Mare's POV
I could feel the pain throbbing in every part of me. The death of Shade, my own enslavement, and the way my power was being leached from me by Silent Stone were almost too much to bear.
Suddenly, I felt sparks humming beneath my skin. This should have been impossible, given the Silent Stone, but I welcomed the feeling. Lightning leapt out of my fingertips. Strangely enough, I wasn't in control of them this time. I just watched them form a rectangular frame that resembled a portal.
Then I realized: what if it was a portal?
I slowly picked myself up off the ground and approached the frame of electricity. In its center, it was filled with a golden shimmery light, which I reached out to touch. I giggled when it met my hand. It tickled!
I wondered what I was waiting for. I had been trapped in a cell that took away my lighting for the last eight hours. My brother, Shade, was dead. I had been forced into the role of Maven's slave, presumably for the rest of my days. But now, here was this portal (that I had no idea I could create) that could let me escape.
I didn't stop to think about where it would take me. I didn't even wonder what would happen here without me. I just swung one foot over the frame, followed by my other foot. I ducked my head into it, and then I was out of my cell and in a whole new place.
I was in a forest. Tall trees were stretching into the sky all around me and the sharp scent of pine filled my nostrils. For a second, I forgot myself, all caught up in the glorious feeling of being free. Then I looked down and was met with a shocking sight. I had somehow morphed into my thirteen-year-old self. Now it made sense that the tall trees looked so incredibly tall. I was short. Shaking my head, I pulled myself together so I could think up a plan. I had a duty: to overthrow the reign of the Silvers and bring freedom to my people. To do that, I had to escape my cell (which I had just done). There was only one way to escape that I knew of: the portal I came through just now. The problem was that I had no idea where I was. As I turned back to the portal to have a look at my old cell, I witnessed what I feared would happen: my portal was fading away. Before I could hope to reenter my world, it was gone. I sighed. I had no idea where I was, but perhaps I could create another portal. I concentrated on manipulating my lightning to create another portal, but it was to no avail. Frustrated, I slashed through the air with a bolt of lightning. That's when I heard a small gasp.
I spun around, holding a small ball of electricity in case there was an attacker. "Who's there? And where am I right now?"
A voice, distinctly female, answered me, "Right now, you're in the woods by my house. As for me-"
The girl stepped out from behind a tree. She had wild, curly, dark brown hair, and heavily lidded dark brown eyes. "I'm Bellatrix Black."