Page 20 of Ashland Hollows

I couldn’t stop looking at the blood coating my fingers, though. Phantom screams echoed in my mind, and the plea from my mother begging her to be taken and not me. I rubbed my fingers together, the crimson color smearing before I wiped them on my pants.

“I can fix that,” Mallory offered with excitement in her voice to be doing something real.

I closed my eyes and slowly shook my head to avoid irritating my ears. Pressing my fingers to my eyes, I let my body's quivering lessen. I hadn’t even realized I’d been shaking so badly.

“I can’t get good at healing if you don’t let me even try,” Mallory explained in frustration. “I won’t even be able to survive medic training if you don’t let me try because I won’t know anything.”

I groaned and laid back in the ashes I hadn’t gotten up from. “I know that, Mal, but you have to take it slow. If you try too much at once, you can damage your powers or wear yourself out to the point where the magic will be useless to you. What kind of a witch are you if you can’t do magic?”

There was a moment of silence, then Mallory grumbled incoherent words I didn’t even bother trying to make any sense of. I ignored her and sat back up as slowly as possible so I wouldn’t jerk my head around too much.

“How did you do that whistle?” Carli suddenly asked, my ears pricking at her shaky words.

I blinked profusely and turned to face her. She was staring down at me, perplexed, eyebrows bunched together as she stared at me.

“What?” I asked.

“The whistle. How did you do that whistle?”

The whistle echoed in my ears, shrill and loud. It’d only made the Skeletal stagger only just a little. It hadn’t been enough, but it had been better than nothing and had given me a chance to attack.

I shook my head. “I don’t know, I just – I just did it, I guess. It was natural.”

I caught Carli’s eye again. Her lips were pursed as she stared down at me, nose wrinkled. It wasn’t disgust twisting her face, just curiosity and something else I couldn’t quite detect. Something shimmered behind her, and my eyes flickered in the direction, but it went away as quickly as it had happened.

“Did your brother or Timothy teach you that?” she asked. “You can tell me. You know that.”

“I always tell you everything, Carli. I would tell you if either did, but I told you the truth; it just happened.”

Carli’s eyebrows twitched, and a look of frustration, or maybe disbelief, flickered over her face. Her golden hair ran down in ringlets to her bottom, bouncing effortlessly and without a stray strand fluttering in the gentle breeze that whisked through the air. I knew, though, that my hair was a total and complete mess. I could feel the ash clinging to the white strands and probably making me look like an old haggard. I just needed to paint some wrinkles on, and I could easily pass for it.

I shook my head vigorously and reached up, combing my fingers through my hair to remove the ash as best as possible. Carli stepped to me and crouched in front of me, reaching out to press her fingers against my jawbone and turning my head.

“Come here, Mallory. Azula is just being stubborn.”

Mallory skipped to my friend’s side and dropped to her knees. “What do I do?”

Carli’s grandmother had taught her basic healing, and that’s all my eardrums would actually need. I’d tried to teach her more, but she’d had none of it. Forest and plants were where her talents were, so I couldn’t blame her.

“Go in Azula’s bag for a vial with green paste,” Carli told Mallory. “Hurry up now.”

Mallory did as she was told and quickly returned with it. Carli showed her how to apply the paste and the words to speak. The rancid stench entered my nostrils but quickly vanished as it fluttered off into the air. It wasn’t like back at my cabin. There was vast space here for it to not be trapped.

I felt the tingle as it evaporated into my skin, and my ears grew clogged. Reaching up, I pressed the bridge of my nose and blew out until they popped and shook my head to make the pain go away.

“Thanks,” I grunted and pushed to my bed. “I could’ve done that myself.”

“Oh knock it off, Azula. Mallory needs the practice. You aren’t going to drag her to the medic training for nothing.”

I rolled my head on my shoulders and looked down at the ash slowly fluttering away in the wind. My eyes trailed to the vines holding the remains of the minion. It was still trickling with green goop, legs hanging limply over, and body busted wide open.

“We need to leave,” I announced. “Before any more return.”

A loud neighing turned us around. The horse on the right drew up on its hind legs, jerking the wagon around. Carli ran forward, reaching up to touch its mane, soothing it almost instantly. I looked wildly around but couldn’t find the source of what had spooked the horse. The second one mimicked the first, and a shriek ignited from Carli, who hit the ground at being pinned between them. Without soothing it, the first horse picked up action once more. They thrashed around, stomping their hooves, and threatened to smash Carli where she lay on the ground.

Reaching up, I pressed two fingers to my lips and blew the whistle again. This time it was louder, a lot shriller too. Time seemed to slow around me, growing thicker as it did so. The horses stopped, dropping back to the ground. They were still agitated, though, tails flicking wildly and hooves stomping. They were agitated, but at least they weren’t about to trample Carli this time.

Dropping my hand, time sped back up and snapped into place. The horses whinnied again, eyes bulging, looking off to the right of the forest. Dark clouds penetrated the morning sky, thrusting us into darkness. A flash of lightning shot across the sky, and a roll of thunder shook the ground beneath us. The wind picked up, growing heavy as it whipped our hair and clothes around. Carli stirred, pulling herself up to a sitting position, blood trickling down her face.

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