“So, you’re saying that pirates and witches are all distant cousins?” Siouxsie asked.

  “Quite right!" answered Loxo. "After the ‘Dark Harvest’, my branch of the family tree headed far west until we reached the ocean. We used the same magic you use to levitate craft that could be both sea and airworthy. The ships are really just large brooms if you think about it.”

  “I want to fly on a ship!” she gushed.

  “Then be patient, cousin!” he pinched her cheek. “Once you’re aboard my father’s vessel you may have free reign of any deck you like! He may even let you steer it if you ask nicely.”

  “I can’t wait.” She said with large eyes. And as they talked amongst themselves, the prince seated himself backwards upon the heel of the shadow girl’s hand to talk to her.

  “It’s amazing that you can change yourself in such a manner.” He offered.

  “Not so amazing when the night or shadows are less abundant.” She replied, her glowing white eyes looking down at him for a moment before looking out upon the horizon once again. “It’s a temporary relief.” She said. “In time, the sun will return and I’ll be forced to retreat to your pockets. “I’m sorry for the loss of Idris. He seemed very important to you.”

  “We was, he died defending me on that mountain. But we wouldn’t have survived that long if you hadn’t come to our rescue when you did. Where did you go when you left us?”

  “Across the ranges to grow and feel free from the same confines. Same as we’re doing now. To be free like this is the greatest joy I can have at the moment. I can stretch my limbs and feel something like I used to before I became as I am.”

  “And you remember nothing about the time before?” he asked.

  “Scattered pieces of memories. Like trying to keep track of a single ripple in a pond as it crosses amongst others. The feelings they bring come and quickly go. I would try and put the pieces back together but so little is left that I fight to find the use.”

  “That’s terribly sad.”

  “There is sadness, but also other things somewhere beneath the surface. Someday I hope to discover what. Perhaps then I can regain an ounce of who I’m supposed to be.”

  “I hope you can.” The prince offered. “I want that for you. It must be so out of place to not have a body.”

  “It is.” She said “Sometimes I wonder if I’m dead and have become a ghost, left to haunt the world of the living.”

  “You sound very much alive to me. I can hear and see you.”

  “Then I’m grateful for that. If it hadn’t been for you and the others, I surely would have gone mad in that tiny place within the desert.”

  “Anyone would have. The person who’s done this to you should suffer greatly for such cruelty. Do you really remember nothing of them, of who it might be?”

  “Only what I’ve already told you. He had a large black book and the men with him carried the body of a person who’d been long since deceased.”

  “That’s a strange enough story in itself.” He said. Prince Damron had another thought on his mind, but before it could find its way across his tongue, a strange rumbling overhead caught his attention. This made him look skyward where ominous black clouds were already forming and blotting out the stars. The girl of shadows raised her eyes as well. “Those don’t look natural. Siouxsie?” he asked as he turned around to look at the girl witch. “Are you casting?” She was not. She was leaning against the back of her twin, sound asleep and snoring

  “I don’t like the way those clouds-“ The shadow girl began. She might’ve gotten more words out, but before they arrived the clouds parted and a flood of bright green lightning bolts split the air to strike the forest around them. The light from the flashes pulled the shadow girl apart at the seams, causing her form to distort and fall apart. Her legs and hands temporarily vanished, causing the passengers inside them to tumble fifty feet in freefall before she managed to pull herself back together and cradle the companions back to the forest floor before they were injured. It was a safe landing but not a soft one as the party fell over one another to roll into the brush below.

  “What was that?!” The twins exclaimed in unison.

  “What’s happened?” asked Hoxley, picking up her spear. There wasn’t time to speak before the places where the lightning had struck burst into larger and larger flames. Illuminating everything. The shadow girl shrieked and collapsed into a blotch before snaking her way up the pantleg of the prince for safety.

  “Siouxsie?” Morell asked. “Siouxsie did you do this?”

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  “No!” she said, snatching up her broom and her hat. “I’m not casting at all!”

  “That fire isn’t a natural one.” Growled Ignatius. “Look, the flames bear a green tone, same as the lightning upon the mountain. This is black magic…the work of the lich.” Flames grew larger, doubling their size every few seconds. “We have to move, everyone! Now!”

  “I can’t carry you any further!” Said the shadow girl. “There’s too much light from the fires to take my larger shape!”

  “No matter, we continue west!” Hoxley shouted as she pointed with her spear. “There’s a river somewhere over the next few rises! If we can make it that far we have a chance to survive! Hurry, everyone, hurry!” The witches mounted their brooms and took flight leaving Morell the prince and the centaur to trail slightly behind as the fire spread faster and faster. They never left them, instead circling just ahead, shouting and encouraging them on.

  “Twosome,” Ignatius said, calling the twins near to him. “Scout ahead, find the river and report back with the fastest path to get everyone to safety.” The twins vanished into the flickering shadows. On the ground, Hoxley hooves galloped just ahead of the boys who sprinted as fast as their legs could carry them. Behind, the forest fire spread at an accelerated rate. Incendiary plumes grew tall by devouring entire trees three at a time from base to top. The separate fires closed the distance between one another, creating a racing wall of flame that consumed any and all things in its path. More green lightning struck around them to ignite even more fires, if that was possible. The light was frightening enough, but combined with the oppressive globe of heat and the storm of scorched ash, the forest mimicked a deep wood during a snowfall.

  “Good gracious!” Loxo yelped as a large tree fell over, almost crushing him. “Hoxley, what kind of madness have you wrapped me into?”

  “None of this is my fault!” She shouted over the burning of the forest. “I’ll explain later if we survive! Keep running!”

  Glowing white husks of leaves billowed outward spreading the fire faster ahead of the rest like an infection heralding the arrival of its contaminated host. In all of this, Morell misjudged a fallen log and upon leaping over it caught his foot on and upturned branch sent him sprawling. The patch of thistles he landed upon felt like razors across the palms of his skin. He’d barely had a chance to get one hand under him when Prince Damron slowed just enough to yank him vertical again by his satchel strap.

  “On your feet!” The prince said, pulling him along by the arm “Come on!”

  The forest fire roared on, chasing its meal of greenery and fleeing flesh. Swiftly moving changes in its light showed the companions the way ahead of them but the shifting shadows created a flickering effect that made the terrain hard to judge. More than once, each one tripped and stumbled to keep ahead of the inferno unfolding at their backs. Wildlife scattered before them, woodland animals and birds evacuating in droves. Most creatures escaped the tempest of flame. Others cried out in terror as they were engulfed, never to be heard of again.

  On the companions ran, shoes and hooves pounding frantic rhythms through the countryside to keep from being burned alive. No thoughts of feelings other than those of fear entered their heads. Only the primal reactions to flee from danger and thundering heartbeats and whipping limbs to accompany them. A fleeing deer nearly knocked Hoxley to the ground as it crossed her path. She barely had enough time to dodge the beast and gain her footing again to keep from barreling headlong into a tree. The fire was gaining speed. Hoxley led them approximately in the right direction. Hot ash and leaves burned Hoxley’s delicate ears, scaring her and making it harder to keep her bearing if she was even still heading west at all. To her, there was only one true direction…away from the fire. She and the others ran for so long that her legs began to grow numb and rubbery. Her lungs burned from running so hard and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep the pace. When she could manage to find a long enough decline, she put the boys on her back and slid her way down the hills. It was faster for them and allowed all three temporary breathers from the perpetual sprinting. She dragged the butt of her spear behind her to provide more balance as they skidded and slipped down muddy hills. For her effort, she never dumped them. She couldn’t spare an error now, the fire was gaining in speed in intensity. The three arrived at the bottom of the hill to finally catch sight of the witches. Robert closed in, hovering ahead.