Fruition

ne inter-dimensional portal later, and the five of us had washed up on Adelaide’s shore.

It was different being on the beach during the daytime. Every other occasion I’d been on these sands had been late into the night, causing the cliffs, water, and rocks to blend together in a giant, dark mass.

I’d believed that seeing Adelaide’s beaches and cliffside in the bright sunshine would’ve been far more beautiful by comparison. Alas, they were not. The warmth that filled the atmosphere seemed almost ironic given the circumstances surrounding our return. The gulls flying around us might as well have been vultures.

The five of us started to make our way to the north end of the beach where Ashlyn said we’d find better cave access. There were plenty of other cave openings we could’ve taken—Ashlyn assured us that they all interconnected at some point. But because of the way they twisted and turned within, she’d advised that we keep from entering the tunnel system for as long as possible to shorten our journey.

Unfortunately, how long we could stay outside the caves was up to Arian. He and his men could’ve been coming from anywhere, at any time. We’d been trekking across the beach for some twenty minutes now without incident, but for how much longer? None of us knew just how much time we had before—

“Guys,” Jason said suddenly. “We’ve got company.”

My body shivered involuntary before I turned around to face the inevitable.

There they were. Arian and about twenty guards were five hundred feet away and headed straight for us. Time was most definitely up.

“Let’s move,” I ordered.

The nearest crack in the cliffside was fifty meters ahead. We bolted for it, our feet sinking in the sand as we raced uphill, but our speed remaining true.

When we reached the opening, we dived in without looking back. I didn’t know whether Arian and his men had seen which cavern we’d entered into, but eventually the mirror would lead them to us.

The sun’s reach ended within seconds of entering the cavern. However, just as Ashlyn had described, its lack of natural light didn’t matter. The caves and tunnel system had their own form of luminescence.

Jutting out of the rocky surfaces were the most beautiful stalagmites and stalactites. They were smooth on the sides but had jagged points. And for some unexplainable reason they glowed either a soft mint green or a rich sapphire blue.

I would’ve loved to linger and marvel at their brilliance. But at the moment these crystals were not for admiring. Their main purpose wasn’t even lighting our way through the tunnels. More than anything they were a way for us to navigate through them.

Ashlyn had explained that the number and size of crystals increased as we got closer to the center of the tunnel system—making it easy for us to gauge our way.

We maneuvered through the caverns rapidly—swerving, rotating, and changing direction whenever the measure of crystals indicated a necessity to do so. About five minutes in, we took a wrong turn.

I skidded to a halt as our latest pathway curved into a cavern that was half-submerged in water. The floor of this one dropped off more abruptly than the others and we barely had time to pump the brakes. Gravel from under my boots tumbled off the ledge, and I jerked myself back, just in time to avoid going with it.

There was only one other route leading out of the cavern, so we took to it at full speed. After a minute this path deposited us into a much larger cavern. It was the size of the banquet hall at Lady Agnue’s, but the ground was not level. It staggered with elevations of different heights that encircled an enormous crystal at the center like a beacon.

Countless other crystals protruded from the ground and ceiling. They were so massive that they filled the cavern with a light that rivaled the luminosity of the outside.

We’d made it. This was most certainly the center of the tunnel system. Everywhere we looked there were other tunnels converging unto this spot like ours had. Which meant it was time for us to split up.

As if on cue, we began to hear the choppy sounds of footsteps and shouting. We couldn’t tell from which tunnel they emanated, but the volume suggested that it would not be long before Arian and his men found their way here too.

My eyes darted about, searching for the marker we were after.

Nope, not up there.

Not there.

Or there.

Or . . . wait, there it is!

On the upper left side of the cave we saw the crystal formation we’d been searching for. It was shaped vaguely like a starfish and its glow cast a radiant light over the entire platform it was perched on.

I remembered the image well. I’d only ever seen it in a flash of my dreams, but knew it was the indicator we sought. Alas, it was terribly high up. This final elevation was a good thirty feet above us and the slope looked too steep and slippery to climb.

It was at that point that Daniel swung the black bag off his shoulder. Unzipping it, he removed a grappling hook attached to a big coil of rope. He took out an arrow and nodded toward me. “You remember Fairy Godmother HQ?”

I couldn’t help but smile as I took out my wand and transformed it into a bow. “How did you—”

“I didn’t,” he responded. “But just because I can’t see the future doesn’t mean I can’t come prepared. Arabeth had a bunch of climbing stuff in her equipment closet. I asked if I could borrow a few things.”

“Glad you did,” I said.

With that, I attached the rope to the arrow, fired, and sent the grappling hook sailing upwards. It firmly attached to the starfish stone.

I hadn’t known about the relevance of the starfish until I’d spoken with Ashlyn this morning. I had so many dream flashes these days it was hard to worry about each and every one. But when our former hostess had described her secret route from Adelaide Castle to the ocean, I discovered that this particular vision was actually key to our escape.

“The starfish crystal is located next to a tunnel that’ll eventually lead you to a crevice in the ceiling,” she had said. “Climb through and you’ll find yourself in an area below a bridge near the orchard. After that you’re home free.”

“All right, guys,” I said as Arian’s voice echoed closer. “Time for you to go.”

“Crisa,” SJ replied anxiously. “I know this is the plan we agreed on, but are you certain this is the best way?”

“We talked about this, SJ. Unless you want to fire that earthquake potion of yours and just end this by burying us alive, this is the only way. You guys know it, and so do I.”

“She’s right,” Jason agreed. “I hate that Crisa has to do this alone too. But it’s for the good of the group, and the best option if we want a clean break out of here without Arian continuing to follow us.”

“Exactly,” I affirmed. “So go on, all of you. I’ll meet up with you where we planned.”

I worried for a moment that they were going to keep fighting me on the subject. Thankfully, SJ nodded in agreement and they all began to scale the rope.

Beneath the shadow of the grand starfish I watched them go up one by one. Daniel was the last to make the ascent. He grabbed the rope in his hand then hesitated, looking back at me.

“Knight,” he said.

“Yeah?”

He eyed me for a heartbeat then waved off whatever thought had crossed his mind. “Just don’t die, okay.”

I didn’t know what to say, and he didn’t give me the chance to think of it. Without another word Daniel swiftly began climbing the rope and was soon hoisting himself onto the highest ledge in the cavern beside the others.

Daniel reeled in his rope and shoved it back in his bag along with the grappling hook. Then he and my friends disappeared from sight into the designated tunnel behind them.

I was on my own now. And I was glad. Not a minute went by before Arian and several of his men emerged from a tunnel on the upper right side of the cavern.

On seeing him, I started to make a run for a tunnel a few ledges away, but then I had the misfortune of discovering why it had sounded like Arian’s men were coming from everywhere. It was because they really were coming from everywhere.

Three of Arian’s followers suddenly appeared out of the tunnel I’d been aiming for. More came from four other openings across the cavern. They must’ve split up when they’d entered the tunnel system to locate me faster. Good for them. Bad for me.

Arian spotted me and I stood frozen like a fawn in the crosshairs of a hunter’s crossbow.

“Get her!”

None of the henchmen had emerged on the levels below me, so I hastily descended in pursuit of the tunnel at the lowest level.

With a slight cracking sound in my knees and the crunching of loose rock beneath my boots, I landed on each new level with a thud, but also with success. That last jump, however, was simply far too wide for any person to cross in a single bound. I landed with the opposite of grace, my body crashing and rolling to the ground.

Ignoring my scraped palms and arms, I hopped to my feet and plunged into the new tunnel. Increased adrenaline pulsed through my veins. My mindset was clear, focused, and unyielding.

As I ran, more paths converged unto my own—the labyrinth expanding.

“Split up!” I heard someone yell from one of the routes behind. “She’s in here somewhere. Find her!”

I pulled my wand from my satchel and changed directions. Regrettably, my new course led me to a dead end. I whirled around, planning to go back the way I’d come, but halted when I realized voices were coming from that direction.

Spear.

Going on the offensive, I moved to meet the first surge of Arian’s men.

They came at me sloppily, like a pack of drunken boar. Perhaps the chase had worn them out. Perhaps they were taken by surprise that I was actually daring to face them. Or perhaps I was just that good. The first two possibilities seemed more likely. But no matter what forces of fortune were at work, I was grateful.

This group of guards was comprised of three men and no Arian. When the first man charged I ducked, jabbed the guard behind him, and spun around to sweep his leg. As I punched the second soldier, his armor showed the reflection of the third attacker coming at me from my blind spot.

I whirled around and smacked his jaw with the dull end of my spear. His head smashed against the wall. As he sunk to the ground I blocked two more incoming strikes before throwing a low roundhouse and a leg hock. This took down the second attacker—leaving only one man inhibiting my route for escape.

I raised my eyebrows at him. “Yeah, I’m gonna need you to move.”

Jumping on the back of the guy I’d just taken down and using him as a boost, I faked like I was going to attempt some wild high shot. Right as my challenger raised his sword to plunge it into me, I transformed my wand.

Shield.

The shield blocked his strike and pinned his weapon-wielding arm against the wall. I thrust my elbow into his chin then back-kicked him in the shin for good measure.

Spear.

Both my hands grasping the staff, I turned and spun around—simultaneously pressing on his arm with one end of my spear and on his lower spine with the other. Transferring his weight with the terse shift of force, I thrust him off his feet and onto the floor.

Wand.

I took off down the narrowing tunnel at maximum speed. The submerged cavern I was looking for was around here somewhere and I needed to find it before I had any more run-ins with Arian’s men.

As if.

Rounding the corner, I didn’t even have time to transform my wand before a large knife came at my side. Thankfully my reflexes were good. I blocked the strike. My left hand grabbed the attacker’s arm. Then my right hand—still clutching my wand—hammered his bicep before whipping against his face.

I swung back to do another leg-hock combo, but the attacker grabbed me and twisted my hand before I could manage the maneuver. Interlocked, we struggled for a second before his weight outmatched mine and he rammed me against the wall. I grimaced, unable to wriggle free.

An idea came to my head. Not a good one, but it would do.

With aim and conviction, I head-butted him. He staggered back, giving me a chance to get a better angle for a followup, less-headache-inducing move.

And stomp the foot, kick the knee; thanks for letting go of my arm.

Face punch.

Shield.

Face punch with the shield.

And . . . roundhouse!

The power of my kick jettisoning him against the opposite wall, I morphed my wand back to its original state and made another break for it.

Dang, why can’t anyone ever see me do that?

When I screw up I usually have an amphitheater-sized audience. But I get in a good butt-kicking combo that literally brings a guy to his knees and there are no witnesses. So unfair.

I ducked into a few more tunnels as I tried to outrun Arian and his helpers. Despite the high stakes, I remained calm, for I was by no means trying to outrun fate. Rather than dreading Arian inevitably catching up with me, I was counting on it.

My dreams told me this confrontation had to happen, and I’d come to terms with that. But I hadn’t seen what was going to come after Arian and I faced off on that ledge. Which meant this part of my future I could still design for myself. And what I’d chosen to design was a scenario where I would ditch Arian in a way he hadn’t seen coming and get rid of the magic mirror in the process.

As long as Arian had that mirror he’d be on our tail. The words he’d spoken in my dreams had been true—there was nowhere I could hide that he wouldn’t find me. Ergo, my only option was to destroy the mirror. And getting close to Arian the way my vision had foreseen was going to give me the chance to do it.

If I succeeded, I would eliminate his only tactical advantage over me and create an opening to escape without further interference.

The only thing I hadn’t been initially sure about was how to escape Arian once he’d cornered me and I’d smashed the mirror. Luckily, Ashlyn had whispered some advice about that too.

She mentioned that while it was necessary to navigate a certain course through the caves on her way back to Adelaide Castle, in order to save time on her way to the ocean she’d found a short-cut: the underwater caves.

Throughout the tunnel system there were many caverns half-submerged in water. All these caverns had decently-sized crevices at their bases that allowed water from the sea to freely flow in and out. The crevices were direct paths to the ocean big enough for someone to swim through . . . someone like me, for instance.

I bobbed and weaved through the glowing stone passageways before I finally found another submerged cavern. The shadowy, bulging ceiling was high, the walls were curved, and there were no crystals. The only light came from the tunnel I’d just entered through. Looking around at its dimensions and the size of the drop to the swelling waters below, I became certain this was the cavern from my dreams.

For just a moment I leaned out over the ledge and watched the dark, distant waters. They breathed and moved with the currents outside—reassuring me that my next move was not insane. At least not totally anyways.

“This way!”

Arian and his forces were closing in.

With their footsteps drawing nearer, I readied myself for the action I needed to take. First that meant backing away from this ledge a bit. Only when they came into view would I make a break for it—acting as if I’d only just gotten there. I couldn’t let it seem like I was waiting for them; otherwise they might have suspected something was up.

I firmly shoved my wand into my boot. Then I drew the slingshot Jason had made for me from my satchel, as well as a sturdy, meatball-sized rock I’d picked up on the beach before leaving Ashlyn’s. Finally, I zipped up the internal closure of my bag and secured its outside clasps tightly.

That’s when I saw the shadows stretch across the floor like a conjoined silhouette. I dashed back toward the ledge of the cavern, halting just before I toppled over.

The timing was perfect. To Arian and his men it must’ve looked like they’d caught up with me right when I reached the supposed dead end, just as I’d planned.

“No place left to run, princess.”

Keeping the slingshot concealed behind my back and the stone in my left fist, I turned to face the familiar voice.

Arian led the group of six men. The glow behind him darkened his frame and elongated his shadow on the ground that separated us. His expression was smug as he and the others approached me. When he was about ten feet away, he came to a stop and gave me a sadistic grin.

“Got you.”

“You would think so, wouldn’t you?” I said, eyeing the magic mirror he held in his hand. I clutched the stone tighter as I readied myself for an opening.

Arian gestured to one of his beefy followers. “Bring me the bag . . .”

There it was! Now or never—take the shot!

In the split second he looked away from me, I whipped out the slingshot and released my meatball-sized ammo in the direction of the mirror.

My heart stopped as the rock made bullseye contact with the enchanted object, shattering the looking glass into a hundred tiny shards. In an instant that felt like eons I watched them fall to the floor.

Although they’d both reluctantly agreed to the plan, I knew SJ and Blue would’ve probably had an aneurism at the sight of the beloved treasure from Beauty & the Beast breaking to pieces. Meanwhile, I was indescribably relieved that my aim had been true.

I didn’t wait to see Arian’s response. When the first shard hit the ground, I dropped the slingshot, turned, and dove off the ledge.

My body plummeted in free fall for a few seconds. Then I plunged into the water.

The cold was a shock, but in a good way that recharged my senses and my strength. I swiftly pulled my wand out of my boot. It glowed instantaneously and I swam for the bottom of the pool, guided by its light.

The water had a strong current, but it was hard to see exactly where it was coming from. I made for the seaweed attached to the rocks on the bottom of the cavern, ripped off a piece, and set it loose. The seaweed was speedily sucked to the right and I pursued it until I was led to the crevice where the current was swelling in and out.

The strand of flimsy seaweed was sucked through and out of sight. I, however, was not small enough to do the same.

I peered inside the crevice.

Past the initial opening the underwater route seemed to widen. But at present, the opening was only a foot wide and too tight for me to fit through.

I wasn’t disheartened by this. It was a problem that I had been ready for.

Axe.

Still retaining its luminescence, my wand morphed into the desired weapon and I hacked away at the area around the crevice. After a couple of swings, a large chunk of rock gave way.

Wand.

The new-and-improved opening sucked me out with a sudden rush of water that seemed just as desperate to escape as I was. My body rode the current and I kicked my feet to speed up the process.

After a short ride through the underwater tunnel I was deposited into the greater ocean. Everything in this new environment was quiet and still, which would have been pretty tranquil had my lungs not been about to explode from lack of air. I saw sunlight caressing the water above and I zoomed up with what may well have been my last second of breath.

My head burst through the surface and I filled my body with oxygen.

Mental note—should I live to see another semester at school, I should suggest we build a pool on campus so as not to be so unprepared for these types of underwater scenarios.

When I eventually caught my breath I swam for land. A minute later I washed onto the sand like a beached whale with messy hair.

My trusty SRB instantly sent a flurry of silver sparks up and down my limbs that cleaned and dried every part of my clothes and person. As the sparks danced around me I got up and took the first deep breath I’d taken all day.

I had done it. My Adelaide vision had successfully been completed without my getting captured or killed. I had outsmarted the future. And now that the magic mirror was destroyed and Arian no longer had a way to follow my movements, I was free to find my friends and Daniel without bringing any kind of threat along with me.

I looked up and down the beach.

The last tip Ashlyn had shared was that the underwater tunnels always let out somewhere near a distinct part of Adelaide’s cliffside. I saw that unique area now. I’d seen it the night I’d snuck away from Adelaide Castle and first met Lonna. It was a magnificent, intricate cluster of stone skyscrapers that converged at the top to form a plateau connected to the cliffside. Each one of the natural rock columns appeared thicker than an ancient redwood tree. And they seemed strong too, as if neither time nor circumstance could wither their magnitude.

I began heading toward the natural structure, admiring the crafty work of Mother Nature and the gods of terrain-shaping that had created it.

From a distance I thought the formation resembled an unimaginably large, stone spider with dozens of long, jagged legs sticking into the sand at odd angles. Or maybe it was more like a giant’s hand with clenched fingers digging viciously into the sand. Either way, it was pretty impressive. More than anything, though, it was familiar and reassuring.

Having seen this marvelously menacing structure from the other side when I’d first come to shore the night of Adelaide’s ball, I knew I was not far from the other route off this beach—the one I’d taken before.

Arriving at the grand cluster of rocks, I smiled at the thought. I was almost in the clear.

The rock entanglement stretched the entire width of the beach, leading into the ocean. As I made my way through it, I discovered two things. The first was the humbling pressure created by the above plateau’s shadows. The sun was at an odd angle, so its rays cut through the formation in uneven, elongated castings—making some areas bright and warm while others remained cold and dark.

Meanwhile, the second thing I realized was that the rock pillars were actually far taller, larger, and in much greater numbers than I’d originally perceived. The masts of natural stone surrounded me like a forest of rock. I couldn’t even see through to the other side.

It was intimidating, but I was not deterred. I’d already made it through a labyrinth of cave tunnels and actual forests. I simply had to keep heading straight and would eventually find my way out. Or at least I would if I didn’t keep tripping on rocks in the sand that were—

Whoa!

My face fell forward and my knees sunk into a damp patch of sand as my wand flew out of my hand.

Stupid rock, I thought to myself. I reached out my hand to collect the weapon, which had landed a foot away from me. But just as my fingers hovered over it a thin shadow blanketed the patch of sun where it rested.

“Hello, Knight.”

Daniel?

I looked up and squinted into the glint of sunlight just before the shadow.

My heart shot into my throat.

Arian.

I didn’t think. I didn’t reply. I just grabbed my wand, sprung to my feet, and made a break in the other direction.

How did he find me? How am I going to—

I rounded one of the rock pillars only to run into one of Arian’s henchmen. He tried to grab me, but I elbowed him in the head and knocked him back with a firm punch to the jaw.

Two more men were behind him. I turned on my heels to try and go around the other side of the rock, but was confronted by three additional attackers. I jumped back as a sword slashed at me then ducked a second blade that came at my head. I managed to kick one man against the rock, but then an attacker grabbed my left wrist from behind and pulled me back.

I spun around and slammed my fist into his face. He let go and I attempted to make another dash for it, but there was nowhere left to run.

More and more enemies emerged. They were appearing from behind every towering rock in the vicinity—encircling me at all angles.

Gripping my wand, I backed up slowly until I was pressed up against one of the stone pillars. The men continued to move forward and tighten their circle. I morphed my wand and pointed my spear at them defensively. To my surprise, a few of the aggressors backed up a step when I did. Maybe word of my handy work with their friends in the tunnel system had spread.

Other than the momentary ego boost, this gave me little comfort. I had been able to handle facing a few of them at a time, but now there were nine of them. And they had me surrounded on all sides. Maybe I could’ve taken five or six of them. But nine plus Arian? I was sassy, not stupid. More than anything though, I was nervous. I hadn’t seen this coming and definitely didn’t have a plan.

The only chance I had was to bide time until I had a window to jab the guy closest to me and make a run for it.

“Go ahead. Try and run,” Arian said, reading my thoughts as he joined his men. “You won’t get far.”

He took a few steps confidently toward me. I wished I had the room to take a couple more steps back.

Arian’s hair was tussled, and he had dark circles under his eyes and mud on his shoes. Yet he continued to emanate confidence. He was tired, but by no means tired out. His black eyes still shone; his stance remained strong and tall. Unlike me, he was just as comfortable now in his own skin as he’d ever been.

I didn’t know whether to worry over or envy that.

He studied my raised weapon suspiciously. While he did so, my eyes darted back and forth between him and the men on either side of me as I attempted to calculate possible escape routes.

“You might as well give up,” Arian said, interrupting my thoughts. “You’re outnumbered.”

I adjusted my stance confidently. “Yeah, but not as outmatched as you’d like,” I countered. “I can see you’ve increased your number of lackeys since the last time I saw you. What, afraid I’ll humiliate you with another implausible escape?”

“Take it down a notch, Knight,” he scoffed. “You’re lucky, not good.”

I raised my eyebrows. “More like ‘very lucky given that I’ve managed to elude you three times now’ . . . wouldn’t you say?”

The preciseness of this comment—a nearly exact quote from one of my earlier dreams about him—wiped the smirk off his face.

I could see the gears moving in his head as the familiarity of the statement rung in his ears. He momentarily paused, no doubt wondering about the coincidence of my specific wording. After all, he’d spoken the phrase in a private conversation that I shouldn’t have known anything about. Unfortunately, Arian shrugged off the peculiarity a second later and refocused on me.

“You know what,” he said, “it doesn’t matter. You’re done either way.”

He snapped his fingers and one of the henchmen brought forward a dark-colored bag I’d seen them carrying back in the cavern. Arian reached inside and pulled out a chrome shining object that I hadn’t seen in ages but was well acquainted with nonetheless.

My eyes widened. “Is that—?”

“The lamp from your school’s precious shrine? It is.”

Aladdin’s formerly genie-holding lamp gleamed in Arian’s hands. No one had seen it since it disappeared from the Treasure Archives and it looked smudged and dirty, but there was no mistaking it for what it was. Which meant my theory about cloaked girl being the person who’d broken into the Archives and stolen all that stuff was accurate. Whoever she was, she had done it. And she had done it for Arian.

I felt my jaw harden and my eyes narrow.

“So how did she do it?” I asked him. “How did your friend break into the school and steal all that stuff—Aladdin’s genie lamp, Snow White’s corset, the fake magic mirror, and the enchanted pea? And while we’re on the subject, how did she even get into the school? Seriously, Arian, who is this chick? I know she’s not the great Nadia I keep hearing so much about. So who is it then? Tara?”

Arian smiled like the question posed some sort of inside joke. “No. It is not Tara,” he replied. “And it is definitely not Nadia either. I hardly think stealing a few magic trinkets from a private school is a task worthy of the queen of Alderon.”

Nadia was the queen of Alderon? I didn’t even know that kingdom had a ruler. How organized were these antagonists?

“You’ll meet her soon enough, but on her terms, not yours,” Arian continued. “As to the stolen property, Knight, I’m afraid you’re misinformed as usual. Our ally you’re referring to retrieved the mirror, the corset, and the lamp for us. But she didn’t take some stupid pea. What use could we possibly have for such an idiotic thing?”

“I don’t know, Arian. You stole a mirror, a lamp, and a corset. How should I know where you draw the line on your antagonist shopping list?”

Arian gave me an irritated look. “You think you’re pretty funny, don’t you?”

“I’ve gotten mixed reviews.”

Arian began to move toward me again. However, I had one more question to ask. It was partially to delay him, but also every inch of my being desperately wanted to know the answer.

“Wait!” I said, halting my enemy in his tracks. “Why me, Arian? Come on, you owe me that at least. You say you hunt and kill protagonists that pose a threat to you, but what makes me so special that you need to steal all that stuff from the Archives just to better your chances? You said it was my prologue prophecy, but even if that’s true and my prophecy is not what I’ve been told, how important could it be that you need to go through all this trouble?”

Arian scoffed with disdain and amusement. I wasn’t sure which bothered me more.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” he said. “You may be an interesting, unexpected wrench in our plans, Crisanta Knight, but not everything we do revolves around you. When I found out that you had magic I simply figured we could use the lamp and the mirror to kill two birds with the same stones. Of course, now that you’ve gone and destroyed the mirror, the search for our more important target has to go on as normal. You, on the other hand, will not be able to do the same—thanks to this other stupid piece of magic junk from your school, which remains intact.”

Arian gestured to the lamp.

Now it was my turn to scoff. The lamp was short and stout with an elongated spout. The entire thing was solid chrome except for a few old jewels decorating the lid—rubies so dirtied they looked like specks of crusted blood. While it may have been an important fairytale relic, nothing about it was formidable.

“In case you haven’t noticed, Arian, I’m not a genie,” I said. “And the only wish I’d ever grant you is a last wish.”

Arian gave a long, sinister chuckle. “It’s a real shame,” he commented. “All that money the commons pay in taxes to support your little protagonist private schools and you still don’t know a thing.”

“Then enlighten me,” I snapped. “What am I missing here besides a fair fight?”

“Just one basic truth, Crisanta Knight,” Arian said. “Magic lamps aren’t just for imprisoning genies. They’re meant to absorb and contain the closet magical being in the area. As long as it’s within fifteen feet, any kind of magical being will do. And that, my dear princess, is where you come in.”

Wait. Hold up. The closest magical being in the area? That’s . . .

Oh snap, that’s me!

Instinct told me to grip the staff of my spear and attack. Logic told me that I could attack as hard as I wanted, but I couldn’t rely on my strength, skill, or gumption to save me this time.

Arian was not about to give me another opportunity to escape. He removed the lid from the lamp before I could move. In the next instant a vortex constructed of swirling shades of violet and lavender—the very image that had long been troubling my dreams—shot out of the lamp.

It was unimaginably bigger and brighter than it had looked in my head, bursting out horizontally and spinning toward me like a hurricane. I tried to resist its pull but to no avail. It sucked me forward with such power and speed I never had a chance. I was yanked off my feet and into its depths.

Just as the force was about to swallow me completely I felt someone grab hold of my arm. I looked up to see who it was, but my vision had gone blurry. All I could see were the purple swirls that encased me like a futuristic cocoon.

Nevertheless, wherever this mysterious aid was coming from, for the moment it seemed to be working. It was acting as a tether—anchoring me to the outer world and keeping me from being fully absorbed into the lamp.

Just as suddenly as this help appeared though, it stopped. With one final inhale, the lamp’s vortex consumed me and my attempted rescuer in one fell swoop. The beach, the world, and everything in sight were ripped away from me. I blacked out to the sound of Arian’s evil laughter somewhere on the outside of my new prison.