I lead my new friends back to the site where I had first arrived in the human world. It looks very different during the daytime: there are cars constantly coming and going, people shouting and laughing. I remember how scared I was when I first saw it all. How confused. How awed. I still am.
"So, this is where the portal that brought you?" Madgick asks. I shrug.
"It wasn't a portal, exactly. I just kind of . . . appeared here." The two stare at me.
"Like teleporting or something?" Jamie offers. I nod.
"Exactly! One moment me and Val Cath were captured by the Valdorians, and the next thing I knew I was here."
"Did you cast a spell?" Madgick asks. I have to say, she looks very sceptical.
"Maybe? I'm not sure. It felt kind of like a trance, but the sensation took over my entire body. Spells are based on emotions. The calmer you fell, the more likely it is that you'll cast a spell. But I was the complete opposite: I was terrified."
"Maybe try and remember how you felt back then. Push back up the feelings," Jamie says. I marvel at how knowledgeable he is about magic. He only found out about it yesterday, and he hasn't even batted an eye. He's helping two strangers, magical strangers, for no apparent reason. I wonder why...
I shake my head, and turn my thoughts to the night that I left Alyncia. It feels like so long ago now, although it was no more than a few days ago. I remember the feeling of helplessness that came over me. The feeling of doom. The knowledge that I would never see my friends again. My breath catches in my throat. Have they even noticed I'm missing? Have they realised I should be back from that stupid exploration quest by now? Are they worried? Do they eve—
"Araya!" I snap out of my panicked daze and turn to Madgick. She points at . . . me. I glance down. I'm transparent! My figure is blurred around the edges. It looks as though I'm here, but as if I'm seen through a window. I can still see the square full of cars. I can still hear the engines. I can still smell the faint scent of summer. But I can also sense other things. Birds chirping. A busy village square. Alyncia.
"It's working!" I beam at my friends. All I have to do is hone in on the sensations from home, and I know I'll be there. It's as though I have a connection to everything — to the bonds that make up each world. I can feel my friends as well! I can bring them with me.
"Let's go," I say, and am about to finish what I started when Madgick raises a hand.
"Wait!" she cries. I pause.
"Are we sure we want to do this?" she asks quietly. "I know you probably want to go home, Araya, and of course I want to save Vincent, but . . . is this the right thing to do?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" Jamie mirrors my confusion.
"Well, what happens if the Valdorians somehow follow us through? Or we get stranded in..."
"Alyncia."
"Yeah! What happens if that were the case?" Madgick gazes at me fervently. I purse my lips. She is right. Those are real possibilities. But if I don't teleport to Alyncia, I'll be stred HERE. And we need to save Vincent. We need to save the human world.
"It'll be okay," I reassure her. I pull on the connection that now ties me to the lives around me. And then we're back in Alyncia.