who would finally come through and reach the Land of Resting Souls.
I took a step closer and was slightly taken aback to find the girl to be almost as tall as me, perhaps a thumb or so shorter. She froze as I neared, her eyes shifting from my head to my toes and back up again.
For some reason having those eyes on me made me nervous. My stupid hands shook as I brushed sand from my clothes and tried desperately to think of something clever to say.
“This metal bird is by far the most luxurious I have ever seen.”
The girl frowned and inwardly I cursed. Why did I call it that when I always frowned upon its use by everyone in the kingdom, especially Prince Ollie?
Metal bird? I shook my head.
The boy with the serious face frowned. “It’s an aeroplane.”
“I know that,” I said rather icily, feeling a pinch of guilt because the boy had come back for me during the storm. Sighing, I stuck out a hand.
“I’m Axel by the way. Thanks for the save.”
“Jacob,” he said with a nod, his hand practically crushing mine. I quickly matched his grip and he gave another nod.
I turned and held out the same hand to the girl, who by now had dusted most of the orange off her face and clothes. Her white gold hair, however, was streaked with orange dust. She refused my hand and instead put her own hands to her hips and glanced around at the dust coated contents of the aeroplane, as though searching for an answer to our dilemma. I had a very distinct feeling that this girl had nothing in common with the girls from the fairy tales I’d grown up on. There would be no rescuing this damsel.
“So how long will this thing last? This Change? ” she asked, moving to the closest window. Jacob and I followed. Though the sand storm was dying, it was being replaced by something that cast a shadow over the girl’s face.
“It’s turning blue,” she said. Her eyes widened in horror as the sound of sand hitting the metal shell of the aeroplane disappeared and was replaced with what sounded like sheets and sheets of rain belting the plane. “What’s going to happen? When will this thing stop?”
Jacob looked at us both, his eyes dark with either terror or fury, then he moved to a window in the far corner and stared out of it.
“We’ll be fine,” I said, cracking my knuckles to hide the fact that my fingers were twitching like a family of mice. We hadn’t had a Change in a while, and they were rarely without dangers. However, during all Changes in the past, I’d been tucked safely behind the castle gates. To be out here, on the other side, was entirely new.
“The aeroplane won’t change. We won’t either. But the landscape will.”
Jacob stared out the window. “Are you saying we might find a forest instead of a desert when we open the hatch?”
“That wouldn’t be so bad,” the girl muttered to herself. She threw her hands up to her face and shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m even saying that, as if a desert can just change into a forest.” She squeezed her eyes shut and sat down on the nearby seat. “Jeez. This had better be a dream.”
After about half a minute of hesitation, I sat beside her and stared out at what appeared to be a vicious rainstorm, however without sky or clouds. Just water hammering the window.
“This is no dream, and yes, the desert can change into a forest,” I said. “But the danger doesn’t lie in the forest so much as what or who dwells in it.”
“You mean animals?” said Jacob, who was three seats down.
Nodding, I turned to face the front of the aircraft and relaxed back into my seat, trying not to notice that the girl had shuffled as far away from me as the wall of the plane allowed.
“We’ll just have to wait it out. Sometimes it takes minutes, other times it can be hours.” A sudden thought occurred to me and I swore.
King Cyril would be thinking us dead. He wouldn’t have enough challengers to send out to seek the Land of Resting Souls, and here I was, stuck in a
I took a step closer and was slightly taken aback to find the girl to be almost as tall as me, perhaps a thumb or so shorter. She froze as I neared, her eyes shifting from my head to my toes and back up again.
For some reason having those eyes on me made me nervous. My stupid hands shook as I brushed sand from my clothes and tried desperately to think of something clever to say.
“This metal bird is by far the most luxurious I have ever seen.”
The girl frowned and inwardly I cursed. Why did I call it that when I always frowned upon its use by everyone in the kingdom, especially Prince Ollie?
Metal bird? I shook my head.
The boy with the serious face frowned. “It’s an aeroplane.”
“I know that,” I said rather icily, feeling a pinch of guilt because the boy had come back for me during the storm. Sighing, I stuck out a hand.
“I’m Axel by the way. Thanks for the save.”
“Jacob,” he said with a nod, his hand practically crushing mine. I quickly matched his grip and he gave another nod.
I turned and held out the same hand to the girl, who by now had dusted most of the orange off her face and clothes. Her white gold hair, however, was streaked with orange dust. She refused my hand and instead put her own hands to her hips and glanced around at the dust coated contents of the aeroplane, as though searching for an answer to our dilemma. I had a very distinct feeling that this girl had nothing in common with the girls from the fairy tales I’d grown up on. There would be no rescuing this damsel.
“So how long will this thing last? This Change? ” she asked, moving to the closest window. Jacob and I followed. Though the sand storm was dying, it was being replaced by something that cast a shadow over the girl’s face.
“It’s turning blue,” she said. Her eyes widened in horror as the sound of sand hitting the metal shell of the aeroplane disappeared and was replaced with what sounded like sheets and sheets of rain belting the plane. “What’s going to happen? When will this thing stop?”
Jacob looked at us both, his eyes dark with either terror or fury, then he moved to a window in the far corner and stared out of it.
“We’ll be fine,” I said, cracking my knuckles to hide the fact that my fingers were twitching like a family of mice. We hadn’t had a Change in a while, and they were rarely without dangers. However, during all Changes in the past, I’d been tucked safely behind the castle gates. To be out here, on the other side, was entirely new.
“The aeroplane won’t change. We won’t either. But the landscape will.”
Jacob stared out the window. “Are you saying we might find a forest instead of a desert when we open the hatch?”
“That wouldn’t be so bad,” the girl muttered to herself. She threw her hands up to her face and shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m even saying that, as if a desert can just change into a forest.” She squeezed her eyes shut and sat down on the nearby seat. “Jeez. This had better be a dream.”
After about half a minute of hesitation, I sat beside her and stared out at what appeared to be a vicious rainstorm, however without sky or clouds. Just water hammering the window.
“This is no dream, and yes, the desert can change into a forest,” I said. “But the danger doesn’t lie in the forest so much as what or who dwells in it.”
“You mean animals?” said Jacob, who was three seats down.
Nodding, I turned to face the front of the aircraft and relaxed back into my seat, trying not to notice that the girl had shuffled as far away from me as the wall of the plane allowed.
“We’ll just have to wait it out. Sometimes it takes minutes, other times it can be hours.” A sudden thought occurred to me and I swore.
King Cyril would be thinking us dead. He wouldn’t have enough challengers to send out to seek the Land of Resting Souls, and here I was, stuck in a
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