Ties of Friendship ( Book 1 of THE TALES OF THREE )

9 - The End-Of-School Dance

Colored lights illuminated the girls' faces and cast disco-looking shadows upon the walls of the school gym. Music boomed from the speakers above.

Madeline, Lily and Aurora grabbed each other's hands and spun around, all else forgotten in the excitement of the moment.

Lily felt as if a vacuum had sucked away all her reservations. She had never liked school dances, but this one felt different. So much had changed since October last year - the girls' lives had flipped upside down.

But Middle-earth had changed more than just their skill, she realized. For once, she laughed with her friends, knowing that the other seventh and eighth graders were as giddy as they - that she didn't need to worry about judgment. The wall that had been between her and the rest of the carefree, dancing people had faded.

Still, as the girls' circle broke, and, dizzy, they paused, the adrenaline that had come to Lily after seeing the gym completely transformed leaked a little, allowing for some thought.

An uncomfortable, foreboding feeling nagged at her, as if her ring was trying to warn her. Madeline was jumping up and down like a bunny, while Aurora was on the ground trying to breakdance. But as much as Lily tried to dismiss the thought and join her friends, there seemed to be something she was forgetting.

Perhaps it was the worry they all shared. The end of the year meant more than the summer vacations - it meant, potentially, Madeline leaving.

Lily had never bonded with someone as quickly. Instead of a year, it felt as if the girls had known each other all their lives. She couldn't imagine school without her friend - and what of their secret?

Lily jumped as an obnoxious siren wailed. "I hate these lockdown drills," Madeline whispered, covering her ears and taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart.

But high on the adrenaline of the dance, Aurora burst out of the gym, and disappeared behind a corner.

"Aurora!" Lily's words fell on deaf ears. "Elbereth Gilthoniel! What does she think she's doing?"

The rings on the girls' fingers glowed brightly, as rousing as an electric current. Lily and Madeline looked at each other, knowing the same thing.

Aurora was in danger.

"Come on." Lily didn't let herself hesitate. Just before the teachers closed the heavy gym doors, she slipped out, followed by Madeline.

As Madeline turned the corner, she was in time to see Aurora running down the hall behind men in catsuits. If this had been last year, she was sure she would have panicked and screamed.

But she was different now.

Aurora wrenched a gun out of one of the men's grasp. The burglars, tall and dressed in black, did not seem to know what they were doing. Lily saw the shock in one of their eyes behind the mask turn to fright as the sound of distant sirens reached their ears.

With that, clutching a few chromebooks, the burglars raced down the stairs and disappeared.

Except for three.

They planted their feet in the hall and glared at the girls.

"Get out of here before the police make you," said Aurora, wielding her sword.

"Wait," Lily said. The three burglars' faces flickered, like in an old film when the images became unclear, or when one just awakes and still has traces of dreams in their mind. "Something's wrong."

The features of the men twisted. The masks disappeared, revealing jagged teeth. Their eyes glittered with malice and hatred.

"It was a trap!" screamed Lily. "Those men dressed in black were possessed! They were trying to lure us-"

An orc lunged at Lily, and, caught off guard, she dropped her arrow, scarcely managing to roll between his legs. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw sword meet knife as Aurora thrust and dodged the other orc.

She felt herself being shoved, narrowly missing the sawtooth blade of the orc. Struggling to regain her balance, she found herself face-to-face with Matthew.

Madeline threw her dagger, leaving a gash in the orc's arm. By a stroke of luck, Lily managed to catch it, stabbing it into the orc. Matthew fled. The third orc ran at Madeline, waving his knife, and she whipped out her other dagger.

Lily saw that Aurora had managed to disarm her opponent, but now he had her in a headlock. Without thinking, she shot an arrow. For a horrible moment, she thought she'd hit her friend, but perhaps her ring was guiding her, and the arrow lodged itself in the orc's arm.

Whirling around, Lily retrieved Madeline's dagger and ran up behind the orc Madeline was sidestepping. She could hear the police's footsteps thundering up the stairs, and as she shoved the weapon into the orc, she saw that Aurora had finished her opponent too.

As the uniformed men burst into the hall, the girls replaced their weapons.