Twisted Returns

We're burning, the smell of smoke in the air. My skin screams in protest, the pain scorching everything.

And just like that, it's over with the sound of something shattering. Something that had lasted a second leaves my skin stinging.

I take a few breaths of the now-cool air as I process what had happened. Looking around, everyone else is also breathing hard. And the faint shimmer in the air is no longer there. In its space... stands a woman.

She stands there, a little shorter than me. Her arm is raised and I notice that she deactivated our shield. We aren't protected.

I search her face for any sign of attack. But as I try to register her features, her expression, she quickly turns to exit the hallway.

"Quickly!" she exclaims, her voice deep for a woman. But it has an unexplainable... shiny quality to it. "We don't have much time."

The group turns to me, looking for an answer. I look at the woman walking away, her long silvery hair flowing down her back, and then at my friends. Could this be a trap?

I give myself a little shake and take one step towards the silver-haired woman. Taking a chance, because there's no one left to trust.

----

"Right wing down... meet you under," the woman says. She's speaking into her hand, it looks like. I can't make sense of her words.

"Where-"

"Diana, quickly," she says. She stops before a wall. On it hangs a tapestry of a circle with feathered wings. The woman places her hand on it and motions for me to go.

"I - what?"

"Hurry. Through the wall and all the way down."

Obviously, that could be either a very good choice if she's taking us to a safe place. But I don't even want to think about the bad possibilities.

Stepping through the wall doesn't feel any different than walking through air. It leads to a tunnel made of what appears to be blue ice (but not as slippery). Stairs are carved right into the ground. They spiral down to the left.

"Go!" someone says as they slam into my back, pushing me down the stairs. There's no railing to catch myself on and my ankle twists the wrong way. I hear a crash coming from above. There's no time to stop.

Left ankle throbbing, I force myself to take two steps at a time and ignore its protests. The hallway is too narrow to let the others ahead of me.

Anticipating more steps ahead, I falter when we finally reach the bottom. The tunnel leads to a room make of the same ice. Seats are carved right into the walls.

I drag myself over to one and examine my ankle. A bit swollen, but could be worse. It will only bother me for a day or so. Distracted by the pain, I don't notice the other woman in the room.

I look up and see the cautious expression on her face. I realize that I recognize the shape of her brown eyes, her thin lips...

My mother.

"Marigold?" Even thought that's what I've been calling her for the past three years, it feels off. Something in the back of my head tells me to call her 'mom', but that just brings up unwanted memories of my other mother... the human one.

"Welcome back, sweetie," she says, sounding exactly the same as she had in my head.

"Thanks... mom." I force the word out, gritting my teeth as I remember that she is my only mother now. That other woman, the human one, is not my mother. She doesn't even remember me.

"No time for reunion," the silver-haired woman says. "People are going to realize what happened soon."

Marigold nods, her eyes fixed on me. "I know. Alina, we need to restore everyone to their old bodies and full powers as soon as possible."

Alina nods, then stares at the wall. Except she's not looking at the wall, but rather the empty space in front of it. She seems to be seeing something we don't. She blinks and returns to us.

"Amber has the old transformations. But portals are closed and she's at her home right now. She's going to have to travel the old way."

"How long will that be?"

"A few days, at least. She has sixteen years' news for us..."

I begin to wonder who Amber is and what the 'old way' of traveling is. And what it will be like in my old body...

Alina and Marigold start talking about things that make no sense to me. Absently, I put my hand in the pocket of my jeans. My fingers brush against a thin chain. Pulling it out, I see that it is Connor's necklace, shrunken down. Just looking at it feels like being stabbed, but I can't get rid of it. I can't and won't ever forget him...

I quietly recite the spell to unshrink it. It lies there in my palm, unchanged. I try again. Nothing. Maybe this room is secure, magic-proof. I put the necklace back in my pocket, reminding myself to unshrink it later.

A loud, screeching beep rings through the room. Everyone looks up, searching for the source.

"Attacks are off," Alina says. "We have to go see the damage."

Everyone gets up, and for the first time I realize how hard it is to stand. Not only because of the ankle thing, but I also notice the lingering exhaustion.

"Alina, check the damages and get ready to make a public announcement," Marigold says, watching as I stifle a yawn. "These kids need to rest and get cleaned up. I'll get rooms ready for them."

We head back up the spiral staircase, at a calm pace this time. I walk at the back of the line with my mother.

When we reach the top, Alina seals the passageway. "Right. I'll be in the right wing."

As she turns to leave, something comes flying through the air, making a whoosh sound. It flies straight at my head, but Marigold jerks me out of the way. Instead, it hits the circle on the tapestry dead center.

The sound of breaking glass is heard and everyone moves in to take a look. Marigold carefully retrieves a scroll from the broken glass, and unrolls it.

"One week."