Wind flew through her hair as the unfamiliar wind rushed past her, the dim light beneath her growing marginally brighter as the speedy fall - or rise, technically - brought her past everything she’d seen. The flipped catwalks and pipes gave way to the sand that she’d failed to catch earlier.

She tried to use wind to hold a flame up, but nothing would come out. Not like the flame was snuffed out immediately, but she couldn’t tug on her magic like this.

It didn’t feel like it was gone, but it felt like it was active, even though she wasn’t using it.

The papers she’d been holding onto rubbed against the red rock in her hand, which she put back into her pocket and kept closed to avoid it flying out, below her and into the pit.

Amity stopped feeling her magic’s use, it slowing down and eventually cutting out completely as she felt the unusual gravity subside. She immediately used this to push a beam of ice out below her, anchoring it into the walls and keeping it big enough to land on if she fell.

The breeze slowed down again, and the papers stopped rustling, as her head reached a crescendo, just below the surface. Another beam erected below her, and she carefully allowed herself to fall on it, before making it big enough to not risk a fall. She used a few pieces of ice built into the wall as a makeshift staircase, as she had done seemingly ages ago, to pull herself barely up and over the edge, towards the sand.

“Guys! I’m-”

Nobody looked shocked, nobody looked sad or afraid. Nobody looked… At all. Nobody was there anymore, seemingly vanished.

“Shit- Guys! Himiko! Raleigh! I’m-”

She turned, trying to spot them, but something - or rather, the lack thereof - much more apparent was shown.

The castle built around the hollow moat was missing.

“Shi- Where t-the fuck did it- Where the fuck did I-”

A rock behind her caught her heel, tripping her backwards and sending the papers in her hand flying around. The index card, made of a thicker stock, fell down first, directly onto her chest. Picking it up, the small card had frantic writing in dark pencil, smudged and hard to properly make out, but scrawled upon its surface; a warning.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“KEEP YOUR EYES OUT”

The other papers drifted down and surrounded her, scattered haphazardly amongst the sand. She didn’t immediately grab them though, shocked at the message he’d left her. Picking herself up, still staring at the note.

“Why the hell did he…”

Amity looked back at the empty land sitting in front of her. The ruins that were there were simply gone, the shattered bridge no longer left the trace of packed sand where it was planted, and the footprints of them running up to the edge had loosened.

The coast looked the same, and the empty landscape near identical as well.

She picked up the papers, which on further inspection were blank lined sheets, and threw them into the pit again.

“Why the hell did he launch me here? This can’t be the same place…”

A small squirrel chirped, running around her legs and jumping up around her.

“Oh, hey little guy!” She reached down to try to reach it, but it dodged her hand and switched quickly to her other side. Sand flew around her, and the squirrel sprinted towards the growing mass of sand, taking the rough shape of an open hand, which it jumped into. The hand closed, forming a fist, and flew towards her.

She realized this, dodging to her side, and used her wind to try destabilizing the hand, to no avail. It charged for another attack, and Amity had to think of something, fast.

The fist charged again, catching one of her hands in the sand, and she couldn’t pull it out. It tried to catch her other hand, but she kept it just out of reach, covering her head and preparing for something big.

Using water, she sprayed the sand that made up the hand. It was made too heavy for the wind to properly keep it up, and the squirrel slipped out of the collapsing structure and skittered around, kicking up more wind and trying to get enough sand back up to get the wind illusion to the same strength, but Amity started her attack next. Using some wind, she pulled up just enough sand to scoop the squirrel up, lifting it away from the formed hand and soliciting it to either try to reach the squirrel and take it back, or pick up the slack on the attack, both of which she was prepared for.

It chose the latter, the creature controlling it ignoring it’s own predicament and instead focusing on it’s prey. The hand flung sand, peppering Amity and nearly getting in her eyes, but she kept an arm over them and moved out of it’s path, albeit barely. It quickly changed paths, using her distraction to charge upwards and grab the squirrel. She caught on, sending it flying into the distance with a quick flick of the platform it rested upon.

The hand wrenched away from its path, barely retaining shape as it flung itself in the direction of the controlling entity.

“God… damn it…”

She took deep breaths, not expecting to have to fight something then. The sand she had used to keep the squirrel in the air finally fell down beside her, forming a mound of it in the otherwise mostly barren landscape, the horizon empty entirely besides…

A set of ruins, well in the distance, smoke billowing out from around it, and the voice of a teenage girl screaming.

Amity didn’t run, she understood it couldn’t possibly be her friend, and the fact she could barely hear her suggested it was probably nearly half a mile away. She simply walked, not focusing on anything in particular but her own thoughts, and what thoughts they were.

I… wish I regretted more, honestly… Why did I only regret… her? She’s just a friend, I know she couldn’t like me… Could my potentially last thoughts not have been about… my family? Or something?

If I like her enough… to think about her in my last moments… I should tell her.

She heard the distant screaming taper off, and prepared to tell Himiko everything the moment they find each other again.