MAGISTAN

Chapter 9: Nothing Is As It Seems

Sofia dreamt she was sitting in the middle of a giant field of purple poppies. It was a clear night. The three moons circled the sky. And it seemed all the stars were out. They were as bright as any she'd ever seen. Only these stars strangely changed color - from red to orange, yellow to green, blue to indigo and then purple. She gazed at them for a moment thinking of how much the colored stars reminded her of a rainbow, when she noticed the Spirit of the Wind sitting on the tip of the largest star.  

Surprised, tiny goose bumps appeared on the back of Sofia's neck. "Spirit of the Wind," she whispered.  

"It's time to leave this field of poppies," announced the Spirit of the Wind.  

Sofia stretched her arms and yawned. "Now?" she asked.  

"It'll be light soon."  

"Can't I sleep just a bit longer?" Sofia replied, heavy-eyed. "I'm so tired."

"Already?" asked the Spirit of the Wind. 

Sofia yawned again.  

"You're journey has just begun." 

Sofia slowly pulled out the Golden key, "The oyster shell... Is it here?" she asked, glancing at the field.  

"I'd say it's rather close."  

"Close?" Sofia muttered. Her eyes began to close.  

"You mustn't fall back asleep," the Spirit of the Wind said, sharply. The stars and the moons brightened. 

A few seconds later, Sofia cracked her eyes open and found she was no longer in the purple poppy field. She was now on a prickly bed in Dex's bedroom. A few feet away, Lorn loomed over her. She wanted scream, but she was so frightened that she pretended to be sleeping. She lowered her eyelids until they were barely slit open and watched Lorn. He examined her feet and her toes, eyed her fingers, looked into her ears and up her nose, and finally... he stared at her neck. His eye's bulged as it appeared he spotted something. He reached for it. Sofia smacked his hand away.  

Lorn looked shocked. "Uhhh," he mumbled for a moment as if he couldn't speak. Then he sat on the prickly bed beside Sofia. "Thank goodness you're awake. Are you okay?" he asked, tenderly.  

Sofia pulled the neck of her dress over the twine necklace. She stared at Lorn with her face squished up as if she had eaten a piece of rotten fish. "Who are you?!" she snapped. Then her stomach gurgled and churned like the fish was still swimming in her gut. "Ugh..." she moaned while rubbing her tummy. She glanced around the room and wondered how she'd gotten there.  

"It was that wicked Weeble!" Lorn said, harshly.  

"Weeble?" Sofia repeated with a crinkled brow.  

"Dex and Grimmy too," insisted Lorn. "They threatened me." 

"Threatened you?"  

Lorn swiftly nodded. "You see... I just stopped by for a visit. I thought maybe the gang would be up for a game of cards. We played no more than three rounds when I had to," he paused and pointed a sign overhead that read: Latrine. "You know," said Lorn, rubbing his tummy. Then he continued, "I passed you on my way there. I didn't think much of why you were on Dex's bed. I just did my business and left. Weeble marched into the bedroom on my way out. He demanded I find out why you were here."  

"Really?" Sofia uttered with a curled lip.  

"He insisted you'd snuck into Dex's den. And then he went on and on about you being a spy for some fellow named, L-shell."  

"But..."  

"I know it's absurd. I told him so, too." 

"I thought someone let me in. I swear. The door opened after I knocked. I would have never..."