The Land of Magic

Captured by the Droughtwinds

Alex tried to find a way out, but unfortunately for him, Rebecca and her little army were blocking the door, their only known exit. Alex backed up until he was standing next to Sylvie. "What now?" he whispered. Sylvie whispered back, "Follow me, I saw a back exit leading to the garden. Let's hope the others will follow us too."

"Whatever plan you have, it won't work." Rebecca interrupted. "RUN!" Sylvie shouted, catching Rebecca by surprise. As Sylvie and Alex tried to escape out the back, more of Rebecca's team, jumped out and caught them. His instincts kicked in, and Alex punched his captor in the gut. His captor just smirked. "It's gonna take much more than that to knock me out, wimp."

Sylvie tried reading Rebecca's emotions. All she felt was confident and happy. Great, Sylvie's plan worked. Nobody noticed Tyler escaping at all. The rest of their friends were held by captors too. No one even seemed to realize Tyler was missing, which was great news.

"So what are you going to do with us now? Kill us?" Alex shouted at Rebecca. "Oh no, that wouldn't be very fun, would it? No, I'm bringing you to your father. He wants you to be alive when he helps Lord Eldritch to take over the land."

"So it's true then. You all have resurrected Eldritch," said Sylvie, with a frown on her face. "Well, I wouldn't say resurrected. After all, according to Sylvie, he's immortal," Rebecca smirked. Sylvie's eyes narrowed. "You were in the room. You know how to shapeshift." "In what room?" Alex asked, confused. "When I explained our history to you. She was in the room." Rebecca laughed. "You finally get it. Now, don't you understand? We know your entire plan, but you don't know one bit of ours."

With that new knowledge, Alex had a new feeling of dread. "So what are you going to do with us now, huh?" he asked, partially shouting. "Oh, we're just bringing the few of you to our little prison. Too bad you wouldn't know where." She snapped her fingers. A few people stepped forward, carrying needles filled with a liquid. "What's that? Poison?" Denuis asked with a squeak, horrified. "Oh no, just some tranquilizers. Good night, sweeties!" Alex felt a pinch on his neck, then got knocked out.

Tyler Green had no idea what to do. He had just escaped and he is now in the middle of the city. He had seen Sylvie looking at him and gesturing with her eyes and the movement of her head, and understood her plan. He succeeded in escaping, but what now? Try to rescue them? No, that would be stupid. Then he remembered, Rose was Alex's mother. With a quick decision, he ran off to the school.

Rose was talking with David, Alex's baking teacher, when Tyler rushed in, shouting "Headmistress! They've all been captured! Alex, Sylvie, Denuis, Emerald, Pearl, Marcus and Mason, and Fayre!" David frowned at Tyler. "Young man, you have no business shouting at the headmistress. Also, can't you see that I'm in a meeting with her?" "Hush now, David. Let the boy speak, it seems urgent." David nodded, although he looked angry. Tyler took a while to catch his breath, then said, "I'm sorry, Mister David and Headmistress Rose, but Rebecca has captured all of them. We were all at Felicia's party, then she popped up and captured us, and everyone else were her allies."

Rose was taken aback. David realized he shouldn't be there. He stood up and said, "I suppose we could talk some other time. Goodbye Rose," then left. "Oh no. Everyone else had went home for the holidays. This is atrocious! We must gather everyone at once. Come boy, follow me. We'll send out birds to everyone." Tyler cocked his head. "Real birds, madame? What kind?" "Oh no, not real birds. Enchanted origami birds with messages in them. They'll reach everyone in no time."

"Alex....Alex.....wake up!" Alex heard a voice. It sounded to far away. As it continued, it got louder and more urgent. "Alex! Wake up!" He realized it was Marcus's voice. His eyes flew open. Marcus and Mason were looking down at him. They helped him sit up. Alex looked around. They were in a small room. Sylvie and Denuis were sitting in one corner, talking seriously. Fayre and Pearl were sitting in front of a fireplace, chatting. Emerald, however, sat alone. "You were out for way longer than us," Mason said. Marcus continued, "Sylvie and Denuis are talking about how everything had happened," "And Pearl and Fayre are discussing about how they'd like to deal with the guys who captured us," Mason finished. "What about Emerald? Why's she alone?" The twins turned to look at her. Then, they both said together, "We don't know. She's been like that ever since we got here. She wasn't having fun at the party either."

Alex knew they were twins, but didn't realize they were so in sync with each other. Pearl was their sister, but she looked nothing like them. Mason and Marcus had dark brown hair and green eyes, like their mother. Much like her father, Pearl had auburn hair and gray eyes.

Marcus and Mason stood up and walked to chat with Fayre and Pearl. Emerald looked up and watched them for a while, then looked back down at the floor. Alex got up and walked over to her. He sat down next to her, but she didn't respond.

Emerald had noticed Alex, but she just didn't say anything. "Hey. Why are you all alone?" Alex asked her. Emerald looked up, but not at Alex. She was watching the 4 of them at the fireplace. "Oh, nothing. I'm just not close to anyone," she said, then her face fell. Alex looked at her. She was the loner in class. She was good in some subjects, but not others. He had seen her tried to make friends with others before, but they ignored her. He knew how that felt like. "Hey, how about when we get out of here, all of us can hang out," he said, with a smile. Emerald sighed, and hugged her knees. "Sounds nice, but I doubt it will happen."

"Oh, don't worry, we will get out of here," Alex said. "That's not what I-.... nevermind," Emerald said before sighing again. Alex realized there would be no cheering her up. He walked over to Sylvie instead. He heard Emerald mutter something under her breath, but decided to leave it be.

"Hey. So what're you guys talking about?" he asked Sylvie and Denuis. "Oh, just thinking about how the entire thing was a trap. I knew we shouldn't have trusted Felicia," Sylvie replied. "What does Felicia have to do with this?" Alex asked, slightly mad. "Alex. Her family was a supporter of Eldritch before he fell. After his defeat, they went to the queen and said that they were forced to do it. They were obviously lying, and now that he's back, they'd go back to him." Alex raised an eyebrow. "But what if-" "No, Alex," Sylvie said, firmly, "Nobody told you this, but until you came, Felicia was exactly like Claire. They would both make fun of everyone else and act all high and mighty. When you came along and Felicia became more laid back, Claire was furious. All an act, of course." Alex got confused. "Wait, so that means-" "Felicia was just manipulating you." finished Sylvie.