Sage was proud to announce that the fair had gone according to plan. Unfortunately, they were still almost a thousand pound short after having sold everything. Clearly the others had little faith in her ability, because no one else had expected the level of success they saw - in Kailani's words, her creations had sold "like prize squids at a popular squid market." Sage knew she could have phrased it better herself, but she admired the childish carelessness... to some extent.

£1098.60 was a massive amount of money that Sage was more than grateful for, but it wasn't enough. Part of her thought they could do it all over again next weekend too, to make the other half, but the rest of her figured that the town probably had all the bracelets and pipe cleaner animals it needed now. They'd need to find some other way to get the money, or her brother would never be proud of her.

Sage had gathered them all in her bedroom to discuss their next move. She didn't plan to keep them long. The room already felt too small, and they crowded it. "We're a grand short. Ideas?"

"Book the flights." Lexis said the words with reluctance, and it was anyone's guess where the money was coming from, but Sage didn't waste time thinking about it.

At least she could get rid of them now. "Thank you," Sage remembered to add, "I'll see you all in two weeks." The group was growing on her, and she'd always loved Lexis, but it felt like an invasion of privacy to have them in her room, so close to where Mateo used to be. She never should have invited them.

﹌﹌﹌

Time had never run so slow. Anticipation and adrenaline had kept Sage glancing at every clock and calendar within range every hour of the day. Luckily, she'd had schoolwork to catch up on to keep her busy. Not that it was difficult or took any real effort. In fact, she'd asked her teachers to double up on homework - her PowerPoint on the benefits of doing so worked a treat. Lexis didn't care because she never did any homework anyway, and Sage didn't care what anyone else in the class thought.

Eventually, two weeks had passed and she was sat between Lexis and a stranger in the airport, waiting to be called onto their plane. "Has everyone got their tickets?" Sage checked for the hundredth time just since passing security. A collective groan with Kailani's giggle woven in came back to meet her. "That had better be a yes."

And then their flight number was called. "That's-"

"We know, don't worry," Lexis said, already standing in front of her.

When Sage had first booked the tickets, she'd assumed she would sit with Lexis, and the others could sit together in the three seats down the middle of the plane. Apparently, she'd assumed wrong.

Kailani desperately wanted to sit beside her new sister-figure, Tallie. Why, Sage didn't know, but she wasn't going to fight it. It just meant that her and Lexis would have to deal with Kallai too, and sit in the centre column. For the window seat, it was very tempting to call leader and kick Tallie into the middle, but she restrained herself. She was the reason the team was doing this, and she couldn't risk upsetting them into quitting.

"-think it'll be like?"

"Hopefully not boring," Lexis replied, leaning back in her chair as Kallai leaned forward, his head tilted towards her.

When the sunlight hit his warm brown skin, Sage found herself lost in the days of getting lost in thoughts of him. Back then, she'd had no idea who he was or what he was like, and now... Now she liked him a lot less. And still, that familiar army of butterflies was charging around inside her like a storm. Maybe this adventure could patch things up and build something more for the two of them.

"Nothing with you is ever boring," Kallai laughed, head leaning against the chair in front and eyes fixed on Lexis'. "As in you're a complicated freak, don't think I'm complimenting you." Lexis gave a snort and then closed her eyes as if trying to sleep.

Sage and Kallai met each other's eyes across their friend and she had no idea what to say, or if she even wanted to say anything. "If we're being led into another world, perhaps we should know a little more about who's taking us there?"

"That isn't necessary," Sage snapped back quickly. He'd been smirking - that was his evil smirk, right? Everything had her so on edge lately.

To top it off, she wasn't even graced with a verbal response.

When the plane touched down in Germany, Sage leapt from her seat and rushed everyone through the crowds and then the airport and out into the open where she could promptly avoid conversation.

"How long from here to your grandparents' house?" Kailani asked, voice brighter than the sun overhead. She was skipping over the gravel as though it were a field of daisies.

"Just over an hour and a half by car. I brought money for the taxi," Tallie answered, holding a hand out which Kailani promptly took, swinging their arms between them. "I doubt it'll feel as long as it sounds once we resume our tournament," she winked. Kailani grinned and nodded and Sage wondered if her eyes were lying to her. Tallie hadn't done so much as smile since they'd met her.

A low rumble sounded from nearby, and Sage laughed. "Shut up, I'm hungry," Kallai complained.

Thinking about it, Sage realised that she, too, was starting to feel hunger, so she ushered them all into the airport and through security to the lounge. At once, everyone started to wander off, but she called them back. Organisation was key and she needed to know which table they were choosing as theirs and that everyone knew how to get to it and where the toilets were. They could mutter about her under their breath all they wanted, but she wasn't about to risk letting them get lost.

Lexis had saved the table for them, slouched forward in her chair so that her chin rested in her hands, elbows propped on the table. "Don't tell me you're not hungry?" Sage laughed. This was the same girl that could clear two meals and still find the room to finish off whatever Sage couldn't.

"Travel sick?" Tallie asked. Lexis nodded with an embarrassed groan. Two minutes later, Tallie was returning to their table for the second time, a bottle of water in one hand and a Pringles Mini Tub in the other. "Take small bites, usually helps." Lexis thanked her and passed over her guess at the price - Tallie didn't bother to tell her it had been more expensive than that.

Once everyone had eaten, it was time to pile into the taxi and pick a side to cheer on to victory. On the plane ride over, Tallie and Kailani had been playing a series of games with pen and paper such as Dots and Boxes and Tic-tac-toe. Next up was Connect 4, which looked a little strange in 2D.

"Congratulations! I wish I'd have won though," Kailani grinned and then frowned. Shrugging, she reintroduced her smile to her face and stood behind Tallie as she paid their driver.

"Which house?" Sage asked, scanning the street.

Following her outstretched arm and racing off the tip of her finger, they headed down the road and turned up the second driveway. Most of the plants lining their way were flowerless, a whole forest of green leaves. The front door had been newly repainted a bright red, a drop of the colour having landed on the shining silver handle. Sage raised her fist to knock twice and then stepped back, allowing Tallie to take the lead with her grandparents.

The door swung open a moment later and an older lady appeared from the neat, small hallway. She wore grey curls, wise blue eyes and a kind smile. "It's been too long, Dear. Now do introduce me to your friends if I'm to be housing them for the next week."

Tallie smiled and nodded, "Yes, of course, Grandmother," before exchanging a tight hug and ducking into the hallway. As the others followed her through the doorway, Tallie introduced the team. She moved through the hallway to hug her grandfather too. Either ill or lazy, he hadn't bothered to welcome them at the door, and instead, Sage found him relaxed in an armchair by the fire in the heat of the day.

"Shoes off where you are, please," ordered Grandmother Armstrong's thick German accent.

After dumping their bags in their respective rooms, they gathered in the one Tallie and Kailani would be sharing. The walls were a deep sea blue, decorated with a simple silver clock, wooden floating shelves and mirrors waving down the back wall. Tallie closed the white painted door behind them to keep the noise level down. Immediately, they flopped onto the beds and just lay there for a while. Sage watched as Tallie wrapped an arm around the girl who was slowly becoming like a sister to her and smiled as Kailani shuffled a little closer.

At some point, Sage slipped off to request access to the internet, returning with the small piece of card with the details printed on. Laptop open, she connected to the WiFi and then stared at the cursor flicking in and out of existence in the search bar.

"It's okay if you don't have all the answers all the time, Sage," Kailani smiled from Tallie's shoulder. She must have noticed how her fingers were still, hovering over the keyboard. Or maybe it was her eyebrows, which she could feel almost touching one another. "Besides, maybe the internet isn't the best source of information now," Kailani suggested. "We're in Kromlau now at least, so maybe ask some of the locals or just have a look around? Wait!" The young girl shot upwards, knocking her head into Tallie's chin so hard that Tallie bit her tongue and a quick groan tore from her throat as she leaned her head back. Kailani just pointed at her and wiggled her finger, "Your grandparents are locals. They might know what this mirror is!"

Sage nodded, "I'll go and ask them. If anyone wants to join me, they're more than welcome." Then she walked out the door.

Just as she was reaching the second step, Sage heard Tallie mention getting a shower. It was understandable that Tallie was relaxed at the house and no one could deny their clothes feeling like they'd been worn by a tramp for a year, dust clinging to them since they'd gotten off the plane. They'd just have to start the discussion without her.

"Hello Mrs Armstrong," Sage started, "If you haven't heard, we're here in search of a mirror. Do you know where one might locate it, or what it might be? And, if you will, please recall for us the day Tallie was born. If, of course, you were there."

The reply frustrated her, but she should have seen it coming. "Ought we to wait for Lee?"

The woman took the head of the dining table and everyone else sat themselves down the length of it, waiting - some more patiently than others - for their friend. "Ah, Lee, you're down. Come, sit, Sage has asked if I'll recall the day you were born."

Sage looked to the doorway to find Tallie walking towards them, wrapping her hair in a towel that she then balanced atop her head. "You replaced the front step," Tallie said as she took her seat, and Sage wanted to remind the girl that they were here on business.

"Of course we did, Lee. You took a chip out the old one with that bike of yours. Listen now, because your birth story is a strange one."

Sage liked this woman.

"Tallie was born in this house, her parents still lived with us at the time," Tallie's grandmother started. "It was such a chaotic day. Of course, the television was on at the same time, and oh, all sorts of bad things were happening in the national park. Well, the Azalea and Rhododendron Park it's called. An earthquake rattled the ground so hard it split it open in a cobweb and a wall of rock rose from the ground to encircle the whole park. There was also a great flood, drowning the grounds and shrubs, filling the space within the rock wall. There were strong gales tearing through the trees and throwing branches everywhere, and a raging fire giving light to every bit of tree above water level. Unharmed, at the centre of all the madness, was the Devil's Bridge.

"When Tallie was born the water moved away from the park. It came here. Every report on the television screen said the flood had run a channel down the street, and sure enough it tore through our front door and filled the living room. We all struggled for breath as the whole room became a tank, defying gravity and refusing to leave through the doors. And then Tallie opened her eyes, and the water disappeared.

"The previous day, the earthquakes had brought down their own rock wall and rumbled through town to its own house, and then stopped. Once the rock wall was gone, the water could flow. Once the water was gone, the fire climbed down from the treetops and blazed a path to another house the next day. The winds stayed. It took two years for the gales to calm and rush into a house. At the end of it all, only the bridge remained standing."

Kallai radiated doubt. It was no surprise when he ground out his question, "Magic doesn't exist. If it did, wouldn't we have heard about this spectacle by now?" Sage used to agree, but now she wanted to slap him for denying the existence of magic. It felt like he was sent by her brother just to test her.

"Be careful who you say that too, boy," Tallie's grandmother said harshly, as if she could read Sage's mind. "I suggest you all visit this bridge."

"What time is dinner, Grandmother?"

"Don't worry about that, just be back when you can." And then the woman rose from the table and dismissed them all.

The scraping of wood against wood ripped through Sage's eardrums as Kailani's chair shot backwards and she stood to drag Tallie upstairs to get ready.

Thoughts were easy to come by and hard to get hold of. If this went correctly, they would open a portal to another world.

It wasn't long - fifteen minutes at most - before they reached the park and Kailani ran the last few paces, jumped over the threshold and exclaimed, "I win! I got here first," with a big grin on her face.

Sage rolled her eyes, but her smile was true enough. They picked up a tourist map on the way in, but it wasn't hard to find the Devil's Bridge.

Paths of dirt and leaves spread out before them, inviting them onward into the forest of beautiful leaves of all sizes and flowers of all colours. Standing tall with a watchful gaze over the park was an enchanting abundance of trees - tulip and trumpet, black birch and maidenhair nuts. The obvious azaleas and rhododendrons gave the space a magical life, cushioning the edges and relaxing Sage's mind.

They passed the man-made caves of basalt, rightfully called 'Heaven' and 'Hell'. Black basalt cast 'Hell' in all shadow, whereas the white basalt of 'Heaven' was a beacon of light through the shade of the trees.

Lakes and ponds passed them by on occasion, but there was one in particular they had come for. Rounding a corner, the plant life opened up around them, revealing the most famous artwork of the park. Rakotzbrücke. Devil's Bridge. The lake spread out below it was so still, so clear - pure in every way. So much so that it acted as a perfect mirror, drawing in a second bridge to dive into the water and complete the circle that had called them there.

"Do you feel that?" Lexis asked, all expression masked from Sage as usual.

As they approached nearer, Tallie nodded. "I do now."

Kallai scoffed, but before he could call them crazy, they'd moved close enough to the bridge for him to feel it too. Whatever it was. Sage hadn't felt anything except and overwhelming awe as of yet.

"Look! Steppingstones," Kailani exclaimed, jumping out onto the first one. Sage could have sworn they hadn't been there to begin with. "Come on," she encouraged them, hopping along until she was in the middle of the lake, facing the bridge, on the largest stone of them all that seemed to grow with every person who stood on it. After a short pause, Kailani stopped bouncing and looked at everyone but Sage, saying, "If this is the same feeling then I feel it now too."

Everyone looked towards Sage, next. "I'll feel it soon, I'm sure."

"Unlikely. You're not one of the elements, remember?" Kallai growled disapprovingly, and Sage thought she might just give up then. But, looking at the basalt circle in front of her, she felt its power and promises and no longer cared about Kallai and what he thought. This wasn't about him and it never had been. She'd been foolish to dream anything could have happened with them and realising that gave her one less thing to worry about. She was here for her brother, and her brother alone.

And then Sage did feel it. Something invisible was falling down from the heavens, washing her in a lightness that could only be seen by the eyes of the blind. Without realising it, she had closed her eyes and tilted her face to the sky, searching for something beyond it. When she did realise, she opened her eyes again and stumbled, grabbing Lexis' arms beside her.

The bridge was crowned in flame. Pillars of rock had sprouted from either side and around them. The lake below them had risen part way up each pillar, revealing more steppingstones leading under the bridge itself. From behind them, a great wind pushed them forward, urging them to take the final steps. The mirror had been the lake, and it had formed the portal in the ring of the bridge and its reflection, and all that was left was to hold the cup and the candle. Sage extended her arms out to either side, gesturing for everyone to hold hands to walk through.

Facing it then, stood in front of what they had spent the last month chasing, felt amazing. Nothing could have prepared her for that moment and she was glad of it. The feeling was completely unreal; one of daydreams and nightmares.

And then the elements came crashing in.

The pillars crumbled into the lake, large chunks of rock falling down around them; the water rushed towards them in a sweeping threat to drown their memory; the fire raced down the bridge and under it, a burning light at the end of the tunnel; the wind collapsed, suffocating them as their eyes flew wide.

Running. They were running straight for the portal, diving through before their bodies gave up on them. Lexis grabbed Sage, cradling her as she fought for a breath that wasn't there. Sage was vaguely aware of Kallai doing the same to Kailani, Tallie stumbling on ahead...

She felt the moment they passed through the portal like they had gone through a layer of jelly, the sheet of nothingness clinging to her skin until they burst free the other side, collapsing onto fresh green grass, gasping for air.