Mischief in the Stars

Creating a Plan

Malakai whipped his hands out in front of him, creating bright green shields on his fists. To Rory's surprise, he subtly pushed her behind his body, the shards in front of his shields instead. The ground continued to shake as he scowled at Saffire. "This isn't us."

"Oh yeah? Prove it!" she challenged. Her anger made her lose control slightly, the metal shades in the house disappearing completely.

That was when they noticed it.

The sun.

The blue sky.

The white clouds.

"What the Maloid is happening to Valsaire?" Eira whispered in horror, staring at the unfamiliar surroundings.

Then it switched back.

The navy blue sky.

Swirls of icy white winds.

Glimmers of white dots.

Back to Earth.

Back to Thera.

"It's- it's switching back and forth. Between Earth and Thera," Rory told them, the rumbling diminishing slightly as the alarm shut off as well. People began to surround the car in curiosity, unfamiliar with such an object. "Why is this happening?"

"You cannot be here, Rory," Eliphas told her in a low voice, danger and disgust dripping off every word.

"What are you talking about?" Rory asked him even though she was pretty sure she knew precisely what he meant.

"There can't be two versions of someone in the same world... there's an imbalance... one that needs fixing," he said simply before lifting his hand and squeezing it into a fist. She felt a burst of pain erupt in her body.

Rory immediately collapsed on the ground, screaming out in pain. From the corner of her tearful eyes, she could vaguely see the world continue to change from the windows. Feeling like a million needles were stabbing her brain over and over, she scratched at her head, not sure how to escape the pain.

"Eliphas!" she heard someone scream out. She saw her brothers trying to get at Eliphas, but the warlock held them all back with his other hand. She assumed it was a barrier spell, watching them bang their fists against the invisible barrier.

"Stop it! You'll kill her!" Channing shouted angrily. Meanwhile, the two villagers were pleading with them to keep it down, desperate to avoid the coven coming to their home.

"That's the point!" he hissed with venom. The warlock continued to twist his hand, making it feel like her brain was collapsing in on itself. She continued to grit her teeth, her back completely lifted off the floor by this point. The only parts of her body that remained on the ground were the backs of her feet and shoulders. Her entire body arched off the ground in pain as she tried to force herself to separate her mind from the pain, which proved to be much harder than she anticipated.

"Eliphas, we can fix this. Thera will be fine!" Eira pleaded desperately, trying to fight against the warlock's barrier spell.

Before Eliphas could say anything else, a powerful green shield hit Eliphas in the back. He fell to the ground with a grunt, the spell lifting off of Rory. Her body immediately slammed back down to the floor, laying limply as she recovered. She gulped hungrily for air, her hands clutching her aching head. Glancing up, she was taken aback by the sight in front of her.

Malakai had Eliphas pinned to the wall, a green shield around his fist as he pressed it dangerously against the warlock's throat. He choked, scrambling to get away from Malakai; however, this just angered him more. "Give me one reason not to kill you where you stand."