A Tale of Traitors

Willow: Border Jumping

          "What. Were. You. THINKING?" Queen's screeching echoed through my mind, and I remembered her throwing her hands in the air and shoving her bangs out of her face. "You used a dark curse and attracted the spirits because of it. Do you have any idea the seriousness of what you've just done?"
"I didn't know it was a curse!" I yelled in response, thinking back to the spell I had cast on the assassin. 
"I can't believe--" Queen breathed viciously in and out, not able to contain herself. She had just woken up a few moments ago, and I had filled her in on what had happened.
"I'm so sorry, I just wanted to help."
"Okay, well, now we know what not to do in that situation, huh?" She retorted, storming out of the main room where everybody else had started waking up.
"Willow..." I heard the professor's weak voice calling from the other end of the room.

"Willow," the professor's hand on my shoulder shook me back to reality, where we were standing upon massive stones looking down on the black lake, "are you ready?"
"Yes, Sir," I tightened my grip on the tiny silver potion in my hand.
"You nervous?" Bob chirped happily, plucking the cork out of his bottle and preparing to down the whole thing.
"The professor does it all the time, don't be nervous," Queen rolled her eyes, staring up at the moon and its imprint on the clouds.
"I'm not," I lied, my heart sinking with embarrassment, but more determined than ever to prove myself. Dalia glanced at me.
"You okay?" I whispered to her. She shrugged. Before I could inquire further, the professor began explaining what was going to happen.
"Listen up, everyone! On the count of three, we will drink our potions at precisely the same time. After you have swallowed, the world will become fuzzy and you may quickly be confused and disoriented. Make sure you land in the water, not on top of the rocks. The place where your unconscious body lands on earth will determine where you land in Realm 5. If you land in the lake as I am directing you--" he unfolded a large map and paused before continuing,"yes--you should end up in the royal throne room of Chief Abijam. Stay close together. You must understand the danger I am putting you in. Even though I will obviously keep you safe," he laughed heartily as if this was a game of hide-and-seek. "We're looking for a piece of a master weapon that Helena Magdalena assembled. No, we do not know what it looks like. However, we do know that it is distinct and powerful. No need to worry! I am certain we will all know it when we see it. Any questions? No? Good--Syrnafin, dear friend, thank you ever so greatly for your service."
"No need to thank me, Professor," Syrnafin pushed forward in his thick black cloak, which pierced the ominous fog that hovered over the tumbling waters. "The work you five will accomplish is much greater than the meager calling we will pursue here. If we may ever be of service to you, traitors of Tormod, then we will hastily come to your aid. Do not hesitate to call for our assistance." He stepped silently and carefully toward each of us, and then he pinned the mark of the Shadow Hunters onto each of our cloaks. "With one tap on the button under this pin, we will be notified that you are in danger, and we will head to the realm from which the signal is released. With two taps we will be notified of your exact location in the realm. With three taps, your call for help will be canceled, so that if you hit the button on accident, you need not worry."
"This is beyond kind," Queen beamed a marvelous smile, "thank you."
"My pleasure." Syrnafin smiled. "Might I make one request?"
"Absolutely." The professor nodded.
"If she may be of service to you, and if you would find her skills helpful in times of disaster, I would like to ask if you would be willing to take Adrianna with you on your quest. She has been trained by me in multiple ways of fighting, strategizing, and problem solving. She is fluent in five languages, as well as multiple dialects for each language. I understand you will need someone who you can trust, and if she is not someone you feel you can trust, then do not bring her with you."
The professor glanced at each of us--Queen clearly did not approve, but the rest of us nodded in agreement. Then, everyone's eyes landed on me. I nodded.
"Excellent!" Syrnafin waved at the car we had come in, and Adrianna got out of the passenger's seat. "I have a pack for you in the trunk. Come here," he said gently, and spoke to her in a beautiful Elven tongue that I longed to translate. It was a different dialect than I had been studying, so I could not understand what he was saying. Adrianna smiled, and he put his hand on her shoulder. He was saying goodbye.
          We each took turns saying our farewells to those we had met during our stay; some goodbye's were more emotional than others, as Adrianna had to leave everyone she cared about. She did not cry, though, and the others seemed to be impressed by her control of her emotions. I wasn't impressed, I was slightly concerned; if she could so easily leave behind those who had taken her in and trained her for years--now, the only family she had left--then how much easily would she be able to leave us behind? I shut down my thoughts. I was overthinking yet again. Adrianna had always been kind and helpful to me, and even though she was quite quiet, I believed she had much more to say than she ever did. Maybe, at some point along the journey to come, I could get her to tell me what she was pondering.
          "Gather around,." the professor called cheerily, wiping the sad tears from his eyes and clearing his throat to address us. "We will greatly miss our friends here, but we journey for them. For their safety. For their freedom. Will you raise your glasses with me," he chuckled as if he was declaring a toast. "On the count of three."

I glanced at my colleagues to read their facial expressions.

"One."

Dalia anxiously met my eyes, but darted them away once more.

"Two."

Queen brought her bottle to her lips, waiting calmly to chug it.

"Three."

          I gulped the vomit-smelling liquid down and fell into some kind of trance as my body splashed down upon the icy waves. The water rushed over my face, nose, eyes--it closed around me, threatening to drag me to death himself. No one prepared me for what I was going to experience. Bob said it's different for everyone, that no one can really explain what you're going to feel. I'm going to explain it anyway. It felt like the dreams I used to have where I'm being attacked, but I can't move. I can't run. I'm stuck in slow motion, heart pounding and head nearly exploding from the panic and nerves pounding through my body. I can't move. I can't breathe. I can't see anyone around me. I sunk into an abyss of my own mind as the darkness closed in, and the cosmos beamed over me. Stars, comets, galaxies--it was breathtaking--

And then...

I came crashing down at the speed of light.