**SO sorry for the delay! I hope this chapter makes up for it. Enjoy! **
"You wanted to see me, Rhys?" asked Orne as I entered his office. The large room had walls covered with books, and Orne was floating towards the ceiling, glancing at a few thick volumes.
"Yes," I began nervously. All day I had tried to be extra attentive in my studies, hoping that my behavior would let me go, "I was thinking….that is, I was wondering if you would grant me a leave of absence…for a few days." Orne flew back down to my level, confusion in his eyes.
"For what reasons?" he asked simply.
"It's…it's Princess Addie," I finally said. I couldn't lie to him. For so long he had been my best friend. Besides, even if I wanted to lie to him, I knew that he would find out sooner or later, "I think she may be in trouble. She has left this morning to find the cure for the Gray Death. She is so helpless and I fear she may be in danger." It felt good to confide in someone with what I had been struggling with all day. Orne looked at me suspiciously, then, as he saw the fear in my eyes, he finally said,
"One would think you were falling in love with this girl." My heart sank. Everyone knew how Orne felt about love and marriage. If he knew I was in love with her, would he let me go? I opened my mouth to defend myself, but he continued, "However, I have seen how you worked today. No sorcerer could study so hard, so calmly, while his lover was fighting for her life. So I see that it is just genuine fear for this young lady's well-being, yes?"
Calmly? At no point during the day was I ever calm. I remembered the complete agony I had been in all day, forcing myself to read the text in the spell books, to not be distracted so I didn't set the citadel on fire or turn a fellow sorcerer into a duck. However, if this is what would get me to Addie, I simply nodded my head at Orne. He looked pleased.
"Very well. You may leave for a little while, to check up on her. But I need you back in the morning."
The morning? I looked out the window at the sun that was near setting. Only one night to find her? She could be anywhere! How would I know where to begin? Meryl. Addie tells her sister everything. I'm sure she told Meryl where she was planning on going first. But Bamarre castle is so far away from the citadel. It would probably take me most of the night just to get back. I said as much to Orne. Walking over to his old mahogany desk, he picked up his wand. He began to move his fingers so fast, I could barely see them. Soon, I could barely see anything. The room vanished and, for a brief moment, I was in total darkness. Then, the light began to fade in again and I found myself in my chamber at Bamarre Castle. Thank you, Orne.
I made my way to Meryl's room. As I entered, she seemed surprised.
"Rhys! We didn't expect you for a few days. Has your ceremony ended already?"
"There has been a break in the ceremony and I wished to see how you and Princess Addie fared," I explained while bowing. I thought that saying I begged a leave of absence would look strange to her, so I figured a harmless lie wouldn't hurt anyone.
"I'm doing fine, I thank you. The sleep has not come yet. I just wish Addie were here. I miss her so much." As do I, I thought.
"I was actually wondering about Princess Addie and was planning on making a trip to see how she is. Do you know which direction she would have headed?"
She thought for a minute, then said, "Before she left, she came to me for advice. I told her that, if I were the one on the quest, I would see a specter first. Whether or not she went there, I don't know. But it's a good guess." She looked unhappy as she said this, as if she wished she could help more. I smiled and bowed as I reassured her that I would find her no matter where she went, and then took my leave.
The wind blew hard on my face as I flew as fast as I possibly could towards the Mulee Forest. By the time I arrived, it was already well into the night. I wished with all of my heart that she were here, because if not, I will not be able to find her before I am summoned back to the citadel.
"Princess Addie!" I shouted through the wind as I flew over trees, "Princess Addie!" I noticed a break in the trees and I landed there. Looking around, I listened. What I was listening for, I didn't know. Perhaps the sound of her small boots crunching over the leaves. Perhaps the sound of her talking, talking to a specter. Would she be fooled? Panicked, I began flying again, shouting her name even louder.
"Princess Addie! Princess Addie!" Where are you? I stopped once again to listen. Before I was about to fly off again, I heard the sound of someone talking. Could that be her? Who else would be in this forest? I followed the sound until I reached another clearing. There was a cave with a large boulder on the side. I heard faint words coming from that direction, but I saw no one.
"Princess Addie?" I asked, unsure, "Are you here?"
I heard a voice telling me to leave, but still I saw no one. I was about to speak when I heard,
"No, wait! Don't leave, you monster. I have a question to ask you." Addie! It was her voice! But where was she? The sound came from the opening of the cave.
"Princess Addie? Is that you? I can't see you," I looked up at the trees casting a shadow on the forest and began to understand what was going on, "Are you wearing your magic cloak?"
I heard her gasp and suddenly she appeared, with the cloak in one hand. Next to her, a man appeared out of the air. No. Not a man, a specter. And he looked just like me! What if I had not arrived in time? What if she had died, thinking I had abandoned her or whatever it was that the specter had planned to do? I felt a strange ache as I thought of it. The spectral Rhys began to laugh, and I felt a flash of anger. This monster had tried to take away from me the person I treasure most in this world, and to be even crueler, he had disguised himself at me. I began to reach for my wand. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I wanted it gone, dead somehow, even though you can't kill a specter. The monster looked at my hand, which was near my wand, and it began to vanish.
"Stay," Addie said next to me, her voice shaking. I looked at her, worried, and saw that her face was white. Was she going to faint? I stepped toward her to offer my assistance.
"Stay!" she shouted, causing me to halt in my tracks, "I command you!" The color had instantly returned to her cheeks and her eyes flashed angrily as she stared at the monster. I was still stunned. Was this my shy, timid Addie?
She continued, her voice strong, "Tell me how to find the cure to the Gray Death." Remembering where I was, I looked toward the specter and snatched Addie's bag away from him. It spoke, claiming he didn't know of a cure and that only dragons and fairies do. Laughing, he bowed—mocking me—and disappeared. Good riddance.
I looked at Addie again, and she seemed unsure, her face going white again. Finally she asked how her sister fared.
"She's unchanged. No weaker." She nodded slowly. It was only then that I realized that her entire sleeve was ripped off and revealed a horrible looking bruise on her upper arm. I felt myself freeze as I thought of whatever it was that gave her that wound.
"Are you hurt? Your arm looks—"
"I'm fine," she cut in, brushing it off. Still, I was worried. "Can you cover that hole?" Reaching into my pouch, I grabbed my wand. The boulder was heavy and my power was weak, but I was able to place it over the cave entrance. By the time I was done, I was breathing hard from the exhaustion.
"This is the worst spot in the forest, I think. I found a clearing not far from here. Do you want to go there?" She nodded and I began to lead her to the clearing I had stopped at. At least there she will have the comfort of the sky above her. "Orne believes specters are beautiful," I continued, "but I think they are hideous. Any creature that steals the body of another being and leads their friends to their death does not deserve any sort of praise," I said bitterly. We had nearly approached the clearing and I calmed myself. Everything is alright now. I found Addie and she is here with me, safe, as it should always be. "The clearing should be very close. Let me see…Ah, yes, here it is."
Spinning around to face her, I saw her looking at the sky, a slight smile on my face. That made me smile in return. I was happy that, in this small way, I was able to bring her a bit of peace in the middle of this wretched forest. "I'm so glad I found you," I could barely keep the joy from my voice. As I spoke, her gaze broke away from the stars above and looked at me. The smile began to disappear, and there was something in her eyes that I had never seen before.
"How did you know where to find me?" she asked. I explained to her that Meryl had told me where to go, and when I mentioned Meryl, she began to smile at me again. However, a second later, the smile froze and she looked at me with suspicion. Did she not believe me? Without warning, she crouched onto the ground digging away layers of leaves until she reached the muddy floor. I offered my assistance in her strange task, but she ignored me. Sitting back she said, "Stand here."
I was confused, but not about to say no to her. I would do whatever she asked of me, no matter how strange it seemed. I stood on the ground she pointed at and backed away when she told me to. She looked at the ground and her face grew white once again. She looked up at me with horror in her eyes. What did I do?
"You're…you're a specter too!" she whispered, her voice cracking. A specter? Why would she think that? "You should have known better than to try to trick me twice!" She began to shout, her eyes flashing with anger. I had seen her look angry before at her father or even at the specter a few minutes ago. Every time I would notice how beautiful she looked with her face glowing and her eyes sparkling. I just never thought she would be angry at me.
Snatching her pack away from me, she sat down and began to change her boots. "So tell me what you know, creature." Her voice was stronger and louder than I had ever heard it before. "How fares my sister truly?"
"Princess Addie, I'm no specter!" I pleaded desperately, "What test did I fail?"
"You know the test, and so do I. Now you must answer my question. Tell me true, how fares my sister? Answer me, I command you!"
I had an idea. "If I don't answer you, doesn't that prove I'm no specter?" She seemed puzzled at this, but she shook her head saying,
"You proved what you were when you couldn't leave a footprint!"
I began to laugh, relieved. A footprint? "That's the trouble? I can leave a footprint, nothing easier." I put my full weight on the ground and walked toward the mud patch. It felt strange, having this force upon my legs. I tried to remember the last time I had actually walked on the ground instead of floating above it. I stepped away and, to my satisfaction, left to boot prints on the space she had cleared. Still, she doubted.
"They're the boots, not you. You're a sorcerer. You can do anything. I mean, you're a specter, and you can do anything."
I sighed. I guess there is no other way around it. I sat on the ground and began to take of my boot. "Sorcerer's feet are very ugly, very bony," I explained," I would have spared you the sight." With my foot bare, I placed my full weight on the cool mud.
She smiled at me as I stepped away, and my heart began to beat faster. She questioned my inability to produce a footprint in the first place, and I blushed as I revealed to her my secret.
"Don't tell Orne," I laughed. When I mentioned my teacher, a look passed in her eyes.
"Rhys…" she began, unsure, "Do you know…Did Orne…Was your teacher ever married?" Why would she think that?
"Did the specter tell you he had been?" Why would the specter mention a lie like that? Specters know things about us…and suddenly I began to grow uncomfortable at the thought of a specter Rhys mentioning marriage around Addie.
"To a human." She blushed, the color making her look even more beautiful. As if that were even possible.
"Orne? I doubt it. He's against sorcerers marrying." She looked down, and I wished I knew what was going through her mind. "Orne is usually taciturn, but he can talk for hours on the folly of marriage." Which is exactly why I was glad he did not know of my love for Addie.
She changed the subject, telling me of a tale the specter had told her of a dwarf ring that would heal any royalty. I told her there was a ring, but it only worked for the dwarves, and would not help her quest. She then asked what would have happened to her if I didn't arrive in time.
"Would the specter have sealed me in with a boulder?"
"I don't think so. That wouldn't be the specters' way. More likely the tunnel would have looked as it should have for a while, but then it would have branched—"
"And I wouldn't have known which way to go," she whispered, horror in her voice, "I would have turned to call back for advice, and I would have seen more tunnels and no one to…" her voice broke off and she took deep breaths. Again, I felt a wave of anger at the monster and its cruelty.
She changed the subject again, describing her encounter with an ogre before she arrived at the Mulee. She described her interesting battle, consisting of dragging an ogre into the wall of a tower, which explained the bruise on her arm. I bowed and congratulated her. Suddenly, I had an idea.
"Addie…Princess Addie…" I cursed myself for the slip. She smiled slightly, however, and said,
"You may call me Addie, without my title. I don't mind."
I nodded, still embarrassed of my mistake. "Thank you Prin—thank you, Addie." I smiled. It felt so good to speak her name out loud. "At the citadel yesterday I worked on something for you, something to impress and astonish you." All of those hours of intense studying hadn't kept my mind off of her. I had been working on more advanced shaping of clouds, and I couldn't help myself. She agreed to see it. I took out my baton and drew down a cloud; shaping it into a moon and making it glow.
"Could I…Might I touch it?" I smiled at her eagerness.
"Go ahead." She approached the cloud and patted it lightly.
"It tingles. And it's springy. I like it. It's lovely." I smiled; glad to have made her happy in some way. She pushed her whole hand in and laughed at the feeling.
When she withdrew her hand, I began to shift more clouds into a scene—the castle courtyard where Meryl had declaimed for me, where I had given Addie my cloak. Soon, Addie, in the form of a cloud, began to sit on the bench. The Addie next to me gasped. I had spent hours perfecting the Addie cloud. However, no longer how long I spent on it, I couldn't make it look as beautiful as the original. I then formed myself out of a cloud. Everything was correct, except my chin. I hadn't had enough time to perfect that part. Soon, cloud Rhys began to fly away with Addie in his arms. My heart tugged uncomfortably inside of my chest. How I wish it were real.
When the clouds had disappeared I asked, "Did you like it?" Maybe I had been to forward. What would she think of the image of me carrying her in my arms?
"It was glorious!" she exclaimed, to my relief. I smiled. "Let's leave the Mulee now." She began to put on her magic boots.
"You don't need those," I said, an idea forming in my head, "I can fly you out!"
She looked uneasy, but I couldn't stop myself. "Flying is the nicest—I can show you how the wind feels, and you can touch more clouds." The thought of carrying Addie the way the cloud Rhys did set my heart racing. She began to smile.
"Don't fly me over the moon or around the sun." I laughed.
"I won't. I promise. Which way are you heading?"
"West." I approached her quickly, eager to have her in my arms. Reaching down, I placed my right arm under her knees and my left behind her back. I stood there for a few seconds, enjoying the feeling of just having her there with me. She blushed, looking down, and I fought a strong urge to kiss her.
Finally, I said, "We'll leave the Mulee the quick way." I began to fly above the trees, but not much higher than that. I didn't want to frighten her. After a few minutes, I felt her arms around my shoulders tighten, and she leaned her head against my chest. My heart began to beat faster, my stomach made weird flips, and it felt like my whole body was on fire. I asked her if she felt my sorcerer's flame, which burns just above my breastbone.
"Yes, I feel it." I heard her murmur into my cloak. I smiled and tried to think of a time when I had ever been this happy. At last I saw the hill and the lake I would rest at whenever I would return home from King Lionel's camp. It's been a while since I had been here. The last time I was here, I imagined what it would be like to bring Addie. And now here she was, beside me. I smiled widely.
"Thank you for setting me down here," she said after we had landed.
I bowed, and she shuddered.
"I suppose a specter would be able to mimic me as completely as it mimicked you."
I laughed. "I'm not sure. It wouldn't know whether to be the timid Addie or the Addie who tosses ogres to their fate and orders specters to do her bidding."
She shook her head, smiling. "I was terrified both times."
"You managed nonetheless." Suddenly, as I saw the sun rising in the horizon, I remembered what Orne had said, "I have to leave you in a few minutes. Where are you going next?"
"To the desert to find a dragon."
"A dragon!" How could she defeat a dragon? Not even Drualt was able to escape from one of their lairs. However, I nodded. "You're right. A dragon is Princess Meryl's best hope. But Addie, I don't like…I wish I could…" I wish I could go with you. I wish I could pick you up and fly you to somewhere safe. I wish….But none of this wishing is going to help her. "I know something about dragons, something more than humans know." I crouched next to her and continued, "They're solitary. The dislike other dragons and hate all other creatures. Yet they are lonely and they enjoy conversation. It's why they spin out the deaths of their human victims," I thought of Addie being captured and I shuddered, "If you're captured you must keep the dragon entertained."
"What entertains them?"
"I suppose…" Rhys. No. No not yet! Just a little more time, Orne, please! "They're calling me, and I won't be able to leave again."
"When will it end?" she asked, her eyes sad. How I wished I could stay with her.
"The final event is in six days. Dragons' bellies aren't their only tender spot. They can be hurt through the undersides of their claws and through their ears." I stood and the world got blurry once again. I wished her well, but I wasn't even sure if she could see me anymore, let alone hear me.
I memorized every feature of her beautiful face as the world got more and more unclear.
"I love you," I whispered. The words echoed around me as the light began to fade.
As I stood in total blackness for a brief moment, I prayed with all of my heart, all of my soul, that I will see my Addie again.