“Amanda!” Cole exclaimed in worry when he found the two in the smoke.
“Don’t worry. She’s fine. She is probably in a lot of pain but…” Madgie said.
Amanda wanted to say, “Ya think?” but obeyed her orders. They never stopped their brisk almost running pace as Cole and Madgie talked.
“Well, get her out of here as quick as you can. I’ll keep scanning for him,” Cole said.
It was silent for a good while, and her lungs were on fire by the time Madgie gave her the okay to breathe again. When she took in the first gulp of fresh air, her head began to clear.
“Are you and Cole all right?” Amanda asked in a rushed breath, her eyes still closed.
“Don’t worry. We’re fine. He was searching for you in there same as me, but we had the forethought to use protective spells before running into a cloud of acid,” Madgie said.
Amanda’s brain stopped working for a second. “A cloud of acid!” she replied.
Madgie had her hands above Amanda, going over her body with healing and pain relief spells. “Yes. That was quite a nasty spell. I haven’t ever seen anything like it. It kills me that he knew a spell like that.” She paused. “Why would they teach such things at the Hovel? I mean, I’ve heard whisperings of what they did to the Guard, but still…”
Madgie was there in body, but her mind seemed a thousand miles away. Probably puzzling on all of the locked doors in the Hovel, all of the places that she, as a woman, had never been granted permission to enter. And all of the dark gossip that she hoped wasn’t true.
“Madgie?”
“Yes, child?” Madgie replied.
Amanda was terrified to ask the question, but it tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop it. “Is Carter alive?” she asked, thinking of the terrible voice calling out to her in the smoke. A moment went by then another. She peeled her eyes open to look up at her friend. “Madgie?” The old woman’s face was distraught, and she knew the answer.
Madgie took in a deep breath. “I don’t see how he could be. Look at you.” She gestured to Amanda’s clothes that had holes eaten through them. “And that was after it had dissipated. “S-B, if he’s dead, it isn’t your fault. It’s not like he was throwing a cupcake at you. You just made his actions literally blow up in his face. He’s the one who chose that awful dark spell, not you.”
She didn’t want to argue with poor Madgie.
Cole came walking out of the fumes a few moments later.
Amanda was relieved to see him until she took in the ghostly white face and dark red slime dripping from his hands. She sprang to her feet a little too fast and wobbled out of balance as she ran to him.
“What happened? are you hurt?” She went to touch him and he took a step back.
“Just give me a second,” he said in a rush. Cole took a breath and exhaled in a terrible sigh of pain.
“What is it, Cole? How can I help you?” she begged.
He knelt down on the ground and held his hand out to her.
It still dripped with the unknown goop. “I found Carter…” he said and looked down at Amanda’s hand. She followed his gaze. She had the same strange jelly on the tips of her fingers. “And so did you.” Her body convulsed with retching before her mind understood why.
She was wrapped up in Cole’s thick wool cloak, one of the few things that had escaped the acid. Her hair was still wet, and it made her shiver. Madgie had insisted that they wash up in a creek before the protective spells wore off.
“So Carter is dead,” Amanda said. It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. But Cole answered her anyway.
“Yes, he was when I found him. I tried to get him out anyway even though he couldn’t have possibly been alive. Don’t know why I even tried. He just… fell apart in my hands.” He shivered and she followed suit. “He deserved what he got. I’m glad he’s dead,” Cole said evenly.
“I didn’t mean to murder him.” Her voice cracked as she spoke.
Cole moved toward her and put his arms around her frail frame. “You didn’t murder him, Amanda. Don’t even say that! You aren’t a murderer. If he were throwing a stunning spell, it would have just knocked him out. He killed himself, and I’m glad he did. When I first saw him, I felt a stab of pity. It was like someone punched me in the stomach. I wanted him dead, but that death… it was a shock.” He looked down at her and gently cupped her face in the palm of his hand. “But then I realized that that was the death he meant for you.” His deep voice shook with anger. “He meant for that lump of flesh in the field to be you.” He pulled her closer as he continued. “Don’t you shed one tear for him, Amanda. He was consumed in darkness. Nothing good was left in him. He had nothing but evil to bring to this world.”
She felt calm in Cole’s arms but knew she wouldn’t be able to just shrug it off like he wanted her to. Shaking her head, she quickly changed the subject before her mind put together exactly what Cole meant by ‘lump of flesh.’ They did have a lot to discuss. “So, Madgie, where do we go from here?”
“I’ve told you where I think you should go and how to get there. Do you remember?” Madgie asked.
“Yes, I remember, but… aren’t you coming with me?”
Amanda didn’t like the way Madgie said that.
“Well, I do think it is best to travel together, at least until you’re healed up from your burns. I figure that should take a good week,” Madgie said, as she looked her up and down. Amanda had first and second degree burns over a good part of her body. She was looking more and more like an extra in an over-the-top cheesy horror film. Her wolf appeared by her side and plopped down next to her, resting his enormous head in her lap. She absentmindedly stroked his fur.
Cole’s resting head shot up. “Are you just going to leave her?” he asked with a hint of venom in his tone.
Amanda was taken back, but it was Madgie who spoke. “No, I’m not just going to leave her. We’re all going to leave each other.”
Cole looked like someone had slapped him across the face.
“But why would we do that, Madgie? I don’t think splitting up is a good idea.”
Maybe she regretted coming with them. Being on the run from the Ancients, unable to go back to her home, she shouldn’t have let either of them do this. So much had happened to them in such a short amount of time, and she wondered what was waiting for them in the future. When she pulled herself out of her thoughts, she saw that Madgie and Cole were in an intense argument. Well, Cole was heated anyway. Madgie sat firm and patient while he threw his hands around.
“I won’t leave her side, Madgie! You saw what just happened, didn’t you? That pales in comparison to what she has coming for her. Carter? He was one guy. They will be sending the whole Guard, no doubt. What will she do against that?”
Madgie shrugged her slender shoulders. “What will you do against that?” Madgie asked.
Cole’s face turned red in exasperation. “I’ll fight. I’ll protect her.”
“It will do her no good. There are too many to fight. The best thing to do is to try and not be found. It is harder to find one spirit among the billions on Earth than to find three. We’ll stick out like a sore thumb together. We’d be much easier to track,” Madgie said
Just before he could respond, Amanda butted in. “Hold on one second… the Ancients have a Guard, like an army?”
11
Classes had been canceled ever since Amanda and Madgie had fled, and Nell was more than a little angry with them for leaving her behind. How could they leave me here? she wondered furiously as she sat in the dining hall listening to the latest in the speaking campaign against her friends. The Hovel’s walls were splashed with Amanda’s face. Posters of anti-Amanda propaganda were strange enough, but the new presence of the Guard had turned her home into a prison. She tried to calm her thoughts, knowing they couldn’t have guessed what the Hovel would turn into in their absence.