Runaway Magic

thirteen

Kenna pressed her hip close to mine as we entered the graveyard. I didn't blame her. Birds cried out from their perches in the trees with thin, twisting limbs that reached to scrape the sky. Aside from the stars freckled into constellations above, the only light came from far ahead, its dim glow like a beacon guiding us to safety. Or death.

I didn't want to dwell on the latter option, especially not when we were the only two who appeared affected by our shadowed surroundings. Xia and Ekki were as reticent as ever, but the surety of their footsteps held a confidence I could never muster. I knew Ekki was trained in the ways of fighting - that much was evident from her silent swagger and her sculpted form - but I suspected Xia was too. The shorter girl looked harmless, but her eyes held a hawkish intensity. In that moment, despite the ghostly echoes of birds and the spooky silhouettes of trees, I felt safe. Amina would never let anything happen to us. If she knew this place was dangerous, she wouldn't have agreed to Crow's plan.

Or so I thought, until Ekki yanked me back just as an arrow whizzed by my face, no more than a hair away. I blinked at the spot it had appeared from in dumbfounded shock.

"Shit," Amina murmured, glancing worriedly at the darkness enclosing us. "I didn't realize this place would be booby-trapped. Ekki, do you see any others?"

Ekki didn't even need to shift her attention as she let go of my shoulder, answering, "No, that's the only one. It's just to scare thieves off. Most graverobbers are fraidy-cats."

"But not us," I affirmed, squeezing Kenna's hand to ward off her concern. If anything, the arrow had only spurred my adrenaline.

"But not us," Ekki agreed, appraising me with a mildly impressed look. Then, her expression melted back into one of cool neutrality. "Even if there aren't any more traps, we shouldn't be exposed any longer than necessary. There could still be someone watching us."

I shivered, the back of my neck prickling with unease. Stop it, I reprimanded myself. No one's watching us, you're just overreacting. So I continued to put one foot in front of the other, ignoring the doom I sensed in our wake.

The light coruscated as we grew closer, blossoming so bright I had to shield my eyes against its onslaught.

"What the hell is that?" Amina grumbled, narrowing her eyes. No one responded, not even know-it-all Xia. Despite the blinding white, we pressed on. Gradually, the trees and darkness surrounding us fell away until we were engulfed on all sides. I couldn't determine what was around me anymore; all I knew was that my feet kept carrying me forward and my crew was right there with me. Until I stubbed against a solid metal structure with a painful twang.

"Ow," I hissed, springing backward. Wisely, everyone else stopped, not wanting to risk injuring themselves. Beside me, Amina and Xia examined the space in front of us, running their fingers up and down the invisible barrier.

"It's another gate," Ekki observed before the two could even report their conclusions. Xia frowned at her. I guess the girl didn't like sharing her intellectual thunder.

"Can you pick it?" Amina asked, stepping away with her hands raised. "That gate will lead us straight into the heart of Morning's grave."

"I'm not skilled enough to pick it blindly," the Fjallen girl admitted begrudgingly. She crossed her arms, eying the space up and down as if it would suddenly reveal itself to her.

"Let me help," Kenna said, startling me. Since we had arrived, she had been uncharacteristically taciturn. The discomfort radiating from her was palpable, yet it contrasted with the determination set in her face. "Just let me try," she insisted, glancing at me for approval.

I shrugged. I had long since decided to stop policing her magic use. Our secret was out already; now, it was up to her to control her powers. If she thought it could help, than I wasn't going to bother protesting.

Taking my silence for an answer, she unfurled her fingers from where they hung clenched by her hip. For a moment, her palm remained empty, her skin paled by the hazy white mist obscuring our surroundings. Then, a small flame trickled out. Every few seconds, it flickered, contracting in and out faster than a blink.

"Sorry," Kenna muttered through her clenched teeth. A bead of sweat trailed down her forehead. I had never seen her body so taxed by her own magic before, especially something as small as a match-sized flame. "I think there's something in the air blocking my access, because this is the best I can do."

"It'll do," Ekki confirmed, nodding at my sister to step forward. Kenna scanned the gate, illuminating swaths of ivy-rusted iron and delicately-wrought swirls as her hand brushed past. Finally, her light caught on a hefty block emerging from the metal. A tiny hole sat in the center, wreathed by nothing but a simple, fine-lined circle. As Ekki bent down until she was eye level with the lock, Kenna cupped her other hand around the flame, honing its attention.

We all caged our breaths as Ekki tinkered with the lock, twisting her hairpin in a series of various intricate patterns. Kenna's flame continued to burn steadily, albeit weakly, as the Fjallen girl worked silently. After a while, she sucked in a breath and rested back on her haunches, her lithe arms draping over her knees.

"Well, did you figure it out?" Amina asked. I knew what the girl's answer would be - of course she had figured it out; she was Ekki, the wraith herself. So I didn't expect to be completely wrong.

"No, I can't do it," Ekki sighed, shaking her head. She brushed a strand of icy blond hair behind her slightly-pointed ear. The disappointment on her face mirrored my own, but her self-effacement garnered no sympathy from Amina.

"What about...other methods?" Amina hedged. Unless the Fjallen girl somehow had magic, I didn't know what other methods could exist. Maybe we were going to have to scale the gate just as Ekki had proposed in the first place.

At Amina's suggestion, a contemplative look crossed Ekki's features. Her pointed attention flickered to me and Kenna, a question forming at her lips. "Are you sure? I thought you wanted us to maintain privacy."

Amina shook her head, the ghost of a smirk gracing her plump mouth. "To hell with privacy," she said. "Besides, they already know enough. What's one more incriminating detail?"

Cautiously, I watched Xia. If the girl had processed a reaction to Amina's words, her body language didn't change at all. In fact, her posture only seemed straighter and more rigid, as if she was willing herself to stone. But the subtle tapping of her fingers against her thigh betrayed her unease. At what, I didn't know, but I only hoped Amina's surprise wasn't going to draw us into more danger.

For what felt like the millionth time that day, I was wrong.

Ekki accepted Amina's retort as permission. She slid the hairpin back into her pocket, rising back to her full height. Kenna stayed in her position, her fire the only guidance for Ekki's actions. As I looked on with confusion and apprehension, Ekki closed her eyes, an unusual sereneness washing over her. A slight twitch of her eyelashes betrayed her as she lifted a hand toward the lock. She contorted her fingers, pulling her mouth into a pinched frown.

At first, nothing happened. Then, the lock emitted a series of high-pitched clicking noises before popping off completely. I jumped as it rattled on the ground, a gaping hole in its wake.

Ekki opened her eyes, dropping her arms across her chest with a self-satisfied smirk. Kenna and I only stared at her in abject disbelief. I knew Ekki had been partially raised in Ijinislij after her orphaned childhood in Fjallen, but I had never stopped to wonder why she was an orphan in the first place, why she had left her home country and fallen in with Amina. Now, I had my answer.

"You have magic, too," Kenna breathed, just before her cradled flame sputtered out.