Return of the Queen

Chapter 7

---Flashback---

I took up a seat near the bonfire beside Aby who was quietly sharpening her daggers, and I scanned the area around the camp.

"Where are the others?" I asked her.

"Off to torment some Lost Boys. Although, I think that Hailee has got her own agenda."

I chuckled, "That girl will be the end of me."

I picked up a goblet of water and went to take a sip when I heard a swift whooshing sound, and, before I had registered what had occurred, the goblet was knocked out of my hands, its contents smeared on the grass.

An arrow had lodged itself in a tree on the other side of the clearing. No archer in sight.

I crouched down, lay my hand on the ground, closed my eyes, and attempted to sense my way through the island and figure out who the culprit was.

I slowly inhaled and the flashes came.

Heavy panting

Brisk footsteps

A speedy heartbeat

Short blonde hair beating through the wind

And then-

"Thorn, I think you ought to see this."

I exhaled quickly and reopened my eyes.

Making my way over to where Aby was crouched, I noticed a black liquid-like substance oozing its way through the grass.

"Dreamshade"

"What's that?" She asked as I squatted beside her.

"It's that thorny bush that's been sprouting all over the place."

"I heard one of the Lost Boys died because of it."

I paused for a moment and then turned brusquely towards her, "Aby, have I been acting off lately?"

"Well sort of, I mean you've been a lot more cheerful, and you haven't been so angry with Hailee about that Lost Boy she keeps seeing. And-"she paused.

"What?"

"You've been disappearing from camp for hours at a time without any explanation."

I stared intently at the ground for a few moments before sitting back onto the log and urging Aby to do the same.

She went back to her sharpening as I strained my mind to think of all the blotched out hours of my days and nights I couldn't seem to remember.

Let's just say that the memory I recalled wasn't the only acidic, foul thing threatening to pool out of me.

---End of Flashback---

~3rd Person POV~

"You won't feel like an orphan anymore. You'll be one." Pan called out after Emma.

He turned back towards the woods but stopped in his tracks when he heard a snarky voice say,

"Well, that's a lot better than what you'll be isn't it? Can you guess what that is?"

He smirked and turned back to face the figure now walking out of the shadows.

"Hello, Thorn."

"Malcolm."

"That was quite the show you put on with that fire of yours."

She chuckled, "Oh you know me, always the dramatic one."

Pan quickly crossed the distance between them both, grabbed her arm, and twisted her around.

"I liked it better when you were the obedient one." He breathed menacingly into her ear.

She scoffed and struggled against his hold, "I liked it better when you were civil and didn't spike my drinks with dreamshade."

He smirked. "I had hoped it would kill you, but I'm not saying I wasn't pleased with the outcome." Pan said, trailing his other hand down the length of Thorn's arm.

She grunted in frustration and Pan suddenly stepped back, his fingers red and burned.

In a flash, Thorn was stood on the edge of the forest line, her back turned to Pan. "There is something you seem to have forgotten about those times."

She started to walk away but continued, "I always come out on top."

As she walked out of his sight, he chuckled and muttered, "We'll see about that."

No sooner had he uttered those words than a group of lost boys walked out of the foliage surrounding them.

"Again? Seems like you're out of original ideas Malcom."

"And you're out of time. Grab her boys."

Thorn rolled her eyes and turned her attention towards the rest of the boys. Only half of them were here. Piece of cake.

She quickly rounded on the nearest ones sending them flying towards the closest set of trees.

An older boy lunged at her from behind with his axe, swinging at her head. She flipped backwards over the boy's shoulder and knocked his feet out from under him.

Thorn barely turned around in time to divert an arrow aimed at her chest.

She gasped and slammed her open palm against the ground causing a hole in the earth to form under the boy who had shot it.

The older boy with the axe was back up again and swinging wildly, his eyes a mix of anger and apprehension.

They were relentless, she had to give them that.

She dodged his attempts and pushed him into some of the other boys, all of them stumbling over each other and falling to the ground.

As the fight went on, a weird feeling started to spread through Thorn. A sort of dull, almost tired-like throb pulsed through her head every time she exercised her powers.

She aimed a kick at a boy's ribs but was startled and thrown back onto her side when the boy caught her foot and jabbed it backwards towards her.

She rolled back up to face him as he jumped over her, and she pushed her palms outwards towards his chest.

At first a steady flame lurked out of her open palms, then, a smaller quiver, a spark, and then nothing.

Shocked, Thorn jabbed her open palm into the boys' face, breaking his nose and startling him. She pushed him off and stood back up, feeling slightly disoriented.

Thorn stumbled backwards and barely dodged a punch thrown by one of the other boys.

She turned around and came face to face with Pan.

"Well, it certainly seems like your luck's run out."

She glared at him, and, despite how blurry the world seemed to her now, she aimed a fist at his head.

He caught it easily and grabbed a hold of both her shoulders keeping her in place.

"Game over."

Thorn barely had any time to react before she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, and the whole world went dark.