The Air Out Of [Wattys2018 shortlist]

31

JESS HAD MANAGED TO FIND HERSELF CORNERED DURING THE INFAMOUS THIRD RAID. Since losing the anklet completely, Aspyn had simply gone rogue. Her calls turned frantic and palace orders were given without much thought.

She didn't know if she should be more worried or alarmed. All these random attacks against the Avinians would no doubt have repercussions. After all, Avine per se wasn't one who played by the rules. Maybe he had expected them to attack and focused his attention elsewhere, or, away from the sloppy excuse for an attack.

The first thing she noticed once cornered was the fact that her crossbow had been taken down. A sacrifice had been made to successfully trap her in an inescapable scenario.

Avinians poured in from every corner in putting her into a 200 : 1 ratio.

"Jett." She yelled. "I'm cornered, 15½ G." But it didn't work. The Avinians had turned off all the power stations which had shut off her service connection. Basically, Jett was unreachable, and all she could rely on was herself.

Looking around her vicinity, she turns hoping for an unblocked path laying in the open or a weapon to use besides her bare hands now that her crossbow has been strategically disassembled. She realized it, no sooner no later than in that moment that the Avinians were gearing her to use up all her energy on the necklace. A strategic play, perhaps. But not one smart enough to conquer her.

Then she saw it.

I am the rock.

"I am the rock." She yelled into the air, "I am," she paused, "I-I am the rock." She aimed her hands before her and soon enough, an entire army of rocks launched past her. Just the diversion she needed. As quick as she could, she ran through the gap while the rest of the warriors were momentarily distraught.

It was safe to say that Jess had no idea what she was doing. Everyone agreed on an ending. It was time to put an end to this madness, but they were wrong. This was neither start nor end, Avine would make sure of it. This 'war' was simply a facade for an attack waiting to destroy the inside. He was simply too smug, and too relaxed for Jess to believe that war was not a sheer excuse to draw out the best troops. For all she knew, he was hiding out, just like them under Covia.

The thought sent chills down her spine, and she instinctively shuddered.

It was simply too coincidental that Avine would give the Covians the perfect amount of time to find the lavine's and train them to a generally decent shape but not too exceptionally before 'discovering' the entrance. In her mind, Jess was spewing out allegations she didn't know if they were true but seemed more likely than the reality. Maybe it was just coincidence.

She was still running when she spotted a familiar head of ash blonde hair fighting her way into the palace. Aspyn was a mess. Running as fast as her legs could take her, she jerked Aspyn backwards and pulled her away from the keypad.

"What do you think your doing?" She snapped as soon as she regained her composure.

"Making sure you haven't gone rogue yet." Jess replied adamantly, tearing a bit of her shirt to cover the gash spurting blood on Aspyn's left arm. "Scar, cover!" she yelled.

"I haven't gone mad, now let me go finish what we started."

"Don't you see, Aspyn, if they dare send those mass amounts of warriors against us, it's only a distraction, do you not realize that Avine would not bother wrapping us around him. He wouldn't even be here in the first place." Jess yelled, "It's his specialty." and finally, Aspyn stopped resisting the aid offered.

"Gather the troops." She mumbled. "They switched off the service. We'll have to do it manually."

Jess yelled as she cupped her fingers around her mouth to enhance the sound. "Covians to base two. Emergency protocol red!" she heaved a sigh. "Alert the others."

If her guess was right, Avine would be in a royal carriage trotting softly against the desolate environment, making his way to Covia, whether below ground, above ground, or in the sky. He would be chuckling at himself before proceeding to mentally harass the citizens, more so the castle, which snuck it's way on his priorities.

He wanted revenge on Luphoria, and half their push team was trapped behind his territory, the others attempting to fend him off.

To elaborate, once Avine stepped foot in Covia, past the walls, and a portion of the defense team, Luphoria was as good as dead.

She heaved a sigh while making her way out of the walls which were unsurprisingly blocked by a swarm of warriors. So, while the Avinian troops were beginning to gather, she used her mind to reassemble the dismantled crossbow.

Scar gave her a subtle nod as both lifted their crossbows into the air. It went unnoticed as Leo went on to lead the charge creating an unnecessary plunge while the crossbows continually took out the remaining few.

Jess wasted no time in waiting. Instead, she ran out of the gates faster with the crossbow tailing behind her, its' shots ceased. She didn't have a specific direction to head in, but as soon as she saw the cries from civilisation, she knew where to go.

Leo caught up with her giving a tiny nod of acknowledgement as the two continued to run with Scar tailing just behind. Aspyn ran off course which seemed to worry Jess for only a moment before she dived into a nearby stream of water.

Hold on, if they were breathing in water, and running, Aspyn would simply be diving into a medium similar to theirs, breathable and all, but there would be current that would drag her faster and without effort.

Jess did the same.

The current seemed to push her in a certain direction as she attempted at maneuvering herself around the pebbles organized in a haphazard manner. Come on. Then, she felt the current thin out and her feet coming into contact with the ground, and what stood before her, the enchanted kingdom known as Covia.

Jess was oblivious to the entire situation, so she focused on following the determined Aspyn who already seemed to know her way against the nook and crannies of the kingdom. In fact, she almost missed the neat wave of ash blonde hair disappearing into a corner.

She was panting hard, but before she knew it, Aspyn had easily led her to a quick entrance into the throne room which was, as she expected it to be, empty. "Where are they." Jess' throaty voice resonated the room.

"Hush." Aspyn pressed a finger against her rosy lips, her accent seemingly disappearing for only a moment. Slowly, the two made their way behind a small pillar. Jess recognized it as the pillar Luphoria used to place her crown on when she felt dizzy. But now, neither the crown nor the pillow was present.

After a few collective breaths, they hear Avine's reigning voice take over the room. Jess' body froze completely, while Aspyn only inched herself so that she could peek on the entire story of events.

"I'm sure she's in here." Avine roared irritatedly. He couldn't find Luphoria. "I know all the hideouts in this place. Where is she."

"Knew, sir. Knew." Madrinay's voice replied. He was standing slightly ajar of Avine. Almost immediately, he caught Aspyn's eye before giving her an alarmed reaction. When Avine turned his back from the two girls, Madrinay made a small gesture to tell them to get out of here.

The last thing Jess sees before she and Aspyn both lift themselves and leave without Avine noticing is him submerged in fury. "I will find you Luphoria," he laughs mischievously, "The only difference now," he pauses, "Is that there is no one to protect you."