The monster’s knife loomed in my vision. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the hilt. When I glanced up at him, he stared pensively into the forest and then back at me. He moved the knife to my back and pressed the tip between my shoulder blades.
“Release your magic into the mirror. Hurry! I will not ask again.”
Feeling caged with no options left, I reached forward until my hand connected with the glass.
Usually, the feel of the mirror’s glass warmed me and filled me with power, but now, the magic felt forced and stiff, almost as if it knew the portal I was creating was not of my own will. Closing my eyes, my heart pounded in my chest as I whispered the word to open the portal.
Blinding white light flared from the screen. As the magic appeared, another magic, dark and frightening, enveloped the mirror and me. It stole the breath from my lungs, sucking away all of my energy reserves.
My vision went black.
I tried moving my hand away from the mirror but couldn’t. The power of the starstone held me, absorbing the mirror’s magic and stealing my essence. Darkness engulfed me from the top of my head to my toes and fingertips—it wrapped me in its cocoon. I tried fighting against it, but with every attempt, the dark energy grew stronger and overpowered me.
My ears popped with the change in pressure. My body, compressed by the magic, felt as if it would burst. The sound of my beating heart boomed in my ears. I tried flexing my fingers, but even that small movement sent sharp waves of stabbing pain through my body. A headache throbbed at my temples, making even the sound of my heartbeat unbearable.
Slowly, the portal formed beneath my open hand. In my mind, I saw the destination the bloodthorn had chosen. A mountain range rose above a flat plain, and I recognized the tallest peak as Dragon Spine Mountain. The bloodthorn’s thoughts came to me, and I saw where he wanted to go—a cave atop the mountain, the entrance to the undiscovered land. He pushed me toward it, coaxing and guiding; all the while, I felt as though my body were being crushed more and more.
I couldn’t go there. There had to be a way to stop him. He would take the fairies’ stone, and I refused to let him.
In my mind, I created a wall between our thoughts, a smokescreen that kept him from seeing as I envisioned Fan’twar’s mountain instead of Dragon Spine. The dragon caves sat tall atop the highest peak, sunlight reflecting off the smooth stone, warming the world and giving it life.
That was where I would go.
I nudged the magic slightly, and to my surprise, it obeyed. But as I moved closer to my stepfather’s chambers, my thoughts were clouded out, and again I saw Dragon Spine Mountain. The bloodthorn’s thoughts overpowered mine, so strong I couldn’t fight against them.
The land below us came into sharp detail. The pixie lands weren’t far away, but we moved away from them, farther and farther, rushing hundreds of miles in a blink until we floated near a cave atop the mountain.
Inky black magic came from the cave, filling me with dread. I wasn’t prepared for this. The bloodthorn’s thoughts overwhelmed my own until fighting against him became impossible. The crushing pressure grew stronger the more I resisted. The bloodthorn held me, mind and body, and I had no way to fight back. Bound together, we hurtled toward the cave, its taint growing stronger the closer we got.
A gunshot came from outside the portal.
The bloodthorn stumbled. Our link was broken.
I collapsed onto the ground, tears leaking down my cheeks, warm and wet. I tasted their saltiness on my tongue as footsteps pounded the ground around me.
As my consciousness fully returned, the full force of the pain caused by the portal’s pressure came into focus. I curled into a ball on the ground, fighting the urge to vomit. My insides felt as if they’d been crushed, and my head felt like it had been replaced with an anvil. The smallest movement made the pain increase tenfold.
I barely registered the commotion happening around me. Police officers, Brent, the Wults—what were they all doing here?
Police surrounded the monster, and the beast lashed out, his movements unnaturally fast as he cut down one officer and then another. Blood dripped from a wound at his side, but despite the injury, he fought without holding back. The Wults moved in with weapons drawn, but they were no match for the creature of darkness, either. His magic was unbelievably strong. It surrounded him, thick and viscous, so potent he only had to think a magical word and the power reacted. I wanted to tell the Wults to back away and stop confronting him, but I watched helplessly as they battled the beast, not able to move or speak after being completely drained of energy.
Brodnik and Rolf both fell back, screaming. The fairy prince and princess moved forward, but their magic could do nothing against him. With sickening horror, I realized they all would die. None of them stood a chance against the bloodthorn.
Sunlight pierced my eyes, reflecting off something in front of me. Focusing on the glint of light, I discovered my mirror box on the ground nearby. Thoughts came to me in a slow, jumbled haze. If I created a portal, I could escape and save myself, but how would I save the others?
Slowly, I reached for the mirror, and even that small movement sent fire through my nerve endings. Gasping, I crawled closer, but my mirror was still out of reach.
Someone loomed over me. The fairy prince knelt beside me.
“Olive,” he said, his face ashen as he looked at me. “What did he do to you?”
“Help,” I managed to gasp. “The mirror… a portal.”
“You need your mirror?”
“Yes. To escape!”
His eyes grew wide as he understood what I was trying to do.
