In Exchange for Magic

"ROSE!" Ez shouted. "ROSE, GET OVER HERE!"

My chest heaved as I sprinted. I could say that a million things were going through my mind at the moment, but that would be a lie. There was only one thought circling in my brain: Escape.

Ez was around thirty feet away from me, jumping up and down in an attempt to encourage me to hurry up. His hand was outstretched, and he kept inching backwards, towards the forest -- where we needed to be. If I could just push myself to go a little faster...

"COME ON! COME ON, ROSE!" Ez screamed so hard that his voice strained and scratched.

Besides the crunch of my own footfalls on the grass, about fifty others sounded behind me. I could practically feel the Shades' anticipation radiating from them like their hot, musty breath. I could almost taste their pure want... They were so close to the ultimate prize...

My shoes slapped the ground so hard that the soles of my feet tingled. My hands were trembling with fear and adrenaline, and I wore around my neck the only thing, besides Ez, that was keeping me alive right now.

The elf-gold necklace.

-_-_-_-

It wasn't until I got closer to Ez that I saw how much danger I was in. Because, in his eyes, I saw something I'd never seen there before... Fear.

Ez was terrified.

And that scared me more than the Shades did.

I could hear the thumping sounds of the many pairs of boots pounding onto the ground. During the rescuing of the necklace, I had to endure long, tense moments of crouching under tables and such. Being faced with the option of either looking at the boots that passed by, or Ez's scarily intense face... I'd become personally acquainted with the Shades' footwear.

The stench that seeped from them... The crusty mud that caked the soles. And, most... and, in a way, least surprising of all... The three pointed metal spikes that jutted out from the toe. When a Shade wanted to kick you, he wanted to kick you good.

I hardly dared to look over my shoulder, lest one of those spikes caught a glint in the sun... I'd be reminded of what the Shades could do to me. The irreversible damage they could inflict upon me and Ez.

After what seemed like hours of running through water, I reached Ez. He grasped my hand in his, and he took off, full force into the forest.

The Shades stopped in their tracks. Upon realizing they wouldn't be catching up to us on foot, they each let out a shrill whistle. Distantly, I could hear the reverberations of the giant beetles' wings flapping through the air.

Ez only had a second to catch his breath before he began to rise in the air, supported by nothing more than a small cloud of air. The trees creaked and groaned in protest, as Ez was probably using a lot more power than was needed in this moment of nervousness.

He wrapped one arm around my waist, and the other around my shoulder, keeping me from falling.

"Wish me luck," he muttered.
"Luck," I wished.

And, with an incredible force, Ez released all his pent up power, and we sped off though the air. I was reminded vaguely of, in Mario Kart, when you get the mushroom trio. Or maybe even a star... When that twinkling music plays and nothing can stop you.

Of course, this wasn't Mario Kart, and, if we ran into a Shade, we wouldn't merely blink for a few seconds and continue of our way. No. There were no second lives in this twisted game. There was only me, Ez, and the necklace.

Oh, and, of course, the fifty Shades riding behind us.

I craned my neck to look around. A dark cloud rose from the ground as the beetle-creatures took off.

I turned towards Ez.

"You might want-"

But I was taken off guard when I was enveloped in one of the most unpleasant environments I've ever been in.

That's right.

Ez, the dunderhead... Had flown us into a cloud.