Untitled Starfell #2 (Starfell #2) - Dominique Valente Page 0,52

brought Moreg forward and laid her down next to Sometimes. Her body too had grown still, like his, and her eyes were white.

‘No!’ shouted Willow, who felt as if her heart had been plunged in ice at the sight of Moreg paralysed by the queen’s magic. ‘There has to be another way! They would help you if you asked – we’re on the same side!’

The queen seemed to sigh as she floated above Willow. ‘Humans don’t help – they cause destruction. Their emotions, their passions, desires and petty jealousies get in the way. Just look at you. So useful – yet so clouded by your emotions that you can’t even see what you have. I need their memories and their abilities – but not their messy human drama. It’s not how I like to do things, but needs must. And the time has come for me to add your magic to my collection too.’

Suddenly there was a low, cawing cry. A raven with a smoky blue-black wing appeared above, talons outstretched as it made a dive … at the queen.

Sprig attempted to tackle Umbellifer as he landed, transforming into a boy, and he shouted, ‘Run, Willow! Quick!’

Willow tried to run, but only got a few steps before thick vines crept across the forest floor and tangled round her feet, holding her tight.

‘You dare defy me?’ the queen challenged Sprig. ‘After everything I have done for you – you who could rule by my side?’

‘Yes, because you’re wrong! It doesn’t have to be this way. I’ve seen how people can come together. We could fight as a team,’ argued Sprig.

‘Like we did the last time, when magic was nearly ripped out of the world?’ the queen scoffed. ‘You silly boy, you forget where you are. In my queendom, you will play by my rules.’ And then she flicked her fingers and vines restrained him, even as he thrashed. In the next moment, Umbellifer’s smoke and shadows swirled round him and he was whisked out of sight.

Suddenly it was just Willow and the queen again. Willow sank down helplessly to her knees.

‘Look at what all this emotion has cost you. Your friends are here now, lured by their misplaced faith in you,’ said the queen. She swirled a hand and a swathe of misty fog appeared, carrying within it the shadowy image of Willow’s three missing friends. The mist settled near Moreg and Sometimes, leaving the ghostly impressions of Feathering, Essential and Oswin beside them, looking as if they were sleeping.

Willow gasped. ‘But I made them disappear! How are they here … with you?’

‘Because, though your magic works down here, this is my world, and it must play by my rules. You lost your friends, and this is where lost souls end up after all …’

Willow felt a sob rise in her throat as she rushed forward towards the lifeless figures of Sometimes and Moreg and the misty image of the others.

Nolin Sometimes was closest. He looked so drained of life. She thought of his love for strange magical plants, his wonderful treehouse home, the way he fainted every few minutes when he was bombarded with memories, how his eyes lit up when he got excited about new discoveries, his loud, barking laugh.

Next she approached Moreg. It was strange to see her face so placid, her usually dark eyes white and devoid of their fire. It was like the thing that made her Moreg was gone …

With a heavy heart, Willow turned to the smoky image of her other friends. She stared at the large, motionless figure of Feathering, his pearly feathers seeming dull somehow, and she felt her lip start to shake. She looked from him to Essential, her dear new friend who made her feel like every day could be an adventure. Then her gaze moved to Oswin. Her grief began to cascade over her as she saw the kobold – green now, his fur soft, his beloved crotchety face still and his eyes unseeing – and the tears came at last.

It was old grief, everything she’d pushed down after losing Granny Flossy, choking and painful. The sorrow was so solid, so enormous, that it blocked out everything else like a wave. Willow could feel the blood rushing in her ears and it was as if the world were escaping her grasp. She began to howl as she slumped to the ground.

She couldn’t see for the tears as she cried out their names. It was all her fault! The queen