Alexandra Quick and the Deathly Regiment

Through the Veil

As Alexandra ticked off the days towards the weekend, it was not the possibility of death or failure that gnawed at her and made her toss and turn at night. It was Anna.

Anna was spirited and happy, relieved by her father's freedom and victory, and as loyal to Alexandra as ever. She was always there when she sensed Alexandra being gloomy, supporting her in class and helping her with her homework, unaware that her best friend was once again plotting something secretive and terrible right under her nose.

By Saturday, Alexandra could scarcely think about anything else. Tormented by guilt, she imagined the look on Anna's face the next morning. Whether she returned alive or not, she knew that Anna would feel betrayed -- again.

She saw Darla in the cafeteria that morning, sitting alone. Angelique and David had gone out to watch a Quodpot game, and Alexandra supposed Lydia and Janet and Darla's other friends were probably sleeping in. She would have joined Darla, but Constance and Forbearance had come down along with her and Anna, and it would have looked odd for Alexandra to snub them and sit next to her nemesis.

Darla ate little. She got up from the table shortly after Alexandra and her friends sat down.

"I'm not very hungry this morning," Alexandra said, and pushed her tray away.

Anna looked at her. "Are you sick? Do you want to go see Mrs. Murphy?"

"No. Stop worrying, Anna." Alexandra gave her a weak smile. "I'll see you back upstairs." She rose from the table and walked out of the cafeteria, not far behind Darla.

Darla was waiting by the stairs. She looked around furtively as Alexandra approached.

She was wearing a frilly pink morning robe over something lavender and blue underneath. She definitely hadn't been putting as much effort into her appearance lately -- even Alexandra could tell that -- but she was always dressed colorfully and expensively.

"Are you still going to do it? Tonight?" Darla whispered.

"Yes," Alexandra said. "Do you still insist on tagging along?"

Darla nodded. Alexandra wondered why the other girl had bags under her eyes. It wasn't her who was going to the Lands Beyond.

"Do you have a broom?" Alexandra asked.

"Of course. I don't use it much, but --"

"Meet me outside the stables, an hour after curfew."

"The stables?" Darla stared at her.

"If you're not there, I'm not going to wait for you." Alexandra turned and left Darla standing there with her mouth half-open.

She spent most of the day in the library, hiding. She thought perhaps she should write something -- a letter, for Anna, for her mother, for Julia. That sounded too much like she was writing a suicide note, though. She forced herself to stop thinking like that. She couldn't afford to doubt or question now. She had to do this.

She visited Bran and Poe. They didn't talk long -- Alexandra was afraid if she stayed too long, the elves would see the guilt and worry in her eyes, and know she was up to something. As it was, they seemed to sense something was wrong before she left. She wanted to hug them and tell them good-bye, and forced herself to wave cheerfully as if she'd be back to visit again soon.

I will. Of course I will, she thought. She'd be back, and Maximilian would be back. This wasn't like last time, with the Time-Turner.

In her room that night, she took special care when feeding Nigel and Charlie.

"Are you all right?" Anna asked, watching Alexandra stroke her raven with a pensive look on her face, her thoughts already deep in the basement.

Alexandra turned to her. "Yes." She smiled. "I'm fine."

Charlie squawked: "Troublesome!"

Anna looked at her doubtfully, and Alexandra felt the knife in her gut twist, slowly.

"Anna," she said.

Anna stood there, her face showing concern.

Alexandra swallowed. "I trust you."

"I know," Anna said.

Alexandra shook her head. "You don't know." She put her hands on Anna's shoulders.

"Alexandra, what's wrong?" Anna began to sound very worried.

"I have to tell you something."

Anna nodded, wide-eyed.

Alexandra sat on her bed, drawing Anna over to sit by her side.

"Do you trust me?" Alexandra asked.

"Of course," Anna said softly.

"Even if I'm going to do something you don't approve of and think is stupid?"

Alarm flashed across Anna's face. "Alex --"

"I have to know I can trust you," Alexandra said. "No matter what." She seized Anna's hands and squeezed them. "Because I have to tell you something, and then you're going to want to stop me. I'm going to do something dangerous."

"Alex..." Anna gulped. "Please --"

Alexandra squeezed harder. "I have to do this," she whispered. "I have to. I was going to just do it -- not tell you, again." Her stomach was in knots now, and she could barely force the words out. "But I can't. I promised you and I told you I'd trust you. We're best friends forever. I wouldn't want you to think... that I didn't trust you, again."

"You're scaring me, Alex."

"I'm going to save Max," Alexandra whispered.

"What?" Anna's shocked voice was loud enough to be heard in the next room.

Alexandra laid her fingers on her friend's lip. "It's not like the Time-Turner. I'm going to use magic --"

"Magic from that book," Anna said. "Dark magic." She squeezed Alexandra's hands back. "Didn't you learn from the Time-Turner, Alex? At best, you'll get in trouble again. At worst..."

"I have to do this, Anna." Seeing Anna so frightened and worried made Alexandra wonder if she should have said anything. It tore at her heart. But her voice was firm. She wouldn't let Anna change her mind.

"What are you going to do?" Anna asked.

"It's better if I don't tell you the details." Alexandra smiled. "I'll tell you afterwards."

Anna did not look reassured one bit; if anything, she was even more frightened. She seemed to sense what Alexandra was carefully leaving unsaid -- that there might not be an afterwards.

"Alex," she whispered. "Please don't do this. Whatever you're going to do, you just want to believe it will work. Like you wanted to believe you could change the past with a Time-Turner. You know it won't. Please, why can't you --?"

"I can't." Alexandra shook her head slowly. "You know I can't, Anna. You won't talk me out of this. You know that. Please don't try."

"Then let me come with you."

"No." Alexandra loved Anna for offering -- but she knew Anna would never stand by and watch her do what she was actually going to do. "It would be more dangerous if you came."

Anna took a deep breath. "How dangerous?"

Alexandra said nothing.

"So you want me to just do nothing?" Anna shook her head. "I should go tell Ms. Grimm. For your own good."

Alexandra didn't reply to that either, nor did she move when Anna took out her wand.

"I could put a Body-Bind Curse on you," Anna said. "I could stop you."

Alexandra nodded. "You could." She didn't move.

Anna shook, and then she dropped her wand with a sob. "Please, Alex. Please. I'm begging you..."

Alexandra leaned over, and put her arms around her friend. "I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think it would work, you know."

"Please," Anna whispered.

Charlie shifted restlessly, still standing on Alexandra's desk.

"Why did you tell me?" Anna asked, in a tiny voice.

"Would you rather I hadn't? I could have just snuck out, after you'd gone to sleep." Alexandra stroked her friend's hair. "But I trust you."

"You trust me," Anna said bitterly. "Now I have to choose between being trustworthy or being responsible."

"No... you have to choose between trusting me or not. I'm going to do this, Anna. I'm going to succeed."

Anna was silent for a long time. Alexandra was restless, anxious to go. But she couldn't leave yet.

"If you get hurt," Anna said, "it will be my fault."

"No!" Alexandra shook her head vehemently. "This is something I have to do. Don't ever blame yourself, Anna."

"But I will." Tears ran down Anna's face. She trembled, and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Shh," Alexandra said, squeezing her. "It'll be all right, Anna. I promise."

"I love you," Anna whispered.

Alexandra kissed Anna's cheek. "You're my best friend forever," she said. "You've been closer than a sister to me."

She rose slowly to her feet. It was nearly time for her to be at the stables. Their room was dark except for the moonlight streaming through the window. Anna sat very still, as Alexandra reached under her bed to retrieve her broom. She stood up and put on her cloak. She opened her desk drawer, and took out a glass flask and Deathly Conjures, tucking them both in separate pockets of her cloak.

"Fly, fly!" said Charlie.

Alexandra shook her head as she reached for the window. "You have to stay, too, Charlie."

"Never! Never!" Charlie said, hopping to the window sill.

Alexandra scooped the raven up in her arms.

"Stay with Anna," she whispered. She kissed the top of the bird's head. "You can't come with me this time."

"Never! Never!" Charlie repeated.

"Please," Alexandra said. "Don't make me cage you."

Charlie made a squawking sound, and Alexandra worried that the noise might awaken Sonja and Carol, but after peering at her for a moment, the raven reluctantly hopped back onto her desk.

Alexandra opened the window, keeping a cautious eye on her familiar. Charlie croaked mournfully, but remained still.

"You'd better come back," Anna said. Her voice was small and on the verge of breaking.

"I'll be back," Alexandra said. "I'll always come back."

She floated out the window on her broom, closed the window quietly, and descended to the ground. Once there, she laid the broom carefully at the base of the wall, directly beneath her window, and crept around the edge of the building to the outside of the stable. She found Darla waiting there, wearing red and purple robes beneath a black cloak, and holding her broom.

"Does Angelique know you're gone?" Alexandra asked.

Darla shook her head. "She's already asleep." She looked at the stable doors. "How are we going to get in?"

"Easy." Alexandra pointed her wand. It was no harder than last time to Unlock the stable doors, and just like last time, she had to Silence the noisy goats. Darla was making faces at the noise and the smells.

"Why are we here?" Darla whispered.

Alexandra put a finger to her lips, as she took tack and a saddle off the wall. She wasn't actually sure whether Skuld had ever been ridden before -- she hoped the Thestral would permit herself to be saddled. With her wand lit, she led Darla between the Granians' stalls to the one at the far end, and opened the door to Skuld's stall.

Darla peered inside. "It's empty."

"No, it's not." Alexandra looked at her. "You do know about Thestrals, don't you?"

Darla squealed and jumped back.

"Relax." Alexandra walked forward to pat Skuld's nose and stroke her long, leathery neck. "She won't hurt you."

"Are you planning to steal a Thestral?" Darla asked in disbelief.

"More like borrow." Alexandra took the flask out of her pocket and dipped it in the trough, filling it with blood.

"Eww," Darla said. "They really do put blood in the water they give those things?"

Alexandra frowned and held her glowing wand up to the flask. Now that she was looking at it closely, it did appear to be too thin to actually be blood, as she'd initially assumed. She stoppered the flask and put it back in her pocket, then turned around.

"Benedict Journey," she said. "I'm calling you." She gripped her wand. She'd prepared a rhyme, just in case she needed to summon the ghost again in earnest, but he'd promised he'd come when next she called him.

He rose from the ground directly in front of them. Darla's mouth dropped open and she looked nearly as pale as the ghost, staring at the dead custodian.

"He can't hurt you either," Alexandra said, seeing Darla's horrified look.

Darla didn't say anything. Journey looked at her, and said, "Well, hello there, Starshine."

Alexandra rolled her eyes. "I thought I was Starshine."

"I call all the girls Starshine."

"Well, stop it."

Journey sighed. "Darla, isn't it? Darla Dearborn?"

Darla nodded slowly. "You didn't say anything about Mr. Journey being here." She didn't take her eyes off the ghost.

"Are you afraid of ghosts?" Alexandra asked.

"No." Darla shook her head, though her expression said otherwise.

"That's good." Journey smiled gently. "You know I'd never hurt either of you."

His smile faded at the dark look Alexandra gave him.

"Um, we're going to keep this between ourselves, right, girls?" he said. "I didn't know you were planning on bringing a friend into this, Alexandra."

"Darla won't say anything. Will you, Darla?" Alexandra gave Darla a sharp look, and Darla shook her head, still looking a bit pale.

Alexandra began trying to put the saddle on Skuld. The Thestral was not terribly cooperative at first, and kept moving about the stall, forcing Alexandra to chase her. She became quite frustrated, until Journey stood in front of the beast, and made soothing noises. Skuld stopped and thrust her nose inquisitively through the ghost, then let out a disgruntled snort as Alexandra threw the saddle over her.

Her job of putting on the saddle and tack was not a very good one, Alexandra was sure. Either Julia or Maximilian could have done much better. Thestrals weren't even shaped like Granians -- Skuld was thin and bony and her wings were leathery and bat-like. Alexandra cinched the saddle and arranged the reins, and hoped it would all stay on. She turned to the ghost.

"Where to?" she asked.

"Get her outside," Journey said. "We're going down into the valley."

Darla said nothing as Alexandra led Skuld by the halter, out the stable doors (which she carefully closed and locked behind them), and away from the academy, across the equestrian track and the damp, green lawn, following Journey.

"I'll fly Skuld," Alexandra said, once they were beyond the light shed by the school and almost into the trees. "You follow on your broom."

She stepped up into the stirrups hanging at Skuld's sides and nearly launched herself over the bony creature's back and face-first into the grass on the other side of her. She made a grunting sound as she flopped across the saddle on her stomach.

Darla covered her mouth with the back of her hand. Alexandra glared at her. She supposed she must look quite comical, squirming around suspended in midair on an invisible steed.

Skuld craned her reptilian neck around to give Alexandra a quizzical look. Alexandra grimaced and righted herself in the saddle.

"I'll see you on the valley floor, by the cliffs immediately ahead of us," Journey said, looking over his shoulder, and he descended into the ground.

Skuld was not like the Granians at the Kings' ranch. She wasn't used to being ridden, and Alexandra was saved from being dumped to the ground only by the fact that the creature was so docile. Darla's eyes remained wide as she clutched the broom she was sitting on and followed Alexandra up over the trees and then over the cliff overlooking the broad river valley that separated Charmbridge from the Muggle world.

Ben Journey was waiting in front of a cave, over a quarter of a mile below.

"This cave leads to a tunnel beneath Charmbridge?" Alexandra asked, as she tried to get Skuld steady on her feet on the slope that rose from the valley floor to this hole in the cliffs.

Journey nodded. "Sure does."

"How many of these are there?"

"I don't know exactly -- quite a few. There are a couple closer to the school, in the forest, but Skuld here couldn't crawl through those."

"Does the WJD know about them?"

Journey chuckled dryly. "I'm sure they do." He began to float backwards, into the cave.

"I had no idea," Darla murmured.

Alexandra eyed her suspiciously, then led the Thestral into the cave after Journey. Darla stood there a moment, and then followed Alexandra and Skuld into the darkness.

It was a long, uphill hike. Skuld didn't seem to mind being led underground, though occasionally she extended her wings, and looked annoyed when they scraped against the stone walls on either side of them.

"The Indians didn't dig these tunnels," Journey said, as they passed a cave with some drawings painted on its walls. Alexandra didn't pause to look. "They were here already. But the Indians used them. Then the Confederation came, and sealed them off, but you know, they couldn't keep them closed. There will always be ways in and out of Charmbridge."

Alexandra nodded, and they kept walking.

It was almost two in the morning when they reached a rough stone corridor that looked familiar. It became more familiar as Journey led them on, until they reached a cave that was just large enough for a dozen or so students to stand around in a circle. Alexandra had to help Skuld squeeze through the entrance -- the Thestral was beginning to protest at the enclosed spaces.

"Here we are," Alexandra said. She looked around at the stone walls, and then held her wand up to shine light on the flat rock where pictures of men and monsters and sinister bird creatures were painted. She looked at Darla. "I'm sure you remember this place."

Darla nodded.

Alexandra held her hand out. "The obol?"

Darla reached into her robes, and withdrew a tarnished, silver coin.

"Well, I'll be hexed," Journey said, as Alexandra took the obol. It was ancient, scratched, and faded, with a vaguely masculine profile on one side and a design that looked like it was made of some sort of vines on the other. There were no letters on it.

She turned around, to face the painted wall. Journey was floating there, arms crossed over his chest.

"Next step's up to you, Star -- Alexandra." He shook his head. "I don't know how to actually open a portal to the Lands Beyond."

"I hope Hermes Trismegistus knew what he was talking about, then," Alexandra said.

She stepped forward and took out the flask of water. Blood was one way to call ghosts, and certain types of blood magic could open a door to where ghosts dwelled. She'd seen that last year, in the rituals the Mors Mortis Society had performed, and that had helped her make some sense of some of the rituals described in Deathly Conjures.

Darla and Journey watched as Alexandra poured the crimson water in a circle around the wall, and then stood back and pointed her wand.

"Wait!" Darla said. "Don't you remember last year? Aren't you going to put a protective circle around the portal first?"

Alexandra turned, lowering her wand. "Won't it close after I go through it?"

Darla gave her a look that clearly said, You are an idiot. "I can't believe you actually thought you could do this by yourself."

Alexandra's eyes narrowed. "Would you like to go through first, since you think you know more than me?"

Darla paled. "No." She swallowed. "But I'd rather not be attacked by angry ghosts."

Journey frowned. "Ghosts can't hurt you, Starshine."

"So what got Benjamin and Ms. Gale?" Alexandra asked. "Ms. Grimm said it was a jibay."

"Or a chindi," Darla said. "They might be the same thing. I'm not sure."

"Whatever!" Alexandra shook her head, frustrated. "I know they come from the Lands Beyond, because we saw one." She looked at Darla. "I wasn't planning for anyone else to be hanging around when I opened the portal."

"Yes, I can see you're not much of a planner," Darla said.

"I already have the obol," Alexandra said, raising her wand and pointing it at Darla. "Maybe you should just leave."

Darla gulped. "I want to stay. Please -- I brought some sand."

"Sand?" Alexandra stared at her, as Darla took out a small bag.

"It's what the MMS used last year to protect us from evil spirits," Darla said, holding the bag out to Alexandra. "Some of us actually plan ahead. Especially when we can't count on using a wand and threatening people."

"Some of us are begging to be hexed," Alexandra muttered, taking the bag. She poured black sand from it in a semicircle in front of the painted rock wall, while Journey watched apprehensively.

The ghost stepped forward, and stopped directly in front of the line of sand. "Well, break my wand," he said. "I... can't pass." He looked amazed.

"Guess you didn't learn everything, hanging out with my father," Alexandra said. She reached down and dragged the tip of her wand through the sand, creating a little gap. "How about now?"

Journey reached his hands out, making a pushing motion, and abruptly, he was inside the broken semicircle.

"That's interesting," Alexandra muttered. She'd learned a few spells for binding ghosts, and seen salt mentioned, but the black sand Darla had given her was a mystery to her. She poured a little more out from the bag, covering the gap in the circle.

"Satisfied?" she asked.

Darla nodded, still looking pale. Journey looked quite uncomfortable -- he was now trapped inside the semicircle, Alexandra realized, unless she or Darla let him out.

She turned back to the wall behind her, and gathered her thoughts to resume the spell to open the portal to the Lands Beyond.

The MMS had used some kind of Indian chant. Alexandra didn't know the words they'd used, and suspected they had only been for effect anyway. She used a Latin incantation -- one of the few actual incantations that were spelled out in Deathly Conjures -- and made a semi-circular motion with her wand, ritually tracing the semi-circle of blood in the air and then pointing at each of the four compass points around the rock wall.

Nothing happened. Alexandra frowned, and reached into her cloak to withdraw the black book. She flipped it open to the page describing the ritual she had just attempted. Her lips moved as she mouthed the incantation silently to herself -- yes, she was sure she'd gotten it right.

"You need blood," Darla said. "Not water mixed with a little animal blood from the kitchen."

Alexandra looked down at the dark stain in the dust at her feet. "Been studying blood magic, have you?"

"It's in the book," Darla said. She sounded upset. "I thought you were going to use the bone flute to open the portal."

"The what?" Alexandra turned to stare at her.

"The bone flute that you got from the Generous Ones. A bone flute from the underworld is what some wizards used instead of Portkeys. They can open portals..." Her voice trailed off.

"Where did you hear that?" Alexandra asked.

Darla tossed her head. "I assumed you knew what you were doing. See, if you'd accepted my offer, I could have helped you." Underneath her haughty demeanor, though, was an edge of anxiety and desperation. She seemed as upset as Alexandra that the portal hadn't opened.

"I told you," Alexandra said slowly. "I don't have the bone flute anymore."

Darla frowned. "Right. I forgot."

Alexandra opened the book again. "Do you have a knife?" she asked.

"A what?" Darla stared at her. "No, of course I don't have a knife!"

Alexandra looked around. Her eyes fell on a rock with an angular edge to it. It didn't look very sharp, but it would have to do. She stooped to pick it up, while Darla's eyes went wider. "What are you doing?"

Alexandra opened the black book to the page that was a black, whispering void. She stared at it for a moment, and heard the whispers, like little fingers brushing against the base of her skull and tickling her ears.

"That's not a true portal," Journey said. "I can feel something from it, but it's just a little bit of magic some warlock enchanted into that book. It's a connection to the Lands Beyond, but you couldn't go through it even if you could make it larger."

"I know." Alexandra pressed the edge of the rock against her palm and made a slashing motion. The first time, it barely broke her skin, only leaving a rough scrape across her hand.

Darla flinched as Alexandra pressed harder. She drove the sharpest bit into the flesh of her palm, as hard as she could, and when she felt a stab of pain, she shoved harder and dragged it forcefully across her skin. The pain burned now. Wincing, she held her hand up over the void on the page of the book and curled her fingers.

A few drops of blood dripped onto the page and disappeared. For a moment, Alexandra thought the whispers grew louder.

"This is Dark magic," Journey said. "It may be just a little bit of blood magic, but it's still Dark."

"You'd know, right?" She ignored the way Journey's mouth tightened.

Darla had her hands over her mouth. As she watched, Alexandra stepped up to the painted wall and pressed her hand against it. She smeared her bloody palm across the surface of the rock, making a half-circle with her own blood and ignoring the way her hand throbbed. When she stepped back, she pointed her wand again.

It required slightly different gestures, and she had to look up one of the other incantations from the same page as the one she'd used last time, but she summoned all her confidence as she began reciting the Latin. If this didn't work, she'd just have to resort to doggerel verse.

Her blood looked black against the stone, with only the light from her wand shining against it, but suddenly it became blacker still. Darla gasped as the painted figures on the wall began to move -- scrambling away as the bloody mark Alexandra had made seemed to tear open the wall, the rent widening until there was a black void before them, stretching from the floor to the ceiling. Now everyone could hear the whispers.

"Merlin," Journey muttered.

Darla shook and pressed herself back against the opposite wall of the cave. Even Skuld took a few awkward steps to the side, snorting at the black gateway before her.

"Okay, hold still," Alexandra said. She didn't look at Darla as she grabbed the Thestral's saddle and began hauling herself up, praying Skuld wouldn't choose this moment to become skittish or uncooperative. Alexandra had to crouch low to keep from hitting her head on the ceiling of the cavern, and it would be very easy for the Thestral to rear up and smash her against the rock, or scrape her off against a wall.

"Starshine," said Journey, gazing at her from where he stood, now hovering a foot off the ground so that he was just about eye level with her. "You won't bring your brother back. You know that, don't you?"

"Stop saying that!" Alexandra controlled her voice, only because she feared that shouting might startle Skuld. She fixed him with a look of grim determination. "It's too late to talk me out of this now! With or without you, I'm going through the Veil."

He let out another long, gusty sigh.

Darla was trembling. All the blood had drained from her face, but as Alexandra looked at her, she whispered, "Good-bye, Alexandra."

"I'll be back," Alexandra said.

She turned to Journey. The ghost looked sad.

"Let's go," she said.

Skuld didn't seem to fear the darkness in front of them. When Alexandra urged her forward, the Thestral took a few cautious steps until her nose was right against the black void. She made a snuffling noise, investigating. Alexandra prodded the Thestral forward again, and they plunged through.