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Saul felt a sharp pain in his chest when it had happened. He was sitting in the back of the SUV traveling out of Alfea when he felt a pull on the bond. It was as if his heart was squeezed tightly by an invisible hand and then released right away, leaving him breathless and his own hand clutching at his chest where he had felt the pain. The once strong bond he was feeling prior to leaving the school grounds was suddenly gone.
Farah .
There was something seriously wrong. He started thrashing in the back seat yelling at the Solarian soldiers to turn the car around. They merely glared and yelled at him to keep quiet. The Specialist didn’t listen and continued to cause a ruckus until the soldier sitting on his right raised the back of his dagger and sent it down directly to his temple. The last thing he remembered was seeing the back of the dagger flying directly at his head and then blackness.
Saul felt cold when he started to regain consciousness. The cot he was lying on felt like it was made out of bricks and the sheets that covered it did not provide any sort of comfort. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings. He realized that he was in an isolated cell somewhere underneath the Palace of Solaria. Since his cell was underground, he had no windows and was not able to tell what time it was nor could he tell how long he was out for.
He tried to channel his bond with his fairy and was only met with silence. The bond that used to hum with warmth was suddenly cold. It felt like she was still there but it was faint. Was he imagining things? Saul was startled out of his thoughts when he heard a door creak open and a small amount light creeped in. He could make out a female silhouette by the door and watched as the shadow quickly turned to look behind them before quietly hurrying in and closing the door quietly.
“Mr. Silva?” The voice whispered.
The Specialist pushed himself off the bed and walked in the direction where he last saw the shadow standing, only stopping when he had reached the cell bars.
“Who’s there?”
The sound of fingers snapping echoed in the cold cell and a bright ball of light appeared overhead.
“Stella?” He looked at the teen incredulously. “What’s going on? How are you here?”
The blonde nodded. “You’ve been gone for three days. Rosalind has taken over the school. She’s turned it into hell. It’s like we’re in some kind of boot camp now. I’m here to get you out. Sky’s waiting right outside.”
“What of the Queen?”
“She has gone off to meet with Queen Rachel in Linphea. We would’ve tried to get you out sooner, but we thought it was best to wait until she was in an entirely different realm.” Stella pulled out a medallion and waved it in front of the cell doors. There was a momentary golden shimmer and the door swung open.
“What about Farah? Where is she?” Saul looked at the teen worriedly when she didn’t respond and avoided his eyes.
Stella pulled him to the doors leading to the main hall, “We’ll talk about that once we’re safely out of here. We can’t waste any time. The guards could come at any moment.”
Sky pushed the door open when he heard the knob turning and breathed a sigh of relief when he only spotted faint bruising on his father-figure’s temple. He pulled him through the door and hugged him tightly.
“Are you alright, Silva?”
Saul nodded and clapped him on his shoulder. “I’m fine. Just a little bruised on the head and nothing else. You two are crazy for trying to break me out of here. If someone catches us I don’t think I can do much in protecting you both.”
Sky shrugged. “We couldn’t just leave you here to be put on trial and end up Merlin knows where.” He nodded and pointed down the dimly lit hall. “We go this way. One of the guards on duty just passed by. We have a few minutes before they walk down this way again.”
The trio made their way quickly but quietly down the hall and through another doorway that led to the tunnels that ran underneath the palace. Sky handed his jacket to his mentor when he noticed the older man shiver. The wetness underground had seeped into the walls of the tunnel and made them even cooler than the cell the experienced Specialist was kept in.
“We’re almost there.” Sky whispered.
They proceeded to walk for a few more minutes until they had made it several steps up and onto a different floor. Stella’s sigh of relief echoed in the empty tunnel once they had spotted the door at the end.
The Princess opened the door and peeked her head out to ensure their path to safety was empty. Once the coast was clear, she beckoned the two Specialists behind her and they made their way in the dark into the vast forest surrounding the palace. When they had ventured deep enough, Stella snapped her fingers to conjure another ball of light. Saul followed the two teens, wary of his surroundings. He felt uncomfortable being outside of the school without any weapon and Stella’s light magic can only do so much if they were ambushed. His worries were momentarily appeased when he noticed the dark green jeep parked behind the overgrown shrubs and Sam Harvey leaning against it. Once they were spotted, the earth fairy walked up to them and gave Saul a quick hug.
“It’s good to see you old man. Let’s get you back home.”
Saul playfully ruffled his hair and slid in the back seat, Sky sitting on the other side and Stella in the front with Sam driving.
“We can’t take you into the school itself.” The light fairy began, “It will be too dangerous with Rosalind still on the prowl. We’ll take you to the abandoned church just outside of the barrier. If Burned Ones were to show up, at least the school’s barrier would only be a few feet away.”
“Your room remained untouched. I grabbed the essentials and added a few things I thought you might want as well.” Sky said, reaching behind them for a duffel bag and handing it to his mentor.
Saul opened the bag and rifled through the items. As he moved his possessions around, his hand brushed against something soft. Unable to recall what that item is, he pulled it out of the bag for inspection. The unknown item was a blue and green wool scarf. The Specialist opened the rolled up scarf and brought it to his nose. It still smelled like her.
“I thought it looked familiar. I also found this underneath it and I figured you would want it.” Sky grabbed another item in the bag and pulled out the familiar black box.
“What happened to her, Sky?” He whispered. Saul watched as the boy he had raised exchanged looks with Stella and Sam’s knuckles had started to turn white from gripping the wheel tightly. “Tell me everything.”
The blond Specialist looked out the window and took a deep breath before reiterating everything that had transpired after Saul was taken by the Solarians to The Capital’s prison.
“We don’t know what exactly happened between Aunt Farah and Rosalind. After they took you away, Rosalind said that she left on a sabbatical. Which we all know is bull . So we searched high and low all over the school but we didn’t find her. We needed to figure out what to do because clearly the new headmistress had done something to her. None of us could risk anyone eavesdropping on our plans, so that’s when we decided to go to the old abandoned cemetery to brainstorm.”
“We were standing by the benches,” Stella continued after Sky, “I looked around the graves and noticed that one was off.”
Saul’s throat tightened, perceiving where their story was headed. He shook his head in denial, “Don’t tell me where I think this is going…”
“I was with Bloom when she killed the Burned Ones.” The light fairy’s voice was thick with emotion. “I watched the whole thing happen. There were six Burned Ones that had transformed after they were defeated. The cemetery has seven fresh graves… I’m so sorry, Mr. Silva…” she cried, tears spilling down her face.
As the jeep moved closer to the abandoned church, Saul started to feel a dull tug in his chest again. His fairy was gone, but it was as if the bond was still there. Must be a phantom feeling . The Specialist glanced at the ruined structure in front of them and pushed his door open as soon as the car had slowed down. He made his way quickly around the church where he knew the cemetery was located. He was like a man possessed, expertly weaving through the trees and wild plants that littered the area. Saul made it to the cemetery and eyed the graves covered with white freesias.
“Mr. Silva-”
Bloom stood up from the bench positioned in front of the graves when she noticed the return of the headmaster. She looked on worriedly as she was ignored in favor of looking at the graves, eyes wild and frantic.
The older Specialist looked at each of the graves and noticed that one was separated from the rest. It’s her. He knows she was there. He dragged his feet on the ground as he made his way over to the seventh grave. Saul stood in front of the disturbed soil and dropped down on his knees, suddenly losing strength at the sight of where the only woman he ever loved was buried.
Sam, Sky, and Stella joined Bloom who was watching from a distance. They watched sadly, unable to do anything, as their headmaster’s shoulders sagged and shook with silent sobs. They knew how much he had cared for their headmistress. The adults thought no one had ever noticed the silent looks thrown over their heads when they thought no one was paying attention. Or the playful banter that would be overheard during lunch at the courtyard. And no one could forget the lingering touches when they would pass the other in the halls.
Saul.
The Specialist looked up when he heard his name. Seeing no one, he twisted his head around and spotted the four teens staring at him worriedly. It seemed like they weren’t the ones that had called out to him either. Shaking his head and turning back to the grave in front of him, he rested his hands on the cold soil.
Saul.
There it was again. It was like a whisper in the wind. No one but himself could hear it. The voice sounded oddly like his fairy.
“Farah?” He whispered into the ground in front of him. He felt a faint pull in his chest once more. It was the same feeling he would get when his mind fairy was trying to gain his attention when they were in the battlefield.
Saul. Help me.
It dawned on him that the voice he was hearing had, in fact, been Farah. The Specialist started frantically digging the grave with his bare hands, ignoring the teens that ran up next to him.
“ Silva what are you doing? ” Sky tried pulling him away and he merely jerked his shoulder to remove it from his grasp.
“I can hear her. She’s alive. ”
Bloom did not need any more convincing and had dropped down on her knees across from him and started digging with her bare hands as well. Stella joined shortly after and the three were hurriedly trying to unearth whoever was underneath the mountain of soil. Their digging turned frantic when they had uncovered what looked like a female’s hands. Upon closer inspection, they recognized the rings and tattoo that belonged to their headmistress.
Saul choked down a sob when they had uncovered her face. She was so pale, almost white as a paper, and her lips were tinged blue. The two fairies helped him gently pull her out of her early grave. He clutched her tightly against his chest and rocked her back and forth as he ran his hands through her tangled hair.
“I found you. Everything is going to be alright. I’m here. I heard you. Please wake up.”
Farah remained unresponsive and limp in his arms. The Specialist tenderly moved the hair that was stuck on his fairy’s face and placed his forehead against hers, his warm breath ghosting against her cold lips.
“Please, wake up. I love you. I can’t live without you.”
The fire fairy looked at the scene in front of her with tears in her eyes. “There must be something we can do. Sam? Can’t you help?”
The earth fairy shook his head. “I can give plants life, but I can’t bring a person back to life.” He whispered.
Bloom racked her brain for any ideas, trying to recall anything their headmistress might have mentioned in their classes. They were so close. They actually found her. It couldn't possibly end now.
“The bond between a fairy and her Specialist is important.” Farah spoke, as she walked around the tables and looked at each of her students. “So important that it could mean life and death. If a fairy is severely injured or weakened, they can tether their life to their Specialist. A piece of their magic is then transferred to the other when that happens. Once the fairy is tended to, the Specialist can return that magic back along with a bit of their own strength to give that magic a jolt.”
“So… you’re saying that a Specialist can basically jumpstart their fairy?” Bloom asked, earning a laugh from her suitemates.
Farah chuckled at her and nodded. “Essentially, yes. Your Specialist can give you some of their strength when giving that power back and that strength helps piece your magic back together. It’s like returning a missing piece of your soul.”
“I know what to do.” The fire fairy made her way over to the Specialist and his fairy. “I need to warm her up. Her heart rate needs to go up and once that happens you need to jumpstart her.”
“Pardon?” Saul asked, looking at the young fairy like she had grown a second head.
“Miss Dowling said this in one of her lectures. When a fairy is injured or weakened, they can use their bond to tether their life to their Specialist and then they can give that magic back once it’s the right time. I think that’s why you could hear her. A part of her magic is in you.” Ignoring their teacher’s confused expression, Bloom continued. “Please don’t ask me to explain it again because I barely understood it in class. Just trust me on this.”
Bloom knelt down beside them and her eyes started to glow orange as she channeled her magic. She ran her hands up and down their headmistress’ arms to ward the chill off and held both of her hands for a moment to warm them up as well. Once she was done, she held her own hand over the mind fairy’s chest, hoping that the steady heat would get her heartbeat to accelerate. Seeing a bit of color returning to the unconscious fairy, Bloom turned to look at the headmaster.
“It’s your turn. You need to jumpstart her.”
“Will you stop saying jumpstart? I have no idea what I’m even supposed to do. Farah never told me about any of this.”
“Well… Think about what you can do to transfer that magic. Obviously it wasn’t done just by holding hands because you’re already doing that.”
Seeing the blank and increasing stressed look on their teacher’s face, Bloom tried to give him more ideas.
“Was there ever a time you were doing something together that caused her to release magic? Maybe that’ll help trigger it for you too.”
Saul thought back to their younger days. When he had asked Farah to be his significant other, she was overjoyed and had immediately said yes. They kissed and when they pulled away, they were surprised when everything around them was hovering above the ground. Would that really work? He reached up and caressed his fairy’s cheek. He would do anything for her. Reaching for the dull hum of their bond, he projected his love and strength through the weak connection, hoping to anyone who would listen that it would work and his fairy would come back to him. The moment he pressed his lips to hers, a wave of magic was released.
The Specialist opened his eyes and found hazel ones staring back at him.
“Saul?”