The Locket || The Winx Saga

Chapter 16

As I sat in my room, staring at the pages of my book, I found it hard to concentrate. Which was surprising since this book was the most thrilling one I owned. It was Saturday tomorrow, and Riven and I had planned to sneak out and go to Hathen. We'd spent the whole week planning it all out, but I still had doubts. What if we got caught? Or worse, what if we got killed? I just found it incredibly difficult to envision this as a success. This was probably the riskiest thing I'd ever done.

"Uh, Kody?" Bloom suddenly said, sticking her head round the door, an excited smile on her face. "There's a guy here to see you."

After she left, I stood up, gently placing my book on the bed, and I made my way into the common area. Bloom then pointed me towards the front door, and I headed outside, to find Riven waiting against the wall.

"You ready for tomorrow?" He asked, standing up straighter.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"It's going to be fine, okay?" He said, clearly noticing how unsure I was about all this.

I just nodded, trying to convince myself that this would all work out.

"I'll be back round here tomorrow morning. Five-ish, maybe?" He suddenly said, before turning and disappearing down the corridor. "Be ready."

***

The next morning, I woke up with a sick feeling in my stomach. Today was the day we were going to Hathen, and I was far from ready. There were still a number of things that could go wrong, but I knew I had to do this. Because maybe this trip would give me a clue on how I became a fairy. And if I knew how I got my powers, then maybe I could find a way to erase them. This was my best bet. It was the only chance I had to have a normal life. And I was taking it.

When I was ready, I quietly crept out of the suite and waited in the hall for Riven, my heart pounding in my chest. We could get in so much trouble for this.

"Hey." A voice whispered from down the hall.

Turning around, I spotted Riven walking towards me, all kitted up. "Ready to go?"

I nodded before following him down the dark corridor. This wasn't going to end well.

***

"I can't do it." Since we didn't know the exact route to Hathen, we'd decided it'd be better to travel by portal. Except only I could do that. And I read up on it and tried to perform a portal spell, but it was no use. So instead, we just hoped it'd work on the day when we needed it most. And it wasn't working.

"Okay, why don't you just try and focus on where we're going and nothing else?" Riven suggested.

I scoffed. "It won't work, okay? My magic's shit."

"Just try."

I sighed, closing my eyes and attempting to picture Hathen. I had absolutely no faith in this plan, but I was trying anyway. And surprisingly enough, after a few minutes, I felt something. Opening my eyes, I could see a bright circle of light hovering in front of me. "I did it!" I cheered, turning to Riven who was standing there smiling.

"Let's go."

***

When we got there, it was worse than what we'd read in the books; There were no buildings, no roads, no people. The whole place was just...dead. And as I looked around, I noticed there was barely any colour in the surroundings. It was almost gray. It looked awful. I barely had any time to examine my current surroundings however as Riven was already stalking off into the trees.

As I cautiously followed after him, I could see just how barren this place was. In fact, the only sound that could be heard was the dead grass crunching beneath our feet as we walked. And the further into the forest we got, the more I began to realise that there probably wasn't anything here. It was a wasted trip.

"Maybe we should just go back." I suggested. It was clear we weren't going to find anything.

"Let's just keep going, alright?"

After about an hour of walking through the trees, we finally reached a clearing. And just metres away stood a lonely tree. But there was something beneath it. Something brighter than everything else. It had a sort of glow. When I got closer, I saw that there was a flower blooming under the tree. It was strange because it was the only living thing I'd seen here since arriving.

"Riven, look." I signalled as I got closer to the flower.

I reached down to touch it but the second I came into contact with it, I was thrown into what seemed to be a dream like state. My surroundings became blurred and Riven was nowhere to be seen. And then all of a sudden, a man and a woman appeared in front of me. They were cowering beneath the tree, right where the flower was. But who were they?

"What do you want?" The man asked, his voice shaky.

Then, a woman came into the frame. She had long dark hair and pale skin, and she looked angry. "I want your child!" She growled, stepping closer to them.

"Ivy?" The woman under the tree spoke, a look of confusion on her face. "Why do you want Ivy?"

"That girl had enough power to destroy this entire realm. I want that power!"

"Well she's not here." The man spoke. "We sent her away, somewhere safe."

When he said that, the woman suddenly appeared to be getting extremely angry. She let out a perilous scream before her hands lit up with black lightning. And then, within seconds, the lightning was released and the couple under the tree were gone. And in their place, sat a dark pile of ash. Everything went silent and then the woman just left, like it was nothing. "She killed them." I whispered, my throat tightening.

When it was all over, I began to hear a voice. "Kody. Kody, are you alright?"

Riven was standing in front of me, clutching my shoulders. I shook my head as the world finally began to come back into focus. "What?"

"What just happened?" Riven asked, a look of concern on his face.

"I don't know...but I think I just watched someone die."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm...I'm going back now. You coming?" I suddenly said, turning around and preparing to make a portal.

"Yeah, let's go."

***

When we got back to Alfea, I left Riven and headed straight for the greenhouse, hoping that Sam would be there. I know it sounds selfish, but he was the only one right now who could make this okay. He just brought me a sort of...peace.

When I got there, he was sitting at the table on his phone. And the second I closed the door, he turned to look at me. Clearly noticing something was wrong, he stood up and pulled me into a hug. "What's wrong?"

I didn't respond. Instead, I just desperately clung to him, and he obviously didn't care that I wasn't telling him anything as he simply hugged me tighter. That was what I liked about Sam. He was always so kind no matter what. I needed someone like that in my life. I needed him.