Chosen Sister by Ardyth DeBruyn Page A

like.”
    Still frowning, Austyn lifted it with both hands. He quickly dropped it back, and it landed on the altar with a clank. “It’s too heavy!”
    Before she really knew it, Reina grabbed the sword again. It felt right to hold it. “I’m taking it with us. I’ll need a sword, too, when we face the Red Wizard, and I don’t think the Gold Wizard will bother to get me one.”
    Austyn looked wary but didn’t object.
    But how would she carry it? Reina glanced around and found a belt and scabbard on the altar that she hadn’t seen earlier. Had she just missed them? She decided not to ponder it. Instead, she buckled it on, finding it fit her perfectly, and slid the sword into the sheath. Done, she headed back to the doorway. The cat had disappeared.
    Reina led the way down the stairs and through the hall. Outside, she noticed the garden was no longer beautiful, but an empty waste with sticks of dead trees. With a shiver, she picked up their pace. Austyn practically had to run to keep up. Behind them, she heard a rumble and knew more than saw when she glanced over her shoulder that the tower crumbled behind her.
    “Run!”
    Everything stood out clearly as she ran. She knew each turn of the castle, each room. They pounded through the fire room. The arch no longer held the blue magic force field. Then they returned to the dusty dining hall, the front door ahead. The rumbling behind them grew louder and more fearsome. Austyn stumbled, and Reina paused to wait for him to scramble to his feet. Finally, they dashed out into the courtyard.
    Reina let her breath out in a whoosh of relief. The dragon had disappeared. She ran across the open space. Behind them the dark towers of the castle were collapsing. “Hurry!”
    The portcullis was up, and they dashed into the archway. Above their heads, the walls rumbled. Austyn dropped behind a pace, and a crash sounded. Reina whirled. A boulder had fallen from the ceiling, the force tumbling Austyn to the ground. She rushed to him.
    “Ouch!” He scrambled up. “I scraped myself. We gotta get out.”
    Reina shoved him forward. “You first.”
    Austyn dashed across the drawbridge. Reina followed, hearing the wood creaking behind her. As her feet left the drawbridge, it crumbled into the moat. She turned around and, with a terrific rumble, the entire castle collapsed into a pile of rubble.
    “What about the cat?”
    Reina turned. Tears ran down Austyn’s face. Her own eyes grew moist at the thought that the cat might be somewhere under that heap of stones, but she gathered Austyn in her arms and reassured him anyway.
    “It was already gone. I bet it knew what was going happen and got out before we did.”
    “You really think so?”
    “Yeah, I’m sure it’s safe. It was a smart cat, remember?” I hope the dragon got crushed, though. It was pretty rude. She glanced at the still intact green waters of the moat. It occurred to her that they should move away from here, just to be safe. “Well, now that we’re back in the woods, let’s see if we can find that Green Wizard.”
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    Chapter Eleven: The Shadowsoul
    While Reina had no clearer an idea of where to go after the castle than before it, she felt more confident. Somehow, facing the ordeal of the castle gave her a sense that she could handle things. Or perhaps it was the Unicorn Sword hanging at her side. It gave her confidence against facing more snakewolves, never mind the fact that she had never used a sword. In her hand, the Unicorn Sword directed her movements of its own accord. So Reina made a guess as to which direction was northwest, and they started off again in search of the path and the elusive Green Wizard.
    For a while, her confidence held. Sun patterned the forest floor, allowing her to find a clear path through the trees. She half-expected to come across the path and the Green Wizard’s house at any moment. Just a day ago, everything had felt hopeless, and now it seemed reasonable