Eye of the Storm

you going to do to me?’ Erin’s throat was dry.
    ‘Destroy you, my dear,’ Marianne said. ‘And then you will never get in my way again.’ Her eyes gleamed madly. She clicked her fingers and, behind her, Erin saw the water of the sea begin to move. It swirled faster and faster in a circle. To her horror she saw it start to rise up in a funnel shape. It looked as though it was a tornado, but made of water. It grew bigger and bigger until it was twice the size of a person. It began to spin towards them over the rocks, swirling up seaweed, stones and driftwood, making a horrible grinding, rushing noise as it approached.
    Terror slammed through Erin. It was coming straight for her. The noise filled her ears as the funnel of water got closer and closer. ‘So much power and yet you can’t stop me!’ shouted Marianne above the sound of the whirling water.
    ‘She can’t, but maybe I can!’ Chloe’s voice yelled from up above. ‘Fire be with me!’
    Two arrows of glowing fire shot down from the sky. Erin couldn’t see where Chloe was because she was camouflaged, but her aim was good. The first arrow hit Marianne on her back, the second on her shoulder. As they made contact, they exploded into harmless showers of sparks. Erin realized Marianne must have a warding stone protecting her. But even though the arrows didn’t hurt the dark spirit, they distracted her. She swung round in shock.
    Erin seized her chance to escape. Drawing on all the power that was inside her, she moved her hand just enough to grab the hagstone in her pocket. As her fingers closed on it, her great-grandmother’s power exploded through her too. She shot into the air, the binding spell loosening instantly. ‘No!’ Marianne shrieked.
    ‘Marianne! The whirlpool!’ yelled Erin as the giant water tornado spun towards the rock the dark spirit was standing on, pulling up everything that it met. But Marianne’s attention was too focused on Erin. Opening her mouth, she screamed in rage: ‘Bind –’
    But before the dark spirit could finish, the vortex was upon her. It engulfed her, sweeping her up inside its watery funnel. For a moment Erin saw Marianne’s shocked face, saw her stagger back, her arms flailing as she dropped the hagstone in her hand. She made a wild grab for it, but the swirling water swallowed her up. She disappeared with a loud shriek. Erin saw a flash of her silvery-blue dress blur past as the water spun faster and faster, clattering, rushing, swirling, and then all of a sudden the water tornado completely vanished.
    There was silence. Just an empty space where the whirlpool had been.
    Chloe appeared in the sky, her face shocked. ‘Where’s it gone? Where’s Marianne?’
    Erin stared. ‘I don’t know.’ She flew down and landed on the rocks. There was no sign of the whirlpool or Marianne at all. She shuddered. Marianne had been planning to use the whirlpool to destroy her. It must have done the same to the dark spirit herself. She turned to Chloe wordlessly.
    Chloe flew over and hugged her hard.
    ‘You rescued me,’ said Erin. ‘And with arrows of fire!’
    Chloe smiled shakily. ‘I don’t know if it’s what the prophecy meant, but it just seemed the right thing to do. Oh, Erin, it was so lucky Marianne let me go when she bound you otherwise I couldn’t have distracted her like that. I can’t believe she really thought I’d go off and leave you!’
    ‘She believed it because that’s what she would have done,’ Erin said slowly. ‘She was so twisted up by jealousy. I think that was what brought her back from the sky tonight. She wanted to prove she had more power than Margaret by destroying me while Tor was out of the way, before going back to fight him. I’m so glad you came back.’
    Chloe took Erin’s hand. For a moment everything that had happened swirled between them like a raging wind. It was too big for words.
    ‘Erin!’ They heard a whinny and looked round. Tor and Mistral were sweeping out of the cave entrance as mist. They formed into horses on the rocks. ‘Where’s Marianne?’ Tor demanded, looking about him.
    ‘She’s gone,’ whispered Erin.
    Erin and Chloe explained everything that had happened while Tor and Mistral had been in the cloud kingdom trying to track Marianne down. Tor did not know where the whirlpool had gone, but he felt it unlikely that the dark spirit would have survived.
    ‘The whirlpool was made from her magic,’ he said. ‘I think it probably vanished as its