It was now morning, and the group was sleeping. The three siblings were under some big, spacious, and wide tree roots, Adora being in the middle, Ezran on the right with Bait as his pillow, and Callum on the left while Rayla was sleeping above them on the roots, her wrist not getting any better as the back of her palm was almost all covered in a deep purple, making her whimper while asleep. One thing that none of the children knew, is that someone was swiftly making their way toward them. That was if they wouldn't accidentally step on a stick, waking the lavender-eyed elf instantly up. Other than that, Adora let out a small groan but shortly got back into her peaceful state again. Rayla immediately got up, running in that direction. She swiftly moved behind trees and bushes until she found the proof of there possibly being a passing-by intruder. She got on one knee and picked one side of the small stick. The girl analyzed the evidence, but she didn't get to do that any soon since she was sadly interrupted instantly by a bush whose leaves were rustling. The elf took her swords out.
Thankfully it was just a little deer.
She put her weapons back in their place. She breathed heavily and kneeled, getting closer to it. "You scared me, you wee cutie." She offered her magenta-shaded palm so the baby deer can smell her, licking her wound. "Thanks, little one. But my hand's got a problem you can't lick away." The ex-assassin said.
The little animal ran away suddenly when it looked behind the girl.
"What's the matter?" The teenager asked. She quickly turned her head fast enough to realize that a net was coming toward her but didn't have enough time to react, getting caught.
A dark-skinned man with a scar on his left eyebrow came down from an unknown tree, a long chain with an anchor at the end of it in his hands, ready to be used.
"Never trapped an elf before. Easier than I thought." He said, smirking. He tossed the weapon to the ground, very close to the net, but Rayla swiftly escaped. She landed at a decent distance away from him, and took her blades out, prepared for the fight. The elf took off and jumped in the air, letting out a battle yell as the metal from both sides clashed.
{~}
Back at the sleeping place, Ezran and Adora already woke up, both of them yawning one after the other.
"Morning, Ez." She said with a drowsy smile as she blinked sleepily.
"Good morning, Addie."The ocean-blue-eyed murmured in the same state. Suddenly, the sister realized that their newfound friend of theirs wasn't there. "Where is Rayla?!" She jumped, inspecting the perimeter. The young boy got next to his older brother and shaken up him gently. "Callum? I think we're alone." The little brother said. Yet, no sign of him waking up.
"Finally...Oh, I've been waiting for this moment." The oldest sibling smiled in his sleep, holding in his left hand the rock-hard baguette.
"Callum, wake up!" The sister said, joining the two.
"Mmm. Your breath still smells like peanut butter." He beamed.
"Callum!" Ezran and Adora spoke louder this time, finally waking the oldest prince up. "What...what?" He murmured.
"Wake up! Rayla's missing." The freckled boy said.
"More like she ditched us." The freckled girl scoffed.
"Oh, no, did she take it?!" Callum let out, surprised.
"The egg's still right here." The child assured, taking out the magical egg.
The brother and sister sighed. "Okay, good." The emerald-eyed said. "You know, that still doesn't mean we can trust her."
"I couldn't agree more." The princess nodded.
"But I like her, Callum, Adora." Ez looked down with a disappointed look.
"Hey, look. I like her, too! She's a very nice girl! For real!" Adora told, then looked at her older brother as a sign for him to continue. "But the thing is, she's--"
"An elf? Who cares? It seems maybe everything we've heard about elves is wrong. " Ezran commented.
Adora smiled proudly. He will be a good king.
"No, I was gonna say the thing is...She's not telling us everything. I can feel it." Callum looked at his siblings.
"Now that we're talking about this...I sense that she's hiding something from all of us. Something bad. And I have a doubt it's something about that silver bracelet Moonshadow elf thing." The sister crossed her arms.
{-}
The two fought and fought, their weapons clashing and clashing numerous times. Suddenly, they stopped, Corvus glaring at Rayla, while she catches a nice spot from where she can escape from behind the man's back. She ran back and jumped on a tree behind her, the dark-skinned spy still swinging his chain at her. She landed on a big branch, and when she looked back, she saw him throwing his anchor at the branch a bit higher than hers. The elf ran down the big part of the wood, and the human sped on his branch and again threw his weapon towards Rayla's leg, catching her. She let out a yelp of surprise as she dangled around in the air, Corvus slowly raising her up until her feet touched the enormous branch, him being on the one under it.
"Give me the royal children peacefully, and I'll let you go! Release your prisoners."
"They're not prisoners. They choose to travel with me. " The girl angrily said.
The man with a beard changed his facial expression from a deathly one to shocked. "What? Why would they trust you?"
Rayla let out a battle yell as she detangled herself out of the chain and hopped off on a branch. "Because we're in this together! They're my friends now." She grunted after the sentence since she just dodged Corvus' attack with his anchor.
"Friends? You killed their father!" He claimed.
"I didn't kill anyone." She yelled.
"Your leader did. What's the difference?"
The spy with one split eyebrow hit the bough, making Rayla trip and fall, but she managed thankfully to get hold of a branch she caught hold on while her fall. She is holding for dear life with both of her swords, but her bad hand was too wounded to even use it, making her groan and accidentally drop one of her blades. Yet, she used the rest of her whole arm to hold onto the branch better. The new enemy was just in front of her, angrier than ever.
"Wait. They don't know, do they?" He questioned.
The girl looked down and then somersaulted around the branch, landing this time with her feet perfectly on the branch while Corvus fell. She began to run, jumping from the top of one tree to another, until she found a dead end, down a rocky hill. The man catches up with her, swinging his anchor in a circular motion as the metal chains rattle.
"When they find out, they'll hate you. " He spoke with disgust.
"Shut up!" Rayla yelled angrily.
He threw his weapon towards her, the chain tangling to the handle of her blade. He smirked, but his smile suddenly fell when the elf jumped and did a somersault in the air, throwing herself with him, both grunting and screaming.
They fell to the ground, the ex-assassin through some normal-sized three branches, and just as she began to go down the green hill, she stabbed her sword into the grass. While the other was...just rolling down with a bunch of grunts. The violet-eyed elf panted, taking the chain off her and looking back.
"Savor your victory, elf. Next time you won't be so lucky." Corvus said loudly, at a pretty far distance from her.
"Says the guy in the ditch!" She smirked smugly and ran away.
{~}
Back at the trio, Adora was packing everything, still on guard. She was also gathering multiple foods from nearby bushes and trees, while Callum was picking sticks. Ezran was just peacefully sitting on a bigger rock, petting Bait. "So, did you know you were kind of sleep-talking before?" The little boy asked innocently. The sister snorted, holding in her laugh. The older boy's face was frozen. "What were you dreaming about?" Ezran continued curiously.
"Yes, little Callum, what were you all smiling about?" The princess smugly raised an eyebrow, her face near his ear, suddenly moving to the other side of his head, making smooch-ing sounds while holding her hands together. "Oh, Cla-" The brother quickly covered her mouth, playfully attacking her, sitting her down on the ground until she shut up.
"Uh..."He looked around nervously. "I don't remember. Why? I didn't, like, say anyone's name out loud, did I?" He inquired.
Adora snickered again.
"No, but you said something about lovely, tasty peanut butter--" The turquoise-eyed teenager teased.
"Oh shut up!" Callum blushed.
"He didn't say anything about it being tasty tho..." Ezran added.
"Sandwiches!" The emerald-orbed laughed nervously. "Yep, I remember now." Adora smirked smugly, but the chocolate-haired ignored it. "I was having a dream about sandwiches."
Ezran looked a bit surprised. "You seemed weirdly excited about sandwiches."He raised an eyebrow. The oldest prince chuckled nervously, knowing he is cornered.
That was if Adora wouldn't have picked the younger brother up, throwing him on her shoulders. She winced though since her wound given by her previous best friend from home wasn't getting any better either. When she used it to touch a certain thing, a disturbing pain would flow through her veins. It was annoying. Yet, she didn't let that show. "You will understand his dorky love for sandwiches when you're older, Ez." She looked at the boy, amused. Ignoring the discomfort striking in her whole right arm, like it wasn't even there.
"Yeah, we'll all sit down and have a heart-to-heart talk about sandwiches." Callum grabbed a baguette in the process pointing it at them smiling.
"Yeah, but be careful to not become a stinky lonely piece of bread like this one." She whispered, both of them giggling, yet the other sibling heard them.
"Hey! I heard that! And I can't say you are any better!" The young wannabe mage scoffed.
{~}
Rayla bounced on the tree's enormous branches, lastly jumping on the ground, doing a roll, and jogging towards the group.
"A 'Good morning pals! How are y'all? Is everyone alright?' would have been nice, thank you." Adora looked a bit confused at the white-haired elf, not understanding why she had such a bad disposition. Ezran looked a bit rudely at his sister, still on her shoulders. So, he decided that since he had the advantage, he shall tug her hair harshly to highlight her mistake. "Ow! What was that for?" She scowled. The little brother ignored it, turning his face from her. The princess got sad, which the most youthful sibling couldn't let pass by. He began playing with her hair as an apology and a little smile appeared on his sister's lips.
The other elf just continued hurrying. "Good morning my little lovely cutely adorable ray of sunshine! Did you eat your sophisticated royal breakfast yet?" She coo-ed but instantly changed back into her recent attitude. "Go, go, go! We've gotta move." She passed them.
"What's going on? Where were you?" The light-skinned prince asked, the same not-so-welcoming complexion as the royal girl's appearing.
"We should eat something first." Ezran added. "Look how grumpy Bait is right now." The prince picked up the rich yellow and turquoise spotted toad after his sister let him down who was grumbling, his death glare complexion still the same as always.
"Ugh. There's no time! We have to get moving now." The ex-assassin stopped, looking back at them, annoyed.
"Rayla, why? You have to at least explain--" The princess went closer to the other girl. "I don't have to explain anything to you. Let's go!" She flashed, throwing the blue-tipped teenager's bag at her. Adora glared, scowling. "Oh dear Lord, give me strength..."She rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine! God..." She grumbled the last part. The brothers quickly got their backpacks and left the place along with the duo, the two long pieces of bread accidentally getting forgotten.
{~}
Back at the royale castle, the dark blond royal guard grunted as he walked the endless-looking stairs, finally managing to get to the top of one of the palace's towers. Yet, he didn't feel tired at all. His father waiting for him, looking at the view in the front, the sun shining brightly and proudly. The son approached him slowly while still doing exercises. "I love having meetings up here." Soren stretched his back, smiling. "I get a nice leg workout going up all those stairs." The crown guard started doing squats. "We have important things to discuss. Try and focus." Viren looked at him. "No problem. You have my undivided attention." The son continued casually doing his exercises.
"This evening, you and your sister depart on a mission." The High Mage walked in front of him.
"Searching for the princess and princes." He looked at him. He grunted. "Oh, yeah. That's the good kind of burn." He touched his feet.
"The outcome of your mission is critical to the future of the kingdom." His father explained. The boy chuckled. "We got this. We'll find them."
"I'm sure you will. But there's a bit of nuance to this situation." The man added.
"No idea what nuance is." The blond casually said while touching his left foot as hard as he can.
"Listen closely. You are to return with the terrible news that the royal children have perished." The wrinkled mage stated.
"Wait. Excuse me?" The young royal guard suddenly stopped his workout, looking directly at his father upturned. "I think my head was upside down and it got sort of mixed up. Can you say that again?"
"You are to return with the terrible news that both princes and princess have died." The other repeated. Soren's face was deeply shocked.
What do you mean he has to lie to the whole kingdom?
He, being the crow guard of Katolis.
To lie about his life-long friends.
The ones he shares his dearest memories with.
The trio he and Claudia grew up with,
The trio that helped both of them at their worst more than they could ever think.
Was it really worth it ruining everything
Just for his father?
-
And this is the end of chapter 11! Here we don't get Rayla x Adora moments, but it's just the start! With time I want to get them closer and their bond stronger. Please give me any tips for this book! Also, what would you like to see in the future of it, etc. Thank you for reading!