The Promise Path

~ Chapter Nineteen ~

"Okay so what's up with this goddess?" Lucy questions.

"We don't really know, but apparently she's quite young and was found at the border of a Witch and Warlock village which happens to be the coldest one in the world. The village is in Russia and it's called Oymyakon. The couple that took her in was found in their place of residence, charred. The leader of the village was talking to my dad about it since they're close." Cassius explains.

Avery and Lucy immediately glance at each other with the mention of the charred couple, both of them shocked and mildly terrified. Daniel and Cassius both notice the glance between the two girls. The silence between the four teens grows, while Dimitri watches from the sidelines, curious about the way they interact with each other.

"What do you know?" Daniel asks, his voice colder and harsher than Avery has ever heard it before. She gulps and looks down at the ground, not wanting to speak in the now hostile environment.

"About a month ago, Avery kept getting a dream. She watched a little girl, probably around 10 years old, lose control of a nearly entirely blue flame and accidentally set both of her parents on fire, quickly burning them alive." Lucy tells them, discreetly putting her hand on top of Avery's in order to comfort the younger girl. Avery shivers at the thought of the dream. She's just thankful that she hasn't had it in awhile. She's not sure why, but she won't complain about it either.

"That must be her!" Cassius exclaims. Then, he takes a few steps to stand directly in front of Avery. He bends down to the point where his face is right in front of hers and as he glares sharply into her eyes, he orders, "Quick, tell me what she looked like!"

"Um..." Avery gulps and tries to back away from Cassius, but he reaches out and grabs her arms, not letting her move.

"Hey, let her go!" Dimitri intervenes and forcefully pulls Cassius away from Avery, easily holding the shorter boy above the ground by the back of his shirt.

"Woah!" Cassius says as she starts to swing his limbs in an attempt to get Dimitri to put him down, "Put me down! What are you doing?"

"I'm protecting a girl who is obviously scared of you. It isn't right to frighten a girl." Dimitri answers, practically snarling at Cassius. Women might not be seen as powerful as men in his home, but they are still treated with respect.

"Stay out of it, fire boy." Cassius retorts.

"No." Dimitri says, refusing to take orders from Cassius since he sees Cassius as less powerful than him.

"It's okay, Dimitri. You don't have to protect me. You can put him down. Thank you, though." Avery speaks softly, now standing next to Dimitri. Dimitri grumbles under his breath before dropping Cassius, not bothering to place him back on the ground. Cassius grunts when he lands on his butt and Daniel rushes over to help him up, both boys openly glaring at the newest edition to their group.

"You shouldn't let him frighten you. You are a lot more powerful than that weak Water Warlock." Dimitri states.

"Thanks, but I don't think I am." Avery replies, shrugging and smiling slightly.

"But yesterday..." Dimitri starts to speak, but Avery interrupts

"Yesterday was a fluke. I'm not even sure it was actually me."

"If you say so," Dimitri says, obviously not convinced. Suddenly, he gets an idea, "If you want, I could join you on your travels and teach you how to use your powers."

"Would you really do that?" Avery asks. She doesn't want Dimitri to leave everything behind just to teach her how to better use her powers.

"Yes. I find you and your companions interesting, and I want to help you on your quest, if you will have me." Dimitri responds, becoming a bit shy at the end of his statement. Avery sighs but agrees,

"If you really want to do this, then I won't stop you. Feel free to travel with us. It'd probably be wise to ride my dragon with me, since you are a Fire Warlock and Agni is a Fire Dragon."

"Speaking of your dragon, where is he?" Dimitri inquires, excites to meet the magnificent beast.

"I actually don't know." Avery answers, looking around the clearing. She closes her eyes and feels for Agni in the back of her head, but he is barely there. She tries to find out where he is by experimenting with the link she can feel between them. For some reason, it feels different now than when it did yesterday before she passed out.

When Avery reopens her eyes, she is standing by Agni's side and he is deeply sleeping, Terra standing guard next to him. Avery notices that Dimitri and Lucy are both with her, looking at her weirdly. Avery tilts her head and asks,

"What's up?" Lucy and Dimitri simply stare, stunned and confused into silence.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author's Note:
Hi guys! Nia here. Sorry this chapter isn't very good, I just had no inspiration for it and wrote some random crap that doesn't progress the plot much. It's been a long week of school, and I just need to get used to it again. Hopefully, next week's will be better, but no promises. Next week I'm going to be very busy and I won't have much time to write, so it might be short again. Sorry! But, I hope you enjoyed the chapter regardless.

~Nia and Sophia