"Are you somehow here to stop me from collecting the magic I'm trying to preserve?"
She gulped. "No," she finally whispered. "I think I'm here to help... somehow."
I shook my head, and I noticed hers shook like mine. "Are you inside my head?" I already knew the answer. How it happened I didn't know.
"I am," she said matter-a-factly.
Chapter 9
I had so many questions I wasn't sure where to start. And I got the feeling she had more than I did.
"Silindra?" Envy stood in the doorway, her sympathetic violet eyes searching. "Can I help, assist, aid you in some way?"
"No." Then I remembered Ryden. "Can you look for Ryden? I need to find her."
She bowed slightly, and said, "Of course." Backing out, she turned and bounded away. I heard her calling Ryden's name.
I went back to the mirror. Peering closely, I watched her do the same. She wore a white dress. It was simple, elegant, beautiful even. The collar circled against her neck, accentuating the blood red of the gem. The sleeves of the dress were long and her hair was turned under at the end. A white ribbon tied in a bow on top of her head. She looked very young.
"How old are you?" I finally asked.
"I'm sixteen, but I-I think I'm having a birthday soon." She cleared her throat, and I noticed she fought back tears.
"You think," I asked simply.
She nodded. "I keep getting these flashes of conversations from where I'm from, from people I care about... one of them. Gabe. He said I had a birthday coming up."
"Do you know how long you've been like this?" I tapped my head. "Inside here."
A tear ran down her cheek, and as though the feelings were my own, I felt an overwhelming agony.
In my mind I saw a flash of steel. Heard the clips of conversation. Saw her in a beaufitul dress. Watched her get bitten. Saw her kiss a dark-heaired boy. Walked through a room full of magical creatures. Talk to a blond witch she called Cindy. I saw her mother. She was part elf, but this girl didn't know it. The girl believed her mother was dead. There was a funeral. Her mother lay in a wooden box. Pixilettes I didn't know visited her. This human girl was special, filled with magic, more than she realized. More even than her friend, the one she called Cindy. The withdrawn chayot, Oberon, fought the girl. A flash of red light...
I gasped. The visions vanished as quickly as they'd come.
"I think it's been almost a year, according to my time," she said, sniffling.
I took a deep breath. "Do you know why you're here?"
"You're trying to collect all of the Earth's magic?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"I think I'm supposed to be with you, help you in some way." The girl moved back, wiping her wet cheeks with the backs of her hands.
"You aren't from this time, are you?" I whispered, wishing I could take back the question. I didn't want to know.
"No. I'm from a much different time-in the future." Her voice sounded as scared as I felt, though I couldn't believe it was possible. Fear wasn't an emotion that plagued me.
Changing the subject, since I didn't want to understand what she meant. A different time-that made no sense. "You heard what Abernathy said?"
"Yes." Her lips pinched into a tight line.
I nodded. "Can I only see you in this mirror?"
"I don't know," she said, her voice pained.
"It's alright, Snow White," I said, trying to bring comfort. "We'll talk again soon. I need to find my precocious friend Ryden so we can be on our way. If that-" I pointed at her necklace, "brought you, perhaps once I complete the quest you'll be able to go back to your time."
A look of fear crossed her face.
"Oh, Silindra. I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. It isn't your fault you're stuck in my head."
She gulped. "That's not what I meant exaclty. See, G-"
"Silindra, I'm here!" Ryden flew into the room.
I turned. "Where have you been?"
She shrugged, her teeny cream cheeks blossoming a deep shade of chartruse. "Too much watermelon juice," she said.
"Humfph." I lifted the mirror off the wall. "Hang in there, Snow White," I said. The mirror vanished.
"Happy birthday, Snow Angel. I... don't know if you can hear me, but I love you. Daddy's here. And when you wake, the two of us are going to catch up on daddy/daughter time. Okay, sweetheart?"
Chapter 10
I tried to bring the mirror back, but it wouldn't reappear. "If you can hear me, Snow White, I'll figure out a way to bring the mirror back, but we've got to move on."
I know. It's okay. I heard her voice inside my head.
"Ryden, let's go. We need to find a..." I stopped and glanced at Envy. She stood a little ways off, her tail swishing behind her, her bright eyes watching.
"You need the healing power of a unicorn horn, don't you? Am I right, correct, assured?" Envy asked slowly.
I closed the door to the cottage. "Yes, that's right." I glanced errantly at her stubby nub, at the spot where her horn was trying to grow. "I planned to speak with Lorenze, the leader of the unicorns."
Envy shook her mane. "No need, you can have mine, as soon as it's fully grown, developed, supplanted."
I smiled. Meeting this sweet creature, seeing the way she loved so unconditionally, filled me with a joy I hadn't experienced in a while. "Thank you, Envy, but I couldn't ask that of you." I moved toward the waterfall, enjoying the loud roaring, and the way the mist splashed against my skin. Ryden and I would fly to the land of the unicorns. It would be a quick trip.
Ryden fluttered near my ear. "Where are you going to put the horn, anyway?"
I didn't respond. Ryden didn't know the whole plan yet. She didn't understand what I was doing. I would tell her, of course. I told her everything. But I hadn't found an opportunity yet.
"Silindra, it's my destiny, my fate, my calling, to do this," Envy said, trotting so that she blocked my way.
I looked at her, searching her kind, generous eyes. "But your horn is still growing." I reached out to touch it, but resisted. "Does it hurt very much?"
She shook her head. "No. It's fine. My horn will be ready very shortly, soon, swiftly." Her long black lashes batted considerately.