[Faerie] Wings [priority]

Aerie; Suspicious

At dawn, they were packed up, faces grim. The usual feeling of excitement was lost on their solemn faces. The sun sunk lower and lower in the sky, its head drooping like the soldiers. She trudged along the hidden forest trails slowly, turning towards Ember for some conversation.

"I can't believe we lost those tracks," Aerie ground her teeth angrily.

"I didn't anticipate the Walkers to appear here," Ember looked around thoughtfully.

"The disappearances are getting worse," she hissed in an undertone, keen to keep the information away from outside ears. Ember merely held up one hand, halting her words.

"Now is not the time to talk about such things, Aerie dear."

She scowled at the mention of "dear", he was only a few hundred years older than her, and here he was acting like he was a leader of the Haven.

"Don't act so high and mighty, you haven't got a chance at being a Core," she snapped

"I have every chance," Ember retorted, one eyebrow raised. He held one palm up and a small sphere of fire burned quietly between his fingers.

"My mastery of Whispering Fire is only seconded to Fire himself. And even that old fart has to kick the bucket sometime." His palm enclosed the orb and he looked straight, "Air, Water, Earth, Fire, all of those guys have to step down from their position as Cores at some point."

She snickered, "Are you sure you're powerful enough? I mean, these are the Cores, they're the most powerful Faeries of each element. They oversee everything."

"Don't you have any faith in me at all?" He turned to give her an exasperated look.

"I have some." She replied shortly, rounding on him as he tried to escape her burning questions.

"The disappearances. You know what it means, right?" He shifted his weight from foot to foot, itching to take off from her smoldering gaze.

"Yes... I do."

"They're all Royal Guards." He froze. "Do you think it's a coincidence?" she pressed on, worry spiking.

"Of course not. It's probably a few Guard dropouts. Don't worry about it." he assured her with a sweet smile. She opened her mouth but Ember cut her off quickly,

"Break for camp!" he disappeared from her sight before she could bury him in more questions. They settled at the edge of a clearing with their backs towards a huge lake. The sparkling surface, which was reflecting the moon, hung in the air, watching over them. As the rest were deep in chatter she crept away quietly, hoping to catch some game for a scraping meal. Under the cover of night, she wove through the forest, alert for any sounds.

Suddenly, a branch snapped and she spun around. There, in the darkness was a figure. Its head whipped around and she crouched behind a bush, remaining invisible in the twilight. Still frozen, the figure cocked its hooded head, searching. She held her breath, slinking behind the figure and hoping to blend in with the night. From behind her, more footsteps followed. The vibrations hardly caused a tremor above a falling leaf. Wide-eyed, she turned to see an entire battalion moving like wraiths through the forest.

She backtracked quickly, feeling fear run through her body. As she took one hesitant step backwards, a dead leaf crackled underfoot. All at once, every hooded face turned to stare where she was hiding, their eyes searching. Suddenly, a hand was clamped over her mouth, and she was thrown to the ground.

~