-Beckham-

I sat up, confused. What just happened? Ignoring my confusion, I got up with one thought on my mind. Finishing what I'd started. I was on the opposite side of the clearing now, so I ran, straight towards Chanson.

"Stop!" Laelyn shouted again, standing in my way and holding up her hand to stop me. A flash of bright light later, I was flying through the air again. I hit the ground hard and sat up quickly, staring at Laelyn. She was staring down at her own hands, confusion etched in her features. "Did I just... Did I do that?" she asked, looking up and meeting my eyes across the clearing. Everyone was staring at her. I got up and walked over to her, slowly, as if approaching a deer.

"I think you just unlocked your potential, Laelyn," I said. "Are you okay?" I remember how it felt to unlock your potential, and I hoped she'd taken it well. She nodded.

"I think so, I just... What did I even do?" she wondered. I shrugged.

"Sometimes it doesn't make sense until you practice it," I explained. "How are you feeling?" Mason and Isaac rushed over, wondering what was wrong.

"I'm really tired," she said quietly.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Isaac said. "Unlocking your magic potential is fueled by a surge of strong emotion, and a lot of energy. That'll decrease with practice."

"That was awesome!" Mason exclaimed. I shot him a glare. Laelyn isn't okay, this isn't awesome. He shrugged. "What? I thought it was." Alyrica, Mai and Cowyn walked over as well to see what was going on. Cowyn was holding a hand to his head, massaging his temples.

"That was a lot of magic energy in one second," he groaned. "But congrats," he added. Laelyn smiled back weakly, then she seemed to remember something.

"Where's Chanson?" she asked. Nobody cares, I thought to myself. We heard a groan from behind us and turned around. Chanson was lying against the tree I'd pinned him against earlier, holding his side. "Chanson!" Laelyn cried, running over to him. "Are you alright?"

I rolled my eyes. He started this, who cares if he's alright? Regardless of my feelings toward him, I walked over and joined Laelyn to see what had happened. Chanson was taking really shaky breaths and didn't seem to be able to move.

"My ribs," he said quietly.

"What?" Laelyn asked. "What happened?"

"I don't know, all I saw was a flash of light, and then..." he trailed off. "Then I was thrown against the tree. I think I cracked my ribs."

Isaac came over to see what had happened. Apparently he knew a lot about this kind of thing, so we just let him do whatever he needed to do. As we walked away, I stole a glance at Laelyn, shocked to see that she had a few tears in her eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked, when we were far enough away from the rest of the group.

"It's my fault," she whispered. "I did that."

"You didn't try to," I replied. "You couldn't have prevented it if you tried."

"I never want to use magic again," she decided. "I don't want to hurt anyone else, Beckham, I can't-"

"Don't say that."

"I didn't even try to use magic, much less hurt anyone, but it happened anyway. I can't put everyone in danger. I'm not like you, I-"

"You're right, you're not like me," I repeated. "You're not reckless. You care about people too much to be. If anyone should swear off magic, it's me. I almost killed my own mother! If I had just let my parents talk things out, if I hadn't interfered, maybe Gracie would still be here. Maybe Mother wouldn't have told everyone she could contact about my father and his 'crazy ideas about magic.' Maybe Daeva wouldn't have found him. Maybe... Maybe he would still be alive."

"Beckham-"

"Laelyn. You're not like me. But if you're afraid of magic, you'll never get better at controlling it, and every time you use it, it'll be like this," I explained. "I mean, look at me. I blamed magic for my father's death and didn't use it until I met you. Look how that turned out." She opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by Isaac calling us back over.

"He was right," Isaac began. "He cracked a rib. Not too badly, but he's going to have a hard time walking."

"How is he going to get back home?" Laelyn asked. I had to admit, I felt a little bad for him now. Just a little.

"Someone's going to have to help him back," Cowyn said.

"I will!" Mai exclaimed, a bit too eagerly. Mason looked her and frowned.

"It'll be a bit dangerous, Mai. It's already getting dark out. You'll have to get him all the way back to the school, if not farther, and Daeva could be anywhere..." he trailed off. "Are you sure?"

"Someone has to," she said, nodding. "I'll do it."

After a bit more arguing, Mason finally gave in, and Mai and Chanson were on their way back.

"Where to now?" Isaac asked me. Apparently we'd decided to ignore what had just happened? I shrugged.

"This way," Cowyn said, pointing ahead. "We're close, I can sense it."

Author's Note!

Hey guys! I'M ON TIME FOR AN UPDATE PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!

Now that THAT'S out of the way, how are we feeling about the storyline so far? Do you think it's safe for Chanson and Mai to go on their own? Do you think the rest of the group will find Link? I know I'm asking lots of questions, but I really wanna know what you guys are thinking! Thanks so much for reading, love you guys!

Savy