Eyes of Emerald

Chapter 10 - Just a Walk

 Wynn steered me away from all the crowds and down a little rocky path that led out onto the cliffs, overlooking a deep green sea, patches darker where the rocks were or seaweed, and little inlets eroded away over the years. The sound of the waves breaking against the rocks made me want to lie down and fall asleep, I would choose that noise over a lullaby any day.
        "This way," Wynn told me, starting along the cliff path, walking with long strides. I noticed that his hand was on the pommel of his sword constantly, not moving as he glanced from side to side.
        "Is something wrong?" I asked quietly, jogging slightly to keep up with him. "You look...distracted." Distracted wasn't quite the right word but it was the closest I could get without embarrassing myself totally...in fact I probably already had.
        "Oh...no, nothing." he looked away. He was lying, but I didn't press. I didn't want to sound like an irritating little prat. Which, in his eyes, I probably was.
        I bit my lip as I followed him in silence. The path was rocky and I stumbled slightly as I tried to keep up with him. "So, you're a Shapeshifter?" he asked quietly. I laughed slightly.
        "No, I'm a Mermaid." I told him, staring out at the sea. On such a day as this, I could imagine that mermaids existed-with all the things that would have been impossible before I had woken up this morning, I wouldn't be surprised. Although I doubted they would ever be the golden haired, perfect mermaids that I had always hated to read about. They were too perfect-they were pretty, and they got to live underwater. They got everything. 
        He laughed lightly, his blue eyes twinkling in the sun. 
        "Good one, Shifter," he turned to me. "You do know that you stick out like a sore thumb wearing the colour of a Shade, don't you?" he asked. I looked down at my black shirt self-consciously. 
        "I did see that no-one else is wearing it," I said, fiddling with the light material. 
        "Yeah...black is Shade colour. Usually it means bad. Which is why people were nervous around you. But," he tilted his head to one side. "you would have stuck out more if you were wearing gold, though you'll have to when the Weavers have made you some clothes."
        I nodded. That wouldn't be fun, and I was hoping people wouldn't fawn over me too much. That would be just embarrassing. 
        "I hate gold," I stated simply, gazing off into the distance where the sun was beginning to turn orange as it sunk into the deep. It sent golden-pink streaks of light shooting off like meteors into the distance, changing the sky into beautiful colours, like an artist had gone mad with his palette of paints and drawn stripes over an Old Master-perhaps Picasso?
        "Well, it's your colour now, so you'd better get used to it." Wynn said.
        "Hmph." was my reply.
'        We rounded a bend and the path began to dwindle slightly, opening out onto mossy grasslands where a few stray sheep and cows grazed in the evening light. It was darkening quickly now.
        "You want to see a great view?" he asked, grinning. 
        "Okay!" I nodded, looking behind me and seeing only the faint lights from the camp. We must have walked further than I'd have thought.
        We strolled in silence, slightly apart. The air between us was awkward, we didn't know what to say to each other.  Neither of us was comfortable with the other.
        "You know, my friends were wondering who you were," Wynn dropped the comment casually. "They thought you weren't a normal LowerLander." 
        "A LowerLander?" I asked, stopping.
        "Yes-you know, someone from the Lower World."
        "Oh," I said, embarrassing myself again. Wynn cracked a smile as he led me down to the cliffs.
        It happened in an instant-the mood changed from awkward and slightly happy to dark, and menacing. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, as a shadow flew from the clifftop. 
        I saw a glint of steel in his hand, and before I knew it I was being pushed to the ground by Wynn, who was wielding a longsword. 
        The shadow lunged for Wynn, the blade striking out for his neck. Sparks flew as the metals collided and I heard a grunt from one. 
        I backed away, my breathing becoming erratic and fast, as my eyes searched the shadows for any more enemies. 
        Wynn and the shadow were still fighting, each striking as fast as a cobra, the other blocking, feinting, parrying...the lot. It was like watching dancers, a fight in a ballet in the West End, carefully choreographed and yet dangerous and deadly at the same time. 
        They twirled and spun, their swords glinting silver in the dying light. I was watching with a strange kind of inner peace, I was shaking in fear while on the inside I felt peaceful and calm. 
        CLANG! 
        Their swords met once more, and suddenly one blade skittered away, bouncing off the grass as the other fighter pressed their arm against the other's neck.
        With a sudden shock, I realised that the warrior that had no blade was Wynn. 
        The shadow leaned into his blade, pressing it up against the warlock's face. He whispered something that was lost on the wind, and then stood back, sheathing his sword with a screech of metal.
        "He will not be pleased," said the shadow. "remember that." 
        And with that, he was gone. 
        Vanished into thin air.
        "Wynn-" I ran to him. His face was pale and he was sweating, but he looked OK. "Are you-"
        "I'm fine, Autumn," he told me, sitting up and wiping the sweat from his brow. 
        "What was that?" I asked, looking at the place where the shadow had stood just a moment ago.
        "Who, more like," Wynn muttered under his breath. "Look, Shifter, you can't tell anyone about this. If you tell anyone, I'll have to kill you, understood?" 
        I blinked.
        "What?"
        "You heard," Wynn said, getting up and retrieving his sword, which had skittered a good ten feet away. 
        "I..." I began, thinking about what he had just told me. Was that a death threat?
        "Promise me, Autumn," Wynn stood close to me, his face up close to mine and his breath landing on my face. "promise." 
        "I...I promise." I said. Wynn nodded.
        "Good," he said. "Now, it's getting late. We should go." 
        He walked off in the direction we'd come.
        "Wait!" I yelled, running to catch up with him. He stopped, and looked at me. "Why can't I tell anyone?"
        "It's a secret, Shifter. You have to never, ever tell anyone. Not even Iris, Celie or Ffi. Or the Werewolf you hang around with. This is between you and me."
        "But I-"
        "Look, if you interrupt one more time, I swear I'll throw you off the cliffs." Wynn growled, and strode off to the camp. 
        I watched him go with a mixture of rejection (though of what, I don't know), fear, anger and confusion. Who was the shadow? Who wouldn't be pleased with him? Why was Wynn so insistent on keeping it a secret?
        One thing I did know-and that was that I wouldn't stop until I found out.