Coco’s sides were aching, her lungs burning. She needed a place to hide. Tall, bare trees loomed over her in the thick forest. They replaced the summer green from the meadow. She felt a faint sense of dread seep into her almost hopeful thoughts. 

The scenery she found beautiful now looked alien and dangerous. The bright colors attacked her vision. How could a brown, in the fading autumn, look so vibrant without any leaves? The azure sky, now filled with even more colorful galaxy clouds, blocked out the sun and cast a strange array of light on the ground. The faint outline of the three moons was getting stronger.

None of it made sense!

She came across a faint path hidden beneath the fallen leaves. Even those were vibrant splashes of color against the ground. Shivering madly, she looked around, seeing nowhere to hide. She heard an owl hoot and all but shrieked bloody murder. Shaking, she made herself walk faster. Though it was impossible to move fast with her hands still bound together.

She kept feeling eyes on her. Soon, she started to scare herself into believing she heard things that weren’t there.

I’m coming for you, Coco Teal.

Evil’s voice was like a sinister wind whispering through bare branches. His eyes flashed in her mind and it was all she could do to keep moving forward. The trees lining the path she was on were slowly getting thicker. Some of the branches were overlapping, like they were reaching out, trying to grab her.

She heard a loud whoosh from behind. She managed to look back and wished she hadn’t. A strangled scream left her.

Menacing black mist filled with sinister sounds was rapidly approaching. Hissing and growling filled the empty silence. The mist crawled along the ground and blotted out the path behind her.

“Close your eyes!” A clear voice rang out.

Coco looked around, trying to pinpoint the person speaking. In her panic, she wasn’t paying attention to her feet and tripped over one of the tree’s thick roots. She crashed to the ground, heart pounding loudly in her ears.

A roaring fire erupted from the forest floor and rushed forward along the path. The black mist coiled together, wrapping around the fire. When Coco thought the flames would be extinguished, they climbed higher into the sky, consuming the strange mist.

“That should hold him off.”

Startled, Coco looked further up the path and met eyes the color of obsidian. Fiery red encased the black. A powerful thrum of connection coursed through her and made it nearly impossible to look away. “Who are you?”

 Silky black hair hung just below the stranger’s shoulders. A black cloak wrapped around him, highlighting his broad and muscular frame. “Asher Tariun, Pulser’s brother.”

“Pulser told me Evil was his brother.”

“That man chasing you? His name is Raen Nexith. He’s a member of the Council put in charge of capturing you because Pulser broke his oath. He told you about sorcery.”

Coco narrowed her eyes. “You seem to know an awful lot about what’s going on.”

“Of course. I’m the only person trying to help you.” Asher held his hand out to her.

She eyed it before extending her own, wary of what he was going to do.

He wrapped strong fingers around her wrists, pulling her to her feet. In the same motion, he broke the rope binding her hands together.

While she appreciated his help, she didn’t appreciate the fact he was taller than her by at least a foot. “Thank you…” With an audible exhale, Coco shook out her wrists. “Why?”

Asher smiled, humor glinting in his eyes. He grew more serious as he spoke. “Pulser is not your friend. He’s trying to steal the magic that slumbers inside you. He’s going about it in a very complicated manner. He lied to you about Raen and the Council because he doesn’t want you to understand the situation.”

“Which is?”

 “Sorcerers mature into their magic the moment they turn twenty. However, dark magic can be used to suppress it and transfer it to another sorcerer. It’s completely illegal, but that doesn’t stop anyone from doing it. The Council deemed you dangerous and have come to collect your magic before you turn twenty. They would have left you alone, but Pulser broke his oath and told you the truth before your twentieth birthday.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that your magic would have naturally locked had you not learned the truth.”

“Right. And you just happen to be the only person willing to help.” Coco knew she wasn’t in the greatest position to be demanding anything. She couldn’t accept Asher at his word, not when he was saying Pulser wasn’t her friend and had been lying to her.

“I know it doesn’t make sense. I’m not asking you to believe me. All I want is to help awaken your magic so no one can steal what doesn’t belong to them. Judging from the magic I can feel from you, it would appear that Raen already started that process.”

 “What?”

“I know. He didn’t even have the decency to tell you.”

Coco took a moment to control her emotions. “I don’t care about that. How do I remove his curse?”

“Easy. I’m going to.”

It was hard to hide her surprise. “Really? You can do that?”

Asher gave her a smug smile. “Yep. I think you might end up turning back time. Magic tends to be finicky like that when it comes to curses. You might also save the realms if I help. An unexpected plus.”

“Is that possible? Turning back time?” She ignored his quip about saving the realms. She wasn’t the hero-sacrificing type. She’d sooner let the world burn than watch someone like her brother die in front of her.

“With magic, anything is possible.”

Coco frowned, taking a moment to consider his words. While he might be right concerning Evil—Raen—that didn’t mean he was right about Pulser. He was her best friend. There had to be a simple explanation behind everything. She just needed to talk with him.

 “There’s one more thing, Coco,” Asher continued, looking amused. “If you turn back time, I doubt you’ll remember our conversation or anything that happened prior.”

“Is this really a conversation worth remembering?”

Asher grinned. “I think so.”

“How do you know my name?”

“The better question is, how does anyone not know your name? You became famous the moment the Council exiled you. Being the first child ever exiled, it caused a stir. Chaos sparks rumors. Shall we begin?”

Despite all her questions, Coco nodded, ignoring the way his voice made her feel safe and the profound connection she felt towards him. She watched with apprehension as he moved closer.

“Relax your body and mind. The connection to remove the curse is stronger through touch. The aftereffects will last a long time and might even be painful like the curse is still active. Depending on the strength, it could very well continue to harm you until it fades completely. Turning back time won’t affect the magic I use. Breaking curses isn’t my strong point, so this may be a bit uncomfortable.” Asher explained.

For some reason, Coco trusted him completely. She couldn’t place her finger on the exact reason, but that wasn’t so important to her at the moment.

“I have one more question.”

“Yes?”

“Why is everything here so…bright?”

Asher held her gaze. “Magic.”

She let out a long sigh.

“May I?”

“Yes.”

When he wrapped his fingers around her upper arm, she felt a gentle warmth seep into her from his touch. She wasn’t sure if it was Asher’s own temperature or his magic. Whichever it was, she closed her eyes and let the warm sensation grow and lull her to sleep.

~~~

Coco slowly came to consciousness the way one does when waking from a deep sleep. She shifted her body. There was stiffness in nearly every limb and moving was rather difficult. She must have slept wrong or overworked her body at the bakery.

She rubbed her eyes and opened them. 

It was only a dream! Coco thought in relief. 

A present lay at the foot of her bed.

That’s right. Today was her birthday.

Maybe that’s why she was having strange dreams about sorcerers and kidnapping.

Coco pushed herself into a sitting position then paused in confusion. She felt something cold and heavy hit her chest. She pulled back her shirt and saw…nothing. 

I could have sworn I felt…

She shook her head a couple of times and opened the present. It was from Pulser. Ray must have put it on her bed while she was sleeping.

Coco pulled the lid off. Inside was a long, shiny cloak. The material was dark green and soft to the touch. When she moved it, the fabric reacted strangely to the light. It seemed to ripple like gentle waves in the ocean before reaching shore.

Why would Pulser give her something like this?

She looked out her window. 

The leaves were a beautiful red, yellow, and orange.  

She sighed in relief.

It was different from her dream. 

She got up to face the day and was pleased when she found Ray downstairs.

“Morning, Ray.” Coco sat down at the small kitchen table. “Thanks for making breakfast.”

He had an odd look on his face. “Morning.”

“Everything okay?”

“I don’t know.” Ray’s eyebrows furrowed together. “I thought you disappeared.”

 “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.” She opened her arms wide and smiled when he entered her embrace. “What’s gotten into you? You know we’re a team. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

A sniffle left him. “I don’t know what’s wrong. I just feel like you’re going to disappear and I won’t even get to say goodbye.”

A flicker of worry flashed through her. “Ray, look at me. I’m not going anywhere. I love you. We’re family. Where I go, you go.”

“I know.” He hid his face in her shoulder. “Happy birthday, Coco.”

“Thank you.” Coco held him close for a moment longer. “Come on, we don’t have much time until you need to head out for school. I want to eat the birthday breakfast you made me.”

Wiping away his tears, Ray let go and got to work setting the table. He wasn’t able to make much and settled on oatmeal with blueberries and bananas.

Coco knew her brother still felt uneasy by the time they finished eating. She didn’t know what to do to make him feel better. Her small jokes and playful questions didn’t help like they usually did. She was worried by the time she dropped him off at school.

“I work at the bakery today. If you need anything, even just to say hi, call me.”

“I will.”

“Love you, Ray.”

“I love you, too, Coco.”

She gave him a long hug before finally waving goodbye and heading to work.