XVIII

After a Month, Everwood, Oria

Her lesson having concluded early, Kara found herself drifting down a quiet corridor of the base. In the peaceful solitude, her thoughts inevitably returned to Earth. She wondered if the police were still searching for her, if her mother was frantic with worry. A month had passed since she’d left—her mom must be losing her mind. Yet, as she tried to conjure her mother's face, the memories felt hazy and distant, almost surreal.

"KARA! LOOK OUT!"

Lyra’s shout shattered her reverie. Kara’s head snapped up to see a massive ball of fire roaring down the hallway toward her. Gritting her teeth, she focused her will, directing her Aetheric power at the spell. With a soft pop, the fireball winked out of existence.

Skidding to a halt, Lyra caught her breath after chasing down her errant spell. "Ooh, look at me! I'm an all-powerful Aether Mage!" she teased, her voice laced with laughter. A smirk touched Kara’s lips. In a fluid motion, she lifted her sister into the air with her power, bouncing her gently between invisible fields of force.

Lyra’s playful shrieks drew a small crowd of onlookers. Winking at Elisia and Haelia, who had joined the spectators, Kara retorted, "Had enough, loser?"

"I'm just getting started!" Lyra shot back. She deftly lowered herself to the ground and summoned a volley of six fiery spears. A collective gasp rippled through the audience as Kara, with a flick of her wrists, drew water from the flowers in nearby vases, extinguishing the flames. As a final flourish, she wove the damp blossoms into a collar and leash, which she playfully draped around Lyra’s neck.

"A perfect accessory for a stray," Kara declared. Lyra narrowed her eyes. With a single touch, she set the floral collar ablaze. The mock battle over, she huffed and stomped away through the thinning crowd.

"There she goes again," Elisia murmured as Kara rejoined them. Beside her, Haelia nodded, her fox-like ears drooping slightly.

"Come on," Kara groaned. "We'd better find her before she misses our next class."

Over the past month, the four roommates had grown remarkably close, though they rarely spoke of their pasts. Kara and Lyra never mentioned Earth, and Elisia and Haelia were equally evasive about their lives before Everwood. All Kara knew was that Haelia was a Kitsune from a distant tribe. Elisia, however, was an enigma. Her ears were just a little too pointed to be human, her ability to converse with all living things—plants, water, even the wind—was unheard of. Haken had once remarked that only the Fae possessed such gifts, but he’d also said they were all but extinct. The topic had clearly unsettled Elisia.

Spotting her sister near the gardens, Kara waved the others on. As she and Elisia turned back toward their chambers, Haelia glanced at the chrono-sphere Reya had given her. "I'm late!" she yelped, before vanishing down the corridor in a whirl of glittering light.

Elisia smiled warmly after her. "You gotta love her," she said, more to herself than to Kara. She strolled to the entrance of the base and, ensuring no officials were present, leaped from the heights of Everwood, forgoing the stairs. The forest below always soothed her, and she treasured these moments of solitude. She found a smooth, flat rock in the middle of a shallow stream and settled onto it. Her thoughts drifted to a childhood friend, a soldier's son named Dalton. They had been inseparable for years, right up until the day he vanished. Then the scientists had come.

A chill traced its way down her spine. She pushed the memories away, refusing to dwell on the pain of her youth. Her fingers unconsciously brushed over her shoulders, tracing the raw, mangled scars that marred the skin where her shoulder blades met her back. She had joined the Sentinels for two reasons: to protect herself, and to seek vengeance for her people. That was all that mattered.

The sharp snap of a twig startled her from her thoughts. She dropped into a crouch, her senses on high alert. Six Arakian soldiers burst through the trees. A grin spread across Elisia's face at the prospect of a fight. "Freeze!" one of them commanded. Elisia simply shook her head and braced for combat.

Meanwhile, Haelia opened her eyes to glare up at her assailants—the same clique of arrogant girls who tormented her daily. "Damn dirty beast!" one of them sneered, spitting in Haelia's face. Enraged, the Kitsune wiped the spittle on the front of the girl's expensive tunic. Channeling her fox-fire, she moved with impossible speed, a blur of motion zipping around them. Before they could even react, Haelia was gone.

She leaned against her locked door, fighting back tears. She adored her new friends, but she detested the vulnerability they evoked in her. A low growl escaped her lips as she thought of her tribe—the narrow-minded, ritual-obsessed fools who had exiled her after her family died of a fever they refused to treat with human medicine. It was after that betrayal that she had met Elisia.

Suddenly, the fox-girl stiffened, her head snapping up. She caught a scent on the wind. Frantically, she sniffed the air again and rushed to the window. The cloying magic of Arakia. And beneath it, something far more alarming: Elisia's blood.

Without a second thought, Haelia threw herself through the window, shattering the glass. Summoning her fox-fire, she shot toward the stream like a comet. Upon arriving, she saw the soldiers standing over Elisia's still form and roared, "HEY! Get away from her!"

Their attention shifted to the defiant Kitsune, and the battle was joined.

A gasp escaped Elisia as she stirred, her vision clearing just in time to see Haelia fighting alone. "Haelia!" she cried, trying to warn her of a binding spell snaking toward her. Then, time seemed to crawl. She saw Haelia turn, a fierce grin on her face as she bounded over to her.

"Ready for the fun stuff, 'Lisia?" Haelia asked, holding out her hand.

"Oh, yeah!" Elisia nodded, grasping the Kitsune's hand. Time snapped back to its frantic pace.

A strange and potent energy suffused them both. As a brilliant light erupted from their joined hands, Haelia heard her mother's voice reciting the ancient Wind Prayer of the Kitsune, while Elisia heard her own mother's favorite saying: "Even the oldest tree in the forest began as a tiny seed."

A smile touched Elisia's lips as she touched the ground, and the very earth trembled. Haelia unleashed a powerful gale. They attacked in unison. Haelia's wind sent the soldiers tumbling like rag dolls, while Elisia's Terra spell crushed the remaining warriors beneath massive boulders.

When the last soldier had fallen, the two girls stood gasping for breath. Then, Haelia let out a whoop of delight and threw her arms around a giggling Elisia. "We won!"

At that moment, the recently quarreling twins jogged out from the trees. "Good to see you two in one piece," Kara remarked dryly, her eyes taking in their torn clothes and bruised skin.

"Yeah, well," Elisia said, rubbing the back of her neck. "We had a bit of a run-in with some Arakians."

As she spoke, Kara's amulet drifted up from her neck. Two of its symbols began to glow: a yellow spiral and a small green leaf. Gale and Terra.

"Aha! I knew it," said Lyra, a knowing look on her face.

The realization struck them all at once. They were Fated Mages, too. Elisia smiled. "Well, that certainly explains the weird powers."

The Kitsune simply chuckled, skipping past them as they all started back toward the base. Kara watched the joyful group, a genuine grin spreading across her face. Here, in Oria, she felt the stirrings of a bright new beginning. She knew, with unshakeable certainty, that with her friends and her ever-dependable sister by her side, she could face anything.