A small island reflected in the silvery surface of the mirror. I recognized it. Simple, unassuming to the outside eye.

Then I saw myself. Lying on the beach. Eyes closed.

Not moving.

~~~

I shifted uncomfortably. Everything hurt. My muscles were cramping in weird places, and I could feel the wood digging into my spine. I groaned.

Why was my head pounding? It felt like something was inside my skull banging on a timpani drum. I moved my head slightly, and noticed with surprise that it was resting on something soft. I frowned and opened my eyes.

That's when I registered that I was lying on the lap of Ravi Jindal.

I sat up quickly, trying to ignore the throbbing in my skull and the ache in my muscles. I winced, rubbing my temples

"Oh, sorry," Ravi said quietly, sounding embarrassed. "You looked really comfortable, and I didn't want to wake you up, so..."

I blushed furiously. "It's okay. Um...what happened? The last thing I remember was bringing Meri back on the boat. Did I pass out?"

He shrugged. "Everyone did. Ore warned me beforehand, so I covered my nose with my shirt." I must have looked confused, because he clarified, "The smoke is what knocked you out. It limits cognitive functioning. You guys were all basically drunk." He grinned. "It was kind of funny."

I laughed a little. "Oh man. I didn't say anything embarrassing, did I?"

I had meant it as a joke, but Ravi suddenly looked uncomfortable.

My eyes widened. "Oh my god, I did, didn't I?! What did I say?"

He looked down, fidgeting with his hands. "I mean, not really anything super embarrassing per se, but I mean, it's stuff you probably wouldn't say otherwise, but it's not something you really have to worry about, so I'd just kind of forget about it, you know? I really don't remember anyway, so it's fine, don't worry—"

"Ravi," I interrupted. "You're rambling. What did I say?"

He sighed and looked away from me. "I mean, it wasn't that big a deal? You were just, um...complimenting me. And stuff."

I raised an eyebrow, trying to ignore the growing heat in my cheeks. "What did I say that I wouldn't say normally? I would compliment you. You're a pretty cool guy." I laughed.

He ran a distressed hand through his hair. "Uh, well, I mean, you were just calling me stuff I don't think you normally would. Like...cute. And stuff. So."

Blood rushed to my head, my blush a full on red face now. "Oh."

"Yeah."

What was I supposed to say? That I didn't mean it? That I thought it wasn't true. That would be lying....But what if he thought I was flirting with him? I didn't want that!

Did I?

No. I didn't. There was enough to worry about without this on top of it.

But what was I supposed to say?

Luckily, I was saved by none other than Deynan Soldano. He groaned loudly and rolled over dramatically. "Why does everything HURT?!" he exclaimed, his voice cracking in misery.

Ravi and I made brief eye contact before bursting into laughter. I silently thanked Deynan for the distraction; I would deal with this confusing problem later. I could ignore it for a bit longer.

Right?

~~~~~~~

A few hours later, we were all awake and fed, everyone with a splitting headache and sore backs.

"My lungs feel like they're on fire," Audrey complained. "What the heck?"

"Yeah, Tinder said that might happen," Ravi said sympathetically.

"Stupid smoke," Deynan muttered, wincing. Everyone nodded in agreement.

We sat in silence for a few moments. Amarie wordlessly passed me a water bottle and I took a swig.

"Hey!" Isaac said suddenly. "Is that Abigail?"

We all looked up, and sure enough, riding down from the sky on a broom was none other than Abigail Starthunder. Her broom wasn't the old kind that one usually thinks of when talking about a witch or sorceress, but rather a modern, push broom with a plastic handle. I giggled. The quintessential Abigail.

She landed on the boat with a flourish, her short brown hair messy from wind and her face red from the flight. "Hello, friends!"

I stepped forward and embraced her.

"What are you doing here, Gail?" Isaac asked, though he sounded more excited than anything else.

"I was tired of sitting around on the defense," she said dismissively. "I want to be on the front lines! Plus," she added, "I've been listening to the messages you've been sending Tess, and I'm worried about Amarie."

Amarie's eyes widened. "You were...worried about me?"

Abigail frowned. "Of course I was. Such a beautiful girl should never feel so insecure about herself. We won't let those Whisperers win." She winked.

Amarie smiled slightly and looked down.

"So," Abigail said cheerily, "what's going on?"

"What's going on?" a small voice said.

We turned to see Meri huddled against the mast, looking up at us with fear.

"Oh, I forgot about him," Deynan said.

Audrey smacked him lightly.

"Hey," Isaac said softly, moving closer. "Do you remember me? My name is Isaac, Isaac Tretter."

Meri nodded slowly. "You...you came to the village once. And I took you to Fivendor."

Ravi was standing silently next to me. He sighed. "He used to be so happy," he whispered sadly. "What happened?"

Slowly, Isaac sat down on the deck, the rest of us following suite. Abigail sat as well, dragging Amarie into the circle, which I thought was nice, as Amarie didn't always feel included.

"Meri," Isaac said softly, "can you tell us what happened? Why were you out in the middle of the ocean?"

Meri hugged his knees closer to his chest. "I...I wasn't supposed to be. I talk to Fivendor a lot. I think he's nice, even if he pretends to be grumpy. Well, he and Glyneria have been getting scared. I wasn't sure why. But Fivendor kept telling to stay in the village and not go adventuring anymore. But I like going adventuring. That's how I met you in the first place. It's so fun! But he was angry at me. Then he said something about going to stop them himself. I didn't know what that meant."

"That stupid, stubborn elf," Deynan whispered, his jaw clenched. "What does he think he's doing?"

Meri looked confused, but continued. "Well...one day while I was at Fivendor's tree, this big, big man came stomping through the village!" His eyes widened. "He was bigger than even all of you! As tall as the trees! And he had one eye, right in the middle of his forehead." Meri tapped his own forehead for further emphasis.

"A cyclops," Amarie murmured. "He's moved on to creating bigger monsters. More intelligent ones." She looked concerned. Abigail patted her on the back.

"I ran away," Meri said sadly. "I knew a path away from the village, and I was scared, so I ran. But then these birds picked me up and started flying over the ocean! I wasn't sure what to do. So when I finally saw the little island, I wriggled and wriggled until they dropped me. I don't know what would have happened next if you hadn't shown up."

Tears formed in his earthy brown eyes. Isaac laid a hand on his shoulder.

For a while, we were quiet. What could we say? Is there any way to console someone who has lost everything?

"Meri, that's awful," I whispered. My heart ached for the young elf. His innocence was forever gone, trampled to the dust along with his village. A city destroyed. I felt a twist in my stomach.

Audrey apparently had a similar idea, because she took a knife from her belt and angrily stabbed the mast. "This Boss Guy is really starting to piss me off," she seethed.

"Why is he doing this?" Sophie asked, her voice tight. I could tell she was on the verge of tears.

"He is planting the seeds of terror," Amarie said quietly. "He will strike with no warning with monsters by the hundreds. He will destroy civilizations, breed suspicion, plant traitors and steal food until everyone lives in a constant state of fear. Then he will offer to stop in exchange for control. And everyone will agree. Because they are tired. Because they are weak. Because they have lived in fear for so long and they are desperate."

The words slowly sunk in. My chest felt like it was constricting. For the first time, I realized just how much was riding on our shoulders.

"Madre dios," Isaac muttered. He rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hands.

Amarie looked uncomfortable. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize for telling the truth, unpleasant as it may be," Ravi sighed. "We'll figure it out. Don't worry."

"You're going to defeat him?" Meri whispered, his eyes wide.

For a second, we were all silent.

The Isaac turned to him with a bright smile. "Yes. Yes, we are."

We had to.

~~~~~

I sent out my butterfly messenger to Tess to give an update, as well as ghost butterflies to Magnolia, Seraphina, and Genevieve to make sure they were okay. Abigail explained that the ghost butterflies worked the same way as the normal one did, but the recipients couldn't respond.

We sat around the boat for a little while, enjoying the peace. I would have been calm, but Audrey wouldn't meet my eyes. I knew she was still upset with me from our earlier argument. My heart twisted in guilt. I felt bad, but I also wanted to stand up for what I believed in. Audrey just didn't understand yet. That was okay. She had been hurt in the past. I understood.

I just wished she weren't so stubborn.

I noticed Ravi check the sky again. He had been doing that for the past hour. He was also acting weird around me. I hoped he wasn't angry too.

Then I blushed again, remembering that my drugged self had called him cute. He was probably embarrassed. I hoped I hadn't made him uncomfortable. It was probably weird hearing that from me. I would understand if he never wanted to talk to me again.

Then he noticed me staring and smiled, waving me over.

I smiled back, trying to ignore how my heart had just sped up. That didn't mean anything, did it? I was just nervous because he caught me staring.

"What's up?" I said, sitting next to him.

He shrugged. "I mean, nothing in particular. You just looked lonely. Everyone else is doing something." He shrugged, smiling.

That was true. Isaac and Abigail had begun talking, and Abigail had quickly dragged Amarie into their conversation. I couldn't tell what they were talking about, but they were laughing. Amarie looked so much freer when she laughed. That constant fear that lurked just beneath the surface of her eyes seemed to fade.

Audrey appeared to be teaching Sophie how to whittle—or, at least, attempting to teach Sophie. But they seemed to be having fun nonetheless.

Deynan was asleep.

"How does he do that?" I asked, mystified.

Ravi shook his head in disbelief. "I truly don't know. It's a little terrifying."

I giggled. Ravi looked up at the sky again. His right leg started bouncing.

I looked at him with concern. "Hey...you alright?"

"What? Oh, yeah. I just...This is a really long time in between Whisperer attacks. I mean, Tempters used to attack at least three times a day. I'm nervous."

I considered this. "That's fair. But I wouldn't worry about it too much. It'll just make things worse."

Ravi laughed. "Solid advice."

I grinned. "As they say..." I began to sing, "in your life you have some trouble. When you worry, you make it double. Don't worry, be happy!"

Ravi laughed again, harder this time. "Oh man, I remember that song! My elementary school teachers sang it all the time."

"I used to have a T-shirt that said Don't Worry, Be Happy. It's a good little mantra."

"Yeah. Doesn't always work, but hey...positive mindset, right?"

"Exactly!" I smiled widely.

He smiled back.

For a second, I was lost in those warm brown eyes, copper and gold.

Then Sophie shrieked.

Ravi stood up abruptly, his head whipping around to look for the threat. And there it was, slowly drifting closer, a black mass of a seething ribbon-like substance, pulsing like the heart of a beast.

~~~~

Here ya go! Some calm before the storm...

~Margot