We all slept as long as we wanted that night, and when we returned to Wendellia, we could still hear people talking in the common room before the inn grew quiet for the night. When Emilia arrived in the morning, she didn’t seem to suspect anything. We ate breakfast at the inn and went out into town to buy supplies.

  The sun was just coming up. Shopkeepers were opening their stores, shouting to one another, their voices loud in the early morning air. Only a few shoppers were out; the streets were mostly empty.

  Emilia led us quickly down one street after another, until I was thoroughly lost. Emilia stopped here and there, buying food for the rest of our journey. The village was almost large enough to be called a small city. It seemed to be on a slope, and Emilia said that it was on the bank of the lake.

  “The village goes right down to the water. Some of the houses are built on the lake itself,” Emilia explained.

  “Can we go see?” asked Keegan.

  “No, we should really be on our way,” said Emilia.

  We took a turn down a long street. The houses were sitting so close together that they touched one another on either side. We walked along the tunnel of houses, our footsteps ringing off the stones that made up the road.

  A clattering filled the air behind us, and we all turned toward the sound. Two figures on black horses were riding towards us. They were thin and tall, wrapped in black. Everyone froze in fear.

  “Changelings,” Keegan hissed, grabbing both Donavan and me.

  The Changelings had sensed us and were racing towards us. The clattering of hoof beats echoed through the narrow lane.

  I clutched at Keegan’s arm as terror filled me. “Get us away!” I screeched at him. “Get us away!”

  “Go!” Emilia shouted.

  I felt Keegan’s hold on my hand tighten, and the world went spinning away. Just before Wendellia disappeared, Emilia winked out of sight.

  “Okay, this is bad,” I said once we had stopped, the thousands of orbs floating around us. I was shaking and felt sick. I let go of Keegan’s hand and crouched down, trying to calm myself.

  “What are we going to do?” asked Donavan.

  “I don’t know,” said Keegan, pacing back and forth.

  “Let’s go back to the sleeping dream,” suggested Donavan. “It will give us more time to figure out what to do.”

  Keegan nodded, grasped my hand once more and pulled us into the hallway with all of the doors. We quickly found an empty room and went inside.

  As soon as the door shut behind us, Donavan sat down on the edge of one of the beds.

  “So, what will we do?” he asked.

  “Wait and go back,” I said, “just like Emilia told us to.”

  Keegan sat on another bed and shook his head. “They’ll be waiting for us. We will have to appear back there. They will just be waiting to grab us.”

  “So, how do we get back in?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” said Keegan. “I really don’t want to take you back in there at all.”

  “Keegan, the next time I fall asleep, I’ll wake up there. It’s better if you take me in, than me randomly waking up there by myself,” I said.

  “She is right,” said Donavan.

  “I know,” Keegan said, angrily. “I just don’t know how to get us in safely.”

  We sat in silence for a few minutes, each of us trying to think of some way we could get into Wendellia without being captured by the Changelings.

  Finally Keegan said, “We’ll have to use our powers. I mean, Emilia hasn’t had us training for nothing. There’s a reason she’s been teaching us.”

  I nodded. “True. So what do we do?”

  “I can get us away from that spot quickly,” said Donavan.

  “Yes, but only so far, and they will follow,” said Keegan.

  “We have to find a way to keep them from following us,” I said.

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  “Yes, but how?” asked Donavan.

  “Keegan, you could do something to stop them,” I said.

  “There’s not much there for me to work with. I could make it windy, but I doubt that would bother them very much. I don’t know if there’s fire around, and all the stones around there are either in buildings or part of the street. I’m not good enough at earth to do anything with them. And water… water’s not going to stop them either,” Keegan said, frustration filling his voice. “Unless…” he began, then grew quiet, thinking. He stood up and started pacing back and forth again.

  “All of the elements,” said Donavan, his eyebrows raised, and I remembered that he had only known about Keegan’s control over fire and water.

  Keegan said nothing, just stomped back and forth across the room.

  “I could try to do something about them even wanting to follow us,” I volunteered.

  Keegan nodded at me and continued his silent wandering over the same patch of floor. After what felt like a long time, he finally stopped and turned to look at the two of us. “I have a plan,” he said, excitement filling his voice.

  Donavan and I looked at him, ready to hear what he had to say.

  “Okay, I will Shift us back in. Maria, you have to be ready to confuse the Changelings, or make them not want to follow us, at least for a few moments. Can you do that?”

  “Yes, I can do that.” I was feeling a bit more confident now that Keegan had a plan.

  “Donavan, you need to Travel with us as fast as possible down to the lake.”

  “The lake?” asked Donavan. He sounded as confused as I felt.

  “Yes. Can you do it?” asked Keegan.

  “It will be difficult. I will have to avoid all of the buildings, and I am not even sure where the lake is.”

  “Just keep going downhill; it should get us there,” said Keegan. “Once we get there, we have to jump in, so, Donavan, leave yourself enough energy to do a little bit of running.”

  “What?” I said, apprehension filling me. “Keegan, I am not that good of a swimmer.”

  “You won’t need to swim, I’ll take care of that,” Keegan said. He laughed. “This is going to be awesome if we pull it off.”

  “And if we do not?” asked Donavan.

  “We will,” Keegan said. “But just in case, you cannot let go of me the whole time we are there, either of you. I will pull us out if I have to. Are we ready to go?”

  Donavan and I glanced at each other before nodding, somewhat reluctantly.

  “Stop in between, though, so that I can get the right emotion to send the Changelings,” I said.

  “Okay, let’s go.” Keegan strode to the door and pulled it open.

  Donavan and I followed him.

  “Hold on to my shoulders. I might need my hands to make stuff move,” Keegan directed. “You had better hold onto Donavan as well, Maria, so he can move with us as soon as we get there.”

  I reached out and grasped Keegan’s shoulder, squeezing it tightly. Donavan held Keegan’s other shoulder with one hand, and my hand in his other.

  “It will work, Ria. Trust me,” Keegan said, reaching up to squeeze my hand.

  “Okay,” I said, my voice tight with anticipation.

  The doors disappeared and were replaced by the orbs. I tried to decide what emotion to send to the Changelings. What would make them turn back, or at least stop for long enough to let us get away? I wasn’t sure. I took the anxiety and confusion I felt and magnified it. It grew and grew, until I felt almost hysterical. I made it grow even more; I knew that I had to have enough for both of the Changelings.

  My breathing came in short gasps. I closed my eyes, still forcing the emotion to grow. I had never felt so lost or terrified in my life. I gripped Keegan’s shoulder, suppressing a scream.

  “You ready?” Keegan whispered.

  “Go!” I said, teeth gritted together, opening my eyes. Keegan grabbed the orb and Wendellia came spinning into view.

  Before we had even come to a stop, I split the terror inside of me into two and hurled it at the two Changelings, who were circling around the spot where we had disappeared. The Changelings reared back, as a strong wind filled the air with dust and debris.

  Something malicious and hungry rushed into me, replacing the fear I had just sent into the Changelings. With a scream of rage, I rounded on Keegan and lashed out at him, raking my fingernails down the side of his face.

  The wind faltered as shock filled his face. A moment later it was replaced by understanding. As I struck at him again, he wrapped his arms around me, pinning my arms to my sides. I struggled against him, but couldn’t break his hold.

  “Go, Donavan!” he shouted.

  Donavan was still holding Keegan’s shoulder and reached out, placing a hand on mine. I could see the confusion in his eyes. The village streaked by us, twisting and turning as Donavan rushed down to the water.

  The air whizzing by us seemed to clear my head a little, and I gasped as I realized what I had done and saw lines of blood appearing on Keegan’s face. I still felt an overpowering desire to hurt all three of us, and it took all of my effort not to try to struggle against Keegan.

  I closed my eyes and forced the feeling to shrink. I listened to the air rushing by us and felt Keegan’s strong arms holding me tightly against him. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes, just as we were coming to a stop.

  Keegan had been watching me. “Are you okay?” he asked, searching my eyes.

  I nodded, and he slowly released me, keeping hold of my hand and grabbing Donavan’s wrist with his other.

  “Let’s go,” he said, pulling us along.

  It was impossible to see the lake, even though we were on the edge of it. There were scores of shacks built on stilts standing in the lake. Narrow wooden docks wound through these shacks, filled with people mending nets and drying fish. The only water visible was full of floating garbage. The smell of fish, rot, and sewage filled the air.

  Keegan pulled us along the docks, searching for open water. We rushed along, shoving people out of the way in desperation. Cries of anger followed us, and far in the distance we could hear horses clattering along the stone roads.

  “We must get away,” Donavan said urgently.

  “Jump there!” Keegan shouted, pointing towards a small square of water. It looked slimy and disgusting and had several dead fish floating in it.

  We did not even hesitate. We reached the small space of water and jumped in without ever slowing down.