Astrid walks down the hall towards her next class when the smell hits her. Firewood and mint. Her feet stumble slightly as the side effects of the vision begin to manifest. The hall is split by two rapid rivers filled with bodies. She tells herself that the smell is the lingering remanence of an herbology class gone wrong. A healing tincture mixed incorrectly, a logical excuse. In reality, somewhere back at home, her brother is attempting to send her a vision with the very little power he has. His fear fuels the vision where his power lacks.

The iron bracelet on her left wrist begins to burn her scarred skin. She itches at it nervously. The students are shoulder to shoulder as they head in the direction of their classes. Stopping is not a choice for Astrid.

For 2 years that bracelet has only felt cold and intrusive on her wrist. Every student is matching, not only in uniform, but in accessories. Each iron bracelet restricts magic. Unbreakable and spellbound to make the student forget the past and the strength they once had. Magic is only wielded by the teachers to enact punishments on the students. As every sign of a vision flashes before her, she doesn’t realize. As the bracelet burns and slowly cracks. She will remember. The past will come back in full with her powers in hand.

Now her eyes blur. The brown and green walls engulf the students all in matching brown and green uniforms. For a split second, she sees a dense forest. Bronwyn, her only friend since arriving here, grabs her around the waist and leads Astrid through the thick crowd to a wall. Astrid is left there with the wall to her back and her burning wrist in her hand.

Bronwyn had been her saviour on her first day of class when Astrid used to wield defiance like a sword. Bronwyn dropped her book off the table as Astrid almost got herself sent to isolation by questioning the beliefs of this lethal building. Dropping the book was a distraction mixed with a command. Bronwyn uttered for Astrid to shut up. She listened and gained a loyal friend who helped her navigate some punishments in the past 2 years.

There’s nothing Bronwyn can do to help her now but to proceed to class. A panic attack bubbles in Astrid's chest. It holds her breath hostage. Partially blind and now partially breathless. Tears sit in the corner of her eyes. Students are concerned as they walk past but none stop. They stare with furrowed brows but continue forward on their path. If Bronwyn did not want to risk being late, then these strangers would never risk it for her either. She doesn’t take it personally. She has been late before and has experienced the month-long isolation that comes as punishment.

Sounds begin to amplify as the vision roots itself in her mind. Hard leather soles slapping on the linoleum floor engulf her ears as students continue their steady pace. Luckily the hallway is quickly emptying which gives her suffering no more witnesses. The wall slides up as she sinks down. Knees pull to her chest. The air cold on her bare legs. The bracelet burns at her skin, so she tries to pull her sweater under the bracelet. Fingers can slide under, but the sleeve of the sweater can’t. A spell to ensure no foreign objects go under the bracelet to prevent people from prying the iron off has made a wall between the sweater and the bracelet. It glows with a slight tinge of red. Astrid chokes back a sob. Searching for comfort- she wraps her arms around her knees.

The corner of her eyes begin to darken. It’s coming. A hint that the vision is about to reveal itself. Cracks splinter the burning bracelet and pierce into her wrist. The old burn scar that covers her hand and wraps up and around her shoulder has numbed enough nerves to weaken the pain that the bracelet is causing. Tears still puddle in her eyes.

The creature appears in the middle of her vision. It hasn’t been rendered completely. Is this death? She thinks to herself. A thin, tall, sickly creature, all black in misery. No face. No eyes. Standing with a hunch and an anatomically impossible head. Its head hangs a few inches off its shoulders like a teardrop. What should be hands are thick and round lumps with no fingers. The stomach is a thick round pouch. Thick tree trunk legs drip down from the stomach. The vision cuts off below the knees. An intense amount of fear vibrates through her body as though she carries the fear of two people.

Astrid blinks rapidly. Hoping it might be a floater in her eye. Might be a hallucination. Maybe still dreaming in her dorm? It stays throughout each blink. She looks to the left of the empty hallway. The creature stays centered and doesn’t waver. Now to the right–it stays. It won’t leave.

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Eyes shut tight; she lies her head between her knees. Nails carving crescents into her arms. The creature is darker than the nothingness of the inside of her eyelids. Refusing to leave.

Two tall ears twitch in the darkness of her peripheral vision. She recognizes the ears of a kuyon. A dark green woodling that walks on uneven all fours. Hind legs incredibly long while the front paws can only meet its little nose. The vision is replaced momentarily by a blurry memory of chasing the little creature just to watch it jump high with those long back legs. The vision turns and she meets her own gaze. She’s younger, but that’s her. She is incapable of recognizing that this memory is her brother’s and not her own.

Astrid grits her teeth as the creature returns to the vision. The sound of fast-moving steps bounces around inside her head. Someone is coming. It’s far but it still pains her. A voice whispers out her name.

The teardrop head extends towards the kuyon, like melted cheese being pulled apart. The body stays in its place. Astrid grows weaker from the pain. Everything renders more clearly in her mind. The creatures are in a forest. The kuyon is half hidden in the bramble. The ears a fishing lure. As the teardrop head gets closer, the vision moves to center this fatality. Astrid can’t look away. She wishes she could find a switch to turn the vision off. Instead, it gets clearer with every second that passes.

The creature slips back its thick skin from the bottom of its teardrop head hanging above the kuyon. Sharp teeth wet with anticipation. Jaws open and a thick tongue slithers out–feels the air and finds a spot just an inch above the kuyon’s ears.

Someone is now next to Astrid. They are pulling her head up. They are speaking. They are somewhere far away. Her left wrist is pulled up and the bracelet falls to the ground. It shatters with sharp ease. The first time in 150 years that an iron bracelet has been broken. Warmth spreads across her body. Shouting and the rapid movement of feet fade into the distance. There’s an alarm blaring somewhere far away. The real-world melts away from Astrid.

The vision is vivid in her mind. She is consumed. Bark scratches her palms. Hidden behind a tree, away from the creature's nonexistent eyes. Arkane’s voice screams for Astrid.

“Astrid, hello? Are you here?” His voice is a quick and fearful whisper. It takes her a moment to realize that it’s her brother. His voice deeper than it was the last time she heard it. Astrid doesn’t remember his telepathy being this powerful before. When they were children, Arkane could only share short memories with her which only happened when he really focused as they held hands.

“I’m here Arkane.” She doesn’t entirely know where here is, but she knows they are connected. “Are you okay?!”

Her body is limp. The floor burns her skin, but she can’t move. Astrid’s consciousness is with Arkane while her body is still in the hallway.

“I’m in the forest. Behind our house, past the lake, and towards the other village.” He doesn’t answer her question.

The creature is opening its tongue to reveal a tunnel of teeth. It envelops the kuyon with ease. A short shrill cry of warning shoots out of the kuyon before its voice is swallowed up. The long legs stick out, twitching with fear. The jaws tip back to face the sky. The tongue slips down the throat with ease. With a crack the jaws shut on the kuyons legs. The thick skin finds its resting place over the teeth again. It turns towards them.

“I found the girl,” His voice shakes, “I think it knows I’m here.”

Black goo oozes out the tip of its cocked head. Astrid feels something sharp in her neck. The vision begins to blur away. The whole creature begins to ooze. Her body eases. Something twitches in the stomach. It takes a step forward. Rancid smoke replaces the smell of the forest. She begins to feel blissful as the image of the kuyons legs breaking repeats in her mind.

“Get someone here!” Is the last thing Astrid hears from her brother.

Astrid wakes up in the infirmary. Feelings of nostalgia mix with nausea. She remembers chasing kuyons. Sedative drugs run through her veins and the vision feels like a mere dream. Her body is too weak to move. Someone must have done something to her as she was in the vision. The room is empty, and the halls are silent. The door sits wide open. She is hit with the urge to leave. To sneak out and see her brother. To sit by the fire and drink mint tea from the plants he grew in the garden.

Her eyes widen with shock. Her hand instinctively goes to her left wrist to run her fingers along her scar, a meditative practice of hers and realizes there are 5 bracelets on each wrist. But Astrid remembers everything. Her eyes dart for the door and she wills her body to move.

After about 5 minutes of pushing past the weakness in her body, she is now standing. The bracelet kept her from knowing anything. She is wearing 10 but can feel her power pushing against the bracelets. Every memory she has ever made is alive and the fog that held her down for 2 years has lifted.

Arkane might be dead.