body, leaving tiny wisps of black smoke as they hit, sizzling like oil in a hot fry pan.
“Great,” Alex said, blowing a breath of hot air into her cupped hands. “You just had to piss him off, didn’t you?”
“Me? I’m not the one who fired an arrow at him and ruined his suit,” Link shot back.
“Ruined his suit?” Alex repeated incredulously, her teeth chattering from the cold.
“Guys, guys,” Xavier said, holding his hands up. “Stop the bickering. You should be counting your blessings. At least there isn’t any light—”
Link plugged his fingers into his ears as a loud crack of lightning sounded over his head. Blue flashed as the bolt split the trunk of a nearby tree, sending pieces of bark flying. They both dropped to the ground in panic, hands covering their heads like they were in the middle of a battle zone.
“Guess I spoke too soon,” Xavier said, giggling.