Magic in the Mist

Chapter Twenty

     Rain hammered down on the small rock shelf above them as Hazel and Orian stood outside the door to Vamara's small hut.

'Where are we supposed to go?' Hazel said, stroking his muzzle.

Orian nickered softly, rustling his feathers. Hazel knew that she wasn't safe in most places. MoonTribe warriors were still in ShellTribe, so she couldn't go there or MoonTribe. LavaTribe was out of the question, and Hazel doubted BlossomTribe would help her with open arms.

That left WindTribe. Hazel sighed in relief at the thought of going to WindTribe, the one place she actually felt wanted. Hazel clutched the book about magical humans in her hands and slowly mounted Orian, ducking so she didn't hit the rock shelf above her. She urged Orian forward, and soon they were out in the open, rain pattering down on them. Hazel spurred Orian and they flew up into the air, the pegasus' wings flapping strongly in the whistling wind.

Hazel tried to shield her face from the relentless rain, but it was hard when she had to hold onto the book and Orian's reins.

Hazel felt relieved when she saw the end of the mountain range, but her relief was short-lived. She saw a WindTribe warrior riding a black hippogriff, heading there way. Hazel was too stunned to do anything, but she could hear the warrior saying something.

'Duck!'

Without another thought, Hazel leaned forward and Orian dove down, just as an arrow whistled above her head. Hazel turned back to see a dragon that looked as though it had been forged from lava racing for her, blowing fire. Riding the dragon as a LavaTribe warrior. Hazel leveled Orian out, spurring him as they flew over the mountains. Hazel looked to her left to see the WindTribe warrior right at her side, his head down as he flew beside her. His hair was long and shaggy, and he wore a green tunic and black baggy pants with brown boots and a brown belt.

'Dive!' he called to her as they broke out of the mountain range.

Hazel followed his instructions, diving down for the ground. Hazel looked behind her and saw that the dragon had stopped chasing them. Hazel looked back, but she was too late. Orian was coming in too fast, and she barely had time to register the fact that they were crashing before they hit the ground hard.

Hazel heard a sickening crack as Orian hit the ground, his forelegs braced for impact. Hazel rolled off just before Orian fell over, neighing loudly in pain. She clutched the book in her arms as she stopped rolling. Her head hurt and her arm wound had reopened, but it was Orian she was worried about.

'Orian!' she cried, struggling to her feet and racing over to him, placing her hands on his dapple-gray flank.

Orian nickered softly, his wings splayed out and bloody. Hazel directed her gaze to his legs, which were bent in weird directions. 'Oh, Orian. . .' Hazel said, choking back a sob as silent tears streamed down her face. She tried to control herself as the WindTribe elves rushed forward.

'Let me through!' Asha's voice sounded as she approached Hazel. 'Oh, no.' she said when she saw Orian.

'I-I can heal wounds, but-but broken bones. . .I don't know, I wasn't paying attention. It's my fault—oh, Orian, I'm so sorry. . .' Hazel said, biting back tears.

'Hazel, everything will be okay.' Asha assured her. 'We'll fix this,'

'O-okay,' Hazel said, taking a shaky breath.

'Do you want to try and help him?' Asha said in a calm voice. 'Try healing him.'

Hazel nodded, opening her shaky hands and letting magic flow through them. India green magic flowed from her hands and attached itself to Orian's body, healing the scrape wounds on his wings and sinking into his broken legs. Although they didn't heal Orian's broken legs, his eyes faded of pain.

'I'm going to straighten his legs,' Asha said, walking over to his front legs and carefully straightening them.

Orian nickered softly, but Hazel could see that he didn't feel the pain, which relieved her. 'Now try again,' Asha urged.

Hazel nodded, and more India green magic flowed from her hands, landing on Orian's legs. Orian neighed and got up. His legs seemed fine, and he whinnied in triumph as she loped around Hazel, coming to a stop beside her.

'Thank you,' Hazel said, hugging Asha.

'It was all you, Hazel.' Asha said. 'Now why have you come here? Is something wrong?'

'Yeah, I figured something out about the Tempestes.' Hazel said.

'Come, let's go somewhere private.' Asha said. 'Kastein, take Orian and Storm to the barn, please.' she said to the elf who had been riding the black hippogriff.

'Okay. I'll do that.' Kastien said, nodding to her and glancing momentarily at Hazel before grabbing Orian's reins and leading him away.

'What is it?' Asha asked once they had gotten to her teepee, rain pattering hard on the slanted roof.

'When I came here last and fought off the Tempestes, I saw a figure. It talked to me, told me he was a wizard who had created the Tempestes.' Hazel started, fingering the book she still held in her hands.

Hazel didn't know when it had happened, but she must have used her magic because the book was now dry.

'Recently I went to ShellTribe, and the Tempestes spoke again. It spoke. . It said—it told me its name was Cronan. Then it sort of disappeared, like it was scared of me finding something out. Then I was visiting Vamara Zabade, and I saw this book—' Hazel handed the book to Asha, who took it and started flipping through the pages. 'It has his name in it.'

Asha looked through the book until she landed on the family tree. She looked through the tree until she happened to see Cronan's name. Her eyes widened and she looked slowly up at Hazel.

'Hazel, Cronan's name is Cronan Martinez. . . you're related to him.'