Courage And Control

(1) The End is a New Beginning

Chapter One- The End is a New Beginning

    The cool wind bites at my face as I jog towards my village. As I come closer, black smoke invades my lungs and my line of sight... Is there a fire? Panic fills my brain, causing me to accidentally trip over a tree root in the ground. I tumble to the ground, but quickly scramble to my feet and break out to a sprint. My opalescent purple eyes scan the area, searching for any sign of my family. I crouch low to the ground and place my palm on the dry earth. The winds channel around me and I propel myself up to a low hanging tree branch with a gust of wind, jumping from tree to tree in order to quickly find my home amongst the chaos. 

    The familiar tree house enters my vision, and I notice my twin sister kneeling by our mom. "Momma!" I cry out and fly towards them. As I get closer I can see my sister's tear streaked face and it becomes apparent to me that our mother isn't moving. "Ayria? What's going on?" I ask, my voice breaking halfway through. "The drows-" She moves her glistening violet eyes to meet my matching pair, "They attacked." Shock creeps it's way onto my face as reality sets in. I throw my arms around her and allow tears to stream down my cheeks. As I cry, I feel the familiar tingling sensation of Ayria's magic wrapping around us, intertwining our souls. Our magic swirls around in perfect harmony, teleporting us a few miles away from our burning village.

    We materialize a few heartbeats later and separate to look at our surroundings. "Ayria... do you know where we are?" I queried, hoping she knew the answer. She slowly shakes her head and I fight back the urge to collapse into a mess of emotions right here. I cautiously rise to my feet and stare at the different dirt paths we could take.
   

 Just as I'm about to recommend we go straight, I feel my twin's warm hand on my arm, "Aspen, we should just stay here for a little while. There's a small clearing not far behind us, we can set up camp." She motions to a small patch of land with a noticeable lack of trees before continuing, "You just came back from your training and then had to immediately use a lot of energy on helping me teleport us..." I stare at my identical sister, mouth slightly agape, "You aren't serious are you? We can't just stay here! It's still at least 4 hours 'till sundown!" I can feel the wind currents blow around me with more aggression and take it as a warning to calm down. "Look," I speak in a calm, steady tone, "I know you're just worried about me, but I'll be fine. I always am, aren't I?" My mouth stretches into a sorrow filled smile that doesn't reach my eyes. She sighs slightly, mumbling something I can't quite make out under her breath. Ayria's eyes bore into my matching pair, "No, Aspen. We are not leaving this clearing until tomorrow morning. If you really want, we can leave at the crack of dawn, but no earlier than that." Her voice holds so much more authority than mine, and it's moments like this where I wish I was born first. I mutter a quick 'fine' and head towards the clear patch.

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Hello again my little Illas!

I finally published the first chapter of Courage and Control! I'm willing to answer any questions about the characters, and I'll make an OC chapter on them if you'd like. Feel free to give criticism and feedback in the comments, and I'm super sorry about the short chapter. I have an idea of what I want to happen next, but it was too big of an event to put in the same chapter. I'll be posting a chapter some time this weekend (I even set a reminder and an alarm on my phone).

Until next time my little Illas,

Bye!

-illAAlli