Moving swiftly through the trees, I took a deep breath. My heart was racing but I knew what I had to do. I had to get through this forest and free James. He had helped me so often, now it was my turn. Collapsing in a heap, a vision flashed across my mind. He lay helpless on the floor, a large shadow coming closer and closer. I tried not to see, I tried to close it off. But James was the only one who had mastered that skill. I knew there was no point trying and watched as the figure stepped closer towards him. My heart began to race faster. My breathing become short and fast. A loud, piercing scream brought me back to reality. Maybe I could block it out after all. I began to pick up the pace, knowing he could be dead at any moment. The castle came into view. The same as it had been on my last visit, the castle was old and brown, many of the towers unsafe to climb up to. Not that no one had attempted it. Their skeletons still dangled from the roof, the sight of it making me feel sick. But I knew I had to stay strong. The door creaked loudly as I pushed it open. A thick layer of dust covered the floor. Seven years had aged the building. The inside had barely any furniture. A large grandfather clock stood ominously in the corner, pulling my gaze towards it. I stepped towards it, dust filling the air as I walked. The knob was small but easy to grasp. Pulling it open, I took a deep breath. It was time to go home.

The grass was longer than I remembered. It went up to my knees and tickled my fingertips. High above me, the branches of a tree were infested with birds. I sighed, remembering when James and I had promised never to come back. But now, he was in danger and I had to do whatever was necessary to save him. He was more than a friend; he was my only family. I stepped towards the small cottage. Large squelches followed my steps but I continued to push through the mud. I knocked swiftly on the door. “Come in,” said a faint voice from inside. I opened the door to find a small, old, aged woman sitting in a rocking chair facing the window. “I knew you would come back.” I could hear her grinning as she spoke.
A shiver ran down my spine as I coolly replied, “Why would I have come back for you?”. My mother stood up quickly. Old age had not weakened her reflexes. She was as fast as a cheetah, pointing a long, yellow finger at me. It was hard not to flinch. I knew what power she had, what damage she could do. But I had to be strong. “You can’t scare me anymore. I have powers too; I might even be stronger.” She laughed as she slowly put her finger down.
“My dear child, you really don’t know anything about power.” Walking slowly to the back door, she beckoned me to follow. I sighed deeply before shuffling after her. “What is it you have come for?” I knew she didn’t care but I answered anyway.
“James. He was taken by Nukpana Abaddon. I’m scared mother.” For a moment, I thought she would hug me but she merely continued walking. We finally reached the door. With a small push, my mother opened it to take me towards the long fields of corn in the back garden.
She stared for what felt like hours before turning to me and saying, “He is dangerous. It has been foreseen that he shall be the death of you.”
“He has been the death of millions of people, why should I be singled out?”
She blinked at me then asked, “James has killed millions of people?” I stood still, frozen to the spot. James. My best friend of so many years. How could HE be the death of me? I shook the thought to the back of my mind.
“I need your help Meredith.” It was unclear to me then what made her come with me. Maybe it was the sound of her name which she hadn’t heard in years. Maybe it was the hope for an adventure. Whatever it was, she determined to follow.

We set out in the early morning light. Meredith insisted on sending a pigeon before we left. She claimed it was for her gardener but, seeing the long over grown grass, I didn’t believe her. It didn’t matter though, I needed her to get past the guards that had to be waiting for me in the Abaddon mansion. “Caron?” I turned to face my mother. She hadn’t used my name through our entire conversation yesterday.
“Yes?”
“Why are you trying to save him?” I couldn’t believe what she was asking me.
“Because he’s my friend and I love him and he shouldn’t have to die!” The anger burst through my lips before I could contain it. Before I could stop myself, I began to yell. “Just because you don’t like him doesn’t mean I can’t like him. Why are you coming? To slow me down? To stop me from getting to him?” She stared blankly at me. My amber eyes were crinkled in fury. I thought she might have understood why I did everything I did. I thought she might finally have gotten over it. But clearly she hadn’t. Storming up the path, I left her where she stood. I didn’t need her if she was going to question me. Suddenly, I heard panting behind me. There she was, running to catch up, her old, wrinkled legs moving quickly. I shook my head. I couldn’t help myself, it was just so stupid. After all these years, she always came running back to me. Sighing, I continued, hoping that James was still alive. I hadn’t had any new flashes so all I could do was hope. It was all my fault. If it was for me, he wouldn’t have been taken and he wouldn’t be hurt. I knew it would take days to get to the mansion but we hadn’t brought a tent or anything that could help us survive in the woods. The sky was darkening but it was only 10am, nightfall could not come yet. Drip, drip, drip. The rain started to fall. It always rained in Mondor. Maybe not always but at least 95% of the time. It’s the thing I missed most when I left, Greymoor doesn’t have half the amount of rain. I knew we’d have to find shelter, fast. This was going to be a long night.

We found a small Inn on the side of the road. Drenched in rainwater, we knocked gingerly on the door. A light above us turned on suddenly as a large man opened the door. Meredith had already warned me of the dangers that would come if anybody knew we were here so we posed as mother and daughter traveling north to see distant family. I wasn’t sure if he believed us but, in Mondor, you couldn’t turn down a person in need, so he hurried us upstairs into a small room with a single bed and a couch. Meredith needed the bed more than I so I slept on the old sofa. It was worn and broken, many springs poking into my back and upholstery kept finding its way into my mouth. After a hurried breakfast of bread and cheese, we set off again. Now, I was starting to panic. It had been two days since the last flash of James. If he knew I’d seen it, he surely would have sent another. But if he was dead…I couldn’t think about it. It pained me to imagine him like that. We walked through the rain which still hadn’t died down from the night before. The stone road was thinning out meaning that we were getting closer and closer to the main village. I had taken my shoes off a few miles back due to the pains in my feet but as the stone turned to dirt, I realised I had to put them back on. “Stop here.” Meredith followed. She stood still and didn’t say a word which I could only guess meant she disapproved of something. “What’s wrong now?” I asked.
“Your outfit. Where do I even start? You don’t have stockings, no heels, no jewellery, nothing. How do you expect to find a good man if you don’t even dress respectively?”
Rolling my eyes, I said, “Maybe I’m not looking for a man, mother.”
“I accept trying something once but, while I still breathe, my daughter shall only marry a man.” I knew what she was referring to. In my youth, I’d dated a girl, Alaw, who had lit up my world at the time. She had sadly died in a horrific incident a month later. I’d always suspected that it wasn’t an accident but I had no proof to back up my theory. Besides, afterwards I had met James and everything I had ever known about myself changed.
“But you must approve of them, don’t you mother? Because you always run my life.” I finished lacing my shoes and stood up. “Let’s go.”

I could see the edge of town. There were 3 small townhouses which slowly turned into 5 and then 16. I’d rarely been to town but I knew Meredith had gone all the time and that she had many friends here. My insides instantly turned to jelly as we walked through the gate. Nervous was an understatement. I was terrified of being identified by my old friends. It was true, they hadn’t seen me in years but my 17-year-old self wasn’t much different to my 24-year-old self. I kept my green hood up and my head down, following Meredith who seemed to know exactly where to go. Although my trust in her was low, she was all I had left and I had to put my faith in her hands. She brought me to a small cottage surrounded by flowers, a lop-sided roof and a crooked, white picket fence. It looked familiar but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Meredith walked straight up to the front door and knocked softly 3 times. A crack appeared and a woman’s face leered at us. “How dare you show your ugly face here again,” she said, staring at Meredith.
“How dare your face get uglier,” Meredith replied coolly. But then, the two women’s faces broke into huge smiles.
“Come in, come in.” I followed Meredith inside. The other lady stared as a passed. I was unsure if she recognised me or not so pulled my hood closer towards my eyes. They were a dead give-away. “So, you hid me here to get away from” - she glanced at me – “certain people, and now, you’re coming to me for help?”
“This is urgent Al; we need to get to Abaddon mansion and quickly.” Al? Something clicked in my brain. I knew who this lady was. It was Alaw.