Growing Out of the Light

Chapter 13

Picture of the aesthetic I used to describe the Ziki coven :)

3 more chapters to go!!

"We should probably come up with a game plan." Julius states.

"Probably." I respond not elaborating at all.

Julius rolls his eyes at me. We continue walking in silence following the orange orb. We've made decent progress but it's starting to get dark and we're going to need to stop soon to rest. I'd love to travel through the night but I know we'll be no help if we don't take care of ourselves.

"We need to find a place to stop." I say turning to look at Julius. He looks absolutely exhausted. His dark circles seem to dig into his skin and I can see my own exhaustion reflecting back from his eyes. Before he can respond, I hear a loud bang. Dropping to the ground, I roll into a bush hiding myself. Julius pulls himself up in the tree closest to us. We both make eye contact with each other and he nods, producing an ice dagger from his hand. I sigh, and form a light orb from my already drained power source. My skin tingles, warning me that I need to be careful with my energy. I feel the air thicken and I peek a glance at Julius hiding in the trees.

"Hunters?" I silently mouth.

Confusion crosses his face as he shakes his head no. The air continues to thicken making it extremely hard to breath. God, I hate aerokinesis magicians. Footsteps approach us and I sink further into the bush. Casting a cloaking spell over myself, I see Julius do the same. A young boy comes running with a girl towards the clearing we're in. They shout at one another in a foreign language, laughing and mimicking explosion sounds. They look around 10 and are clearly twins due to the identical hair color and purple eyes. I scan their bodies looking for any markings that could tell me what coven they are. At the little girl's ankle, I spot an intricate symbol that looks like a Z. The Ziki coven. Why are the Ziki kids playing with aerokinesis?

"Jamie!" The girl squeals as he causes it to rain on her.

She clenches her fist and the air thickens even more. I start wheezing noting that the kids don't seem to be affected by the density of the air. Interesting. Not hearing any other sounds, I decide it's safe to reveal myself. Uncloaking myself, I walk out of the bush but I keep the orb in cloaking. The twins turn to me, their eyes widening. The boy, I presume is Jamie, steps in front of his sister holding a hand out to protect her. I hold my hands up as a sign of surrender. The girl huffs pushing her brother's arm to the side.
"Jamie chill." She steps forward to me, narrowing her eyes at me.

"Who are you?"

Julius remains hidden above me in the trees.

"My name is Finley. I'm from the Vantis coven. Is your coven nearby?"

"Why?" She asks defensively.

"I need to speak to them. It's urgent." I start formulating a plan in my head. If we can recruit the Ziki coven, it'd be a great help with fighting the Hunters. Even better, if they have contact with my coven or any other coven, we can recruit others to aid us in fighting.

"We're not supposed to talk to strangers." She responds, taking a step back to grab her brother's hand.

I pull the dagger from my sleeves, dropping it on the ground. I reach into my boots, pulling more weapons out to set them on the ground next to me.

"I'm friendly. What's your name?" I ask crouching down to be at their level.

"Juliette. This is my twin Jamie."

"Juliette. That's a beautiful name. I know twins too. Hayden and Brynn. They're my best friends. Is Jamie your best friend?"

She nods slowly.