"Ava" Kelvin yelled through storm of raging winds.
"think about what you're doing " he advised, shielding his eyes from the dust.
Ava looked at him for a bit then returned her gaze to choking Edda, raising the dagger higher.
" alright... wait wait wait" he begged " you don't have to do this"
"of course i do" Ava's voices thundered,
"for all the mages hunted and killed across the realm" she said looking back at Edda.
Every thing played slowly to Kelvin as he heard those words, Rothgar was responsible for that not Edda, and this was the way they had planned to get revenge, his disappointment tuned into anger. He barged through the winds at her, but was quickly swept off his feet and thrown into another tree down the line.
Ava watched in amusement for a bit as he struggled to get up, but kept falling back down, when she had enough, she returned her gaze to Edda, released her breath and dropped her to the earth
"any last words" she asked
"go to hell " Edda glared
" Hmmm Always a fighter " Ava smirked then walked closer.
" I'll be sure to tell the king of your bravery when i kill him too" she added
Kelvin heard his name, in form of whispers, he turned to see Rava, calling to him desperately
"take off the chain " Rava said after getting his attention
" what " Kelvin asked
" just do it... Thank me later" Rava said.
Kelvin put his hands around the chain and pulled it up, then took a look at Rava who nodded in acknowledgement.
He took it off and tossed it onto the earth. He immediately felt drawn to the skies and his eyes landed on the full moon, followed by the sounds of snapping bones and ripping flesh.
Edda hit Ava with her chain on the face, to cut her off. Ava noticed a cut on the side of her brow and retaliated by ceasing her breadth again, and that was when she heard it, a loud ear piercing howl. She sighed and turned around to the wolf. "finally things have gotten a bit interesting" she said, wrapping Edda up in a mass of ice she had solidified from the falls. She shot a couple of stones and sticks at the charging wolf, but he evaded them quickly, she tried the winds, but he was too heavy on the ground, she tried the lightening bolts but he just knew where to hide to avoid it, she was resorting to flames when the wolf jumped and knocked her into the water.
He picked her up by the waist with one hand and threw her straight into the falls, which also knocked her down into the water again. He went over to sniff Edda's ice cage, and didn't see Ava's lightening bolt coming it stuck him and sent him crashing to the ground.
A grave silence befell the entire scene after this happened and the winds calmed.
The wolf got up again, completely healed and charged at her. But she was ready this time. She levitated and planted a seal on its chest, that sent it crashing down to her side. Its red eyes changed into the familiar yellow, but it couldn't return to the human form. It shrunk in size steadily till it was twice the size of a human, then the eyes slammed shut.
Ava immediately turned off the glow and took of her hood when she realized it couldn't move, her plan had worked. She released the spell she had cast on the others, and beckoned to them to come over, Dru also came running from the camp, and didn't stop till he reached the large wolf. He tugged at the wolf's head for a bit, then the wolf's eye's opened to reveal Kelvin's.
Edda lay on the floor a few feet away from him looking dreadfully at the beast before her.
"Edda, are you alright " she heard Kelvin's voice reach out to her, but the wolf's mouth wasn't moving
The question came again, then she nodded slowly.
" Kelvin" she called, and the wolf responded looking to her, "look in the water" she urged.
Kelvin motioned to stand, but landed back on the muddy earth. He tried to again and was able to push himself up from the mud, he looked into the water in the moon light and there in his below him on the water surface was the image of a wolf, a wolf so big it scared him, he fell backwards and splattered on the mud, making Edda giggle lightly.
Kelvin turned to her, wondering what could possibly be funny, that was when it hit him.
"this was all a show to prove their their theory right, no wonder Ava had kept them all tied up but him"
"you had to go that far" he whispered when Ava came to them
" yea... There was a high chance you were going to kill me" she replied.
"and you could have killed me too " Kelvin retorted
" yes... But i was able to achieve something"
" yea... well what's that" Kelvin inquired sitting up on one arm.
"the next time you transform, you'll be in control, no matter how big you get "
" really" Edda sat up excitedly.
"yea i figured we could use that side of him in his right mind "
Kelvin wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not, but continued to examine the rest of his body slowly.
Vulcan and Marcus helped pull him up to his feet, when they reached them.
" that was one hell of an act you all put on out here tonight " Kelvin began
" one of you could have been hurt "
" well if didn't look real you wouldn't have fallen for it " Mia replied picking up his chain.
" give me that " Ava said yanking it away from her
She studied it for a bit then handed it over to Kelvin, now there just one more thing you need to be able to do, but i cant teach that, you need to be able to do that yourself"
"what is it" Rava asked anxiously
"transformation at will, it could be the difference between winning and loosing "
" but i don't know how to do that " Kelvin retorted
" that's why i said learn "
" alright enough talk everybody... bed time " Edda said getting up from the water side where she had washed her hair...
At dawn they were up again, after a brief analysis of their next stop point they saddled their horses, and we're on their way again. They discussed the battle of the previous night in groups, the girls stuck together and the boys too. Except Levi who as always walked in front, leading the way.
They came to a cross road where Levi had taken a turn to his left and the others followed on, but Kelvin. The roads practically led the same way, just that the Left was a lot longer so he decided to inform them.
Levi stopped his horse when he heard him, and so did the others, without waiting for Levi's instructions, they turned around and began riding in that direction. And to Kelvin's surprise Levi didn't react, something was off about him, he had been a bit more detached from things than usual, but what was going on in his head was what Kelvin couldn't pinpoint.
Edda Ava and Rava also were surprised, and he could feel their eyes on him, but he kept to his unusual smile. He rode past Kelvin without giving him so much as a glance.
Before long he was in front of the line again, riding quietly. The others following slowly from behind. Carina doubled her pace and caught up with Levi
"hey captain " she said softly
" what's up " Levi responded looking in her direction
" I'm alright" she said with a soft smile.
"yea, good to hear that soldier " he replied returning his gaze forward
" you've been acting a little weird lately, and i was starting to worry"
"something strange about it" he asked. She shook her head slowly with a stare that showed that she wasn't hindered or bothered by his words
"you ever wanna talk about it, ill be here" she winked and slowed her horse down for the others to catch up.
At sunset, the horizon began to look really uneven, but after minutes of riding, it began to take shape, forming buildings, with lit up windows, spread over a vast area of land. Levi slowed down when he noticed the city, trying to decide whether or not to go in. the mission had consumed enough time already. He didn't even know which city it was, but there was a huge chance it was the gargoyle city.
He was still thinking about the order to give, when he heard Kelvin's name being called repeatedly.
He turned to see Kelvin riding east of their position with a great speed, Dru in front.
They all kept yelling at Kelvin on top of their voice, but he didn't stop, they waited for Levi to give an order, but he was too stunned to.
Edda gripped her reins tightly and moved her waist hard against the saddle to move her horse forward. She chased after him. The others stood anxiously waiting for Levi to give the order. But he told them to make camp instead.
Edda followed Kelvin on for minutes, afraid of losing sight of him, which she eventually did after a couple hundred meters. She looked in all her directions, but saw and heard nothing it was all quiet and still. Which made her suspicion rise. She turned around to see if the others followed, but the was alone, out in the open, with no protection of any kind, she dreaded the feeling of vulnerability, and it kept coming to her from all directions, so much so that her horse felt it from the way she tugged at the reins. She swore she was going to kill kelvin when she eventually found him.
She motioned to ride forward, but heard a loud bark. She stopped and listened again, and the sound came again. She turned her horse in the direction and followed it, then she saw dru, standing in an open path. He ran off into the woods as soon soon as she saw him, she followed after for a couple of of minutes till she came to the foot of multiple mountains, reaching up so high, the shadows they casted, brought the night feeling earlier than normal. She rode through the side of each one and circled about some others, just like Dru did, and After some time she arrived the foot of a mountain with a castle on top, but with no lights in it.
She followed Dru all the way up, wondering how possible it was to build a castle so hidden in the mountains and trees, it would be impossible to find. She was slowly beginning to doubt the fact that the place even existed on the map. Before long she arrived the front of the castle and realized it was a ruin. The gates were burnt beyond repair, barely hanging from their hinges. She descended from the horse and pulled it in with her, looking over her shoulder with every step. It was darker than it was on the outside when she got in. The castle cast a thick shadow over everything since the sunset was way behind it. She couldn't see much, stumbling over stones and wood occasionally. She heard the tapping of hoofs against the earth and a slight neigh, propelling her to turn in the direction it came from and there, stood Kelvin's horse, tide up. She exhaled relieved and tied hers too.
She followed Dru till the inner courts where she eventually found Kelvin at the front of a dry fountain. On his knees, face down on the edge. She called out his name but he didn't answer. She called again, this time walking over to him. She placed her hands on his clenched fist, and knelt by his side.
"is this Eldor" she asked. Kelvin nodded his response with along with an affirmative sound.
"sounds like the old man was right after all" she added
"he slaughtered women and children " Kelvin sniffed, revealing his mixed state of anger and sorrow.
" just because he wanted one man he thought they were hiding " he added
" i understand this must be hard for you Kelvin " Edda said, reaching up to his shoulder with her hands.
" everything I've known since i could think and reason, burned with this place Edda, everything burned, everything I've loved" he sniffed again. Banging against the concrete slab with his hand.
Edda snaked her hand up to his neck and the other around his side, and Drew him to herself
"it's alright, ive got you" she assured, resting her on his shoulders.
"he's going to pay for what he's done, I'll make sure he does" Kelvin whispered, gritting his teeth together.
"i know... I know you would, and I'll be there to help I promise '' Edda replied, warmly.
They stayed that way for a couple of minutes before breaking apart. Kelvin helped her up to her feet and they lit a touch, with which they gathered more wood for a bigger fire, they had their dried loafs for dinner and did a lot of talking over the fire, mostly Kelvin who kept pointing to places and telling her what used to happen there. He told her about an open sigil on the ground in the center of the hall, where a demon was said to have been sealed, but it was just myth to him, he told her about what their training was like, the examination hurdles they had to pass, and what it was like, getting missions to places they had never heard of "it was a lot of stress but it was fun" he said. " at least till he was called up to the Avidius.
He was so deep in a description at one point he got confused, and started Rambling about. He was more like mimicking the characters he was talking about.
"... and so Aurethria said to them in her usual elvish way of speaking I'm going to kill you with this spoon , and you the plate... Or was it the other way round " he said, scratching his scalp " anyways the point is... Why would anybody body try to kill someone with a spoon... Or a plate"
Edda giggled " you'll be surprised what people can do these days.
After a series of awkward mimics and uncontrollable laughter, it reached up a point she was just staring at him with a mild smile as he talked, and when he noticed it, he made a brief pause.
" what" he asked, wondering what was going on in her head
"Nothing " she replied, dismissing the smile from her face.
" come on get in here its cold " she said inviting him to share the blanket with her, he refused at first, but after the glare she shot him, he got up spontaneously and slid under the blanket with her.
They remained there, awkwardly staring at the stars above, with a long silence, an a little bit of mutual nervousness.
"when we find this threat, what next " Edda asked
" i really don't know" Kelvin replied turning to her, he noticed her expression change to a sudden form of worry.
"hey c'mon leave that part to me, it's the reason I'm here right? I'll sort it out just relax" he urged.
She looked at him with a warm smile, " how do you manage to stay so calm with all of these" she inquired leaning on his shoulder, and locking her hand with his
"i don't know i just... " he said looking sideways to her, he stopped in the middle of his sentence and swallowed hard, looking at her breathtakingly beautiful face in the glow of the camp fire.
" what? " she asked with a smirk, he was going to turn his face away, but she held her hand up to prevent him.
He felt his heart dip, when her palm touched his face, realizing the message of acceptance or invitation she was passing. He reached up to her wrist with his hand and leaned in slowly.
Their eyes closed as their noses connected, each one drawing heavy breaths, with racing hearts. Then Kelvin reached for her lower lip with his, initiating a long gentle, but invigorating kiss that neither of them wanted to stop. Kelvin stopped first, then pulled himself back down in his spot, then Edda sighed, and turned to him "seriously?" she asked.
"what" he smirked
She rolled over on top of him and repeated the kiss again and again and again, absorbing every single feel of the moment.