The Blue Blaze

Acknowledgement

Madalyn

"Are you sure?" Wyatt asks me, his face a little paler than it was before.

    I sit up from laying on Wyatt's lap and study his face, looking to gauge his emotions and frame of mind with hearing this news.

"I am positive. He told me 'Come find me'." I confess.

"Where is your head at with this news, Maddy?" he asks me.

    I think about his question for a moment. So many emotions and thoughts come with this information. I won't deny that there is that part of me that still lingers on the hope that Jasper can be saved. But that lump in the back of my throat tells me otherwise. 

"I am not sure that he can be saved." I finally admit out loud.

"I know coming to that conclusion isn't easy on you Maddy... I'm very sorry." Wyatt tells me, sincerely.

    That's got to be hard for Wyatt to hear also. As much as he hates Jasper, and hates that I have a love for him... He is also understanding what all of this means and how all of this has to be effecting me. 

"What should we do, Wyatt?" I finally ask.

"Well... I say we don't make him a priority, but it is important that we try to know where he is from time to time, and maybe we can get you inside his head some more. Figure out what he knows, and figure out where his intentions are. Safer to know, than to NOT know." Wyatt concludes.

"Okay, I'm good with that. Tonight? After we get to the new base and get settled in for the night?" I suggest.

    Wyatt nods his head in agreement. His eyes still set on the road ahead. I don't have to step into his head to tell that there is something he isn't telling me right now.

    That annoying itch returns. Hungry for the surge of power running through my veins and my entire body.

"Go away!" I quietly whisper to myself.

"What was that?" Wyatt asks.

"Nothing..." I quickly reply.

"Did you say 'go away'?" Wyatt asks.

"Well.." I exhale in a huff. "I did, but it wasn't to you." I say, feeling completely ridiculous.

"Okay... Then who were you talking to?" he asks while he looks at me, such confusion on his face.

"These powers..." I respond cryptically.

"Um, Okay. Maddy, I think it's time for you to spill." he says with a sigh, shaking his head.

    I think for a moment, trying to figure out a way to put it into words and not sound like a total crazy person.

"I am feeling strong cravings to use my powers. A yearning pull inside of me, to the point that it becomes all that I can think about. So... I was having those nagging thoughts to use my powers, and I was telling those thoughts and my powers to 'go away'. I don't want it to get to the point where they're out of control. Where I am out of control..." I finally admit.

"Maddy, bravo on admitting it. These powers can be very seductive. So, just know you are not alone." he begins, "Now, your powers are the most powerful that I've ever seen, so there is a chance that they also come with a more powerful craving to use them."

"I understand, but why are they doing this now? They've never had this kind of pull on me before." I ask.

"I don't really have a definitive answer for you, I'm sorry. Maybe because your powers are still developing, growing. Maybe it's the sword amplifying them, which amplifies the cravings." he suggests.

"I think you're on to something, Wyatt! Would you mind helping me work on this? When we're at the new base, I mean. The soldiers will be working on training, which I'd like to do some also. But I also want to work on my abilities, become more in control of them, be aware of my capabilities, and learn how to use and how NOT to use this sword... with and without powers." I ask, "I know it'll take a little bit of time before we are all ready to start going out on a few missions, so we have some time, but I just wanted to put it on the table, you know?"

     He smiles at me.

He is so handsome...

"I think that sounds like a great plan, Maddy. You can do this, I promise." he reassures me.

    We come up on some old rickety bridge and Wyatt pats my leg with his hand after he sees the expression come over my face.

"Is there another way around this bridge? It looks like it's hundreds of years old, Wyatt." I say, warily.

"No other way that we can take these carriages over, no. We all looked over the map and the routes carefully. This was the fastest, and the one we knew the carriages could fit going across." he explains. "Giles did say it had been years since he had been out here with The Hunter, and this is one of the reasons they ended up abandoning this camp. But don't worry... If we go one at a time, I think we'll be okay."

    I watch as Sebastian comes to a stop, allowing Giles to get his carriage across. My vision of anything else is pretty obstructed. On both sides of us, heavily wooded areas run along this road. I can barely see the  bridge, but there is enough of it in sight for me to be able to tell that I am way beyond nervous about this.

"I know this bridge is a little tricky, but the good news is that we are only about 10 minutes up the road after we cross this bridge." Wyatt tries to cheer me up.

"Yeah, I just hope we all make it across the bridge..." I mumble under my breath.

    Sebastian starts making his way across the bridge. He drives the carriage very slowly. As he creeps forward, so do we. The carriage in front of us rocking slightly as it inches further along the bridge. Wyatt pulls on the reigns of our horses. Our carriage stops just short of the beginning of the bridge. From here I have a better view of the bridge and what it hovers over.

    It's a very long way down. Way down at the bottom, below this bridge runs a river. A very fast running river. Every now and then, water crashes against some of the rocks in the river, which sends bursts of water blasting in all directions. If the fall didn't kill you, the shear force of that water against the rocks definitely will. 

    My attention comes back to Sebastian as he finishes crossing the bridge. If that's what you want to call this hunk of junk someone wedged between these two cliffs. It's basically a rope bridge, with no reinforcements. The rope looks like it's been gnawed on by wolves, the wood planks look like they're all rotten, and every slight move makes the entire bridge sway, sending creaking noises throughout the entire bridge. 

    I can feel my heart in my toes. Sweat drips down the center of my back, sending chills over my entire body.

"I don't like this..." I whisper.

"Everything is going to be okay Maddy, I promise." Wyatt whispers back to me.

    Sebastian finally makes it across.

    Our turn.

    Wyatt signals the horses to go, easy. The carriage bucks and rocks every inch we move forward. I can hear the water crashing against the rocks down below. That sound is accompanied by the creaking and snapping of the wood underneath us. My eyes grow wider as I catch sight of parts of the rope fraying at the strain of the weight. 

    Thankfully, we finally make it to the other side of the bridge and cross over onto solid ground. I notice beside me, Wyatt exhales a sigh of relief.

"See, what I tell ya?" he laughs, smacking a hand on my back.

    In that very moment I hear a deafening croak of wood snapping, paired with yelling and screaming. I turn around to see the carriage that was behind us, driven by Darren, was going way too fast for that bridge. Not to mention the last carriage, driven by Joseph, was already making it's way onto the bridge.

"No! Only one at a time guys!!!" Wyatt yells.

    Ropes are snapping, wood planks are breaking, horses are freaking out, along with everyone else that is on that bridge right now. It was total chaos! The last carriage gets flipped over on it's side, tossing over half of the provisions way down into the river below. One of the passengers inside the last carriage gets tossed of the edge of the bridge. She was quick, grabbing onto the edge of the bridge just in time. She dangles, holding on for dear life.    

    While chaos is breaking lose, a bunch of guys from the other carriages are trying to help people and provisions off the bridge. Wyatt is able to calm down a few of the horses and get them off the bridge. I am frozen. Deer in headlights. 

    Finally something inside me clicked. I reach over my head and pull my sword from it's sheath. Extending my arms out and at my sides, my head falls back and the warm burn rushes throughout my insides. I feel my hair floating wildly all around me, my body feels weightless, and my feet are no longer on the ground.

    I'm levitating!

    Snapping my head up and facing forward, I focus on everything, all at once. Everyone and everything on the bridge begins to float. In that very same instant, the entire bridge collapses. 

    Other than the sound of the wood crashing down onto the raging waters and busting over the sharp rocks, everyone falls completely silent. In a hushed awe, everyone watches. With my hand extended in front of me, My hand twisting and moving as if it is the thing that is placing and moving the people and the objects where they need to go. I'm not sure if it's actually helping, but my hand mimicking the movements just help me visualize what it is I am wanting to do. 

    Once everyone is safely on solid ground, I relax. The warmth leaves me, sending the shiver of emptiness through my body. I'm always sad to feel it leave me.

    Coming down on my own two feet again, my legs don't feel like legs anymore... they feel like spaghetti. I fall, and a few people rush to help me. As I hit the ground, I felt as if I melted into the ground underneath me. Something runs from my nose and touches my lips, it's warm. As it hits my tongue, I realize it's blood. I'm bleeding.

Great...

"Shhh... Maddy, it's okay. We're here. Just relax. Sebastian and I have you taken care of, okay?" Wyatt's voice sounds so much further than he actually is.

    It echoes all around me. Then everything fades, and then it's just....

Darkness...