Golden Girl: The Missing Piece (2)

2-My Dreams Remain of the Unpleasant Nature

"Nope, that's not it," she said bluntly to Luke the next afternoon in the training area, "if you come at me from that angle I can cleanly slice your hand off before you ever hit me."

He'd been doing pretty well, she had to admit. He was fairly patient while learning, and at least his footwork came pretty naturally to him. And he had shown up ready to work, and seemed respectful enough. So, again, she told herself that she'd give him a chance. 

He let her put her hand on his wrist and guide his sword to a higher, more defensive position.

"But can't you cut my hand off just as easily here?"

"No, because gravity assists on a downward strike, I'd have to get further underneath you to slice upwards from here, which wouldn't be good for me, because then I'd expose my neck and back."

She demonstrated the movement, and showed him how it put her in a more vulnerable position. She'd spent the training session guiding him through the positions, sword angles and all. It was how Garrett had taught her, so she figured it was a good place to start. Luke had only protested a little, saying that he'd been working with a sword for weeks now and he didn't need to start at the beginning. Ember had just told him that he could train himself, if that was the case. He'd stopped arguing. 

"Okay, now take me through the positions," she ordered. 

Moving slowly, Luke guided his body and sword through the eight defensive positions she'd just taught him. She nodded along. He was a quick study, she supposed. 

She smiled as he finished, "Ok great, so tomorrow we'll learn some offensive strikes and combine them with defensive positions."

He nodded, sheathing his sword at his hip, "Cool, thanks Ember."

She almost could have missed it, but a thread of excitement glimmered amongst his whirlpool of negative emotions. Good, proof that he could be broken out of this little... funk. 

Just then, the dinner bell rang, and on cue, her stomach rumbled. She jogged towards the dining pavilion attaching her sword to her necklace as she went. 

......................

Thelma flew in through the window of the Apollo cabin two hours later, a letter clutched in her beak and a larger package in her talons. Ember couldn't help but grin at the sight. The owl had taken advantage of her freedom to roam around camp and the surrounding wilderness. She clung to Ember whenever she was at camp, but that was mostly between the hours of five in the morning and noon. The most she'd been gone for was three days at a time. 

"Hey, girl!" Ember said excitedly as Thelma landed on her shoulder. 

Her owl dropped the letter and package on Ember's lap so she could push her beak into the girl's hair. Even the other members of the Apollo cabin had grown attached to Ember's pal, the bird more of a friend than a pet. Ember had ordered her siblings not to ask questions, and surprisingly, they hadn't. 

The handwriting on the note was familiar, and by the gods, Ember had missed that sideways scrawl, even if she had to pick up her glasses from the nightstand to read it. She'd missed her Ilvermorny friends. 

Ember,

I can't believe it's been almost two months since we last saw each other! It kind of feels like years, I miss you tons. Anyway, I figure this letter will take a while to reach you, because Thelma probably doesn't want to make the trip down to Texas that often. So I'm going to fit everything I have to say right here.

First, I sent this note with a newspaper, because I know you don't get it and I wanted you to see that Rowan Ellis is never going to bother you again. He had a trial, but like Trenchroot said would happen, he'll never leave Szija Folde. So, we don't have to hear about that dude anymore. 

On a lighter note, I signed up for a karate class! You inspired me. I don't think I'll get to learn how to throw knives, but it'll still be cool. Maybe one of these days we can 'spar.' I know you'll wipe the floor with me, but whatever. Also, my little cousin Alex got accepted into Ilvermorny! They live in Texas, like us, and they came over to tell us yesterday. Raquel and I think he's going into Pukwudgie, but Luis thinks Thunderbird and Mateo and Elena think Horned Serpent, so we'll see. Mateo's begging to go, even though he knows you have to be 11. We already know he's a wizard, seeing as he floated himself up to the roof last week. Luis thought it was great fun to hide the rest of the empanadas in a bucket and stick them in the chimney and dare Mateo to go get them. 

Another person had clearly cut in there and stolen Addy's quill, as the handwriting was entirely different for one line.

-IT WAS FUN, EMBER, SHE'S JUST A STICK IN THE MUD! IF SHE WERE A SPICE SHE'D BE FLOUR-

Luis stole my pen. And for the record, I'd be curry powder. I hope your siblings are annoying you as much as mine are annoying me. Any new kids come to camp?  How does it work, anyway? Does someone go to find demigods, or do they all find their own way there like you did? And shouldn't there be another camp somewhere in case demigods live in other countries? That seems inconvenient.  

Anyway, tell your siblings I said hi if you want to. Mine say hi. I can't wait to see you in September! Stay safe!

Addy Feliz

Ember smiled throughout the whole letter. She'd met the girl on the first day of Ilvermorny last September, and honestly couldn't imagine what the school year would have been like if she hadn't. The Feliz household certainly seemed like a party. She wondered if she'd ever get to go and meet Addy's parents, or if she'd always be at Camp Half-Blood. Not that she didn't like camp, but having a home like that sounded nice. 

Their other best friend, Indigo Dashwood, lived in Upstate New York, a city called Auburn with her aunt and her older brother, Elijah. Indigo knew her family was wealthy, her aunt was a high-ranking member of MACUSA (the wizarding government in America) and got paid well for it. When Ember had asked Indigo about her home, she described a house on a lake with too many rooms for just the three of them. Indigo had written a week ago, as her home was much closer than Addy's. 

She'd likely be receiving her school letter soon, as the start date was only a month away now. 

Once she scribbled out a lengthy reply to Addy, she sealed the letter with scotch tape and put it on her nightstand. 

"Take it tomorrow, get some rest," she sad, stroking her owl on the belly. 

She received a coo in response. 

Not for the first time, when Ember went to bed that night she dreamed things she really didn't want to dream. 

She was sneaking through the shadows of pine trees scattered across mountainous terrain. She was in her own body, she realized as she crouched behind a large boulder and glanced at her hands. Her own hands, her own feet. It was a relief, after all the times she'd been in someone else's body for these sorts of dreams. 

She peeked out from behind the boulder, and spotted what she was looking for, the end of the Evergreen Boundary. This was where the deed took place, where she needed to be to figure out the hows, whos, and whens. She already knew the whats and whys, so at least she had that covered. Quick mental high-five. 

There, between two larger trees, she recognized them as Spruce trees. They weren't common in this area which is why they'd been used as the marker for the border. But most people wouldn't know that or be able to tell them apart from the thousands of other pine trees nearby. 

She took a breath and then dashed across the gap between the boulder and those trees, fast as lightning. Murmuring a spell, she aimed it at a seemingly empty space between the two trees. At once, what looked like a holographic, twenty foot-tall fence appeared. 

One with an enormous hole right in the middle. 

And through it, two red eyes gleamed back at her.