‘Splunf.’

The grassy surface slapped her face with the same ‘splunf’ from so long ago. Was she back in the forest?

Pushing down on the grass, Elvie rolled onto her back to stare up at the world, hearing Flynn groan as he did the same. Everything was a little bit harder; her muscles had a jitter, and she felt weak.

‘What… What just happened?’

Tiredly, Elvie replied. ‘We’ve travelled somewhere, to a forest, I think.’

As she said the words, her mind focused on the world beyond her body. It was apparent to both Elvie and Flynn that the world in which they stood was not the same one they had left moments before. For starters, the colours in the sky were wrong. A purple haze punctured the towering trees with gently swaying dark blue-green leaves.

The colours were the first hint, but for the moment, Elvie was not concerned.

‘I did it. I think I actually did it. But… this isn’t the forest.’ No, while her exploration of the forest from her time travelling was short, this was definitely not where she had been.

‘What? How?’ Flynn was shocked as he pushed himself shakily to his feet. ‘We must be the most stupid people to walk on this planet…’ He shook his head to clear it and continued. ‘We’ve just travelled somewhere else, right?’

Elvie pondered for half a second, but there was no longer much left to hide. ‘It’s not my first time.’

Flynn’s eyebrows rose halfway up his forehead. ‘And you never said anything to me? If you already knew that spell was going to allow us to travel somewhere, you could have not scared me half to death, you know!’

‘Calm down, Flynn. I was told to be careful with that truth, that it was too powerful.’

‘By a Master?’ He was still incredulous.

‘By Eldridge. The man who found me. After I’d come back, ah, from the future.’ She was almost developing a sick fascination with telling people and seeing what type of reaction they would have. Fear, shock, disbelief… perhaps awe?

Flynn had regained his feet, but with her words, he fell back on his bottom, eyes wide. Elvie could almost see his mind whirling as it processed the information. Then he simply said: ‘I guess that explains a great deal.’

Elvie frowned down at him. ‘Explains what?’

‘Well, you know, I’ve always found you a little odd… I couldn’t figure it out. How could someone smart and diligent – how could you have no idea about anything?’

‘I know lots of things!’ Elvie replied indignantly.

‘You know things, but they’re weird things. If I were to ask you simple questions, you have no idea at all. And you say you’re from Australia, but you don’t even seem to know anything about the colony, or travelling here, or how long it would take. The practical stuff that I guess you couldn’t make up. I thought magic was involved for a while, that Apple House might be involved with your lack of memories, but this explanation is so much better. You must be a great magician in your time, if you’ve travelled through time, so why would you pretend to be a middling student?’

Insulted, Elvie huffed: ‘Middling?’

Flynn just nodded.

‘Okay, well, that might be true. But you know what spells I can cast. Not many! And for the record, there is no magic in my time. None at all.’

He absorbed the information before his face grew angry again. ‘But surely you knew what would happen when you cast that spell, didn’t you?’ Flynn’s voice held a tone of accusation. ‘You must have known, which means should have told me?’

‘And what, have you be like Rilla and never want to speak to me again?’

Realisation dawned in his eyes.

‘Besides, I didn’t lie to you. The scroll felt like it belonged with me, and it felt right to cast it. I can’t explain why it felt like that, but Alistar always tells me that feeling is important in magic. I believe it's one of his favourite things to say.’

Flynn paused their conversation to take stock. ‘Okay then, we can pick this conversation up later. The spell worked, but where are we?’

‘I’m honestly not sure,’ Elvie told him truthfully, waving an arm in a general gesture at the world. ‘There were two places I was hoping for, and I do not believe this is either of those.’

‘I don’t like places I don’t know. Will you take us back now?’

‘I guess so.’ His spells were still upon her, so she was comfortable trying.

She imagined the hole – or pathway – as it had formed the first time, made the motions, and spoke the words.

The magic built within her like a flood of warmth entering her chest.

‘Galw Ynn agoryllyn.’

Nothing happened.

Flynn looked at her worriedly. ‘Ah…’

She shushed him to try again.

‘Ynn agoryllyn.’

The result was the same.

Elvie stomped in frustration. ‘Oh, this is bad.’

‘I can see,’ Flynn replied. ‘Are you sure you’re doing it the same?’

‘Exactly. It’s not working.’

Flynn looked around with wild eyes. ‘We’re stupid,’ he said softly. ‘It could be a one-way spell, and you need a different spell to go back to where we started.’

‘Okay,’ Elvie considered her options.

Flynn continued. ‘But that’s not why we’re stupid. This has all the hallmarks of being deliberate. Why would a spell you feel a connection with, that you feel you can cast, suddenly ‘appear’ in your room? Why would it take you to this location, specifically? Something about this is a clever manipulation, but I don’t know what.’

‘We can’t stand here forever; what do you think we should do?’

What do you want to do?’

Elvie shrugged. She’d never seen this place before. It wasn’t home, and despite the trees, it also wasn’t the forest she had first stumbled upon. But what choice did they have but to move around, to try and find someone or something?

‘My father always said predators hunt at night.’ Flynn eyed their surroundings. He took some deep breaths to calm himself, struggling with rising angst. ‘We need to find somewhere safe and figure out a process for getting home.’

Elvie pointed off to the left. ‘It looks thinner over there. Perhaps a pathway? We should try and find a house, even a rough shelter to provide some safety.’ There were too many maybes for them to feel confident about the plan, but it was all they had for the moment.

Flynn nodded. ‘Better than nothing.’

As they moved to the lighter part of the forest, it continued to thin, with small glades appearing amongst the wide-based monoliths towering above. A feeling of peace descended as the occasional bird flitted back and forth, and somewhere in the distance, the gentle trickle of running water echoed towards them.

‘There’s a path?’ Flynn pointed to well-trodden dirt.

‘I think so. Yes, definitely. It almost doesn’t feel too bad here, with all the purple.’

Flynn’s foot had just crunched onto the dirt when the attack came.

Three dark shaggy masses ran across the grass on all fours. They looked like dogs, with tails and thick fur. But the creatures were also akin to monkeys, with long limbs that ended in taloned fingers and the ability to move in a semi-upright fashion: a dog-monkey.

Horror filled her as they cut across the clearing at speed.

‘Daryan!’ Flynn yelled forcefully.

A fine line rose out of the ground to form a shield ten feet in front of Flynn. It was a generic physical shield spell but extremely weak as it only briefly hardened the atmosphere or any water.

The lead creature was caught flush on the chest and thrown into the one making a beeline for Elvie. They crashed in a tangle while the third circled the shield to continue his attack.

Elvie’s mind was blank, but Flynn was in action.

His hands whirled as he prepared his next spell. But he didn’t have the experience of a battle-hardened magician; his motions were slower, his fingers not quite as certain under pressure. In a whirl of limbs, the dog-monkey sprung through the air, talons extended and reaching.

Flynn abandoned his spell and dove out of the way. The dog-monkey’s claws came down, caught the back of his cloak but ripped harmlessly through as he rolled out of reach. It turned towards him with a low growl, stalking forward.

Elvie reeled in confusion, mind whirling in panic.

What do I do? What do I do? I have to fight…

I have to fight!