Girl of Iron and Magic

26.

Each spark was as large as a finger, and shattered into more sparks as it twisted through the air until the air was alight with golden motes that floated like flower pollen in the wind.

"Pretty," Rowan whispered.

"Try not to touch them," Lotte said. "Ready?"

She got up. Her legs weren't steady. They wouldn't be. She felt drained, as if this enchantment had taken out more from her than what she really had to offer.

Maloru leapt off the train engine in one go, then reached over to help Rowan awkwardly climb down.

Lotte tried to imitate Maloru, but she was back to being just a Lotte, and crashed to the floor painfully.

"Are you out of your mind?" Maloru cried, rushing towards her as Fintan scolded her with chirps.

"I'm fine," Lotte croaked, standing gingerly. "Let's go."

She could hear the murmurs of the people inside the train. Then someone cried, "We're saved!" And the voices rose in tempo, from despair to hope.

Lotte ran after Maloru alongside Rowan until the train was out of view and they reached a lonely road that indicated that Port Kelt was thirty miles away.

That was when her legs gave way and everything around her became wispy and dream-like.

"Lotte!" Rowan cried, trying to hold her up.

Lotte was down on her knees, her stomach heaved and the dinner she had that evening was suddenly on the ground.

She wiped away the bile. She'd seen people throw up before, but of course it never happened to her.

"We have to find somewhere to hide," Maloru said.

"Over there," Rowan cried, pointing towards a solitary building on the side of the road. It must have been one of those petrol stations she mentioned earlier. Behind the building, out of sight from its windows. there were two cars parked, probably belonging to the workers in the station.

There was a lot of whispering and sneaking then. Maloru had to help Lotte walk. He kept slapping her cheeks to keep her conscious. She couldn't remember what happened next, but she noticed she was lying in the backseat of a car that was rushing down a dark road as dawn paled the sky.

She could still smell the erupting volcano as if it now lived inside her.
From somewhere far away, she could hear Rowan and Maloru talking.

"I've been wondering..." Maloru was saying.

"Yes?"

"Now that there's no more Port Kelt..."

"Ah. Yes, that's a good question."
There was a rustling of paper. "It really looked like the only other way into Serades is through—"

"The wastes," Lotte whispered.

"That's where the Rugar lives," Maloru said. "I remember when it happened after the Serades war..."

"Oh, right, you were alive back then," Rowan said.

"It was amazing. The humans had been had so bad. It's going to happen again with the elves now. They keep getting cocky with all these wars and now instead of being neighbours with Serades, they've got a Rugar on their border and..." Maloru trailed off with a sigh.
"We're going to become Rugar food, aren't we?" he said.

"Let's hope a future me finds out in time," Rowan said.

***

9 YEARS BEFORE THE WAR

"Hello?"

Someone answered Mr. Henri's call immediately. Lotte was leaning near the receiver to hear the voice on the other end of the line.