Orange Shadow Magic: Heir to The Throne. Book 2

Chapter 1: The Truth

None of us truly knew what happened that day. I do though. Nobody thought to ask, not one. As if I'm some kind of ghost or something. Well, I'm not. I'm not invisible. I know stuff. Stuff about myself that I've never said to another living soul. All I've told my secrets to are dead. I killed every single one of them. No, I'm not going to say who I am. I wouldn't dare. All I can say is that I know Avery Silversky. I might even love her more than I love my sister Coral. Recently, after Avery was taken, I've been experiencing a hum of loneliness. We all have. But it's been worse for me. I look in the mirror, and all I can see are my flaming red eyes and fiery red hair......... This hasn't happened to me before. I knew her well, but I assured myself I'd stay strong, for her and for Coral. Coral's gone too, and that broke me. But Parker broke me most of all. Maybe his loss did crush my pride the hardest. I promised myself that anyone who came into my care I could protect, but I couldn't even protect him, or rather Coral! I couldn't protect Avery for that matter. Perhaps this is the reason why I changed. Maybe the losses of my most loved ones finally cracked my shell. All I know is that I'm changing. And if I can't find out why, or how to stop it, then I might very well be in trouble. In fact, the whole world could be.

I'm walking in the woods. I always have. But this time, it's not just an expression. I don't know where I'm going. And it's not just that deafening pound of loss either. Something is pulling me. Something I've never felt before. All I know is that I have to find it. Or I might very well go insane. I stumble, I trip, I curse, I run.  Nothing seems to make sense. I don't know where I'm going. Then I see her. A golden ball of moonlight seems to be illuminating this wondrous woman in the middle of the lush jungle of The Hokarland, rich foliage growing from every corner. She has long black tresses, waist length, and cold black eyes like a wasp. But what caught my eye was her smile, widening into a smirk as she saw my approach. My sister Coral's outward beauty couldn't even hold a candle to this older girl.

"Do I know you?" I ask, pondering her odd expression. I could wipe that look off of her face with a snap of my fingers. Nobody should be messing with me. Least of all, this girl whom I barely know. She doesn't know what I'm capable of. In fact, I still don't even know the powers that I'm capable of.

"You should. After all, I brought you here." She replied, her voice low and snappy, hissing like a snake. Then I remember who she is. That monster. That pathetic little demon. I don't even care if she could bring Coral back from the dead. We're done.

"You're Lydia Bren. We were friends a long time ago. Then you left. You left me alone. Alone with my sisters and my mother." I feel myself sneer. God, what's happening to me? Even before I met Avery I wasn't this rude. Not once, not ever. I would never betray my own family as I just did. What changed? At this point, I don't even question how she got here, and what she wants. I just need to fix myself before it's too late. Oh, and get Avery back, safe and sound. I could almost hear the echo in my head... "We should just go. After all, there is nothing for us here." Avery was the true sister I never had. My soul mate, in the flesh, and not in a romantic way. We were meant to be together since the start. I won't do anything for Lydia unless I get what I want back home...

"Yup. You got it all right. The real question is why did I do it?" Lydia sighed, her grin lighting up with mischief. "Trust me, I wouldn't have left you if I had had a real choice. Gala, me and you, we're destined to be together." Ignoring Lydia's answer, I step forward.

"Why am I here? We're done. You made your choice when you left. Now the real question: why am I here? You obviously brought me here for a reason. What is it?" I say, getting straight to the point. I've probably overstayed my welcome. I've stayed later than I should anyway. If one of my so-called "friends" should wake when I was gone and notice my absence, well, then our trust would be terminated. And I can't let that happen. If she can't give me the answers that I need, then I'll leave. And that's that. I've got work to do. I've got to bring my little sister home.

"Not now, my child. Those are answers for another time. Meet me on the day of the coronation at the castle. You'll find me. But don't be late." I watch slyly as the moonlight descends on her, and as quickly as she came, she's gone again. The branches sway, and the grass gleams mischievously. I know I said I shouldn't trust her, but at this point, I'll do whatever I can to get Avery home to me. I'd do anything. Picking up my feet, and rubbing them feistily in the dirt, I start sprinting. Me against time. That's the name of the game. And apparently, I don't have much time left. The sun is rising, and I know my friends like to get up before dawn. I know the sun might look pretty, illuminating nature, and everything else around. But for me, it's my death wish. If I get caught, I'm toast, and recently the trust I have been given by the others has significantly decreased. Maybe everyone is just mourning, and have dropped everything to focus one last time on their loved ones. One of which includes Coral, or Parker, or Avery. Each one is mourning in their own separate ways. But I refuse to believe that Avery actually turned evil. She's coming home to me, whether King Expella likes it or not. However, there is always the chance that Avery doesn't want to come back home, and I have to be ready to face that. In the meantime, I have to figure out the true heir to the throne, before King Expella uses Avery to his advantage and makes Exeria evil once again. And I have to figure all of this out on my own because all of my "teammates" are too busy sobbing their hearts out on their long lost friends. Well, who cares about them. Saving Exeria was always my job anyway. As I see my pop up tent come closer into view (hey, I've got to have my own private space, alright), I hide behind a tree. I can hear someone coming. I can't see who it is, but my heart plummets when I hear it is Lily. She's so sweet that I can't bear to disappoint her like this. Not now, not ever. There's only one thing I can do. And I'm pretty sure I'm going to regret it. Snapping my finger's violently, I watch as my body changes form. Not many things change about me, but if I don't pull this off correctly, I could lose my reputation amongst them easily. My heart is pounding, jumping up, down and against my chest. These feelings were only awakened because of Avery. I plan to use them to my advantage. Then I sprint. I sprint as hard as I can towards the river without using my super speed. Hopefully Lily doesn't recognize me.

It seems my luck has been cursed or something because nobody should have seen my quickened blur as it bounces between the trees and to the stream. I'm way faster than Lily, (which has been proven many times in the past), but somehow she spots me anyway.

"Mal?" she questions, not really believing the eyes that were seducing her at this moment.

It couldn't be Mally. Not when Lily had just started trusting her again. Mally had betrayed Lily before, and Lily had just kept believing her after that, not questioning any odd sense of behavior. But now, Lily knew the lies just weren't adding up. Lily wouldn't make the same mistake again. 

"Mally? Mally? What are you doing up? You've never gotten up early. Not once since I've known you, and I knew you first, before Gala, or Coral, or...." I don't hear the rest of what Lily is saying because I've disappeared by then. I have to hold myself back from slapping Lily in the face. Nobody should be using my dead sister's name in vain like that. I shake my head violently and peer down the path of the unknown. I can't waste my time with Lily. She's not worth it in the long run. Then I start running, faster and faster so that she could never catch me. This time I use my super speed. The haziness traps me as I jog, everything obscured and hidden from my eyes, however, I know better. Its all nature out there, nothing else. Well, except for Avery and King Expella. One of which I'm going to kill, the other I'm going to bring back home.

"Goodbye sunshine," I mutter and race off into the distance. What's to come definitely won't bring sunshine. We all have to step up our game, or the world could very well be at risk unless Avery isn't actually who she seems to be...