Mia
“No!”
I sighed, blinking back the tears that formed in my eyes at the sound of Quinn’s yell.
I had been crying for the past fifteen minutes that I feared I was going to go blind at that rate. We had all been silent in the aftermath of the battle, crying and staring at the frozen statue Albert had turned into. Jack had been the first to lose it. He had run straight to his father as soon as he got free of the magical bind and started howling, even though he was in human form. The other had responded and I watched as they leaned on their father’s forms and were crying.
I had thought it was over until Quinn yelled and the boys started again. I looked around, scared that the dark wizard was going to come back.
John noticed my actions and smiled gently at me. “Relax, Mia. He isn’t going to come back.” He said, his voice croaked from tears and loud howls.
“How are you sure of that?”
“Didn’t you see what happened to him? It’s going to take him a while to restore himself back to good health. Dad flung his spell back on him with that mirror. No wonder he wasn’t here on time, he must have been looking for the mirror.”
I sighed, finally grasping the understanding of what had happened. The dark wizard had wanted to kill the boys by making them fade to nothingness, just as his skin had begun to fade before he escaped. Albert had sacrificed his life to save his sons and the price he had paid was losing himself and becoming a statue.
If only the dark wizard could have been killed completely but he had immortality and we needed the sap of the Aselia tree to render his powers useless. Moreover, I didn’t think that his spell could kill him.
“Let’s get him home. We can’t keep staying here. It’s getting late.”
Jack nodded, wiping his tears off his face with his hands. “She is right. Dad wouldn’t want us to stay here shedding tears like weaklings. He would want us to move forward and find a way to beat this instead of wasting time acting helpless.”
The others nodded. “You are right. Dad wouldn’t want us to grieve for too long.” Quinn said, glancing at his dad.
“Is there a cure to this?” I asked, hope rising in my heart.
“Once we kill the dark wizard, his spell would be lifted.”
I sighed. Everything boiled down to killing the dark wizard. The Aselia tree was getting more important as the time went by.
“Let’s get dad home and work out a plan.” Jack said.
“We have to do something first.” John said. “We have to bury Mia’s friend. We can’t leave her lying here for vultures to find.”
We buried Sasha and moved Albert into the trunk of the car. He couldn’t fit in the trunk but we were glad that the way home was an isolated road. No cop was going to stop us and ask us where we were coming from with a frozen human.
We got home, looked out for the servants and hurriedly rushed Albert into the house. We got him safely locked in his study, knowing he would prefer to be there and warned the servants to not move around the place.
We all moved to Quinn’s bedroom to have a meeting. I was past the stage of feeling uncomfortable in their presence and in their bedroom. The situation demanded that I had to grow up and that was what I did.
“When do we travel to the island of the Sea of Death?” Quinn asked.
“Tomorrow.” Jack and John said without hesitation.
Quinn nodded. “I thought so too. Get ready to travel tomorrow, boys.” He turned to me. “You are going to be in charge of the house, Mia till we return. Don’t worry. We will be back soon.”
“I am coming with you.” I said with conviction ringing in my voice.
“Mia!” Quinn sighed. “Let’s not make this hard. Dad doesn’t want you to be on that journey. It’s risky.”
“It’s more risky staying at home alone. He is not here to protect me from harm should anything happen to me but I know I’m safe wherever the three of you are. The butler and head chef can take care of the house in our absence. We can tell them that we are all going on a family trip and would be back soon. You know I’m right so don’t let us drag this matter for too long. I’m coming with you and that is it.”
Jack chuckled. “Now I know why we like you. You are too stubborn for your own good.”
I smiled. “I’m glad we all agree on this.”