Land of Smoke and Ashes

A Long Way Down Home

At first there was only the rush and scream of wind in her ears, and then she heard the sound of her mother's voice, the queen's shrieks of rage, and her own heart beating hard in her ears. They were somehow falling together, attached at the wrist, the arm, the shoulder. The queen's hands were clawing at her clothing, at her face, Cassius' expression twisted with rage as she tried to get to the pendant, clutched tight in Natalie's fist. And then...her face changed, her eyes widened with fear, and Natalie knew the ground was close. That they were about to die.

There was sharp snap, as the queen's dress—no, not her dress, two massive, bat-like wings—unfurled on either side of her. Natalie's arm was yanked out of her grip, wrenched so hard she felt a shock of pain run up her arm.

For a moment the queen's face was relieved, and then she saw what Natalie could see, her dress had burned, her wings were full of holes. Cassius fell, still screaming, reaching out for Natalie once again.

"Natalie, now!" Her mother's voice, close in her left ear. "Do it now!"

Natalie shut her eyes, squeezed the pendant tight in one hand, and wished it with every fiber of her being, willed it with every inch of her body.

I wish we were home.

For one mind-numbingly terrifying moment, nothing happened. They continued to fall, the air continued to rush past, loud in Natalie's ears, tearing at her clothes and hair, and she had time to think, It didn't work—and then there was a loud crack that rang in both her ears, and they were falling, still falling, but it was a different sensation now, slower. The screaming wind was gone, leaving silence that rang in the empty space. She kept her eyes shut, kept her grip on the pendant, which had become suddenly hot. Her other hand gripped her mother's arm, and she felt her mother's fingers on her wrist tighten. Neither of them screamed, neither of them seemed to have the breath.

And then she hit the ground, landing on her back, hard. Natalie wheezed, the air knocked out of her lungs. Her eyes snapped open.

It worked, she knew it had worked because she wasn't dead.

Slowly, very slowly, her vision cleared, her eyes focusing on the sight above her. The black spires of the palace had vanished. In it's place, trees rose, thick trunks and evergreen tops that seemed to brush the sky. This was not the deadwoods, it was not even the forest outside the village with the field of lavender. This was...

"Home," her mother breathed from beside her. "Oh my god, we're home."

The charm was starting to burn in her hand, and Natalie uncurled her fingers, letting it drop into the dirt beside her. She turned her head, still struggling to regain her breath. Her left arm pulsed with pain. Her mother was beside her, her hair in wild knots that framed her face. She lay on her back, perfectly still, staring up at the trees.

"I remember this forest. I remember the smell of it."

Slowly, Natalie sat up. Her head spun for a moment, and she blinked. After a second it cleared up, and she stared down at her mother, who wore a wide, rapturous grin as she looked up at the trees.

Natalie looked up, trying to see what her mother saw. The green tops of the trees, the unpolluted skies. She hadn't been away for nearly as long as her mother had, but she thought she understood the excitement, the relief. They were home again, it was here they belonged. And since they had the charm, their world was safe. Queen Cassius, if she'd survived the fall, couldn't get here. Natalie reached over and scooped up the charm, putting her sleeve over her hand to protect her skin from the burning silver.

"Ready to go home?" she asked.

Her mother blinked, and then shot up so fast that Natalie almost fell over in surprise. "Oh my gosh, your father. I can't wait to see the look on his face."

"Me either." Natalie grinned. "Now come on, let's go home."

They collected themselves, brushing off clothing and picking twigs and bits of moss out of one another's hair, and then they made their way down the forest path toward the house. Before they reached the clearing of the back yard, Natalie glanced back at the forest once, briefly. She half expected to see Sam and Gwen, maybe Jewels peering out from behind a tree or something. It seemed strange that this was it. That she would likely never see them again. She felt the shape of the charm through the thin fabric of her pocket. It would be incredibly foolish to go back there, the queen could be waiting, if she survived she'd be furious.

Still, she took one last look at the thick trunks, the green pine trees blending with the orange leaves of maples, and traced one finger over her lips. As she turned away, it was hard not to think about the way Sam had looked just as she'd fallen over the edge. The panic in his eyes, the way he'd reached for her.

When they found the queen's body and not theirs, they would know. He would know Natalie was safe. That she was home. She turned to follow her mother.