The tiles against his stomach were hard in contrast to the fleshiness of his body. The air was chilly, and he felt a light breeze pass over his skin.
Body! Chris thought. Skin!
Laughing, Chris grabbed his torso, moving his hands all over it, feeling the ribs and the collar bone and all the squishy flesh. He laughed again as it dawned on him that he was no longer in the void of nothing, floating around in his smallest components, but was back in one piece, one solid piece. And that one solid piece was back in reality.
Now, he just had to work out what reality he was in.
He heaved himself up to sitting and looked around. The room was familiar. Crimson walls like fresh blood. A big, wooden throne. A conference table made of oak. A high, vaulted ceiling. A glass cabinet filled with vials of potions and weapons. A window, through which gray light filtered in.
He stood, his legs wobbling, and went over to the window. It overlooked a large grassy field that stretched all the way to a line of forest trees, black silhouettes on the horizon.
Grass! Chris thought with delight. Trees!
He’d forgotten all about them. And seeing them now sent peals of delight rippling through his body. His laughter turned to hysteria.
“Christopher Blue,” came a cold female voice.
With a gasp, Chris swirled on the spot. There was a woman standing in the room. A scowling woman wearing a long black cloak that reached the floor. Her arms were folded.
The name came back to Chris with sudden ferocity: Mistress Obsidian.
A jolt of terror went through him. He staggered backward until he collided with the stone wall and there was nowhere left to shrink to.
“You…” he stammered. “You’re the one who tortured me!”
It was all starting to come back to Chris now.
“That was your punishment,” Mistress Obsidian said without even the smallest hint of remorse. “For failing me. For going against my expressed command. I can do it to you again. Anytime I want.”
Chris shook his head. He felt like he was reaching the verge of insanity. Just knowing he could be sent back to that place of turmoil, of unending agony, was enough to send his mind reeling.
“Please, no,” he begged, falling to his knees. “Please don’t send me back.”
“Get up, you sniveling wretch,” Mistress Obsidian said. “Begging won’t save you.”
“Then what will?” he asked desperately, heaving himself to his feet. “What can I do to make sure I never go back to that place?”
“Follow my instructions,” she replied. “And kill Oliver Blue.”
Oliver…
That name had been all that had accompanied Chris during his time in the void. Oliver, his little brother. For years he’d hated him. Wanted nothing more than to hurt him and make him suffer. And then for reasons he no longer understood, he’d balked at the last second. Just when he’d had Oliver, he’d changed his mind and let him go.
But Chris realized now, he would not change his mind again. There wasn’t the smallest hint of compassion left in him. Not toward Oliver. Not toward anyone. His time in the void seemed to have extinguished any positive feelings he’d ever had, leaving behind just the anger, just the fear, just the hatred.
“I will not fail you again,” Chris told Mistress Obsidian. “I will kill Oliver Blue.”
CHAPTER TWO
Oliver’s stomach swirled. He hated the sensation of portal travel. It didn’t matter how many times he went through it, it was always unpleasant.
Purple flashing lights blinded him. A noise like crashing waves made his ears ache. And the whole time, he looked about frantically behind him to see where his friends were, desperate for evidence that they’d jumped too, that they’d followed him into the portal and had escaped the School for Seers before it had collapsed.
Just then, he caught sight of Hazel’s butterscotch hair. A jolt of relief went through him. She was flailing in the vortex, being tossed around like a piece of flotsam in a current. Then Ralph came into view, his black hair flying every which way, his long, thin limbs moving as though he were doggy paddling and trying desperately to stay above water.
Oliver watched as Ralph whooshed up beside Hazel, and the two of them managed to clasp hands. They reminded him of synchronized skydivers. Without parachutes, of course, at the mercy of the elements, being thrown about all over the place like they were feathers caught up in a tornado.
As relieved as Oliver was to see Hazel and Ralph, there was still no sign of Walter, Simon, or Esther. Oliver prayed they’d made it through the portal in time. Especially Esther. It would be far too cruel of a blow for the universe to take her from him now, after everything they’d just gone through to save her life.
“Hazel!” Oliver cried over the loud, whooshing wind. “Ralph! Over here!”
Somehow, in spite of the roaring wind, Oliver’s voice was able to carry all the way to his friends. They both glanced up at him and relief flickered for a moment in their otherwise fearful eyes.
“Oliver!” Hazel cried, her tone seeped in relief.
Oliver was surprised that he was able to hear her so loudly and clearly. He’d expected her voice to be swallowed by the wind, as would usually happen during portal travel. He wondered why that wasn’t happening in this one. Maybe it was a different kind of portal from the ones he’d traveled through before. Professor Amethyst had conjured it under duress, after all.
Using his arms, Oliver swam breaststroke toward his friends. He grabbed them and they held onto one another tightly.
“Where are the others?” Ralph cried, glancing furtively around.
Oliver shook his head, the force of the wind making his dark blond hair fly into his eyes. “I don’t know. I can’t see them.”
He craned his head, searching through the black and purple flashing swirls to see if there was any sign of Walter, Simon, or Esther. There was none. He couldn’t see them at all, and the thought filled him with fear. Had they even jumped into the portal? Could they be stuck inside the crumbling school? He couldn’t bear the thought of having saved Esther’s life with the Elixir for her to then lose it only moments later in the school’s collapse. Why hadn’t he kept hold of her hand when he’d jumped?
“Oliver, can you hear me?” Professor Amethyst’s voice suddenly came from nowhere.
Shock struck Oliver. His eyes widened with surprise. He looked all about him but could not see the headmaster. It was as if Professor Amethyst was talking to him from another dimension.
Worried he was going mad, he turned to the others. “Did you guys hear that?” he asked, as the wind battered them.
“Yes,” Hazel gasped. “It’s Professor Amethyst. But how is he talking to us?”
“I have no idea,” Oliver stammered in reply.
“Listen,” the headmaster’s voice continued, seemingly coming from everywhere at once. “This is very important.” He spoke hurriedly, in an urgent, insistent tone. “The School for Seers is crumbling and there’s only one way to save it. You must find the Scepter of Fire.”
The Scepter of Fire? Oliver thought, racking his mind for any sense of familiarity. But there was none. He’d never heard of the Scepter of Fire.
“What is that?” he called into the vortex. He didn’t know where he should project his voice because he had no idea where the professor actually was. “Where do we find it?”
This time when Professor Amethyst spoke, his voice seemed distorted. It was like speaking on a cell phone with a poor connection. His words cracked in and out. “Lost in time…”
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Oliver cried, desperately.
There was silence.
“Professor?” Oliver tried again. “I can’t hear what you’re saying!”
But suddenly, Oliver’s attention was diverted by Ralph. His friend was tugging on his arm furiously.
“Oliver, look,” Ralph said.
Oliver turned his head over his shoulder. And the sight that awaited him made his whole body flood with relief. It was Esther, Walter, and Simon. At last!