Reality Check

Destiny

Fire and the Flood (by Vance Joy)

"Everything is fine, when your hand is resting next to mine. Next to mine . . ."

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When Kiel opened his eyes, he found himself at the bottom of a hill.

The next thing he noticed was that there was fire. Fire everywhere. It danced across the grass, even spreading to some of the trees. It prickled his skin, making his eyes burn. A thick cloud of smoke filled the air, making it hard to see much of anything. He coughed a few times.

If that wasn't surprising enough, the next thing he noticed was. Looking down, he saw that his disguise was gone. The Boy Scout outfit was gone, replaced with his regular black Magisterian clothes. Wearing his normal clothes again brought him some comfort, though Kiel wasn't sure why he was wearing them.

Suddenly, his eyes went wide. He reached down to his belt, where his wand-knives were normally stashed. His hands came in contact with them, and he immediately let out a breath of relief. Whew. Being super talented and all, he could easily recreate the wand-knives. But losing them was always annoying.

So what had caused his disguise spell to fade? Kiel frowned. His spells usually faded when he fell asleep, but the past few nights he'd recasted the spell, so it wouldn't wear off. He guessed he must've fallen unconscious when he hit the ground. Maybe that's why the spell faded. Not that he really cared. He'd missed wearing his cape!

The events from earlier came hurtling back to him. Slowly, Kiel sat up. His hair was sticking straight up and his throat felt incredibly dry, but he only cared about one thing. He stumbled to his feet, a bit shakily. He glanced around, waving his hand in an effort to clear the smoke.

Where was Charm?

Fear washed over him, an emotion that Kiel Gnomenfoot really shouldn't have. But no, it wasn't fear! He was just a littleworried for his friend. He couldn't see her anywhere. He wasn't sure if the ringing in his ears was from the explosion or something else, but it was all he could hear.

Everything felt cold. And yet, the world felt unbearably hot.

Kiel ignored all of it. There were way more important things to focus on, so he stepped forward.

"Charm?"

His ears were ringing louder than ever, making it hard for him to hear his own voice. He strained to hear a response, but if there was one, he didn't hear it.

"Charm!" he shouted again, and waited a few seconds before adding, "Where are you?"

Again, nothing. He was sure he would've heard a response even with his ears ringing. He could hear himself pretty well, so if Charm was responding, he'd have to hear her, too. Only problem was, he didn't.

Don't worry, Kiel told himself. This wasn't the time to worry. He had everything under control! It was a little hard to see right now, but he'd find her. He was fully capable of anything, so he knew he would. Plus, he was pretty sure he'd seen her jump off the hill, right before the explosion. If he'd survived, she must've, too.

Kiel looked towards the top of the hill, which she'd been standing on before she'd pushed him. Maybe she was still coming down? But racing down the hill . . . it wasn't Charm. It was the pure possibility. Had she . . . no, she couldn't have! She had to be somewhere beyond it; it was just hard to find her with all the smoke everywhere.

Eyes widening, Kiel turned back. He ran to the trees, looking all around for her. It was less smokey here, so he shouldhave an easier time finding her. But it only was harder. He turned his head in every direction, called out her name a dozen times, but he didn't see or hear from her.