Here's chapter three! Please enjoy!

Cedric arrived on his sweating, shaking flying horse, and he didn't even spare a 'thank you' as he bolted for the door. Storm understood, though, and the horse hurried to get water in the stable trough, telling the sorcerer to be careful, that something felt off. Cedric agreed.

The grounds of Royal Prep were eerily silent and still. Usually before an event, there were people milling about, even as dinner was being announced, but today there was nobody. Cedric's frantic mind was still beating against the shield that had slammed between his mind and Sofia's. He couldn't feel her at all. He hadn't been alone, so truly alone, in such a long, long time—over six years—and it terrified him.

Because the magic that linked them was from the same source, they couldn't block each other completely. They always had some awareness of the other's thoughts and feelings, and if anybody asked, they could immediately locate them. Cedric knew for a fact that he had been talking to Sofia while she was waiting for Trenton in the third study down the library hallway in Royal Prep in the advanced student wing. But then that shield had broken their contact. Sofia would never block him like that, and in fact she couldn't. So that meant something terrible had happened.

He had run screaming to the stable, scaring the castle staff to the point that Baileywick was called. The steward had sprinted out, demanding to know what was wrong. Cedric swept him aside and mounted Storm, shouting that something was deathly wrong with Sofia and that he had to go now. Baileywick, who was much sharper than any of the royal family when it came to relationships and had noticed how close they were—"We're just friends, Baileywick. Just friends, I swear."—called for him to hurry and help as much as he could even as Storm took off in a hurry.

The twin amulets gave both of them the same blessings whenever one earned it, so Cedric had long been able to talk to all animals, not just Wormwood. And when Storm wouldn't stop asking what was wrong, he swore at him and called him a slow jackass. The flying horse became alarmed that Cedric, who had grown to be the kindest man anywhere, had said such things, so he knew that it was imperative for him to get to Royal Prep quickly.

Cedric burst through the door to find an empty hallway. He sprinted for the study and came in to find empty potion vials shattered all over the floor, the splintered pieces of door, a smashed box that should have been able to withstand almost anything in their world, and a pool of blood mixed with what looked to be ink from a broken inkwell that was pouring all over the desk. But Sofia was nowhere.

He ran from room to room, looking for any sign of his best friend. He began to panic until he ran into one of the headmistresses. Literally.

"Sofia!" he gasped frantically. "Where is Sofia?!"

The blue fairy grasped his hand and flew off, dragging him behind her. He began to sprint and he was suddenly flung into a medical room, where King Roland, Queen Miranda, Princess Amber, and Prince James sat beside a bed. Sofia was in it, and his first thought was that she was alive! Then he saw the ugly black tones in her skin, and her eyes were glowing purple. She was frantically rocking back and forth, clutching her mouth and looking as if she might erupt at any moment.

"Shadowling poison?!" he demanded without a thought.

"You know what's wrong?" Roland asked, hope in his eyes.

"Shadowling poison," he repeated, slowly approaching. "Where was she bitten? Or was she scratched?"

"She won't let anybody touch her," Miranda whispered. "We barely got her here."

"I think I know how to help, but you must leave the room."

"Why?" the blue fairy asked.

"I have to get as much poison out as possible. I need to get to her bite. If you give us privacy, she won't be as embarrassed when she comes out of this. Please, trust me."

"I do," Roland said, and he truly meant it. Their relationship had come so far, especially since he has seen how his younger self had treated Cedric's younger self. "Take care of her, Cedric. Everybody else out."

"Even me?" the doctor asked.

"Please," Cedric answered, giving a stiff little bow.

The room was emptied and the door shut firmly. The sorcerer approached his friend, sitting on the bed.

"Where's the bite?"

Sofia grunted and moved one hand to gesture toward her mouth, which was still covered by the other hand, her expression frightened.

"Cursing?"

She nodded desperately, so Cedric sent out enough magic to soundproof the whole room.

"There you are. Let me have it."

A vicious volley of swear words later, Sofia lay back and showed Cedric her blood-and-poison-stained side, muttering obscenities and glaring at him. He tapped her head and she was immediately changed into a pair of pants and a shirt that was open on the right side to help him tend to her. He made a piece of leather appear.

"Put this between your teeth, that's a good girl. Bite it as hard as you need to. This is going to hurt."

Half an hour passed before the excess poison was out of her system. He bandaged her middle, fixed her shirt to completely cover her then walked to the door.

"The poison is out," he said after opening it. "I do believe you need to tend to her hands, doctor. They look bad."

The girl's family rushed in and sat around Sofia, who placed her hands back over her mouth. Her eyes were still glowing purple, as they would be for several hours, no doubt, so she cursed and slandered much easier. One hand was tended while the other was glued to her lips then they were switched out. Cedric sat to the side and tried to pretend to be calm. He could see she was going to be alright, but he couldn't feel it. And what he did feel was nervousness.

Something, he wasn't sure what, was wrong. They were too calm, and none of them were talking about what had happened. They acted like Sofia's Shadowling poisoning was normal, that her refusing to talk was normal, and that was wrong. He felt it, like an itch he couldn't scratch, like the faintest scent of something he recognized but couldn't place. He had felt whatever it was before, but it was only the shadow of a memory, something he'd pushed out of his mind until it had faded with disuse. He felt calm, as if all his cares were floating away, and part of him wanted it. He violently shoved away that part of his mind, cursing it.

After a few minutes of fighting with the sensation before winning the battle, he demanded information. He was taken aside by the three headmistresses, who filled him in on Sofia's odd behavior, including screaming for him. He listened without a word, confused until the green one said something about her shouting that somebody was going to kill her.

"Who? Do you remember who?" Cedric pressed.

"Thrones?" the pink one asked the others.

Ice settled in the man's veins as the memory was suddenly so sharp that it hurt, and he whispered, "Thorn. Thorn is what she said, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's it! Who is…"

All three fairies sank to the floor at the look on the sorcerer's face. Their expressions suddenly shifted, a small but noticeable difference, and they smiled dreamily, as if all the trouble in the world was gone.

"We need all the magic users together as fast as possible," Cedric ordered, his pulse speeding up as fear settled like a weight in his gut.

"Oh, our wands don't work anymore," the pink one said cheerfully, her eyes clouded over. "Nobody's wands work. Nobody has magic here except the Great Shadow."

The room seemed to freeze as they giggled. He turned to see Sofia fearfully staring at him, her hands still clamped over her mouth. Roland, Miranda, Amber, and James were all smiling blankly, just like the fairies, and the doctor picked up a knife, creeping toward Sofia.

"I'm just going to maim her," he stated, as if it were the most normal, sane thing to say.

"Run!" Cedric barked, lunging at the man and shoving him aside.

The girl was surprisingly nimble despite her wounds. They sprinted down the halls, laughter the only thing echoing in their minds. They couldn't think as they sprinted out of the school and onto the lawn. Footsteps sounded behind them, and lots of them. As soon as they were twenty feet from the building, they had to make a sharp left toward the ball field because of a swarm of sorcerers who were standing there to block their way.

"We're being herded!" Cedric panted as they ran.

"What do we do?!" Sofia sobbed, letting out a few curses.

"I don't know!" was the frightened reply.

They ran out of space in the ball field, and a crowd of people surrounded the edges, two thick so that they couldn't just break through. All the students were in the stands, cheering loudly for Thorn. Then, quite suddenly, the Great Shadow came out, and the field rang with a startling silence. The creature looked around then turned to them and spoke with a smirk in his voice.