𝓞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝓗𝐮𝗺𝐚𝐧

Chapter #9 - Talia

Chapter #9 - Talia

It was shocking how much one day could change Talia's whole life.

Before yesterday, her most exciting plan for the day would've been working on the ongoing doodle page in her math notebook during class. But now, it involved visiting a hidden world and riding on beams of light and finding the guts to tell her mom the truth about the murder of her father. Though the last one made her feel sick to her stomach.

It got worse when she woke up to the sound of the imparter making an alarming bing.

"Joley's missing now, too," said Amy through the device.

Talia said a word she wasn't supposed to know. And it wasn't a good one.

"Where is everybody going? Do you know if someone took Joley, or—" She stopped when Amy nodded. "Someone took her?"

"She went missing at Mistmeare"— Talia had no idea where that was— "and the goblins could detect the scents of two elves. I think. Nobody really told me details..."

"Two elves?"

It was two elves who...

"Sorry, Amy, but is it okay if I hang up? Or whatever you guys call it. It's just, I can't... I can't..."

I can't do this anymore.

She didn't even wait for Amy's response before shoving the imparter aside. In hindsight, it might have been rude. But Talia didn't care. Joley— her only real guide to this incredible new world, her friend— was taken, and nobody knew if she would be found.

No.

Talia refused to be a pessimist like that. Her friend would be found, and everything would be okay. Somehow, everything would have to be alright.

She sighed and reached under her pillow, pulling out the violet wedding ring jewel once again. It was certainly tiny— only a few millimeters in diameter, probably. She held it up to the light from her window, admiring it more.

The light refracted off it in an almost deliberate way, as if it were cut very specifically.

Her jaw dropped.

She was obviously no expert on how all this elvin stuff worked, but this jewel... she was pretty sure it was a leaping crystal.

Talia shifted it between her fingers, adjusting the angle of the light. Sure enough, the warmth began to wrap her up in the now familiar feathery feeling, her mind a flurry of worry and questions and a little bit of hope.