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Ben whipped his head around and saw what had so frightened me. The mist had followed our path and now crept up on our heels. We were boxed in.
Ben had a grim look on his face as he caught my eye. “You’ll have to use the staff.”
My face drooped and I nodded at the door. “But what if they see the light?”
“I would rather figure out an explanation than not see them at all.”
“. . .Point taken.” I pulled out the flute and set it to my lips before I closed my eyes. “Please let all that practice with Elias not be a waste. . .”
I took a deep breath and blew the simple melody he had taught me. I could just hear his voice now during one of our lessons explaining this very song.
“Is a simple tune like that actually going to help me?” I remember asking him as I looked doubtfully at the sheet of music.
Elias folded his arms and smiled. “It isn’t so much the intricacy of the melody as the effort behind the notes. One could have a song perfectly memorized, but if the person lacks the passion then the song will simply be a jumble of notes played together.”
Think passionate thoughtsI internally spoke to myself as the music floated around us.
The instrument in my hands glowed brightly and strands of light flowed out of the flute. The brilliance twisted about our bodies before gliding ahead of us toward the door. The lights expanded outward with every foot, creating a glowing path from which the fog retreated. Ben tugged on my arm and together we moved toward the door with me still blowing.
We had nearly reached the entrance when something flew out of the thick mist. That something shoved Ben out of the way and crashed into me. I was pushed hard against the house and a cry of pain escaped me as the wood dug into my back. The flute clattered to the ground at my feet as cold hands pawed at me. One of them loosened the ribbon on my wrist and I felt the cloth slide off my arm.
I also felt a horrible chill fall over me. It was as though the warmth of life was being drained from my very being. I couldn’t find the strength to breathe, much less scream. All my strength was used to look into the pale, hungry face of my attacker.
It was Werd, or the semblance of Werd. His features were distorted with a feral famine which wasn’t helped by one side of his face being red like it had been scalded by boiling hot water. The hunger in his eyes was slowly satiated with each moment of deepening of my exhaustion.
A shadow of pure anger fell over Werd and the man was yanked back. I caught a glimpse of Ben in his partial dragon form before the pair tumbled into the encroaching mist. Their struggles could be heard but not seen.
The fog didn’t sit idly by while a fight commenced inside itself. The mist floated across the ground and toward the flute. I leapt forward and snatched the instrument from its greedy tendrils just as the white stuff glided over the staff.
I shoved the flute mouthpiece against my lips and blew. My song was shaky and the notes unclear, but a faint glow emanated from the instrument and the mist shriveled away from me.
Shouts came from inside the house and the door was flung open. My first instinct was to race toward the light, but the stream of safety revealed my ribbon on the ground. I stooped and grabbed it, and in doing so came into the light for a brief moment.
The figure in the lead of the house party jerked to a stop and my heart nearly gave out before I jerked back. I fumbled with the ribbon before I finally managed to get it tied on. The flute no longer glowed and the mist floated ever closer.
What was worse was the sound of Ben’s fight had ceased. I leaned in as close as I dared and squinted into the white evil.
The emperor and Edouard hurried up to my side with Dreda close behind, and the royal himself grasped my arm. “What is the matter? Where is Ben?”
I nodded at the fog. “He’s in there. Werd attacked me.”
The color drained from Dreda’s face and she whipped her head to the fog. “Werd!”
The emperor stepped to the front of our group and lifted his arms. “Begone!”
A great wind blew up more powerful than any Ben could conjure with his wings. The gust blasted the fog and pushed the mist back to the far edges of the courtyard. His magic revealed Ben and Werd. Ben himself knelt on one knee beside the prone body of Werd. Callidus dropped his hands and the wind likewise dropped.
“Werd! Ben!” Dreda yelled before she rushed forward.
I was neck and neck with her to Ben. He had a grimace on his face and one hand placed palm down on the ground. His breathing came in short, quick gasps as his chest heaved up and down.
I dropped the flute to the ground beside him and grasped Ben’s shoulders. “You okay?” I whispered to him.
He managed a strained smile. “I. . .have felt. . .better. . .”
“Let’s get him into the house,” Dreda instructed me as she looked up at the men. “Please bring Werd with us.”
The two men hurried over and the emperor knelt to grasp Werd’s shoulders. Edouard, however, paused and stooped near me. My heart nearly faltered when he picked up the flute and turned it over in his hands.
