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Cressida

"Cressida?"

I groan as I open my eyes. My head feels like it's splitting. The sky is a pale, clear blue. I turn my head to see Iris looking anxiously at me. The large cut on her forehead stands out starkly against her pale skin.

"That's a nasty cut," I murmur, sitting up.

"Yours is worse," she says, handing me a canteen of water. I take a sip, then gingerly touch my aching head. My fingers come away stained with red. I wince, taking a cloth out of my satchel and soaking it in water. I press it against my head.

"Sky did this?" I ask. "This is extreme even for her."

Iris smiles awkwardly and studies her hands. I suddenly notice her downcast expression. I look up at the sky again, biting my lip.

"Are... are we too late for the portal?" I ask. "It's not noon yet, is it?"

"No," she whispers unhappily. "We've got hours left, but it doesn't matter anyway. Sky took the mirror and I have no idea where she went."

My mouth falls open, but no words come out. I rest my head against the tree trunk, then pull my sleeve back, revealing the twelve-point star on my forearm. The mark of the mortem. Twelve clock hands, marking down the minutes until I die. That mirror was my only chance to stop that, to find that... plant thing and heal me. And now it's gone.

"I'm sorry, Cressida," says Iris quietly. "But, maybe we can find her. Get it back..."

"How?" I ask bitterly. I remove the cloth and gesture to my cut. "She has magic. She could be anywhere by now. She could have disappeared and reappeared in the next kingdom! She could be anywhere in the whole realm!"

Iris bites her lip. "I learned some things about her when I read her mind. She wouldn't have used magic, not after doing something like that. When she uses magic in anger like that, she doesn't use it afterwards in case she loses control and does something even worse. And that's what happened. She got angry, lost control, and used magic without meaning to-"

"Not this again," I cut in. "She did mean to. She did. She's not a victim, Iris. She threatened you with a knife. Does that seem like an accident to you?"

"Just listen! The point is, she used really powerful magic, and she would be too afraid to use more after that in case she made something really dangerous happen. So wherever she went, she didn't use magic to get there."

I think about that, then look up at the sky again. My tutor back at the palace taught me all kinds of things, and I think about what he told me about the sky, then study the one above me.

"It was dawn when we woke up and had that argument," I say thoughtfully. I look at the colour of the sky and the position of the sun. "And it looks like the sun's only just come up. So we can't have been unconscious for more than twenty minutes. Probably about fifteen."

"Well, she can't have got far walking for fifteen minutes," says Iris encouragingly. She walks across the clearing. "She ran this way. I didn't see where she went after that because I passed out, but I'm guessing she didn't go this way. It leads to the cliff."

"We're right on the edge of the forest..." I frown in concentration. "If she came here to steal the mirror from your mother in the first place, she would know these parts quite well. Is there anywhere you think she'd go?"

"There is a village nearby..." Iris says slowly. "Not twenty minutes walk from here. Mother and I would pass through it sometimes on our way to visit customers."

Hope dawns within me. I stand up. "Do you know your way around it well? Did you tell fortunes there?"

Iris laughs, but there's not much humour in it. "That village is the last place that would ever want fortunes told. For a start, Mother charges a very nasty price for fortunes, and the people aren't terribly well off. Also... well, it's not the friendliest of places. Everyone there is strongly opposed to magic of any kind. It's partly why we lived so deep into the woods. We keep to the quiet roads as we pass through, so we don't attract attention. There have been quite a few witch burnings there over the years."

"Do you think she would have gone there?" I ask, doubtfully. "If you're a witch and you're practically radiating magic, walking into a village full of witch-burners probably isn't the best idea."

"She'd want supplies," Iris reasons. "She has the jewels she took from you, and there are no other villages within walking distance from here. I think this is our best chance."

"Alright," I take a deep breath, then follow Iris as she starts walking. "But don't let them see your eyes. They'd know you were magical then."

Iris smiles tightly and we walk on in silence. We come to the end of the wood. Down a steep slope, there's a little village. The houses are crumbling and blackened, the streets are dirty, thin, sullen looking people beg from doorways and corners. We come to the bottom of the slope and walk down the widest street, picking our way carefully over the dirty cobbles. At the sides of the street, there are rickety stalls set up selling fruit and vegetables, various bric-a-brac and faded items of clothing. All around are the sounds of stallholders yelling out prices and benefits of their items, trying to encourage customers to spend more than they can afford. Iris walks with her eyes down, trying to avoid being seen, and I squint around hopefully. A figure in a black cloak with the hood up, carrying a sack, suddenly darts away from a stand selling fruit, and I focus on her.

"Oi!" yells the man in charge of the stall. "Thief, thief!"

The figure in the hood races off the busy street into a quiet alleyway, pursued by a few angry stallholders. Iris and I exchange a look, then speed after them.

The ally is darkened, despite the early rays of sun that lit up the Main Street. The hood of the figure's hood has fallen back, revealing long, straggling blonde hair and Sky's defiant face, and I see the glint of the magical mirror in her waistband. She's been backed into a corner by three ragged villagers, who look suddenly sinister and threatening in the darkness of the ally. Her fists are tightly clenched.

"Fine, fine!" Sky shouts. She reaches into her sack and throws a few bruised apples and pears at the villager's feet. "Can I leave now?"
She tried to push past one of them, but he steps in front of her menacingly, barring her way. The sack she's holding drops to the ground, and the jewellery she took from me clatters over the cobblestones.

The eyes of the villagers widen greedily, and they start laughing cruelly.

"Stand back, girl," one growls, pulling a knife out from his belt while the other two scramble to pick up the jewellery. Sky obeys quietly, and I notice sparks flying off her tightly curled fingers.

"And hand over that mirror," leers another one, a tall, muscular man with a roughly cut beard. Sky's hand slides over the glass.

"No," she says through gritted teeth.

"We said, give us the mirror, Pretty," snarls the third one, who has a long scar over his eye.

"And I." hisses Sky. "Said." Her tightly clenched fists start to glow. "NO!"

There's a sudden roaring sound, and flames suddenly leap out of nowhere. Angry red dragons of fire soar into the sky, spitting sparks into the sky. The heat is terrific, unbearable. I jump backwards, panicking, but the flames surround the whole street. Smoke billows everywhere, smothering us and blocking the terrifying orange glow out. I can barely hear the yells of the men, or Iris's scream.

"Sky!" I choke through a mouthful of ash. "Do something!"

For a split second, nothing happens. Then there's an ominous rumble from above me. I hardly have time to look up before I'm battered to the ground by a crushing deluge of water from the sky.