Tristan was standing at the cave entrance, being careful not to expose himself to the sun. It won't harm him, but he didn't want to bring unnecessary attention to their location.
It was then he saw a small cloud of blue flying towards the mountain. The closer they got it became more clear to him that they were blossom petals and he watched as they arranged themselves on the cave floor at his feet to create two words.
Hello Tristan. He could not help the grin that crossed his face. Oriana must have been training that morning and sent him a message. This meant she was not able to succeed in being able to talk to him as they have had in the past. But he knew she was safe and was on her way and that was all that mattered to him
"Well, well." Elveena murmured as she joined her nephew and looked at the message on the ground. "She must be a natural. I assume this is from your friend."
Tristan smiled as the petals moved due to the draft in the cave and the message destroyed. "Yes. We haven't been able to talk since late last night. Something is blocking us from talking to one another."
Elveena nodded thoughtfully. "Probably her dragon is stopping the communication. If the dragon is who I think it is, that doesn't surprise me. They have their reasons for what they do."
Tristan turned towards his aunt, his right eyebrow raised at her comment. "How could they know what is going on between us?"
Elveena smiled sweetly at her nephew and touched his cheek softly. "I think Oriana is going to have to be the one to tell you that."
Tristan playfully scowled at his aunt. He knew she knew why Oriana's dragon would block him and he knew that whatever the reason was, he was going to take it a lot better coming from his newfound friend. He even got over his anger over the fact she is a dragon rider.
"Are you going to send back a message?" Elveena changed the subject as she bent down to pick up one of the blue petals.
"How?" Tristan asked, clearly confused. "I'm not a fairy or a rider, how can I send her a message?"
Elveena chuckled softly as she turned to face her nephew and stepped out in the sun, her pale skin glimmered as it did with all vampires that stepped in the sun. It didn't harm them, but exposed their true beauty as their skin glistened like diamonds, their eyes shined like sapphires, and their hair shined.
Vampires already had unnatural beauty that attracted other creatures to them, but the sun only accentuated that beauty to where it was unbearable for anyone to look at. It was even hard for Tristan to look at his aunt as she spun under the sun. Her dark hair fanned out around her, her arms outstretched, and her dress belling out. Something she hadn't done in years.
"Go onto the top of the mountain and stand in the sun where she can see you glisten." Elveena told him as she stopped spinning and faced him. "She should be able to see a glimmer and know it is you."
Tristan began to shake fear. Never in his life had he stepped out in the sun. He feared being out where others could see him. His mother loved the sun and spent all the time she could to be in it and he saw how beautiful his mother was with her honey blond hair and chocolate brown eyes. She was a remarkable sight, but he couldn't bring himself to set out with her as a child.
Elveena watched as he nephew fought his fear to do what she suggested. She knew the fear was unfounded but it would show to Oriana that he trusted her and got her message. Even if the young dragon rider did not know about his fear.
"Think about it. Tristan." Elveena whispered gently as she left him at the entrance of the cave, the blue petals gathering at his feet.
"Yes!" Vera shouted as she threw her dagger at her target and landed just mere centimeters away from Lucas's. "Take that, fairy boy."
Lucas bit back the smile that threatened to break across his face. This red head was spirited. When he first saw her, he thought she would be gentle, but she proved that she was a force to reckon with. He had to admit though that her aim was excellent. They were evenly matched and she was the first to prove how evenly matched they were.
Lucas walked towards the tree where their target was a knob that was barely visible from the distance from where they were throwing. He then turned and faced Vera. "Not bad." He replied passively.
"Not bad?!" Vera's outburst almost made him grin. He loved to rile her up and watch her fiery temper get the better of her. "That was perfect!"
Oriana laughed from the log that she was sitting on about four yards away from them. She winked at her brother before she spoke to her friend. "Careful, Vee! He is a fairy and doesn't need to have anything in his hand to make you eat your words."
Vera turned towards her friend and stuck out her tongue only to receive a laugh in return. "He's just sore that I did better than him."
Duncan rose up to his elbow from the ground where he was laying by Oriana's feet to look at his friend more clearly. "Better not poke a beast, Vera." He cautioned with an raised eyebrow.
Vera crossed her arms across her chest to scowl at her friends while Lucas continued to watch her.
A slight breeze made the hair from the red head sway gently, showing her gentle beauty despite her fierce stance. Her blue eyes gleamed in the sunlight and Lucas found himself looking at them more times than he wanted to admit. Maybe this is what made him more like his father: Attracted to a human who dares to defy being different from others.
Oriana looked from her friends towards the mountains, pushing her braid over her shoulder. Lucas watched as she squinted into the distance and stood up. "What is that?" she asked as she pointed towards the mountain they were travelling to.
Lucas joined Oriana where she stood and looked to where she was pointing. It was barely there, but he could see what looked like a rainbow glimmer that would show from the sun hitting a diamond. He then heard a faint chuckle come from his sister and turned to look down at her. "What?" he asked clearly confused at her reaction
Oriana grinned up at him. "My message was received. Don't ask me how I know. I just do."
"What message?" Vera asked as she shook her hair out to redo the braid that was coming apart, forcing Lucas to try to focus anywhere but at her red curls.
Oriana shook her head. "I can't tell you yet." She replied and smiled at the light until it disappeared
Duncan then kicked Lucas's foot. When the fairy looked down at the werewolf, he stood and gestured him to follow him away from the women. Lucas had no choice but to follow. Curiosity was getting the better of him.
"Yes?" Lucas asked when they were far enough away from the women so not to be overheard.
Duncan turned and faced Lucas. "Don't think I didn't see that, Lucas. Vera is a very beautiful woman."
Lucas felt a sting in his chest as he heard the werewolf admit that the human woman was beautiful. He knew that, but why did he have to remind him? And why was he talking about him about her?
"She is indeed." Lucas said passively as to not draw suspicion to how he felt towards the human. Especially around this half werewolf who still had not shown his wolf form.
Duncan chuckled. "Nice try. But I'm a man as well and I know what I saw there. Vera is very blunt and can be obnoxious, but she means well and cares deeply for her friends and allies. I know you've seen what other men have seen but they refused her because of her station."
"Station?" Lucas asked in unbelief. "What do you mean station?"
"She is a servant. Not a woman of royal birth or stature." Duncan explained gently. "Men have looked on her, men of high station, of good breeding, but they refused to court her because she would only bring them down and they couldn't handle being frowned at for courting just a lowly woman."
Lucas felt anger rise in him and fought to keep it under control. This werewolf better have a reason for talking about Vera as he was and better tell him quick before he inflicted harm. He may not know the woman that long but he did not like hearing her being spoke about like that.
"Vera is anything but lowly." Lucas growled at Duncan who took a step back as the young fairy shook in anger and was advancing towards him. "She is confident, brave and more has more gumption than any one I know. Now, you better have a reason to speak about your friend like that before I have to explain why you have a tree root about ready to stab your leg and I'm sure they wouldn't like to hear my end of the story about that."
Duncan looked down to see that a tree root had come out of the ground but them and was pointed directly at him. "I wasn't trying to speak ill of her." He reasoned. "But I needed to know for myself that that doesn't matter to you. I don't want her hurt, especially if she comes to care for you. She won't be able to handle a broken heart,"
"You forget, wolf, that my father loved a human first and with more passion and feeling than any one I have known. She was nothing but a hand maid herself and that never stopped him." Lucas retorted hotly. "It didn't matter to him. Do you think he would instill in me to hold a woman's station in life against her let alone her race? Any man who is blessed to have Vera's love and devotion is a blessed man indeed. Whether it be me or another man."
Duncan was about to respond when they heard screaming from where they left the girls
Both turned to see Oriana fighting off a tree nymph who had gripped her arm while two other nymphs were holding Vera tight as she struggled to reach the dagger at her waist to try to defend herself and her friend, who was fight hard to get her arm released so she could grip the blade at her back.
Lucas shook with rage he still was feeling from his conversation with Duncan and seeing the woman herself in danger only made him angrier. He raised his hand, bringing the roots of the trees by the girls out of the ground and stabbed the two that held Vera in the back.
Once released, Vera swiftly grabbed her dagger and threw it at the nymph who held Oriana. The nymph screeched as the dagger sunk in its arm and causing it to bleed.
"Filthy human!" the nymph screamed as it released Oriana to grab the dagger and was preparing to throw it at Vera when the hand that held it was chopped off.
Oriana held her sword in her hand held the tip of the blade to the nymph's throat, her eyes had now turned silver as she scowled at the creature that was about to hurt her friend.
"Who are you and who sent you?" Oriana demanded, ignoring the nymph's wailing.
Lucas rushed to Vera's side and held her back when she moved toward her friend to help defend her. Oriana needed to handle this situation on her own. If she couldn't do what needed to be done, she wouldn't be able to do what she was destined to do.
"I'd die before I'd tell you." The nymph screeched and spat in Oriana's face, who didn't even flinch as it hit her cheek.
Without looking away from the vile creature, Oriana spoke to Lucas, knowing by her fairy power that he was near. "Do we need this thing alive?" she asked hotly.
"No." Lucas answered. "Salome sent them; we don't need to keep any hostages on our travel. However, we cannot let it live. It'll only report our whereabouts to Salome and we won't make it to Clarvis Mountain."
Without even blinking an eye, Oriana's blade swung and cut the head off the nymph. "Good. They smell horrible." Oriana wiped the spittle off her cheek with the sleeve of her tunic and then turned to Vera. Her eyes softened and they could see the green mixing with the silver again. "Are you okay?"
Vera nodded and turned to look at the nymphs that laid dead, tree roots protruding out of them and then turned to Lucas. "I guess I have you to thank for them." She said as she gestured towards the corpses.
"No thanks necessary." Lucas told her as he walked towards the decapitated nymph's hand, grabbed the dagger, and cleaned the blood off the blade. "We better clean up the blades before we leave. I do not think it'll be wise to stay around too much longer. We had better ride through the night as well. We need to get to that mountain as fast as we can. There will be more to come after us."
"Don't have to tell me twice." Vera agreed and took her dagger from Lucas and then pulled the other out of the tree. "I don't want to stick around and see what else that vile woman is going to send our way."
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