Fractured Soul

Chapter 18: Dark Magic

Things between Alex and Mella were fixed. They rarely argued and were always laughing. Mella had finally come out of her shell around other people. She didn't even mind the nickname 'Princess' anymore.

Everyone liked her. They had heard of Mella and Alex's duel and now even more people came to watch them train. Some even started training again too.

"You know, all of this is because of you." Dilan said on evening after training. The five of them were eating on the rooftop, waiting for the stars to wake up. Down below out near the lake, chunks of ice were glowing on the ground, showing people still practicing.

"What did I do to cause all this?" Mella asked. "I called them stupid and beat up their idol. Now they want to practice?"

"Yeah, basically." Said Kev, smiling.

"Hey, I take offense to that! You didn't beat me up." Alex protested indignantly.

"Dude, you showed up with a bruised face and you lost against her when you fought." Kai said, barely containing his laughter. "I'm pretty sure that’s the definition of being beat up."

Alex scowled while the rest of them laughed.

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Ryn grew colder as August faded to September and October. The trees across the river lost their leaves, leaving them bare. Mella trained almost every day, learning faster than the guys could teach.

All training stopped the day before All Hallows. When Mella asked what was going on, people went silent and just walked on.

"Okay, what's going on? No one's telling me anything." Mella had tracked down one of the guys after the fifth person walked away.

"Sorry, Princess. We've forgotten how little you know. This is the darkest time of the year. No one practices magic in fear that the Queen will find them. There's a rumor that they have a way to find magic when it's being cast. Nobody will take a chance with that. Just relax for a few days. It's not like you're desperately behind." Dilan said.

Mella hated sitting doing nothing, but she wouldn't practice magic in case the rumors were true. She didn't want to run from Ryn, too. But I will have to leave eventually…

Myra's letter still weighed on her mind, and she knew it wasn't particularly safe to stay in Rhydona, but she had no clue where Ivadona was from here. Mella was just happy to be in Ryn for the time being.

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Lights glittered around her. She had on a beautiful dress that the other girls eyed enviously. Snow rained down gently on everything.

"You're stealing the show from them."

Mella turned. A boy her age with golden eyes and dark hair was leaning against one of the buildings. He smiled and his face changed. It was Roxas. Mella took a step back.

"No, wait. Listen to me. I came to--"

Mella sat bolt upright in a cold sweat.

"It was a dream. Just a dream." She told herself. But why did it feel so real?

Lightning flashed outside, tailed by a clap of thunder, scaring Mella further. A storm was raging outside, the wind hurling the rain like pebbles against the window.

I'm not going to fall asleep again with all this noise…

Mella got up and fumbled for a match for the candles left in her room. Two more days without magic. How do people live without it?