Micah decided it was as good a time as any to ask Cassia about how to find his sister. Venali and Cecilia had left the cave to get some fresh air before the trip, and Melech was talking to his sister in a low voice on the other side of the room. He headed down the same hall Cassia had and looked into various rooms trying to find her. Most of them looked the same. They all had very little furniture, usually only a table and a few chairs, and every wall was covered with shelves crammed with different jars and flora.

Micah stepped into one of the rooms to look at the jars. Most of them were full of mosses or powders that he didn’t recognize. But others were more disturbing. He found one that had a decaying fish inside. Another was holding fingernails. He picked up one that had a dark liquid in it. Micah opened the lid and almost gagged at the smell. He quickly closed it and put it back on the shelf, shuddering. He didn’t want to know where Cassia had gotten all of this stuff. He walked out of the room and continued down the dark hall.

He found her in the next room. This one was different. It looked like a bedroom. There was a giant bed in the middle of the room with soft looking covers and pillows. Vines hung from the ceiling with beautiful flowers attached to them. A small waterfall was cascading down behind the head of the bed as well. The soft sound of falling water was the only sound in the room as he entered. The Ferie was sitting on her bed, pushing flower pedals into a jar. She looked up as he approached and smiled devilishly.

“Hello handsome.” She said, putting the jar aside and motioning for him to sit with her.

“I’m okay.” He said and remained standing.

“Suit yourself,” she laid on her side and propped her head up on her hand. “What do you want?”

Micah took a breath. “My sister is missing. I was hoping you would be able to track her down somehow.”

“I could,” she said, looking at him through her eyelashes. “But what will I get in return?”

“I’ll give you anything you want,” Micah replied. He knew he should be cautious with her. Ferie’s were known to be tricksters but he didn’t care. At this point he was too desperate.

“Interesting,” Cassia sounded amused. “Anything I want?”

Micah nodded. “Yeah.”

“Hmmm,” She stared at him like he was a piece of meat she couldn’t decide how to cut. He stood there uncomfortably while she looked him over.

“I want a kiss.” She decided, a devilish smile playing at her lips.

Whatever Micah was expecting her to say, it wasn’t that. “What?”

“Come on, it isn’t that hard to understand. I took you for a smart boy.” She said lazily.

“You can’t be serious.” He could feel his face heating. He looked away, hoping she wouldn’t notice.

“I am.” Cassia moved to get up from the bed. “What’s the matter? It’s harmless.”

He backed away as she approached him instinctively, his back meeting the wall.

“If you don’t want my help finding your sister, then I don’t mind calling this all off.” She stroked her hand against his cheek and he shivered at her icy touch.

If Harper was alive, he was going to kill her. He couldn’t believe he was about to do this. “Fine, I’ll do it. Just help me find Harper. Please.”

Micah leaned towards the Ferie, but she held a finger against his lips.

“Not so fast.” She smiled at him. “You’ve got yourself a deal. I’ll come to collect it when you return.” She left the bedroom and Micah followed behind her, wondering why she would have asked him for such a thing to begin with.

Cassia led him further down the dark hallway until it opened up into a small room. This one looked like all the others, except it had what looked like a bird bath in the middle. He lurked in the doorway while she pulled a few branches and flowers from the shelves lining the walls. When she was finished, she placed them on a table and started ripping petals off of the plants and throwing them into the water. It was so strange to him. In all the Ferytales he had read as a child, the wizard or witch that was doing the magic always said some sort of spell or chanted some dead language. Instead, Cassia wasn’t saying anything. It was almost overwhelmingly quiet as she worked.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Do you have anything of hers?” Cassia asked.

He pulled his necklace up around his head and dangled the shell between them. “Will this work?”

She nodded and he dropped it into her outstretched hand. He watched as she placed it into the birdbath and stirred the water around with her finger. A blue light started to shine out of the bowl, getting brighter gradually as she stirred it until he was almost blinded by it. On the ceiling, shadows that shouldn’t be there danced across the stone. He saw silhouettes of buildings and people that weren't there, and he could hear a quiet humming in the back of his head.

“Come here.” Cassia held out her hand to him. He reluctantly took it and allowed her to lead him to stand over the birdbath. As he approached, the humming got more intense. It wasn’t louder per say, but it was like the noise made a pressure that caused his head to feel like it was being compressed. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ease the pressure.

“Micah, open your eyes.”

He did as she asked and suddenly everything was calm. The pressure was gone from his head and the light had receded. In front of him was Cassia who pointed to the ceiling above the birdbath. He looked up and saw a puddle. Reflections glided over the water but they wern’t of him or Cassia. The image in the puddle was like they were looking up at the sky. It was gloomy and something white was falling towards the puddle; ashes. Suddenly a girl popped into view. Her long brown hair dangled around her shoulders, a concerned look on her face. She glanced down and Micah would have recognized those green eyes anywhere.

Harper.

It looked like she was saying something, but Micah couldn’t tell what. Her words were muffled like she was talking underwater.

“Harper!” He called, waving his arms.

“She can’t hear you,” Cassia replied. “Or see you for that matter. To her, this is just another puddle in the road.”

He looked helplessly up at the ceiling. “I can’t tell where she is.”

But at least she was alive. The thought washed over him, and his body relaxed with relief.

Suddenly, another figure came into view. A man with shaggy blonde hair. He looked about the same age as Harper, his face set in a hard line. Micah watched as the man grabbed her wrist and pulled her quickly out of view of the puddle. In a moment, it was over. The water that had formed at the ceiling splashed back into the birdbath, spraying him with sweet smelling liquid.

“No, no, no!” He looked helplessly into the birdbath. Only his pale face stared back at him. “Who was that? I’ll kill him!”

Micah looked for Cassia with pleading in his eyes but the room was empty. She had slipped out without him noticing, leaving him with only the birdbath and a sinking pit in his stomach.

The full moon cast an eerie light over the land of Ratini. The flowers and moss that had been so beautiful during the day now looked shadowed and sinister. Both she and Venali retreated into the cave to find the others. They gathered around Cassia at the far end of the main room, ready to travel to Aduial Amon.

Cassia led them down an adjacent hallway that opened up into a large room. In the center was a small pond. Lily pads were delicately floating on top of the water and Cecilia could have sworn she saw a glimmer of fish scales out of the corner of her eye.

“Why are we here?” Venali asked. “I thought we were going to Aduial Amon.”

“You are.” Cassia replied. “I need you all to hold on to each other and step into the water.”

Cecilia looked over at Micah and held out her hand towards him. He took it and gave her a solemn look. She then turned to Venali and took his hand as well.

Are you going to be okay? He mouthed. She nodded but truthfully she didn’t know if she was. She hasn’t been to Aduial Amon in weeks. The last time she was there, her parents were alive and happy and her home was intact. She didn’t know what to expect, but she knew it wouldn’t be good.

“Anytime you are ready, dears, step into the water. The rest should fall into place.” Cecilia could have sworn that Cassia gave Micah a strange look just then but she shook the thought from her mind. She could feel Micah give her hand a squeeze and she looked up at his face. He was smiling that reassuring smile that made his eyes crinkle at the sides.

Melech started to wade into the water. The rest followed, all moving until they reached the middle of the pond. The water pooled up to their torso’s, except for Melech, who only had water up to his knees. Cassia gave them instructions to hold tight to each other, and Melech to the crystal she had given him from earlier. They should submerge themselves in the pool and they would arrive in Aduial Amon shortly. Nevari waved a quick goodbye, her face unreadable.

Melech sat and laid down in the pond, his face the last to disappear under the water. Cecilia took a deep breath and let others pull her under.