throat raw with effort, trying to reach through the gusting void to whatever had spoken. “Can’t hear. Please help, it hurts!”
The talking stopped. The wailing wind and painful rumbling continued. Her insides rattled as if her ribcage had been hollowed out and filled with marbles. She thought she might throw up.
The feeling of hands grabbing her forced out a harsh scream. Then, like slamming a door on a windy day, the tearing air stopped and the world became solid. Her skin still tingled right to her fingertips but the pain had gone, replaced by burning in her chest. Panic crawled up her back, tugging at her with icy fingers.
Stop. Look. Feel, she ordered herself, attempting slow breaths.
Her eyes stung as they opened. Dark hair hung around her face, curtaining her vision. She lay on the ground, face down. Had she fallen? Her body hurt all over, so maybe she had. Old blackened leaves spread in front of her eyes and the smell of dirt and rot added to her lingering nausea. Sharp twigs poked through her jeans. She spat soil from her mouth.
That other voice spoke again. “By the fae, what has happened? Can you hear me now?” It was a girl’s voice, young, like her own. A strange accent made it curiously elegant and musical. The tremor of fear in it only made it more so.
Fighting the weakness in her body, she nodded to the voice and managed to roll over. She propped herself up on her elbows and looked out into a twilit forest of wild briars and giant trees. Beside her, another girl crouched on the ground; plump but strikingly pretty, with skin and hair so pale it was almost white against the shadowed woods. The long hair tumbled all around the stranger, making her look like a beautiful, scared ghost.
Their breathing matched each other’s; fast, labored, scared out of their minds. An intense frown of thought and calculation marred Ghost-girl’s face, the look of a mind weighing options, assessing risks, looking for answers. In her own head she could feel nothing but the fractures of stress upon her sanity.
She stared at Ghost-girl, hoping for some recognition. No name came to her, but she felt a strange connection to the pale girl, almost a physical attraction. She wondered what it could mean and coughed out a giggle, hysteria rising. This didn’t seem like the time to be questioning her sexuality. Her thoughts scattered in all directions, racing frantically, searching for answers to the growing crowd of questions. Every one drew a blank.
“Alward?” Ghost-girl called out into the trees. “Alward? Oh no, he didn’t make it through.” Wide green eyes, shadowed and full of fear, darted from the surrounding woods back onto her. “I’m not where I ought to be. Did you do this, did you bring me here? Was it magic of yours? How did you come to be caught within my Veil door?”
She could only gape at Ghost-girl. Magic? Is that why my skin’s tingling like this? But magic’s not real. She wasn’t sure she could say just now what was or wasn’t real, but the accusations confused and stung. She was sure she hadn’t done any bringing. There must have been some kind of accident, she thought, feeling like the victim of something. She worked hard to find words again. “What...” She paused. So many questions, where to start? “What happened?”
Ghost-girl looked at her with a wary frown. “You don’t know? Please, it is important you tell me the truth. If you are a caster of unauthorized magic, know I’m not an enemy.” She made a complex hand gesture. When no response came, the girl’s frown turned from wary to scared. She gasped and spoke as though to herself. “Unless... no, you couldn’t be one of Thayl’s wizard hunters?”
“Whose what hunters?” Her words slurred. “Was there an accident? Shouldn’t we get help?” She sat up and brushed hair from her face, wincing when she touched a tender area under her eye.
“You are hurt, but I don’t know how, I don’t...” Ghost-girl’s voice
The talking stopped. The wailing wind and painful rumbling continued. Her insides rattled as if her ribcage had been hollowed out and filled with marbles. She thought she might throw up.
The feeling of hands grabbing her forced out a harsh scream. Then, like slamming a door on a windy day, the tearing air stopped and the world became solid. Her skin still tingled right to her fingertips but the pain had gone, replaced by burning in her chest. Panic crawled up her back, tugging at her with icy fingers.
Stop. Look. Feel, she ordered herself, attempting slow breaths.
Her eyes stung as they opened. Dark hair hung around her face, curtaining her vision. She lay on the ground, face down. Had she fallen? Her body hurt all over, so maybe she had. Old blackened leaves spread in front of her eyes and the smell of dirt and rot added to her lingering nausea. Sharp twigs poked through her jeans. She spat soil from her mouth.
That other voice spoke again. “By the fae, what has happened? Can you hear me now?” It was a girl’s voice, young, like her own. A strange accent made it curiously elegant and musical. The tremor of fear in it only made it more so.
Fighting the weakness in her body, she nodded to the voice and managed to roll over. She propped herself up on her elbows and looked out into a twilit forest of wild briars and giant trees. Beside her, another girl crouched on the ground; plump but strikingly pretty, with skin and hair so pale it was almost white against the shadowed woods. The long hair tumbled all around the stranger, making her look like a beautiful, scared ghost.
Their breathing matched each other’s; fast, labored, scared out of their minds. An intense frown of thought and calculation marred Ghost-girl’s face, the look of a mind weighing options, assessing risks, looking for answers. In her own head she could feel nothing but the fractures of stress upon her sanity.
She stared at Ghost-girl, hoping for some recognition. No name came to her, but she felt a strange connection to the pale girl, almost a physical attraction. She wondered what it could mean and coughed out a giggle, hysteria rising. This didn’t seem like the time to be questioning her sexuality. Her thoughts scattered in all directions, racing frantically, searching for answers to the growing crowd of questions. Every one drew a blank.
“Alward?” Ghost-girl called out into the trees. “Alward? Oh no, he didn’t make it through.” Wide green eyes, shadowed and full of fear, darted from the surrounding woods back onto her. “I’m not where I ought to be. Did you do this, did you bring me here? Was it magic of yours? How did you come to be caught within my Veil door?”
She could only gape at Ghost-girl. Magic? Is that why my skin’s tingling like this? But magic’s not real. She wasn’t sure she could say just now what was or wasn’t real, but the accusations confused and stung. She was sure she hadn’t done any bringing. There must have been some kind of accident, she thought, feeling like the victim of something. She worked hard to find words again. “What...” She paused. So many questions, where to start? “What happened?”
Ghost-girl looked at her with a wary frown. “You don’t know? Please, it is important you tell me the truth. If you are a caster of unauthorized magic, know I’m not an enemy.” She made a complex hand gesture. When no response came, the girl’s frown turned from wary to scared. She gasped and spoke as though to herself. “Unless... no, you couldn’t be one of Thayl’s wizard hunters?”
“Whose what hunters?” Her words slurred. “Was there an accident? Shouldn’t we get help?” She sat up and brushed hair from her face, wincing when she touched a tender area under her eye.
“You are hurt, but I don’t know how, I don’t...” Ghost-girl’s voice
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