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(Here is Chapter 11!)Miss. H stood beside her office window, looking out into the stormy summer weather. The weather depicted her mood to a tee. She could not believe that Sammy was gone. The first day she had gone missing, the counselors at the camp made a search party, and went through the forest to find her. The second day, they had called the police, and they had used helicopters to look for her. Days merged into months, months into years, and before Miss H. knew it, they were back to the date Sammy went missing. Alerts went out, they quickly came and went, and the police told her now if they went searching, it was for a body.
Miss H. smiled grimly, and made her way over to her brief case, pick it up, and walked over to her desk and sat down. The day after Sammy went missing, Jade came running to her in the Camp office, in hysterics, saying that Steve went to look for Sammy when she ran off. Steve, the mysterious boy they took in from the Boy’s Hall. A fighter he was, and an odd fixation for Sammy, he could have any one with those looks, why shy, sweet Sammy? Miss H. wasn’t a fool, she knew why, and she also knew Sammy and Steve were together, alive, however…
Miss H. dug into her brief case, and took out a yellowed, folded piece of parchment and placed it on the desk. Miss H. pick up the paper, and opened it reading: ‘when the time is ready, use this.’
Miss H. dug back into the brief case, and took out a tiny crystal vial, hardly the size of a pill. Inside it, a drop of water, that gave off a blue light. She knew the exact area where Steve and Sammy disappeared, and where they went.
Miss H. took out a single piece of paper, which had her letter of resignation printed on it, she knew once she left, there would be no way of her coming back. The woman got up from her desk, going over to the half bathroom attached to the office, turning the lights on to reveal an old toilet and a sink that was up to date.
Miss H. turned the taps on, putting the plug into the drain, letting the water fill the sink basin. She quickly turned the taps off, and tossed the vial into the sink, watching the crystal dissolve and the water in the sink to turn blue, giving off the blue light.
The woman sighed, and was about to lean forward to the light the waters take her, when a hand on her arm stopped her. Miss. H expected it to be a child waking up from a nightmare, but not Jade, standing there, her eyes wide, and in her other hand, Sammy’s copy of the Lord of Rings.
“Miss H.? What are you doing?” Jade asked staring at Miss H. with those haunted dark green eyes, “What’s with the blue light?”
Miss H. was surprised at the reaction Jade had given her when Sammy disappeared. The woman had expected Jade to shrug it off, not to do a complete 180 on everyone. Miss H. thought Sammy was Jade’s pet project, transforming a bookworm into the perfect pretty sidekick. Instead it was Sammy who transformed her, and Jade didn’t even know it, up until Sammy went missing. She stop wearing make-up, going out with boys, and started to read the mountains of books Sammy had with her all the time. Girls bickered and fought between each other for the spot of being Jade’s best friend, but Jade wouldn’t fill it, it was Sammy’s spot and will remain her spot. It was as though Jade was trying to emulate Sammy, no one truly knew how much influence Sammy had on Jade until she went missing.
“Miss H. what are you doing? It’s around midnight, shouldn’t you be asleep?” Jade said confused, pausing to look down at the light in the sink, “Miss H. what’s up with the blue lights?”
“I have to leave Jade,” Miss H. said wrapping her arms around the girl and pulling her into a hug, “I have to go.”
Jade felt her throat close up and tears sting at her eyes, “Why do have to leave?” she croaked, “please, don’t leave me, where are you going? Are you going to commit suicide?”
“No! Heavens no,” Miss H. said holding Jade at arm’s length, “I have to leave this world, Sammy and Steve-“
Miss H. bit her tongue at the slip up. Jade’s eyes widened and she said, “Sammy’s alive?! Please, let me go with you!”
Miss H. shook her head, saying, “No I will not let you go with me. You have to stay here; you have school and a life here.”
Jade shook her head saying, “I don’t care about school, and my life? Sammy was my life, when she left, a part of me left with her, please take me with you! Please I need to see Sammy. If you don’t take me, I-I’ll kill myself!”
That startled the both of them, Jade the most. Miss H.’s blue eyes widen and she then she turned her head to the side, she couldn’t let the girl just waste away, but if she took her…
“If I take you, you can never come back to this world, this is a one way trip.” Miss H. said looking at Jade’s determined face, “You can’t just come back to your life if you want to.”
“Boys, Make-up, Clothes?” Jade said with a smile, then she shook her head, “That’s not a life, that’s not what I want, having Sammy tell me a fact, or push me to do my work, or tell me a snide comment about the guy I’m with, that’s the life I want, I want my sister back.”
Miss H. smiled softly, and then grabbed the girl’s arm, pulling her close to her side saying, “Hold on,” grabbing the hand that came out the water. Jade’s eyes widened at the sight, and she let out a surprise cry, as the two of them were pulled into the water.
As soon as Miss H. and Jade left, the plug in the sink pop out, and the water quickly drained, as though it were never there in the first place.

……”how deep- the poison”…..
…..”In coma-must hurry to Cloud Port”…..
It felt like Sammy was floating on clouds, but then suddenly, the clouds got darker until they were black, and a small bright light started to form, getting bigger, and bigger, until Sammy opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Leo sitting in front of her, staring at her. Leo mewed in glee, and then walked over to Sammy purring softly, as he rubbed her face with his tiny body. Sammy smiled saying in a cracked voice, “Leo your okay, where are we Leo?”
Leo jumped away from Sammy, and back to the edge of the pallet Sammy lay on. Sammy then looked down, seeing she was on her stomach, slid her arms up and pushed herself up on her elbows, wincing at the sharp pain in her back. When she managed to sit up with the aid of her arms, she looked around.
She was in a large tent, on a pallet made of furs, a light blanket on her bare body. Sammy turned seeing several bags in a corner, and a trunk in the other corner. The flap was partly opened, letting in fresh air, and sun light.
“Leo, where’s Steve and Walter?” Sammy asked as Leo Climbed into her lap, making himself comfy.
Leo mewed, and Sammy turned to the last bare corner, seeing a large bird on a perch, staring at her with red eyes, ruffling multi-colored feathers until it was large ball of fluff and feathers. Sammy giggled softly seeing nothing but a red beak in the ball of feathers. The bird then returned to is sleek form, and flew out the opening of the flap.
Moments later it returned on the shoulder of a woman. The woman was tall, almost six feet and a half, with long crimson hair that was in a high pony tail, showing off a long face that fit her long slightly built body. Almond shaped green eyes took in Sammy’s form, and thigh high black boots shuffled the edge of a fur. Sammy could see two daggers hilt on the side of each boot. Her thighs were bare, but a long black tunic covered them, around the tunic a black belt, that had a thin sharp sword nestled in it, along with a four more daggers, and several bottles. Thin lips formed into a smile, and the woman went over to Sammy, saying in a deep voice, that held age and wisdom, “Lay back on your stomach you will stress your wounds.
Sammy frowned as she was laid on her stomach again, a hand pulling off bandages on the back of her head. The woman made a noise and said, “Your head wound is healing nicely, I will fix that section of your head when there is nothing but a scar there, your back however…”
Sammy smelt something minty and sharp and gasped as a cold cream was placed on the back of her head, then fresh bandages.
The woman pulled off the bandages on Sammy’s back, and winced the wounds were black, dead skin clung to the wounds, and something blue was oozing off it, the stench of rotting skin filling the air. Sammy coughed her eyes watering and she said, “What is that smell?!”
“The wounds on you back,” the woman said taking a sharp but small dagger, and cutting off the pieces of dead skin that hung to Sammy’s back, “I fear they are not getting any better, we must take you to a healer in Cloud Port, they will have something for you.”
Sammy blinked and said, “Steve! Where’s Steve and Walter? I see Leo but-“
“Hush little one,” the woman said putting the same cream on Sammy’s back and wrapping it fresh bandages, “They wait outside, I will let them see you.”
The woman pulled the covers over Sammy’s waist, and walked out the tent flap. Moments later, Steve rushed into the tent, and over to where Sammy lay on the furs.
“Sammy!” Steve said getting on his knees, hovering over Sammy who smiled up at him, “Shoot, I was going after you, but those creatures had us surrounded.
Sammy frowned seeing a bandage and a few black bruises on his bare arms and face, “Goodness! They did that to you? Are you okay?”
Steve took a glance down at his wounds saying, “Oh these are nothing compared to what I did to them, they looked worse than us.” A smile breaking out on his face, “You’ve been out of it for nearly a week, you should see Walter. Nahia, the one who’s taking care of you, she’s a Warrior, poor Walter.”
Sammy blinked saying, “what’s wrong with Walter?” Leo rubbing against her face again.
“Sammy!” Walter sighed walking into the tent a stupid smile on his face, “How are you my dear?”
“Walter?” Sammy blinked confused as the wizard literally floated over to them, “Are you okay?”
Steve smiled shaking his head saying, “Oh, he’s quite fine Sammy, he’s in love.”
Walter smiled again saying, “I am glad you are fine, I was beginning to worry you would never get out of that coma.”
Walter picked up Leo, gave him a slight squeeze and set him down, walking out the tent, Steve chuckling softly and Sammy blinking in surprise.
“If they ever get together, who would be in charge?” Sammy asked looking up to Steve, who shrugged his shoulders.
“I’m putting my eggs with Nahia,” Steve said shifting so he sat on his bottom, “She’s a tough woman, beautiful also, and I can see why Walter is smitten with her.
Sammy nodding her head, looking down at her limp hair that fell onto the side of face, feeling something stir in the belly of her stomach. Sammy frowned at it too; she had never felt that before, like she felt inferior to Nahia. Sammy shook her head slightly, trying to shake off that feeling.
Nahia walked into the tent flap, and said to Steve, “You boy, out, it is not acceptable for a male to be around when a female is dressing.”
Steve held his hands up in defeat, and got up saying, “Alright, I’ll be outside the tent, I promise I won’t let nothing happen to you again.”
Nahia shook her head saying, “You have not left that spot in a week, go and take the short walk to the snow springs, Cirrus will go with you.”
Apparently Cirrus was the red feathered ball, because he puffed back down, and quickly flew over to Steve and sat in his shoulder. Steve smiled and shook his head, exiting the tent, Nahia rounded on Sammy and said, “Let me dress you, we leave soon.”
Sammy nodded her head mutely, letting Nahia lift her up and brush her hair. They sat in silence as Nahia fixed her hair into a single complicated braid, her long fingers moving fast, yet was gentle to Sammy’s scalp.
“The boy has feelings for you.” Nahia said after five minutes of silence, “do you return his feelings?”
Sammy blushed softly saying, “I do not know him really well, we were at camp, and he, Jade, my friend, says he has been trying to get me to notice him but, I’ve never thought of Steve, or any boy for that matter, like that, I’m not sure how I feel, after spending a few days with him, I know he’s kind, and funny, and a fighter with the soul of someone who doesn’t fight.”
Nahia smiled softly saying, “It is only a matter of time,” finishing her hair, “I need to tell you something serious though.”
Nahia got in front of Sammy and said, “I am going to protect you, and I will be with you with every choice you made, I will not abandon you nor will I judge you, I told the wizard and the boy this, I will not protect them, they have their own gifts to protect themselves. I protect only you. This is going to be the hardest trial of your life, we all shall be pushed to our limits, we must accept this, do you understand me?”
Sammy frowned and said, “Yes, I do, but why are you telling me this? We’re going back once we get to this Cloud Port place, Walter knows someone there, and they’ll help us.”
Nahia paused staring at the girl in front of her. She knew the story, the wizard had told her, about the Hole, what the Wizard didn’t know was that she knew about Hole traveling, her Clan mastered the practice thousands of years ago. She also knew of a certain situation though.
Nahia shook her head slightly; let the child have her null wishes and dreams, to give her hope. She smiled and said, “Come I have the perfect clothes for you, you will shine like a coin piece.”
Steve made his way back to where Walter stood, beside the rusty Rider, trying to get it start up.
“Why don’t we get a new Rider once we get to Cloud Port,” Steve said sitting on a rock beside the Wizard who was inside the hull of the ship, a tool in both hands, mouth and one tuck behind his ear, “I’m sure that is not how you fix that.”
Walter threw a tool at him in anger, huffing, “Well, I like to see you come in here, and fix it, you a**!”
Steve shrugged his shoulders and then jumped into the hull beside Walter, and stared wide eye at the mechanics. In the middle was a metal ball, surrounding that, were several bands of metal, all the bands a different type of medal, copper, gold, brass, iron, and some Steve knew didn’t exists in the world Sammy and Steve came from. The bent metals formed waves and ribbons, some had writings on them and others had worn out markings. Steve looked down at it again, and then looked up to Walter saying, “I know that you can’t use tools to fix this, who made this?”
“Mages,” Walter said with a look, rolling his eyes when Steve had a blank stare, “Oh goodness, Powerful people, who have the power to bend things to their will, stronger than witches, and wizards, this is an original Rider from a great Mage who once lived, during the Ancient times. Yep this Rider was past down to my great-great-great-grandpa, who past it down to his son, who past it down his, and so on, and then my grandpa past it down to my mother, who gave It to me because…”
Steve looked up saying, “because…?”
Walter blushed saying, “She got a new one….” Tossing a hammer back into the tool bag, “She said that rusty Riders are not chic for a witch like her.”
Steve mumbled, “I can see why,” under his breath, and then turned to take a look at the machinery inside the hull, his eyes trailing the metal again. He frowned when he saw white in a tiny area of the metal ring that had flecks of something that sparkled laced in it. The white bobbed and weave like a snake. Steve slipped his hand into the rings, and grabbed the snake like whiteness. When he grabbed it, it hissed, and dissipated into nothing. Suddenly, the bent metals started to turn and whirl around the metal ball, and the Rider started to hum loudly. Steve smiled and said, “See I fixed it, you had something stuck in there.”
Walter glared at him and said, “Thank you Steve, can you go to the camp site and start packing it up, Nahia wants us going soon.”
Sammy blinked against the harsh sunlight one arm wrapped around Nahia’s and the other filled with a sleeping Leo. She was in a short goldenrod tunic, with black leggings on, with matching black knee high boots. The single braid in her hair covered her bandaged head. Nahia sat Sammy on a large boulder beside the tent and said, “We leave soon, stay here and I will get you when we leave.”
Nahia walked past Walter who gave her an odd look, and over to Steve, and closed his mouth, which hung shamelessly opened at the two women.
Nahia chuckled saying, “The frogs will jump into your mouth like that, I do not think she would like for that to happen.”
Steve blushed looking at Sammy one more time, before he turned away, resuming putting things into bags, tying them up with the hide strings. Sammy looked, in other words, beautiful. While she was short, the leggings and boots she had on made her look taller than what she was, making her legs long , the tunic she wore showed off her curves slightly. Her hair was pulled from her face, showing off her face, Steve had wish she would have when they were back at the home, then maybe she would have some sort of life, instead of a life in books.
Sammy turned to look up into the sky. They were surrounded by the mountains, in a narrow space off a twisting and even narrower path. Sammy looked to the east, and saw that the path started to get cloudily, and then she turned to the west and paused, her eyes widening in awe. She could see the woodlands and the open meadows, and beyond that, it was tiny, but even then she could see a castle, which shined and gleamed in the late sunlight.
Sammy turned see Nahia pulling the large tent down Cirrus sitting on her shoulders. “Nahia! What is that place near the horizon?”
Nahia walked over to Sammy, stared out at the horizon to where Sammy gazed and then said, “It is the Crystal Queen’s Castle, she is the darkness in these lands, there is a myth about her rise to power, but I will tell you about it later on, for now, you need to get into the rider, Cloud Port is about a two hour ride from here.”
Nahia wrapped her arms around Sammy’s waist, and led her to the rider. Walter was sitting at the wheel; Steve was near the steps packing the last of the items. He turned when Nahia had Sammy close to the steps of the rider. Nahia motioned for Steve to help lift Sammy into the Rider. Steve wrapped an arm around Sammy’s shoulder, and helped her climb into the rider, and over to a soft pallet of pillows, and furs on the floor beside the two old chairs. Sammy winced slightly as her wounds rubbed against the pillows. the other two got off the rider again, to finish packing up camp, while Walter came over to Sammy with a wooden bowl full of something that was steamy and smelt divine, well it did for Sammy who hadn’t eaten in a week, and now her stomach was making noises of want.
Sammy quickly snatched the bowl away from Walter’s hands, gulping it down quickly, ignoring the fact that she had burned her mouth. She also ignored the spoon Walter had tried to give her, and finished the whole bowl in under five gulps.
“well I’m glad someone likes my dried fish stew,” Walter said with smile, but quickly frowned at the now empty bowl, “Settle down, you ate that too fast,” Walter pulled a mug from his robe pocket, filled with a red juice, and took out a small metal flask from his other pocket. Walter lifted the top to the flask and poured amber colored liquid into the mug, before handing it to Sammy who frowned saying, “Did you…”
“Yes I did, Brandy, drink it all, it’ll put you in a very good mood.” Walter said climbing into the front seat, turning to swoon at Nahia, who climbed into the rider beside Steve. Sammy sniffed the mug, shuddering as the scent of booze entered her nose, shrugged her shoulders, and downed it all in three gulps, she was very thirsty after all. There was a slight burn in the back of her throat, and she gagged slightly, earning looks from Steve and Nahia.
“Oh…I just drunk too fast…”Sammy said coughing hitting her chest hard, “went down the wrong tube…”
Nahia took the now empty cup from Sammy’s slacked fingers saying, “Next time do not drink so quickly, lay back and relax, we near Cloud Port soon.”
Sammy sat back against the pillows looking up at the sky that moved at the fast pace that the rider went. The soft voices of the other three people in the rider lulled her into a state of being awake and being asleep. Sammy opened her glazed eyes, hearing Steve laugh loudly at Leo, who had tried to catch Cirrus, but the bird had quickly flown up on the bare sail, and Leo crashed head first into Nahia’s chest.
Sammy smiled giggling softly, she felt so light headed, and why did it take so much to lift her hands?
“Steve…” She whispered, catching said man’s attention, “my fingers…”
Steve turned to Sammy, frowning at her slack face, and her glazed eyes, her left hand high up in the air. “Uh...you okay Sammy?”
“My fingers,” Sammy said her eyes going crossed as she pressed them up against her face, “oh…there are more than five!”
Steve frowned looking at Sammy who was making shapes in the air humming something to herself, “Are-are you drunk?!”
“Why ya have ta say it like that!” Sammy snapped before she giggled and lay back against the pillows, “Walter gave me some juice, and Brandy…yummy brandy, good to the last drop!”
Nahia got up and went beside Walter, who smiled nervously, “well, she was in pain, and the road is very bumpy!”
“We are not on wheels you dolt…” Nahia said with a feral look to Walter who seemed to melt under it.
“Madame Nahia…” Walter said as he turned his head to blazing green eyes, “Your eyes shine like the rarest of gems, I was only making her happy!”
Sammy frowned hiccupping slightly as she was looking up into the sky, “Oh Steve…there are clouds that look like birds, big birds!”
Steve frowned turning to where Sammy’s shaking finger had pointed up to and paled. Large birds, maybe about a couple hundred, covered in tattered black leathery feathers were flying fast to the rider. Their large yellow beaks opening, letting out a horrifying shriek, beady red eyes looking right at them. If the birds could talk they would be saying, “Time to eat! The food is here!”
“Crap,” Steve whispered, before turning to Walter and Nahia, “Nahia! Walter, there is a flock of birds heading to us, and they look quite hungry…”
Nahia turned to where the flock was flying, and she got up quickly, her long crimson hair whipping around in the wind. Nahia turned to Cirrus who gave a loud shrill when she said, “Cirrus.”
Cirrus took flight from the sail, and headed right to the group, causing Sammy to moan, “I can’t watch! He’s going to die!”
Steve’s eyes widened as Cirrus suddenly combusted into flames, and flew right into the flock, burning over half the group in one go. Nahia quickly took out what appeared to be a boomerang that had a razor sharp edge around it save for one corner. In the middle of it was a crescent moon.
Nahia quickly threw the item, causing it to make a high pitch whine as it cut through the air. The boomerang finished the remaining birds, causing a rain of feathers to fall through the sky, landing calmly on the mountain road.
Steve turned to Sammy, who was still moaning loudly about being bird food, and said, “Sammy, It’s alright, Cirrus is alive, as are we!”
Sammy peeked through her fingers, her amber eyes bloodshot from the brandy, and she squealed loudly, hugging Steve saying, “We’re alive!! Yay!” before she passed out in his arms, snoring loudly.
Walter cursed loudly, as the low clouds started to come in, “we must be near cloud port, and it looks like high tide is in, the clouds must be pouring over the town.”
Walter pressed a grey button, making the rider slow down, and he turned to Nahia and Steve saying, “Well, once we pass these clouds, we should be only hairs breath away from the port.”
Steve laid Sammy back down, letting Leo climb on her chest as if he was protecting her from anything else. Steve turned his head, looking at the clouds as they went through them. They looked like soft piles of cotton candy, which melted into water vapor when Steve touched them.
Steve smiled sitting back into his seat, letting cold water vapor cool his face. Nahia turned to him giving him a long once over, before she said, “you smell different.”
Steve turned to the woman his eyebrows crinkled in questioning, “What does that mean? I smell different.”
“There is something around you.” Nahia said turning her body to look at Steve, “I have not smelt it on you last week, but now, I smell it, you smell like…old magic, ancient magic, magic that has not been seen since the Mages walked freely, before they sold their souls to the Darkness.”
That had Steve’s attention, “Mages were evil? But Walter talks about them as if they were saints!”
Nahia held her arm out and Cirrus landed on it gracefully, letting the woman’s long fingers play with his feathers, “Mages were once good, they used their gifts for good, created cities, new inventions, education, and the likes, but they started to get greedy, they wanted more power, they could not get it in the mortal world, they had to go to the other world, the world of the Others.”
Nahia’s eyes started to gaze off into the clouds and she said, “The Others are immortals those who have been rumored to created this world for their pleasure. The mages knew of one Other who would be willing to make a deal with them, the Darkness.”
Steve shuddered lightly, feeling his skin pucker up with Goosebumps, making him wonder why this had him so nervous.
“The Darkness agreed to give the Mages powers like the immortals, but at a price, they and any offspring of a Mage would have their soul given to the Darkness, so it could call upon them anytime it needed them.” Nahia said, letting Cirrus fly off her arms and into the clouds, “it also gave them the power to call upon an ancient creature, the ancestors of the dragons, Black Fyre. These creatures were created by the Darkness as weapon, the Darkness, you see, wants to take over this world, and the other world. It has not been able to because the Mages have been hunted down and slaughtered, it bides it time, waiting for one Mage to come around so it can use them as vessel to do what it pleases.”
Steve turned to look at the mountain side, rubbing his arms to get rid of the bumps that cover it. The story scared him, and he didn’t know why either. His thoughts drifted to when he was ten, sitting in the back of an old station wagon, with his arm around an old German Sheppard, the window down so that the night air could whip his hair around. A woman in the front seat turning around smiling, handing him a Swiss knife, the man looking proudly at him, and then there was a horn blaring, a sharp jerk, and then the station wagon was falling, falling off a cliff. Screams filled the car, and Steve could still hear the glass crunching, breaking, and the moan of metal giving away, he vaguely remembered what happened next, him screaming and then him standing on the edge of the cliff, his small hand gripping the Swiss knife, staring down into the gully of the cliff, watching the old car go up into flames, the people whom he considered a family gone in flash.
Steve frowned when he thought about it some more. He remembered the loud screech, like some kind of bird, and in the moonlight, he had saw something, quickly run off into the woods.
Nahia watched as a lone tear slid down Steve’s cheek, and land softly on the boy’s clothed covered knee. Something was troubling the boy, he had enough problems as it was, he did not need anymore.
Nahia opened her mouth to say something, when Walter let out a whoop of joy, and said, “We’re here! Welcome Everyone! Welcome to Cloud Port!”

(Whew, this was extremely long, nearly 11 pages!! Sadly, or not sadly, the chapters will be as long, or longer like this one smoochies!!)