“What the hell did you do?” April towered over Valerie, who was lying on the floor.

“After the rift opened, it just dragged me in!” Valerie scrambled to get up. The portal had just spat her out. She dusted off her clothes and took June’s outstretched hand, whispering a thanks under her breath. She didn’t look her in the eyes. After what had just happened, she couldn’t. Not knowing what she had to do to her.

---

An hour earlier

They had spent hours reading, going through her sisters’ notes and her family’s records. Voices of generations of bloodline magic were written down on the shelves of the castle. But centuries of wisdom didn’t follow any order. Even just looking through the notes in her older sister’s book nook had taken them half the day.

“Look at this,” April said, nudging June and showing her a small leather-bound journal.

Valerie recognized it instantly. “Hey, that’s private.” She tried to grab her sister’s diary, but April evaded her hands without effort.

“Valerie, you know we have to look everywhere. We’ll be respectful,” June reassured her.

Valerie nodded reluctantly, then looked over June’s and April’s shoulders. They went through the pages of the journal. Iris had written down her feelings and thoughts, but there were also notes on her family’s magic and the spells she had been developing. Before every page turn, they hoped for the summoning spell.

But then, the next page was blank. The journal had ended.

April cursed.

“No need to get angry,” June said, patting her back.

Valerie flipped through the pages again. Until she stopped.

“Why don’t we try this?” She showed June a mirror-portal spell her sister had developed.

“Ah, and how?” June took the book and inspected the pages again.

“I know Iris used a mirror portal to talk to our dead ancestors.” Valerie felt the blood pounding in her ears, a rush of new energy in her veins. “We should try to contact my sister!”

June and April exchanged a glance. Then they nodded.

Valerie took the book again and gestured for them to follow.

They quickly ran to Iris’s tower bedroom. Valerie pushed down the door handle and stepped inside. Then she froze.

She hadn’t been here since the day her sister had died. Dust blanketed the books and trinkets, minerals and alchemy ingredients. The first moths were feasting on Iris’s regal canopy bed. The bed where she had smacked her sister during pillow fights. The desk where Iris had taught her to read. The floor where they had played with dolls, balls, and soldiers as children.

“So where is this mirror?” April asked impatiently, treading on the carpet.

June stepped carefully into the room. “It must be this one.”

Valerie snapped out of her sweet memories. The room felt cold and dead again. She looked at June, who had started wiping the dust off Iris’s mirror.

Valerie nodded. “Yes.”

June smiled at her encouragingly. “Alright, let’s all stand in front of the mirror and hold hands.”

Valerie held out her hand, but it was shaking.

“Don’t be nervous. We’re here.”

Valerie grabbed June’s hand tighter, then took April’s. Together, they chanted the spell.

Valerie felt warmth washing over her body. Then heat. It was as if her blood were boiling, trying to steam out through her skin and eyes. Her head screamed, Stop it! Her heart wanted to pump away the rancid heat coursing through her veins. But she couldn’t stop chanting.

She had to do it.

She needed to summon Eli.

She needed to stop the plague.

And she needed to see her sister again.

An inhuman force hurled her upward. Her feet left the ground. She opened her eyes, but all she could see was silvery mist and shifting lights. She was falling.

And then it stopped.

“Valerie.”

Her eyes went blurry. A voice she never thought she would hear again.

She looked up. “Iris?”

Her sister was standing in the silvery mist, wearing a flowing white gown. The bloodline mark was gray on her ghostly pale skin.

Valerie scrambled to get up and tried to run to her sister. But no matter how far she ran, Iris remained just as far away.

“Valerie. We don’t have much time. I’m proud of you. I’ve watched you from above. You managed to get these girls here. They carry enough magic power within them to summon Eli.”

A giant weight lifted from Valerie’s shoulders. Tears streamed down her face.

“I… I missed you so much.”

“I miss you too, Valerie. But you must listen now.” Iris’s expression grew earnest. “The book with all our family’s knowledge about Eli is under my bed. But this knowledge must stay in our family’s hands. As must magic.”

She shook her head, smiling faintly at Valerie’s confusion. “You can’t even imagine the chaos if people outside the purple bloodline wield magic in this kingdom. Especially this… shady forest magic.”

Valerie’s voice trembled. “Are you su-”

A deep thunder interrupted her. The silver mist swirled in forceful gusts of wind. The mirror plane quaked beneath her feet.

Iris shouted over the storm: “On my nightstand is coercion powder! You need it to convince these girls to give you their power! You must become queen! That is the only way for peace, stabili-”

The mirror floor cracked beneath Valerie.

She fell.

Through silver mist.

Back into the mortal realm. Her sister’s voice was still echoing in her head.