Unfettered

Part 1: Chapter 8

Her brother shook his head. He adamantly refused to believe it.

It didn't seem plausible to her, either. The man had been alone without armed escorts. The emperor would never do that. Arien had heard that he was the only one in the imperial family without a guardian because he had given it to his wife before she died. It would be too risky for him to go out alone without protection, no matter how strong he may be otherwise.

"I shouldn't let you do all the magic by yourself. I'll help you more next time," said Arjen.

"But you're not very good at magic."

"I can at least give you a boost like I did at the bridge." He frowned at her. "And I'm not that bad at magic. I'm just better with my hands, that's all."

He preferred to use a blade. Back at Derolina Castle he had begun teaching himself how to use a dagger for self-defense, mostly by studying texts on warrior culture. He had wanted to use a sword, but there were none in the castle, not even decorative ones. He would fashion practice swords from whatever he could find, like tree branches or long, narrow boards sharpened at one end. But without formal training and a real sword, he would remain a novice. For now, Arien provided their best defense with magic.

They sat huddled together in darkness. After a while Arien could feel her strength slowly returning. But her unease about the forest increased when they began hearing strange noises among the trees. The sounds didn't come from foxes, deer, or nightbirds. They wailed and chattered eerily. Arien hoped her full strength would return soon, because as the sounds drew closer, it was clear they came from a group of somethings.

'Do you see those lights?' Arjen asked.

'I do.'

'What do you think they are?'

'How would I know?'

'You were the one who always read about magical creatures.'

Soft bluish-green lights danced among the foliage, darting to and fro. Arjen turned off their light orb and they waited, hoping whatever those things were would pass them by. The chatter began to sound like laughter.

'I wonder if they might be faeries,' said Arien.

'They really exist?'

'Supposedly. If magic exists, then why not magical creatures?'

'I guess you're right. Are they safe?'

'I don't know.' She hoped they were safe, but based on some of her readings, many of them were not. There hadn't been any magical creatures around Derolina, so she never had the chance to interact with any.

She held tight Arjen's arm when the airy laughter grew louder and the lights skipped about in front of them. The glowing amorphous shapes left flickering trails behind them.

'Stay very still,' Arien instructed. 'We might offend them just by being here.'

"Oh, you won't offend us, blessed ones," said a small voice in front of them.

Arien jumped. "They can hear us?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't we?"

For as long as the twins had been alive in this world, no one else could hear their telepathic conversations. How were these creatures able to?

"We're just lost," said Arjen. "We'll leave soon."

"Oh, please don't leave, blessed ones. Stay with us."

"We're just a couple of humans passing through," Arien said. "When the sun rises, we'll be off."

The laughter intensified, causing the air to sparkle with their magic. Did she say something funny?