Lux [h.s]

sixty-three

A burst of wind hissed through the garden, blowing away the remaining snowflakes twirling in the air. Where the oak had once been now there was a line of scorched, dead grass that pointed right at them. The walls of the house around it were darkened, like they'd survived a terrible fire.

There was quiet in Cora's mind, a heavy, sudden kind. If her magic had been a waterfall a moment before, now it was a lake in winter, still under a thick layer of ice, unreachable. Harry was breathing quickly, and she'd never seen him so scared.

Thalia ran outside. Her gaze moved from her, to Harry, to the blackened earth where the oak had stood until a moment before. Then, back to Harry. "We need to talk," she hissed through her teeth, "now."

The words shook something inside of him, and he nodded. They were quick to disappear back into the house, leaving Cora alone in the garden.

Oden ran back out, laughing, but halted when he took in the vanished snow and the thick burnt smell in the air. Iris had been at his back, but she quickly ushered him back inside with a scared, wide-eyed stare. There was no one Cora could see now, not in the garden nor in the windows of the house, but she had the strong, prickling sensation of being observed.

A cloud hid the late afternoon sun, and a deep, icy cold fell over Cora's bones. That was what got her to move. She'd meant to walk back inside, but instead she found herself walking along the line of charred grass. It cracked like frost under her feet, and a trail of blackened sand formed in her wake. When she stood in the exact spot the trunk of the oak had been, the black walls seemed even more menacing than before. She crouched on the dead grass and slid her hand over it. It pulverised under her touch. This wasn't a glamour. She didn't know what this was, but this, it—

A headache split her head in two. She gasped, falling to the ground. Her hands flew to her temples, and she hid her face in her knees. A new wave of pain came over her, and she had to clench her teeth not to scream. Nausea washed over her like the tide, drowning her. Ink grabbed hold of her mind and pulled her down, down, down, where there was nothing but pain and the strong, overwhelming feeling of being watched. The shadows in the corner of her mind flickered; thin gossamer, joined hands, a scream that didn't belong to her.

A voice long lost, menacing, and three words at once.

Cora.

Kyra.

You.

Pain drowned her once more. She felt like she had when she'd jumped into the sea, water was everywhere, and she couldn't breathe. The light above her dimmed as she sunk deeper, and her mind wavered, threatening to faint.

The headache vanished, as quick as it'd come. Cora's eyes flashed open. She pushed herself up, bones aching in the remembrance of pain. The light of day was too bright after that inky blackness, and for a moment all she saw was white. Sensations came to her belatedly, one by one. The air in her lungs was colder than before. Her hands were dipped in wetness. She blinked a few times. First came the tall shadow of the mansion, and then the pale green of the grass, the grey of the training ring on the other side of the garden.

She was sitting in a circle of mud. No, not mud, she realised. The charred grass powder had mixed with water, creating a thick, black substance that stank of dead things. Her clothes and her hair were covered in it. She breathed faster. Something was wrong, so very wrong.

She jumped up and nearly slipped on the mud in her race towards the house. She needed to talk to Harry; something was going on. Her ability had never slipped from her control like this before, not even in her first weeks of using it. An unconscious part of her mind had always been aware of it, of the reason behind it, but not this time. This time, it'd felt like a leash that had always been tied to her throat without knowing had been pulled, forcing her to stumble ahead. She'd never felt so out of control before. Was this what Harry had meant that night in the continent, after he'd conjured those blue flames, when he told her his magic had completely slipped from his control?