Half the Power

How? Where? Why?

Ava turned to me, her expression reflecting my feelings. She seemed confused and surprised, and I guessed I looked the same way. Where had he gone?

I tried to think. Everything seemed so peaceful around me, I would've thought ideas would come easily. Birds sang in the trees. The sound of flowing water should've calmed me. Even the smell was familiar. Everything, just as it had been near my house before this whole disaster came, and the weight of the world fell on my shoulders.

How could Ortheon have escaped? Maybe the wall behind him was weak and... No. Ava would've felt him push through, and I would've seen him run away. Magic of some kind? No. We had to be too far from his source of power for him to use it.

I grew frustrated. "Ugh!" I yelled eventually, seemingly startling Ava out of a daydream of thought. I walked in an annoyed little circle. "How?"

She didn't seem to need further explanation. "I have no idea," she admitted, throwing her hands up in exasperation. She seemed as annoyed as I. "I just... Where could he have gone?"

I thought back to everything I'd seen him do, in the mansion, near the tent, in his stupid little force field with Ryan... No brilliant idea came to me.

Think, I told myself. What would an optimist like Ava do in this situation? I tried to see positive possibilities. Maybe something had gone right for once. Maybe he didn't escape. Maybe...

I turned to Ava, the light bulb finally going off. "I tried to push the air down, hard. Maybe I had more strength than I did before. Is it possible that I pushed him into the ground when I did that? I mean, Ryan said--" Her eyes clouded over with tears at his name. "We were supposed to use our powers right? Maybe when we need them the most, they get stronger. I knew I needed to get rid of that guy. The wind did the rest."

She nodded, wiping the corner of her eye with one finger. "I'm sorry, I... I didn't do anything. I should've helped more."

I stared at her in amazement. "Yeah, you're right. All you did was raise a wall of earth around probably the strongest sorcerer in the world, then control it and bend it to your will. How could you?"

She managed a sad smile. "And what did I do to help my brother?" she asked quietly.

"Ava..." I shook my head. "You did way more than anyone could possibly expect from you. You were amazing. Nobody could do anything for him. Not even Ortheon, if the places were switched, could stop someone with that kind of power."

She closed her eyes, looking pained. "I could've done something. I just stood there... Why didn't I help?" A tear ran down her cheek.

"Because you couldn't," I reminded her gently. "C'mon Ava, I told you. No one could. You can't possibly blame yourself." That was a pretty hypocritical thing to say, considering I felt it was all my fault.

She sighed and opened her eyes. "For now, I suppose we must leave it. What're we supposed to do? Is he taken care of?"

I'll admit, I was happy for the change in subject. "We can hope. Maybe we should start on our ways..." My voice faltered. I had been about to say "our ways home," but were was Ava to go? She didn't have anywhere to go, or even a brother to travel with anymore. The thought seemed to bring pain to my heart. "We should start back towards the pegasi. They'll know what to do."

We took down the tent in silence. Ava didn't seem in the mood for small talk, and what else could we say? I could hardly try to move away from the topic of Ryan like we were forgetting him, but I didn't want to say anything about it either. I didn't want to upset Ava.

I stole a glace at the place where Ryan had spent his final moments. There wasn't even a body there, but I hadn't noticed anything happening to it.

I turned back and saw that Ava had gathered all of our supplies. She tossed me my bag, and I was so caught off guard, I stumbled backward. On a normal day, it may have been humorous. Ava might have laughed, the happy twinkle in her eyes. I may have pretended to be annoyed. Ah, how I wished it were a normal day. Ava just shouldered her bag, stared forward, and took a deep breath.

I pulled the bag onto both of my shoulders and started toward the woods.

***

There's no sense in telling the story of our walk. We simply hiked through the woods, stopping on occasion to drink or eat a small snack. The water obviously reminded us both of Ryan, so we tried not to stop unless necessary.

The most interesting things that happened were me tripping over a tree root or log, or a chipmunk scurrying across our path.

When we reached the pegasi, Orion came trotting towards us. "Ah, the heroes arrive once again, I see! Brilliant work. We can already sense the awakenings." He looked around Ava and I, as if expecting to see something interesting behind us.

When Orion saw nothing, he frowned at us. "Where is Ryan? Back at a stream? Yes, the boy always does like to be around water."

Ava gulped, and I guessed she was swallowing a sob. I shifted my feet uncomfortably, not sure if I could tell him the news without bothering Ava to the point of tears. After we stood in awkward silence for several moments, I staring at my shoes, I decided it would be best to tell Orion now.

I looked up at him. "Ryan... Ortheon trapped him. He didn't make it. Escape was impossible."

Ava gasped shakily, and I could tell she was trying hard to control herself. Orion rustled his wings. I glanced back at the other pegasi.

They kept their distance, but bowed their heads in respect. I felt the need to bow in return, so Ava and I did.

Finally, the sound of a sigh came from the clouds. "I am... truly sorry," he said gently. "Such young heroes, forced through so much. I can assure you that he will not be forgotten. We will honor him properly."

Ava and I could only nod. There was nothing left to say.