Orange Shadow Magic: Awaken. Book 1

Chapter 6: The Bat Tree

Mally and Coral rolled to a stop after Coral attempted to jump off Mally's back. "Look at this!" she cried when she saw a worn wanted sign pinned to a tree. Coral looked at it. It said: Avery Silversky wanted in return for 100 gold coins. Wanted Alive. If seen, hand her over to King Expella immediately. The King wants his prize. "Hey, yours is here too!" The scroll said: Mally Johnson in return for 5 gold coins. Wanted Dead or Alive, King doesn't really care if you want to kill the traitor. Just don't kill the villain Avery! "What's the deal with Avery?" Coral asked. "I thought he wanted you!" Mally could see Coral's puzzled face, the trees blowing in the harsh storm along with her wavy blonde hair.

"It doesn't matter Coral! Let's just get out of here! Anyway, it's even better that there's someone else that King Expella wants more!"

"Hey, what took you so long, slowpokes? Also, have you seen the signs? Something weird is going on, and I don't know about you but I want to find out who exactly this 'Avery' is," Gala teased as she continued to chew on her gum nonchalantly, even though the tree leaves were getting caught in her hair. However, Mally didn't even notice because Gala always smelled like dirt and pine leaves from the forest. "Listen up, Mally! You're not a show pony anymore. You need to learn some real skills! Starting with sword-fighting!"

"I don't need your help! Coral and I can get along just fine without your little sword demonstration," Mally retorted angrily, upset that Gala wouldn't apologize for their fight yesterday.

"Whatever. Here, catch," Gala winked as she thrust a sharpened stick at Mally.

Geez! The thing felt like it had a thousand splinters all over it, but Mally caught it anyway.

"What am I supposed to do with this? There is no broom on the other side. Do you expect me to sweep with this?"

Gala shook her head impatiently and sighed. "No! We're going to practice how to handle a sword, dummy!" Mally eyes widened. She had never held a sword/sharp stick in her life, yet used one! Her hands had only scrubbed, swept and cooked. Never had she had the liability of someone's death upon her shoulders! It just wasn't her place to decide if someone should live or die. "Oh come on now! We aren't killing each other here! I just need to teach you because in some occasions, your powers may be useless and you need to learn how to strike someone down with a sword. Imagine a whole army coming at you! You can't stop all of them with your powers!" Gala said as if she could read Mally's mind, and Mally nodded. She did have a good point, although she did control an army Mally liked to call the "Living Dead". Suddenly Gala jolted forward in a lung and swung the stick at Mally's ankle and Mally, (having no idea what to do) spun around in a circle then stepped forward to try and avoid the piercing stick that would probably push painful splinters into her leg. However, Gala sighed and grabbed the stick from Mally's hands. "Dear God, have you never even tried to defend yourself? Spinning around in a circle reduces your power and someone could stab you in the back before you even turn around. You're such an idiot. If I had been King Expella, you'd already be dead!" Gala continued cursing every curse in the book of curses, until Mally interrupted her with a gentle hum.

"May we try again, please?" Mally asked cautiously. Gala put a piece of gum from her pocket into her mouth, then nodded. Gala ran forward and was about to stab Mally in the shoulder when Mally stepped forward and parried Gala's stick, swing wildly at Gala's thigh. Gala pulled her sword into the air, but her chest was not covered. Mally pulled the sharp end of the stick back and launched it under Gala's stick and into her chest. Gala fell backward from the impact, but the stick didn't go through her chest. The stick was still hanging limply in Mally's hands, with no blood or any wounds on Gala.

"Protection charms," Gala breathed heavily and stood up. "Your actions are wild and unpredictable, in time, just maybe, maybe you will be as strong as me," Mally's mouth opened to argue, but Gala put a finger over her lips. Mally quieted as Gala pulled her hand away. "Cysa Bu Ysajkyku!" Gala whispered and her overalls became a guards uniform, a long olive green uniform with three gold stars, and a yellow and red braid coming down as a stripe through the uniform. Her brown hair curled up into short bangs that just reached her eyes, and curly brown hair sprouted in the back of her head. Finally, a brown cap formed on top of her head. "Stay here," Gala warned, then walked forward into the trees, making it look like she disappeared from sight.