“I couldn’t hold it! They’re coming!” He jumped around to keep the flames from catching on his clothes. “Run! You need to run from here! These women are dangerous! Hide!”
Time slowed down, and I could tell exactly what he was thinking. Trust me, I’ll be fine.
We bolted further into the underbrush, leaving him alone to fight the bizarre fire. Hide? I thought. Now that I can do.
Willow stumbled. “Hold on, what are we doing? We can’t just leave him back there!”
“Trust his power,” said Sharp. “Right now, we can’t let them catch Badger!”
A voice from behind shouted, “They ran that way! Don’t let them go!”
“Everyone, hurry, get behind this,” I hissed, pulling Willow by the wrist towards the biggest nearby tree. “We’re going to hide.”
“No! We have to keep running!” breathed Sharp, white knuckles around her blade hilt. “Either that, or we have to fight.”
“Trust me,” I pleaded, hoping my instincts were right. “Touch my arm and I’ll take you to the Unseen.”
“But…”
“Just do it!”
We dove behind the tree. The voices and footsteps grew closer. One by one, my friends wrapped a hand around my arm.
Then all four of us disappeared.
Part Two
Savage Dark
Savage Wild is the darkness
It burns the light of youth
Fumble frightened past the
Fool's gold
Through the door to reap the Truth
Chapter Seven
Crackle and Scar
My mother once told me fear stalks in the night, hidden away from the sunlight. It lives in endless darkness, and despite your courage, you can never escape it.
I didn’t expect it to be so effortless to make three other people disappear with me into the Unseen Dimension. Could it be because our lives were in danger, and I was able to push past my limit? Or had I simply never thought to try?
“It worked,” I said. I saw their real bodies, and the surrounding trees were brighter in color. “Do you feel alright?”
Sharp clasped her free hand to my mouth, terror boiling in her eyes. The deep blue souls of the two sisters slithered into sight.
“I lost sight of them,” said the voice of the fanged woman.
“Come out, little creatures,” the other one said with an unearthly croon. She must be Melodia, I thought. Friend to no one.
My friends were alight with momentary amazement at seeing a human soul for the first time. The two lights searched for another moment, then sprinted in the opposite direction.
After a second of grim silence, I peeled Sharp's hand from my face. “They can’t hear our voices in this dimension. We need to stay calm.”
The three of them looked at me with a fearful intensity. I didn’t realize it at the time, but in this dimension, my eyes were glowing lava red.
“Are you…sure?” Piranha stuttered, the nervous tips of their claws grazing the surface of my skin.
“Yes,” I reassured them, “but be still. Voices can’t be heard, but I don’t know about footsteps. Let’s make sure there’s some distance between us before we go back.” I looked over my shoulder, unable to see anything through the trees. “I hope he’s okay.”
Once Sharp’s acute ears could not hear the enemy, we huddled together and treaded back. We only made it a few feet before she stopped us again. “Stay still,” she urged. “They’re heading back this way.”
I held my breath and clenched my fists. Sure enough, the blue figures returned, moving with silent purpose in our direction. Back to Pyrite.
“What should we do?” I slurred. My energy was draining fast, and I barely got the words out.
Sharp didn’t notice. “Follow them. We should go back to the horses and try to get out of here.”
The color shifted back to the real dimension.
“Ba-Badger!” Willow touched his chest and looked around. “What happened? Are we not invisible anymore?”
