Sen stared at me, a series of emotions playing across her face. Her confusion turned to uncertainty that broke when a tentative smile of gratitude tweaked her lips. The lingering guilt did not recede from her eyes, perhaps it never would, but her inner burden seemed to have lifted a little. A little color had ...

It took a moment for my tongue to translate the words racing across my mind. “I-I don’t understand. Peter told me it was your mother.” Sen, a sorrowful look on her face, gave a terse nod, hands wringing continuously. If she had her wand, I imagine sparks would have erupted from the tip and flown ...

When I first returned through the portal from the other world, everything seemed warped and so far away, as if I were viewing it through a terribly long and thin tube with a foggy lens. Sounds were also peculiar, a certain hollowness to them I’d never experienced before. I spent time in this ambiguous state ...

Sen hovered above a rugged wooden crate and rummaged through it, soliciting a pair of woolen earmuffs for each of us. “We have these for customers who don’t wish to listen to all the chatter,” she explained, handing them to us. “They’re a little uncomfortable for some people but soundproof.” I charmed them a while ...

No one said anything at first. Apprehensive, we all looked back and forth at each other, except for Duncan. The Tweet started hacking, his neck convulsing as though a snake were fighting its way free of his beak. Every eye locked onto Duncan, each of us in various poses of shock or poised to lend ...