Chapter 1

I slowly opened my eyes. The room was dark, and the few candles forming the points of a pentagram on the ground didn’t give enough light to scatter it. Alena sat before me on the stone floor, surrounded by empty vials and strewn crystals, weeping quietly.

She looked smaller and more fragile than I remembered. Her ash-coloured hair covered her face, and I wondered if her eyes really looked like the sea after a storm, as I remembered them to. She was barefoot and wore a short, loose tunic of a colour that matched her hair.

Even in the darkness, seeing the minute details overcame me, and momentarily, I closed my eyes. Still, it did not stop me from hearing her sobs echoing in the empty chamber. I had never expected that her world would feel so…intense, but it was too late to turn back. I dared to open my eyes again, and my gaze met hers, and she gasped.

“M-Mia?”

She wrapped her arms around her, shivering from the cold and exhaustion.

“Mia…?”

She slowly got up and took a few cautious steps towards me, staring at me with disbelief. I tried to lift my arm, but it took such effort to go against the resistance of the wooden joints that it collapsed, and my hand slammed against my thigh.

“Mia!”

She rushed to me, then hesitated for a moment before briefly touching my face. I watched her, and she stepped back and let her gaze fall to the ground.

“I am sorry”, she whispered. “I should have asked you first.”

I wanted to say something, but my rigid body only squeaked when I opened my mouth.

“Mia..?”

She peered up at me, confused.

“What happened?”

I tried to tell her that I was fine, but only a creaking noise escaped my mouth.

“Mia…”

She glanced at her feet.

“I... I am sorry” she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I.. I must have cast it wrong…”

Her body sank under the realisation of her failure, and she turned away and stared into the room, composing herself before facing me once more. I stared into her stormy eyes, but she averted her gaze.

“I will undo the spell and set you free.”

Her voice quivered as she said it, and those words brought more tears into her already troubled eyes.

“You deserved better… I am sorry.”

She began to draw a circle around me, and I watched as the lines materialised from her trembling hand. Did I want to go back? I wasn’t sure. If only I could ask her why she had summoned me in the first place, I could leave now, but my inert body didn’t let me.

She lit the candles and then halted before me, her eyes low.

“I will send you back home, it will be okay. I am sorry, I just wanted….”

She shook her head and wiped the tears that rolled down her cheeks. I peered at her, hoping she would continue, but she didn’t. Instead, she stepped closer and put her hand on my shoulder.

“Goodbye, Mia.”

Her touch stirred something in me, and even if I couldn’t name it, it felt full of meaning.

I looked into her mournful eyes and smiled. She stepped back, turned her gaze away and began to chant her incantation. The room filled with a wave of elemental magic that danced between the shadows, illuminating the empty chamber. No, I didn't want to go. Not yet.

I tried to stand up, but my stiff body didn’t generate enough force to lift me, and I stumbled forward and fell to the hard stone floor.

Alena rushed over to me, kneeling by my side.

“Don’t be afraid.. I will send you back home.”

She put a hand on me, “It will be okay.”

I looked at her, but she wouldn’t meet my eyes, and instead gently lifted me from the floor.

“You are heavy, Mia”, she whispered, holding me in her arms.

I tried to help her and forced my wooden joints to wrap my arms around her, but I was too slow. When my palms finally met behind her back, she had already placed me on the chair I had fallen from. She must have understood my gesture, all the same, because a soft smile appeared on her face.

“Thank you, Mia.”

She tried to step back, but I wouldn’t let her, and instead continued to hold her close.

“Mia..?”

She looked at me with her stormy eyes, and I met her gaze and tried to smile. She looked away, and her voice quivered as she spoke.

“It didn’t work, Mia… You shouldn’t be like this.”

She shook her head.

“I will send you home…okay?”

How could I tell her I didn't want to return? How could I tell her that I wanted to know why she had been so intent on casting the spell? My wooden body didn’t let me speak, so I held on to her, hoping it would be enough for her to understand what I wanted.

She tried to pull back and break my hold, but she must have hesitated because she didn’t leave, even if I was sure that she could easily have set herself free had she wanted to.

“Mia..”

She put her hand on my shoulder.

“Why…?”

Her eyes filled with tears once more.

“I was so selfish to cast this spell. Why do you want to stay…?”

I wished I could have answered her, but was my wanting to know why she had done it the only reason, or had I got attached to her more than I expected? I didn’t know any longer.

“Mia…”

A quiet sob escaped her mouth, and she wrapped her arms around me.

“I will take care of you.”

She tried to smile through the tears and then carefully picked me up. I wish I could help her as she carried me through the room and climbed the staircase, taking one careful step after another.

She was exhausted once we emerged from the basement, panting heavily and leaning against the wall. But she refused to put me down and carried me to the sofa and gently put me down.

“This is your home now, Mia”, she said softly and collapsed on the chair.