*Chapter Eighteen*
“You’re acting weird.”
“Am I?” Avary replied distractedly.
Aurora sighed. There was no point in arguing with him. Because of the incident that she couldn’t fully remember, they’d wasted a good few hours. The sun had disappeared a few minutes earlier. They two were relying on the small sphere of fire in Avary’s palm to navigate through the tortuous path in the forest. Aurora could feel the wood pulsate with an unknown energy. It was as if the disappearance of the sun had aroused several nocturnal creatures.
Aurora let out a muffled groan as she bumped into Avary’s shoulder, almost losing her balance. She opened her mouth to protest. Avary closed his fist, shutting off the only source light that ignited their surroundings. Before Aurora could utter a single word of protest, Avary had clamped his hand over her mouth. Aurora glared at him with indignation and resisted the temptation to bite into his hand. She blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness.
“Stay here,” he whispered before disappearing.
Aurora’s hand reached out to grab him, but he was already gone. She cursed silently in her head. The forest suddenly seemed alive. It was as if the trees stared at her through eyes in their bark. You’re imagining things, she told herself.
The wind that caressed her skin earlier turned into razor sharp daggers that now sliced her flesh as if the mere disappearance of the sun had caused the temperature to drop drastically.
There was a soft growl, and she snapped around. A pair of crimson eyes stared back. Aurora froze. The pair of eyes grew in size, and Aurora watched with dread as the creature stepped out into the open.
The creature resembled a lion with sleek black fur. Its thick black mane shook as it stepped out, and a pair of large black wings shot out on its side. It crouched, and its tail twisted upwards like a snake. Aurora took on a defensive position. Her eyes glowed faintly, allowing her to see clearly in the dark.
“Avary, I’m going to survive and kick your ass for leaving me in a place like this.”
“I know you’re there!”
The shrill laugh echoed around the forest, making it impossible to make out where it came from. Avary snarled and pulled back his fist. In one punch, the giant decades-year old tree fell down. Animals squealed in fright at the sight.
“Phoebe!”
“Okay, okay, sheesh.”
The girl with wavy blonde hair leapt down from her hiding position that Avary couldn’t care less with. Her knees bent, and she crouched down to absorb the impact of the fall. Her hair bounced in the process, and she glanced up with a pout from beneath her lashes.
“What are you doing here?” Avary all but shrieked.
“Hey! You’re having fun here! It’s only fair that you share it with me. Don’t be greedy.”
She threw her head back and laughed. Avary glowered at her with all his might.
“Phoebe, go back. This is not a place -”
“I can go wherever I want!”
Avary groaned. This was starting again. He hated arguing with her. He had never – and most probably will never – win an argument against her. Her pride wouldn’t allow her to lose.
“By the way, where’s Adrian? It’s been a while since I’ve argued with him.”
Avary gave her a look of disbelief. If she were to argue with Adrian, it was be beyond a disaster. The two were like oil and water; they were immiscible. It wasn’t that Avary was protecting Adrian, far from it actually. He just didn’t want to have all the drama to appear. Phoebe’s stubborn nature would not let her lose, and that would in turn anger Adrian. Avary did not want to continue thinking about it. He tried to keep his annoyance out of his voice but failed miserably.
“Why are you here?”
She grimaced at the loudness of his yell. Giving him a look that clearly said he lacked manner, she turned her nose up. It was quite comical considering she barely reached his chest.
“Looking for you and Adrian, what else?”
“We don’t need someone to look after us! Now go back before I forcefully send you back.”
“You can’t,” she shot back stubbornly. “Father let me come.”
Realization dawned on him.
“Sometimes I hate the way he thinks.”
“Huh? You know something I don’t?”
“Of course not,” he mumbled, his mind too distracted to think.
“You’re lying!” the girl screeched, pounding her fists against his side. Her eyes narrowed and morphed red. Avary gulped. This was not good.
“Phoebe,” he coaxed, hoping that she would just calm down.
“I demand you to tell me what you know about Father’s plan.”
“There’s no plan.”
Phoebe’s tone changed. It was no longer a childish voice. It was now dark and commanding. Avary winced. This was really not good.
“Avary,” she said again. Avary turned around and couldn’t help but let an ounce of fear seep into his eyes. She smiled. It was not an innocent smile but a sinister smile that promised nothing less than pure torture. “Tell me everything you know.”
Avary held his ground, to Phoebe’s surprise.
“Father’s orders.”
She felt Avary’s intense gaze perusing her vigilantly. She couldn’t care less at the moment. If Father really bothered ordering Avary not to say anything, this could be some serious business. With a newfound wave of anger, she realized that she was excluded from the plan. Avary seemed to realize the same thing from the outrageous expression she wore. He shrugged, earning himself a death glare.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll get going then.”
That coward! Oh well, it’s Avary, Phoebe thought sulkily as she watched his form disappear amongst the trees.
The beast’s sharp claw scraped against her skin, leaving a bloody trail of blood. Aurora felt herself being slammed down. She quickly rolled away just as the creature pounded on the spot where her body had been moments ago. Aurora knew the fight would be over in an instant if the beast were to hit her directly even once.
She bit on her tongue as her back suddenly felt like it was being lit on flame. Tears filled her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She scrambled back up and reached a shaky hand behind her back. It was wet and warm. Aurora didn’t want to see the extent of the wound. She could barely stand straight.
As quick as she could, she ran. Her much smaller physique would give her an advantage if she were to run through the closely-packed trees.
Trees were torn down behind her, and she could hear the beast’s mighty roar uncomfortably close to her. Soon, she felt her head swimming, and her vision went blurry. She still hadn’t recovered from the loss of blood with the Cadence incident.
Her heart jumped to her throat when she felt nothing beneath her feet. She glanced down and almost wished she hadn’t. The ground suddenly gave away, and before she knew it, she was plummeting. As the rocks and soil cleared, she could see that there was a rushing river beneath her.
Her hair whipped past her face, and she caught the sight of a black blur at the corner of her eyes. She shut her eyes, knowing that there was no way she would be able to survive. On a second thought, she knew she wouldn’t die. Instead, she would probably be in a state of half-conscious for hours or even days in which she would rather wish she were dead.
“Who am I kidding? I’m not giving up.”
Looking up, she quickly spotted the fast approaching black shape. The animal charged at her, jaw opened to bite her in half. She didn’t mean for it to happen, but it did.
Flashes of images flew past her mind. She screamed out, but it was too late. She could no longer stop it. The emotions grew in strength until they were crushing her. She couldn’t understand all the memories, but the emotions the creature felt was overwhelming, and they now were in her mind. She clutched her head, desperately trying to stop the flow of images. For a while, she forgot that she was falling hundreds of meters down.
Aurora could vaguely hear her own name being called out, and she shut her eyes tighter. She dug her nails into her flesh, wishing that she could stop the excruciating pain. She would do anything, even if it meant her own death, just to stop the pain. The voice was louder, further intensifying the pounding in her head. Aurora wished to simply curl into a ball. Suddenly, she felt someone grab her by her waist.
“Aurora?”
Her eyes snapped open. She was falling, but at a significantly slower rate. An arm was wrapped securely around her, preventing her from fully falling. Aurora tilted her head back. The first thing she was Cade’s relieved look. Her gaze then traveled up. The red-haired angel flapped her snow-white wings furiously. A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead, and eyebrows knitted together in concentration. When she saw her gaze, she smiled at her to reassure her. Aurora grew angry.
“Cade! Leave me now!”
The beast disappeared, but at any moment, it may come back. She tried prying Cade’s arms around her, but his hold only became stronger in response.
“Do you think I’d ever let you die?”
“I won’t die,” she shot back, staring meaningfully at him. If possible, Cade gripped her even stronger.
“I still won’t let go,” he said through gritted teeth.
Aurora growled. They were falling fast, only slightly slower than freefalling. She would survive, but they wouldn’t. Moreover, god knows what kinds of creatures reside within that water. She started squirming. Cade swore.
“Cade, let go. Hey, angel,” she said, peering up, “you won’t have a problem carrying him alone, right?”
“Elena, ignore her. Aurora, there’s no way I’m letting you go.”
Cade frowned at Aurora’s back. He was expecting her to retort. Her silence was unsettling. He was just about to say something when he felt a strange shock travel up his arm.
“Auro -”
The shock suddenly intensified, and for a nanosecond, Cade hesitated. A nanosecond was all it needed. Aurora slapped his hand up before he could grab her once more. She smiled apologetically at Cade and directed her next sentence at Elena.
“Get out of here. I have a bad feeling about the water.”
Cade yelled more profanities after her and tried to reach towards her, but he felt Elena’s grip on his wrist tighten. He could only watch as Aurora plummeted to death futilely. He watched as her body hit the surface of the water. He felt dread enter his body. There was no way she could fight against the current. No way.
He was suddenly lifted upwards. Now that it was just him, it was much easier for the angel to fly.
“She’s right about the water thing. I feel it too.”
“Ele -”
“As your partner, I have to keep you alive.”
Cade glanced back once more, feeling ineptness spread through him. The guilt created a black hole, eating him away. He blamed himself for hesitating just because of a tiny burn.
Aurora took a large gulp of air before she hit the water. Since the river was anything but still and Cade had drastically slowed down her falling speed, she was spared a concussion upon hitting the surface of the water. Her body sunk downwards, being denser than water and all. Before she knew it, the torrent was hitting her with a tremendous force, pushing her even deeper underwater. Before long, her energy was sapped and her air was running out. She was thrown much like a rag doll around.
Because Aurora had always being lucky and blessed, she saw a vague silhouette of a titanic fish somewhere beneath her. As if that wasn’t enough, the shape grew in size and clarity as it made its way upwards – towards her.
Aurora’s stomach sunk uncomfortably. She was now positive it was not just a mere fish.
Valin beamed and hummed softly to himself as he rubbed the mirror furiously with a soft velvety cloth. He pivoted on his heels to place the cloth into his drawer before turning back once again to the mirror. Suddenly, his reflection in the mirror smirked. Valin stood rooted to the spot before dipping his head in respect.
“How’s it going?”
“Just as predicted by Your Majesty,” he said with a bow. “Only two thirds are left in less than six hours.”
“Hmm?”
The hand shot out from the mirror before Valin could utter a cry of surprise – not that he would unless he wanted his head to be detached from his body. Valin did not feel pain, but it was nevertheless slightly gruesome to watch.
The reflection in the mirror closed his crimson eyes and sigjed. The tip of his fingers disappeared beneath Valin’s forehead. He would seem completely at ease if it weren’t for the slight quiver shown in his eyes.
He retracted his hand, and Valin mentally sighed in relief. His reflection opened his eyes in the mirror and grinned. Although he shared Valin’s feature, Valin doubted he would ever be able to have such a twisted expression.
“My children sure are having fun,” he said proudly, and Valin couldn’t help but shiver at his tone. “Most of my children,” he corrected. “Perhaps Adrian should relax himself more.”
Valin was shivering. The mere idea of three Royalties in his campus was terrifying, and he wants to send more? Valin was petrified now. He knew that he should say something, but nothing came out.
“Valin, I am a fair Father. It would be quite inequitable of me to let the three of them take all the fun. I think my other children would want to have some fun as well. What do you say, Valin?”
“Y-Yes, as you say, Your Majesty.”
His reflection shrugged. Suddenly, the red in Valin’s reflection’s eyes dimmed until they returned to their normal black color. Valin leaned over his desk and panted. He raised a hand to wipe his brow. He glanced up once again, making sure that it really was just his own reflection before collapsing back onto his chair.
***
I recently started another story. It's teen fic/romance. Before you fantasy people groan, it will NOT be cliché. I hope you guys get it when I say I'm incapable of writing cliché stuffs. It would mean a lot if you guys can check it out. Also, I WILL finish both stories. I also will update BOTH around 3-4 days or even faster than that.
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