Diving Deep

The weeks after teaming up with Corvus felt like we'd hit the fast-forward button on our lives. Every day was a crash course in "Ancient Magic and How Not to Blow Yourself Up 101," courtesy of our new mysterious buddy. Lena was eating it up, turning into some kind of magic prodigy overnight. Me? I was just trying not to be the class dunce.

"Alex, keep up," Corvus would say, a twinkle in his eye. It was his go-to line whenever I got lost in the magic sauce, which was often. But the guy had patience, I'd give him that. He treated us like we were both key players in this epic saga he was directing. Lena with her sharp instincts, and me... well, I was getting really good at not setting things on fire, so there's that.

Corvus had this knack for finding the weirdest artifacts and scrolls that looked like they'd been chewed up by time itself. "Homework," he'd call it, dumping a pile of ancient papers on us that smelled like they'd been rescued from a dragon's hoard.

Lena dove into the deep end, her magic getting stronger and more refined under Corvus's watchful eye. It was kind of amazing to see, like watching someone find the thing they were born to do. But with every new trick she mastered, I couldn't shake this nagging feeling that we were playing with fire. And not the fun, roasting-marshmallows kind.

"Be careful," Corvus warned one night, his voice serious as he looked at the relic glowing softly between us. "We're stirring up some pretty old stuff here. Stuff that might not be too happy about being woken up."

His words felt heavy, like a gentle push down a path that was getting darker and twistier by the second. And Lena, bless her, she was all in, her eyes shining with the thrill of the chase. Me? I was starting to wonder what we'd gotten ourselves into.

One evening, just Lena and me, I had to ask, "You good with all this, Lena? Feels like we're kinda in over our heads."

She gave me this smile, the kind that's trying really hard to be brave. "We're onto something big, Alex. It's worth it." But there was this shadow behind her eyes that hadn't been there before, a weight I hadn't noticed.

And that's when it hit me—we weren't just kids on an adventure anymore. We were neck-deep in something way beyond our grade level, with Corvus leading the charge. Sure, he knew his stuff, but those moments when his smile didn't quite reach his eyes? Yeah, those were starting to add up.

"Let's just stick together, okay?" I said, squeezing her hand. "No matter what."

Lena squeezed back, her resolve clear. "Together," she agreed, but I couldn't help feeling like we were two kids trying to hold back a storm with nothing but our wits and a handful of magic tricks.