Lone Searcher

Anna looked back, wanting to rush to help Clara but the earth continued to shift, slowly drawing them both downhill, ever closer to the gully’s edge.

“Mom! MOM!”

Anna clung desperately to a chunk of road that quickly collapsed between her arms, leaving her with nothing to hold onto.

‘Please please please,’ Anna begged.

Slowly the shifting earth came to an uncertain stop.

“Anna! Mom!”

“I know, I know,” Anna yelled uphill. She looked back. Clara’s forearm poked out from the mound of loose earth.

“She is buried alive!”

“Just stay put! It’s too unstable!”

Anna released her purchase and slid on her belly down to Clara’s position.

Clara did not move.

“Clara! Stay with us!” Anna dug feverishly with both hands.

Clara called weakly from beneath the earth.

“Hold on!”

Bits of cold grit, wet earth, and sharp pebbles packed underneath Anna’s fingernails as she clawed frantically at the soil. For every few handfuls she pulled away, more slumped back in. “Clara! Fight!” Her right shoulder ached intensely. She powered through, ignoring the pain.

Anna’s hands caught hold of Clara’s shoulder. She hooked her aching, cold, numb fingers around it and pulled with all her might.

Clara’s head broke through the surface.

She coughed violently, spitting mud, then retched twice.

After several gasps of air, she started sobbing in relief.

“You’re okay, you’re okay,” Anna said soothingly.

Clara’s frantic breaths slowed. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“We’re not quite out of this yet,” Anna replied, resuming her digging though slower as the adrenaline ebbed from her body. Things seemed stable, for now, but the occasional small stone rolling downhill warned her that the slope could give way further at any time.

“I am coming down,” Clayton called from relative safety higher up.

Clara coughed, trying to shout, but couldn’t quite get the words out.

“Don’t you dare!” shouted Anna.

Clara nodded in agreement.

Eyeing the pitch of the slope and how unstable the soil looked between them and Clayton, Anna was uncertain they could climb up safely without help. There was a decent chance the attempt could result in sliding further downhill and over the edge. “Stay where it’s safe and try to find something to throw down to us!”

“On it!”

Anna and Clara quickly dug together.

Clayton searched frantically above the pair, finding a thick tree root exposed by the slide. He grabbed it and hauled as much of its length free from the softened earth as he could, stopping where it remained firmly anchored uphill. The thinner section on the downhill end snapped, leaving him with roughly ten feet of exposed root. One glance told him it still would not be enough.

“I found a root, but it is too short!”

Clara wriggled her way out of the rest of her burial mound, grabbing hold of Anna for support to avoid sliding down the slope in her weakened state. Beneath them both the earth was slowly buckling.

“Tie the pall to it!” yelled Anna.

Clayton hastily opened Anna’s bundle, pulling the pall free and twisting one end up into a thick length of cloth. He wrapped it around the thinner end of the root and tied a knot. He tested it.

The knot slipped loose.

The ground beneath the pair shifted again, their knees sinking into the softening soil.

“Hurry!”

Clayton made another knot.

It held.

He hurled the makeshift rope downhill, the pall fluttering in the air before landing unceremoniously atop Anna’s head. She ignored the irony of the moment, yanking it down and tucking it under her arm.

“When I say pull, you give steady pressure!” With one hand wrapped around Clara’s side and the other gripping the pall, Anna shouted the command.

“Pull!”

As Clayton kept the makeshift rope taut, Anna started the climb, Clara helping as best as she could. Slowly they made progress uphill as their feet sank into the soft earth. With each step the ground around their feet fell away in clumps, sliding downhill. Some stopped on their own, others kept going until they tumbled over the edge.

“What about the driver? … Astra?” Clara asked weakly.

“We’ll figure it out once we get to safety.”

As the pair crested the slope, they fell onto their knees atop the road’s narrow sliver of shoulder. Clayton took hold of Clara, helping her to her feet and leading her to farther up the road to safety. Anna rested a moment, turning to look downhill, searching for any sign of the wagon.

‘I’ll … go.’ The stylus’ typical sarcasm was gone, replaced by solemn determination.

‘I should help you.’

‘Can you levitate? … No. As long as you still have me, move.’

Anna reached down to touch the cloth pouch tied to her belt. She could feel the hard length of the stylus within. “I still do.”

‘Go then.’

A brief chill passed through her as the apparition manifested and wordlessly floated away, hovering down the slope, reaching the edge, then dropping out of view.

Anna slowly struggled to her feet, knees quivering as Clayton returned. He stooped to untie the pall, folding it up, then tucking it in with the rest of Anna’s bundle. Pressing everything to his chest, he offered his other arm to her. Anna took hold of his forearm, leaning into him as they made their way up the road to where Clara sat atop a tree stump, elbows on her knees. Bent forward, stained with mud, she was visibly crying.

With the immediate danger gone, three mounted hunters returned, their expressions hard.

“What sort of death magic have you used now, witch?” demanded one angrily.

A soft exhale of exasperation escaped Anna’s lips. “I’ve done no such thing.”

“Liar. We saw your spirit go down into the gully. Explain yourself.”

“I thought it safer to search that way.” No point in trying to explain it.

“The court will be informed of this unauthorized use of magic.”

In no mood to be polite, Anna snapped back. “Wasn’t aware I needed your permission.”

He shot her a dirty look. “As long as you are in custody, you are not allowed to practice any form of witchcraft.”

“It will take some time for the spell to resolve itself. It is a threat to no one.”

“Very well. But no more.”

Anna nodded. She didn’t want to agree to anything the men had to say, but it was easier this way.

“My mother is in no shape to continue on foot,” Clayton said.

“Tough. We continue on.”

Clayton squared his shoulders. “The court will be made aware of how you treat those in custody.”

The hunter snorted. “Go right ahead, little man.”

Clara wiped her tears with her left hand. “We will make do.”

Had the two let him, Clayton appeared ready to take on all three hunters. He glared at them, jaw set. Anna wondered if he was going to turn green and Hulk out on a rampage. “I. Will. Get. The water.”

He turned and headed back down the road to carefully retrieve the waterskins. When he returned, it appeared as if he’d had enough time to calm down rather than make matters worse. He slung the waterskins over his back, held Anna’s bundle against his chest, then stood alongside Clara to help her up. Anna joined Clara on her right side, sparing her throbbing right shoulder. Between the two of them they helped Clara to her feet.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

The trio slowly made their way along the road, two riders in front, one behind.

The road rose sharply, then reached a wide spot. From the vantage point, they could look down into the gully.

There, among the broken pieces of the wagon, the apparition knelt beside Astra’s body. His hands were pressed to his face.

Anna swallowed hard, struggling to keep from crying as well.

“Just a horse,” one of the mounted hunters muttered, turning in the saddle to look down at Anna with a baffled expression.

“No,” Anna said, her voice wavering. “Twice-crowned horse royalty.”

Overhead, the sky rumbled one last time as the rain slowed, the spell subsiding, its command satisfied.

Yesterday’s death magic had at last claimed a human life.