Cold.

It always came slow, like the tide, sloshing around my feet first. Then it rose steadily up and up and up, grasping at whatever parts of me it could reach, seeping in through clothes and skin alike and turning everything to ice.

It was everywhere...and I hated it. But I shouldn't, not right now. It meant I was still alive.

The musty scent of the forest floor was almost overwhelming. Not exactly surprising considering my nose was practically buried in the cool earth. And I could still taste the rain.

The persistent black smudges on my hand greeted me when I opened my eyes. I tried to move my fingers, but...I couldn't. My whole arm was just heavy and...numb. Dead. I could feel its weight, but not really. Like it was asleep.

Damn soporis. I should consider myself lucky—ha!—that I could still walk. Soon enough, it would spread and then I was actually done for.

Cradling the useless, limp extremity in my functioning arm, I rolled onto my back and sat up. The remaining daylight barely illuminated the dirt path and the dense shrubbery on either side. Yup, this definitely wasn't Central Park.

There were no sounds apart from my ragged breathing, even the leaves had stopped rustling. That was never a good sign.

As I reached for my backpack with my good hand, I tried to remember how far I'd walked. It couldn't have been more than five minutes. I could make that. I'd be fine.

If the portal was still open.

Deep breaths.

With the pack slung over my shoulder, it took me a solid four tries to get to my feet. My wobbly, very unstable feet.

Baby steps, I got this.

I was about ten feet down the path when the absolute last sound anyone ever wanted to hear in a dark, unknown forest drifted over to me. Twigs snapping.

What were the chances of someone else being in this random forest? Zero to nothing, that's what. With my luck, it was probably the same somebody who'd poisoned me.

As much as I wanted to know who that was, it would not save my life. Getting back to school would. Most likely.

Half running, half stumbling, I made for the bend up ahead. My stupid arm weighed me down, but the hell if I was going to die in some forest. My shoulders slumped in relief as I rounded a particularly gnarled tree and the bright iridescent lights of the portal crystals greeted me.

More rustling and another snap of a branch, much closer than before, spurred me on. I was about twenty steps away from the gateway when the unmistakable smell of burnt matches and rotten eggs made me crinkle my nose.

Sulfur.

Either my senses were playing tricks on me or—

A low growl sounded from my right.

I froze. Out of the corner of my eye, a pair of glowing orange orbs appeared just beyond the path. Okay, so not a who, but rather a what.

Let's see, eyes resembling burning embers that were at least six feet off the ground, the stench of sulfur, and growling right out of a cheap horror movie—even without taking History of Infernis 101, I knew what creature was stalking me from the darkness. My chances of making it out of this alive just went from slim to nearly nonexistent.

Keeping eye contact, I slowly retreated until my back hit the nearest tree. Although the portal was almost within reach, it might as well have been miles away. The second I made a run for it, I was dead. The fact that my shoulder was now numb too and I was most definitely out of breath didn't help either.

Maybe I should have done more—or well, any—cardio. My drill sergeant of a P.E. teacher had always preached that good endurance would save your life. Never in a million years had I thought he could have a point.

Growling quietly, the creature gradually approached. Claws made of volcanic glass were the first to emerge from the foliage. Matted paws attached to bony legs followed, crushing protruding roots like they were made of paper. Ashen fur covered the enormous canine's entire skeletal body except for its obsidian face. Its thin, panther-like tail swished rhythmically, the single claw attached to the tip glistening menacingly.

Vynari.

A wasteland guard of the demon realm. Trained to keep anyone from entering or leaving Infernis.

Except...this wasn't Infernis and it wasn't supposed to be here.

That particular bit didn't seem to bother the vynari though. In fact, it seemed rather calm, content even. Ember eyes trained on me, it raised its pointy nose and sniffed.

As appealing as a staredown with Big, Pale, and Fluffy over here sounded, my legs were starting to grow heavy. With one useless arm weighing me down and the numbness spreading to the base of my neck, I maybe had another fifteen minutes. No more.

Even on a good day, I was no match for a full-grown vynari. Expecting to be heading to New York, I hadn't taken any of my supplies either. Time to resort to some good old distraction. When it came down to it, a vynari was kind of like a dog, right? A scarier, deadlier version, but still.

"Hey, Fluffy," I cooed, kneeling to casually lower my backpack onto the ground.

It roared, exposing jagged teeth. A lot of jagged teeth. Was that a piece of cloth stuck to one of them? Please let that be a piece of cloth and totally not skin.

Deep breaths. It can sense fear.

Slowly unzipping the main compartment—which was a lot harder than expected with only one hand—I said, "I promise I don't taste good, so no point in, uh, trying to eat me or anything."

Fluffy dug its claws into the ground and raised its tail high above its head, ready to pounce. Not good. My fingertips just grazed the small glass tube when it launched itself right at me, claws extended and fangs ready to tear me apart.

I barely had time to jump out of the way before it slammed into the massive tree with a loud crack. Branches and leaves rained down all around us, obscuring my already limited vision some more. Using Fluffy's momentary disorientation, I stumbled past two more trees before hiding behind the third. It could probably smell me, but I needed to lure it away from my backpack.

With an irritated howl, Fluffy shook its head. It didn't even take five seconds for it to spot me. Awesome. In a single leap, it was almost upon me again.

I swear if I make it out of here alive, I will hit the treadmill first thing tomorrow. Or next week. Soporis poisoning was no joke after all. I wouldn't want to overexert myself with something as silly as cardio—

A black claw whooshed right past my head.

—but maybe I should worry about that after I got out of here.

Using a sturdy-looking branch as a vaulting pole, I catapulted myself over a rotting log, only to fall headfirst into a ditch. There had to be something I could do. At this rate, I would never make it to my backpack, let alone out of here. But I was not going to die to some demon's overgrown guard dog. No way.

Wait a second... This thing was a gigantic dog, and if there was one thing I knew about dogs, they loved to play fetch. Frantically searching the forest floor for something—anything I could throw—I tried to normalize my breathing. Unfortunately, all I found was a tiny little stick. Clutching that stick like my life depended on it—which it probably did—I straightened up.

Those ember eyes zeroed in on me immediately. Fluffy was close—too close—one paw extended and ready to jump. The moment I raised the small piece of wood, it hesitated.

Here goes nothing.

"Go fetch!" I croaked, hurling the stick as far as I could.

Of course, it missed its target, instead hitting Fluffy right in the nose. That had to be the worst throw in the history of terrible one-armed, emergency tosses. Although...maybe I had hit a sensitive spot or something because Fluffy yelped and then lifted a single paw to rub its nose.

I scrambled out of the ditch and darted back toward the path. I could almost feel Fluffy's sulfur breath on the back of my neck as I dropped to the ground and retrieved the pitch-black glass tube from my backpack. In a not-so-swift movement, I smashed the Darken Draught on the ground between us and grabbed the shoulder strap of my pack.

This wasn't exactly an enclosed space, so all I got was a solid-sized cloud of impenetrable darkness, but it would do. The numbness creeping into my legs made running to the portal that much harder, but thanks to Fluffy smashing into what sounded like multiple trees and bushes behind me, I reached the gateway right as its nose poked through the mist.

Somebody was not happy. Lips pulled back in a nasty snarl, Fluffy charged. If I needed any more encouragement to step through the portal, that was it. I took a last breath of fresh forest air and backed through, watching Fluffy's gigantic form disappear in the vortex of colors.

Amplified by the lovely side effects of sleep of death, familiar nausea threatened to make me pass out as I tumbled into the portal room. Surprise, surprise, the sentinels took no notice of me, their onyx eyes staring into space like always. At least I could count on them taking Fluffy down if it was dumb enough to try to come through the portal.

A shiver ran through my entire body. I didn't have much longer and the hospital wing was too far away.

No, there was only one person I could go to in my state. At this hour, there was a good chance that he hadn't left yet. I had to try. He was my only shot.

By the time I half climbed, half crawled up the endless stone steps, crossed the nearly empty courtyard—thankfully, no one spared me a glance—and pushed through the doors into the dimly lit alchemy hallway, I could barely feel either of my legs. A strange tingling sensation crawled up my neck, and the black spots in my vision were starting to look more like puddles.

Please be here.

Seeing the sliver of bluish-white light shining into the hallway like a blurry beacon, I used my remaining strength to launch myself at the slightly ajar door. It gave way immediately, crashing into the wall, and I found myself face-to-face with my—somewhat astounded—favorite professor.

"Ariel?" Professor Flamel questioned, a steaming cup in one hand.

Raising my black-stained fingers in greeting, I mumbled a single word, "Soporis."

Then my knees gave out and the squeaky clean floor came rushing at my face. Something grabbed my elbow, saving me from the impact, but with my remaining strength entirely depleted, I blacked out for the second time that night.