Arcane Order's Adopted Son

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: HATRED AMONG US

NARI POV:

I woke up the next morning, and my head didn't hurt anymore, so that was good. I noticed that there was a light drizzle outside. I liked it when Skrael did that. It allowed tiny drops of dew to fall from the ceiling of my room. I climbed out of bed and walked outside to the kitchen. The cracks in the glass were still there unfortunately, but other than that, everything seemed to be fine. I looked outside at the lake.

"Still empty," I whispered.

I looked at the trees and noticed that there were holes in the leaves and the trunk.

"What the?" I said, looking closely.

I realized that the rain was burning holes in the trees. Oh, no...one of my greatest fears. And one of Aridam's omens of returning. Acid rain. I turned around and ran into Skrael's room. He was still asleep, his tail curled up beside him.

"Skrael," I whispered. "Skrael."

He didn't wake up.

"Skrael!" I whisper-shouted, shaking him. I didn't want to wake him up, but I had to. He had to understand that, right? He opened his eyes a little.

"Uh...Nari...what's going on? Why are you in my room?" He asked, groggily.

"Skrael, something is going on with the rain, you have to turn it off."

"Nothing is wrong with the rain. But I need you to leave my room."

"No, Skrael! Something terrible is happening."

"Wake me up at ten then, and I can see what's going on."

"No, you have to wake up now." I sat next to him and shook him back and forth.

Skrael went back to sleep. I grabbed his tail and shook it.

"Wake up. It's the rain."

"The rain...is fine," he said without opening his eyes.

I was furious.

"Get your lazy butt off the bed!!!" I shouted, throwing him off.

"OW! Nari!" He shouted, sitting up and putting a hand to his forehead.

"That's what you get, now come on! I have to show you something." I felt no remorse for knocking him off the bed. He did it to me, so an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth. I took Skrael's hand and led him down the hallway into the living space. "Look, the rain."

He looked up and gasped.

"Acid rain..."

He snapped his fingers, but the rain wouldn't stop. He snapped them again.

"Nari...we've got a serious problem."

"No, we don't. Just turn off the rain."

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" He continued snapping.

"We should wake up Bellroc."

"No, let's not wake her."

"Is this to protect her or because you're still mad?"

"To protect her. She's weak, Nari. Let's not pester her."

"Then how about Phoenix?"

"Well, she won't be able to fly out in this weather."

"Fly out in what weather?" said a voice.

Skrael and I looked up to see Phoenix clinging to the ceiling. Well, her wings were fluttering busily, so that's probably why she was upside down.