The wind blasted her away from the burst-open windows, pines and ponds and shrubs passing rapidly below. The lotus pond glittered a bright silver as it flashed by. Abrial’s ankles grazed the top of a pine tree violently, and its needles scratched her skin and drew blood, but she felt nothing. She twisted this way and that as she neared the top edge of the wall.
“Finley!” She roared furiously, following with a string of extremely profane swears. Her eyes were beginning to blur with rage and confusion. Hot tears were ripped away from her cheeks by the wind. “Let me go! STOP IT! Right now!”
But the powerful wind only grew stronger. If Finley heard her at all, her voice must sound like a faint, fading echo in the distance.
Abrial noticed, suddenly, that she was rapidly approaching the wall. Below her, it seemed so short compared to its towering height at those times she’d stared up at it in the gardens. The furious barrage of words building in her throat vanished in an instant. Everything blurred away into streaks of shadow except for the edge of the wall, which hurtled towards her like a comet.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl.
Her shadow brushed over the stone of the wall like a flitting ghost.
Then, just like that —
She was past it. Outside the wall, and free.
Like an oyster shell unfolding, the whole world opened up before her, blinding her with its vastness.
Dark green hills veiled with nighttime shadows rolled out in every direction like sleeping dragons. In the distance, snow capped mountains rose like carved stone, their greenness fading into deep purples at their jagged tops. The landscape all around shone like a sea of pearls in the moonlight.
Abrial’s eyes sparkled with mountains and hills and diamond stars.
In them, shone an infinity.
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Abrial gazed at the world for what felt like a lifetime. An expression of dazzlement and wonder seemed to be permanently etched onto her features.
When the awe had finally diminished enough that she remembered to breathe and that she was alive, an urgent word darted into her mind.
Finley.
Abrial craned her neck urgently around, searching for the house.
It sat alone atop a dark hill. In the distance behind it, many lights and buildings seemed to be clustered together, like what Abrial guessed a city was supposed to look like. But she cared little for the city. Her vision zoned in on the house, blurring everything else away.
It was small now, like a doll’s house. She wondered for a moment how something so puny had ever made her feel so trapped. It was…so tiny! What the heck? How had that place made her panic every night? How the heck had she even been stuck in there at all?
Frustration and confusion tugged harshly at her stomach. The wind whistled in her ears.
“Finley,” she muttered, her gaze fixed on the house. Her mouth tasted suddenly like acid. She gritted her teeth, scarlet nightrobes flying around her like a pool of blood. Obsidian eyes gleaming furiously, she opened her mouth and shouted at the top of her lungs:
“I’m coming back for you, all right? So you’d better be safe when I get back! You hear me? BE SAFE! STAY FUCKING SAFE, OKAY?” Her mouth twisted with anguish and anger. “And how stupidly powerful do you have to be to summon a wind this strong? You…You at least need to stay safe so I can tell you how angry I am at you for never telling me you could do this kind of thing when I see you! Okay?!”
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Abrial glanced around, as if trying to see the invisible wind that was carrying her.
“Stop,” she ordered hesitantly. “Stop right now!...Please?” She cleared her throat, putting on a commanding face that she hoped was scary, but really just looked exceedingly grumpy. “I said, stop! Stop right now! Put me down! Go the other way, you stupid wind! Or I’ll — I’ll beat you up, or something!”
Nothing happened. The wind seemed to roar even louder in indignant response.
Abrial scowled in frustration. What an annoying, stupid wind! Either it didn’t have ears, it was deaf, or it was ignoring her on purpose. Or…most likely, it just wasn’t listening because she didn’t know how to stop it and didn’t have the magical ability to.
She huffed out an exasperated breath. It seemed there was nothing she could do to stop it from carrying her further and further away from where Finley must be facing the other guards right now. Finley had only ever taught her how to heal cuts and bruises. She’d never even mentioned that she knew how to do anything else half this cool. It made Abrial feel sour that she’d never shared this with her, and the feeling was strange. The idea of Finley keeping big secrets from her made Abrial feel somewhat…what was this feeling, anyways? Sadness? Confusion? Ah, she couldn’t tell.
Abrial sucked in a deep breath, like all of the mental balancing tutors her mother had ever hired to teach her had taught her to do. Then she released it, softening her brows.
What could she do right now? There was nothing. She couldn’t fight an invisible wind. So…she might as well enjoy the ride, right? And as soon as this infernal wind let her down, she would turn straight around and go back sprinting for Finley, and she wouldn’t stop until she got back to the house. That was a good plan. It could work, for sure. For now, she just needed to rest up so she’d have enough energy to run for however long it took to get back to Finley.
Ah…the wind felt so good — so cool and so soothing as it rushed around her body, across her skin. The sky was so beautiful, and the landscape was so enormous. There were more emotions battling one another in her chest than she had felt in a long time — too chaotic a combination for her to name what she felt, and anyways, she’d never been good at recognizing any emotions besides anger and excitement. She lay flat in the air, the whole world zooming by beneath her. Her arms stretched out, welcoming the sparkling stars she had studied from her bedroom and the paradise gardens night after night, after night.
Lying like this, she fell asleep, for the first time outside of that house in memory.
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Abrial woke up in a hollow.
At least…she assumed it was a hollow. This was kind of like what her geographical tutors had called a hollow, right?
There was a mossy rock hanging over her, and she was rolled into the grassy shoulder where it met the ground. When she opened her eyes, her cheek was pressed against the rock. Her mouth tasted like blood and moss. She blinked blearily and glanced around, taking in the features of the rock.
Yep. Seemed like a hollow. Tasted like a hollow. She’d landed in a hollow.
She pulled herself out from the rock with some difficulty. The strong wind had deposited her very snugly and safely beneath it. When she finally extracted herself from beneath it, she sighed in pleasure and took a deep breath of the fresh, breezy air on this hillside.
Then, she climbed on top of the rock to gaze around and figure out which way shee needed to run to get back to Finley. She hadn’t forgotten her one and only goal: to get back to Finley and make sure she was safe.
From the top of this high hill, she could see hills of all different shapes and sizes stretching out to the base of a range of enormous, stony mountains ahead. Her brow furrowed darkly when she saw how close to the mountains she had traveled just overnight: they were much bigger now, looming over her like solemn stone guardians. That…wasn’t good. She’d have to run very far to get back.
She turned around to scout out the direction from which she’d flown. The sky was bright and the sun was halfway risen in the east, so it was morning time. Her face turned sour when she saw just how far she was from the direction she had come. Grassy hills dotted with farewell pines stretched as far as she could see. She had come, very, very far. Just how powerful of a wind had Finley summoned to bring her all this way? Abrial clicked her teeth in irritation. Finley really shouldn’t have wasted so much energy on sending her this far. If she’d sent a weaker wind, then Abrial could’ve gotten back to the house ASAP! This just made things hard for the both of them. She huffed. How long would it take to get back to the house from here? Days, probably! How many, she couldn’t even tell!
To the right, not so far off, there was a group of buildings — many small wooden houses. They were clustered together like berries in the endless green of hills.
A village, Abrial guessed, raising her dark eyebrows with interest. Finley had told her villages were small and collected, like baby cities. A lot of little houses crowded together, usually with a small market in the middle for commerce.
Immediately, Abrial set off running down the hill. The soft breeze weaving through the air fluttered through her hair. She had always excelled at running. With her flowing, expensive scarlet robes, and her fleet-footed pace, she looked like a strange goddess drifting rapidly over the hills.