Your happiness at my surprise chapter makes me happy too, so here's an other one! (A bit short, but come on, my last update was less than five days ago; I'm making progress!)
Also, I'm thinking of having a Christmas one shot competition... Would that even interest anyone? (There will be prizes for the winner(s) of course;) )
There'll be more detail on that later.
Quick Recap:
Anselm has given Hailey a key and told her to go to Sperodyfis. Bree has agreed to let Chase and Autumn go with her, but Aiden, as one of the Elite Archers, has to stay.
Chapter 34
"That's it, we have everything," Chase said, checking one last time the strap which held some of our supplies on Juno's back, between her two pinkish wings. Besides that, we all carried a light pack and were given some money to buy food at villages we passed. Bree, in a rare moment of thoughtfulness, had given me a sturdy piece of string so I could hang the key around my neck and not risk losing it.
Aiden had disappeared after Bree's rebuke, and although Chase was reluctant to leave without saying goodbye to his best friend, we couldn't put our departure off any longer.
"I understand that you two are really close and want to go together, but this isn't a game. We can't afford to lose two of our best warriors right now," Bree had said. "Plus, he survived fine when you went to get Hailey last time."
The enemy had disappeared from sight, which meant we were free to fly as we wanted, so we cut through the side of the forest to get out into the open.
While we were flying, Autumn explained to me what Sperodyfis was, sometimes interrupted by a stray gust of wind.
"Sperodyfis is the home of the Eolian Order, who worship the goddess Alaris, as well as a place of great magic. You will find remains of the ancient magic here and there in Aeolus, but nowhere as strong as it is in Sperodyfis."
"Magic?" I asked. "Like what kind of magic?"
Even if having wings was magical enough, I had a feeling that Autumn was referring to something even more major than that.
"Not magic as in flying pandas, if that's what you're asking," She grinned.
"Darn it, no point in going, then," I joked.
"It's a stronger, less tangible magic than what you've seen so far. More unpredictable, too. There was a time when it was everywhere, so long ago that some believe it to be a myth-"
"It is a myth!" Chase, who was flying a bit in front of us, interrupted.
"Stop eavesdropping, you party-pooper!" I shot back jokingly. "I want to hear the story."
"Well, it might be a myth, but sometimes I like to believe in them, it's just more fun." Autumn said, to which I agreed. "So anyway, a long time ago, that magic was everywhere. It fed the land, birthed the most wondrous creatures imaginable-"
"Wow, I didn't even know it was possible to use wondrous in a sentence like that," Chase commented.
"Chaaase, stop interrupting," I pouted, trying to hide how much I enjoyed seeing his more playful side resurface.
"Okay, sorry, Hailey. I'll be quiet now."
"Alright, children, behave," Autumn tried to be stern, but laughter was evident in her eyes. "As I was saying, that magic created many wonderful things, but bad ones as well. For some unknown reason, it started growing stronger, wilder, and tears were made in the invisible cloth that separates this world from the human one. The goddess Alaris, who had power over the magic, decided it was time to intervene before it endangered the human world. She gathered up all the magic, tamed it, and bound it to the Sielg of Sperodyfis, from where it could still feed our world, but was controlled by the power of the Sielg so that it did not turn evil."
I raised my hand playfully. "What's a Sielg?"
"Think Stonehenge standing stones, but like... I guess you'll just have to wait till we get there for you to see what they look like. Basically, though, they trap in the magic, tame it, so that it will filter out more orderly. That is why it is in Sperodyfis that the magic is purer, more potent."
"Shhh. Quiet both of you." Chase held up his hand.
I glared, "You said you wouldn't-"
"Hailey!"
I realised he wasn't playing around and shut up.
"Fly closer to me. We'll go down until we can land," Chase said quietly. "I think something or someone is following us."
Autumn and I exchanged worried glances.
The three of us got closer together, our wing tips almost touching, and begun our descent.
Once our feet touched the grass, Chase said,
"You two keep walking, I'll stay behind you." He looked behind us and squinted, trying to see behind the trails of white clouds. Then, realization seemed to hit him, and he groaned. "Oh, please, no. Tell me, that's not..."
Autumn and I looked at each other, eyes wide.
Then, a familiar voice reached us, accompanied by well-known, flame-colored wings.
"Wait up, guys! It's me!"
A few minutes later, Aiden dropped messily next to us in a flurry of red feathers.
"Phew," He panted, resting his hands on his knees, "So... Out of breath... Had to sprint to catch up..."
In answer, Chase slapped him behind the head.
"Hey," Aiden protested, rubbing his neck, "What'd I do?"
"You know very well what you did. You blatantly disobeyed a superior so you could follow us." Chase reprimanded.
"Exactly," Aiden looked more confused than hurt, "I thought you'd be happy to see me, not hit me."
"Aiden! This is the kind of thing that get you kicked out of Junior Troops! Is 'discharged for insubordination' really something you want on your resume?"
"Oh... Crap." Aiden's eyes widened. "You serious?"
Chase's facial expression was all the answer he needed. "We're at war, Aiden."
"Um... Between me being Elite Archer and you second in command, do you think we might be able to, you know, not let them do that?"
"You know I'll do my best." Chase sighed.
"You are the best."
Aiden was not one to be down for long. His happy-go-lucky smile returned, and he said, "Well, since I'm here now, no use dwelling on the past. Let's go, people! Your travel party just got twice as awesome."
Chase shook his head, torn between being happy for Aiden's presence and worrying about how mad Bree would be when she found out he was here, and gave the signal for us to climb up in the sky once more.