Half Magic | Book 2

Ten: Mist in the Desert

A white figure swayed in place, staring at the mist. She was so beautiful, something in me wanted to reach out to her. Her hair, her skin, all of it was white as snow except her eyes. Her blue eyes were so sad as she stared at the shadows in the mist.

A small frown crossed my face as I danced a little closer to the sad white figure. That's when I saw the brown one. He was handsome, and he looked weary as he too swayed in place, watching the mist. Tears traveled down his cheek, falling from his chin. I wanted to reach out to him too, he seemed so tired. So weary. My frown deepened.

"Wha's wrong my Wrenling?"

My heart soared as I spun around, all my sadness for the other two fading away, forgotten. "Bryn!"

Bryn was here! Just inside the mist. He was a head taller than me and twice as wide. His big shaggy beard lay sprawled across his chest like a pile of brown leaves. His eyes crinkled and his smile was wide as he beamed down at me.

"Bryn! Where were you?" I reached out to him, but as I neared the mist I found I couldn't touch him. "I was looking for you. Why was that? I don't remember you going anywhere."

Bryn just smiled down at me, not moving but smiling at me.

"Come on, Bryn," I said. "I want to go home."

But Bryn just stood there, smiling. I pouted in confusion, just like I did when I was a child, when the dancing woman drew near.

"He can't answer you, lost one," she said, her voice so sweet. "But I can change that. I can let you talk to him."

"You can?" I smiled, hopeful.

"Yes, I can." She swept her cool fingers across my chin, turning my head to face her. "But it will cost a small price to do so."

I looked back at Bryn again. Still smiling, always smiling. "Tell me, what is this price?"

The dancing woman smiled, so sweet but with something under the surface that I should have been weary of. Or should I? It was getting very hard to tell.

"The price is not much, lost one," she answered. "Allow me a kiss, and give to me half of your remaining days. That, is the price."

"Half of my days?" I said, worry creeping into my voice.

"Yes, a small price. Only half of your days, and you have so very many days left," she said.

"Yes, a small price," I agreed. I looked back up at Bryn. He was still smiling, but there was something wrong. A tear. There was a tear in the corner of his eye. He was smiling, but he was sad.

I turned my head to see the other figures. The white one, she was looking sadly at a water nymph. The nymph was so young, and she had the excitement of youth still in her. Despite the mist clouding her from me, I could see a kindness in her face.

My eyes drifted to the brown figure. He stood before a woman with tears in her eyes. She had wild brown hair and a smear of freckles across her nose. Something about her was familiar. I stared at her ears. For some reason I wanted to know the shape of them. They were round like a human's ears. She was beautiful, and though she watched the brown figure with a smile and sad eyes, she turned her head a moment to meet my stare. I gasped as a tear streaked down her face.

I stumbled a step back, shaken.

"What is wrong, lost one?" The woman glided back into my vision. "It is only a small price, half of your days. You want to speak to Bryn again, do you not?"

I found it hard to open my mouth. I closed my eyes tight, straining to put together my thoughts.

"Half of... Half of my..." I was panting now, straining hard trying to think when-

Smack.

My eyes popped open and looked down at the stone that had just hit me in the leg.

"Wren!"

Smack.

Another small stone, this time hitting my hip.

I looked up at... someone. The dancing woman hissed at him. At... Kai!

"Kai!" I yelled.

"Wren!" He answered back. "Get away from that thing!"

I blinked and my eyes locked onto the wraith before me. And that is exactly what she was, a wraith. She may have been more dressed up than the ugly thing that I met months ago in the mountains with Thain, but she was still a wraith.

I was furious. Flames ignited around my hands and crawled all the way up my arms. I screamed as I flung it at the Wraith. She hissed, and the mist in the air around me sizzled.

"Kai, get Nassir!" I yelled and dove for Schula. I had only a moment while the wraith recovered to pull her out of the trance.

"Schula," I shook her shoulders, trying to get her to look at me. "Schula, wake up!"

She slowly turned her head, her eyes glazed as they drifted to meet mine.

"You..." she said, a frown creasing her face. "You are..."

"Wren! It's me, Wren!" I said desperately.

But the wraith had recovered, and her claws struck me in the back.

I grunted as I hit the sand hard. The wraith was on my back, but I managed to turn over and shove my burning hands into her face. My eyes widened at my own flames. For the second time now, they were purple.

The wraith hissed and rose to strike me again, and was toppled off of me in a blast of ice.

"Wren!" Schula called. I could have cried in relief, she was fully recovered.

"Wren, Schula," Nassir called from next to Kai. "Remove it's heart!"

"I looked at the wraith, her face contorted in pain and fury as she lay on the desert floor. Black veins were at the surface of her pale skin and something too thick to be blood dropped from her mouth.

Fire. I burned her with purple fire and she screamed. Kai ran over with the strange short spear he had pulled from his cloak earlier and speared it into her chest.

I stopped the burning and turned my back as Kai cracked open the rib cage and sliced out the heart. Schula hugged me tightly and wiped away my tears with her tunic.

I looked over at where Bryn once stood, but he was gone.

"Wren," Kai placed a hand on my shoulder. "Let's go back and clean up. We should talk."

I took in a shaky breath, and nodded. Schula and Nassir nodded too.

And Kai, stars bless him, he led us back to camp in somber silence.