The first sign was cataplexy.
“I’m going to find mom and dad whether you come with me or not,” said Matthew.
Mauve dropped her spoon as soup dribbled from her lips.
“Seems like your not.”
Matthew stood up from the kitchen table and grabbed his things to leave. Poisoning Mauve wasn’t something he was proud of, but he knew she wouldn’t let him leave quietly. She was older than him and a much more powerful witch than he a wizard and he knew this would be the only way he could get a day’s head start to Orbis.
Dishes clashed on the floor and Matthew knew it was Mauve knocking everything over as she fell from her chair onto the floor.
The second sign was nausea.
Mauve’s throat began to gargle as vomit was getting ready to spew from the bowels of her stomach. Again, Matthew wasn’t proud of poisoning his sister and he didn’t want her to die, so he rolled her to her side as she projectile vomited across the floor onto the antique rugs that had been so carefully picked out by their mom.
Mauve was still grunting, probably trying to curse Matthew for what he had done. He rubbed her back, kissed her on the forehead and left through the back door of their very small, family cottage.
The final sign was darkness.
Darkness sucked Mauve into unconsciousness as she lay on the floor in her vomit, trapped in a deep coma.
Twenty-four hours passed when her eyes began to flutter back into consciousness. All of her limbs and pressure points tingled as she regained control over her muscles.
Mauve could feel her heartbeat in her ears as she cursed herself for being so stupid. She should’ve known Matthew would try to pull something this, but then again, she didn’t take her brother to be an evil mastermind.
She finally stood up and walked over to the kitchen sink to pour herself a glass of water. The potion had to have been super strong because Mauve was still struggling to gain competency about what exactly happened and what she should do next.
After a few glasses, she knew she had to go after Matthew because he was definitely going to get himself killed. She wished he would’ve just trusted her. She had every intention of going to look for their parents. She had been planning it for weeks. But Orbis wasn’t a place you just walk into making demands. It was dangerous, filled with dark creatures and even worse, dark magic.
Mauve grabbed a few things she thought could be useful on this suicide mission: wand (of course), charms and potions books and her locket with her parents’ picture in it. Mauve threw her sack over her back and headed into the woods behind the cottage now in search of her brother and her parents.
Orbis definitely held the darkest and most evil creatures of the magical world, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be lurking in the woods with Mauve. They usually stayed in Orbis but every now and then they would leave their home to feed on all who practiced magic.
Mauve stayed cautious and swift as she moved through the woods tracking Matthew’s steps. You would think someone who was brilliant enough to poison his sister would also be brilliant enough to cover his tracks. But Matthew was still Matthew and Mauve was grateful that she could still depend on that.
The tracking went on until night fall which definitely put Mauve on edge. She persisted on because the sooner she could get to her brother and stop him the better. Unfortunately, Matthew’s tracks came to a complete stop, which could only mean one thing.
Mauve looked around the patch of earth hoping she wasn’t seeing what she thought she saw. In a twisted way, she hoped that Matthew had been attacked by some creature in the woods rather than what she was sure was probably the explanation to the abrupt end to his tracks.
The leaves in the trees began to rustle and Mauve whipped out her wand ready to defend herself.
A bat like creature hung upside down in the tree and stared at Mauve with its’ yellow eyes. Mauve began to take a few steps back when it spoke to her.
“You have been travelling through these woods for a while. Quite brave of you when anybody could be hunting you around these parts,” it said the last part with such slime in its voice, it made Mauve shudder.
She mustered up the nerve to respond and said,
“I’m looking for my brother. Have you seen a human in the past day?”
The creature opened its wings showing its 14 foot wing span,
“As a matter of fact, I have. But you know that already. You even know where he is. You are in fact smart and dumb at the same time.”
Mauve dismissed the insult, now more concerned about how right she actually was. Matthew made it to Orbis. Fuck.
A loud screech shot through the woods and the once bold and confident creature was now looking startled and unsure of itself.
“It was nice knowing you, witch. I had intentions of feeding on you, myself, but I guess tonight I’ll let to beasts of Orbis have you.”
The creature flew up and out through the trees leaving Mauve to decide which way she was going to die. Random screeching animal, or in the depths of Orbis looking for her family? The screech came again even louder and the ground began to shake.
Before Mauve could change her mind, she pointed her wand to the ground and shouted,
“ORBIS!”
The earth sucked her in filling her lungs with dirt. Rocks cut her arms and legs and she could feel worms and insects latching onto her skin.
She hit the ground with such force the dirt flew right out of her lungs. Mauve screamed as she frantically wiped the bugs of of her. She quickly learned wasn’t the best idea.
Purple glowing eyes began to surround her, followed by high hissing noises.
“Great,” she said to herself, quickly standing up. “Matthew, you better be alive or I’m gonna kill you myself.”
Mauve pulled out her wand and took a deep breath, hoping would survive her first bloodbath.
