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theavengerfairy · 4 years

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One Step Closer - Chapter 2

Previously known as “Gravity”

Rayla's head would've hurt less if it were being split open. Never had she heard such a grating, mind-rattling sound as this one, and it continued to claw and scrape at her head in the form of phantasmic echoes long after the source had finally gone silent. Battling against the painful pulsing that pounded against her skull, she tried to reign in her scattered thoughts and grab her blades, which she had unwittingly dropped, but just as her fumbling hands found their hilts in the grass beside her, a blow from behind sent her tumbling forward onto her stomach.

"Madeleine, run!"

"But-!"

"I said run!"

Flipping onto her back with a grunt, Rayla staggered to her feet and lunged in the direction of her attacker's voice, swinging blindly with her blades and hoping she would get lucky. Although the first swipe missed its mark completely, one of the swords managed to snag on her opponent's cloak the second time around and thus gave away her exact position to the still partially blind elf, who pounced on her without a second of hesitation. Grabbing Rayla's wrists before she could bludgeon her with her weapons, her adversary slipped her legs beneath her opponent as soon as her back hit the ground and catapulted the elf over her head, sending her hurtling towards the creek's edge.

"Callum, a wind rune or a lightning spell would be very helpful right about now!" Rayla snapped when she picked herself back up after landing with a painful thud, being extra careful not to slip on the slick mud of the bank.

Callum gave no answer, and after staring at his still slightly blurry form long enough for her eyes to adjust, she noticed his skin had turned an alabaster-like shade that definitely was not natural for humans.

"Callum!"

"B-Ba-Banshee!"

"What-?"

A strike to sternum cut Rayla off and sent her plunging into the creek with a graceless flail and a mighty splash. The water wasn't very deep but she still managed to inhale a less than healthy amount of it before she had floundered her way back to the surface and latched onto the shore with an Achillean grip, leaving her disoriented and vulnerable as she hacked and wheezed for air. When a shadow passed over her, she squinted to look at the cloaked figure that loomed in front of her, her hood completely obscuring her face except for her scowling mouth.

"You disgust me. Have you no sense of shame or fear?!" she snarled, venom practically dripping in thick droplets from her lips. Crouching down in the grass and mud, she gripped Rayla's chin tightly in one hand while the other scrubbed harshly at the deep purple markings beneath her eyes. "How sick can you be to dress up as an elf to commit your crimes so they will be blamed for your treachery-"

The woman's voice suddenly faltered, and her mouth soon fell agape as she stared first at her pristinely clean hand followed by Rayla's unaltered markings.

"They're real...You're real..."

"Yep, and this is really going to hurt."

A surprised yelp sprang from the woman's lips as Rayla rammed her forehead against her nose as hard as she could, sending her scrambling back as her hands flew to her face. Not wasting a second, the Moonshadow elf dragged herself up and barreled towards her disoriented opponent, blades raised and ready to deliver a debilitating blow, but just as she was about to swing, a white and light blue blur darted directly in front of her, forcing her to skid to a halt in order to avoid slamming into it and tripping.

"Zym, get out of the way!" Rayla snapped irritably, but the baby dragon didn't budge, his usually wide, innocent eyes now alight with a defiant spark. Grumbling to herself, she tried to step around him, but Zym merely ran back in front of her again, this time giving a shrill yip of protest as he locked gazes with her.

"Ugh, what has gotten into you?! Callum, snap out of whatever daze you're in and come help me!"

Rapidly fluttering his eyelashes while simultaneously shaking his head seemed to be the magic combo for breaking whatever spell had rendered Callum totally paralyzed, but he took little more than three timid steps forward before immediately freezing up again, his attention flitting back and forth between Zym and the hooded figure a mere foot behind him.

"Zym, come here now." he demanded in as stern of a voice as he could muster with his trembling lips. Unfortunately for him, he didn't come across as very intimidating and Zym didn't seem bothered by him in the slightest.

Rayla rolled her eyes. "Callum, just grab him!"

"But the banshee is right there! What if she grabs me?!"

"Okay, what in the name of Thunder is a banshee and why are you so scared of it?! I'm literally standing right here ready to slice it into fleshy ribbons if it moves!"

"Okay, first off, thank you so much for putting that image in my head so it now can and will surely haunt me in my nightmares. Second, banshees are spirits, Rayla! It's gonna take more than a couple of swords to kill it!"

"She felt pretty solid to me."

"Geez, is bickering all you two do? Then again, I guess I can't complain since your arguing gave me enough time to finish assembling my little friend!"

All heads snapped in the direction from which Madeleine's voice had come until every eye found the redhead lurking beneath the shade of a cluster of weeping willow trees, a peculiar device perched atop a leather glove on her outstretched arm. It resembled a crossbow like the ones Rayla had observed several of the palace guards wielding on a much smaller scale and with an additional, lever-like piece that rested against her fingers, and though the girl tried to carry herself with confidence, the elf could read the faint lines of trepidation in her face. Whatever that device was, she was just as wary of it as the rest of them.

"Put down the swords and step away from them or I will shoot."

"Go ahead. Take a shot and see what happens." Rayla barked back, the balls of her feet grinding in the dirt as she hunched down and prepared to sprint.

A ripple of shock as well as possible fright momentarily muddled Madeleine's determined expression, but her trembling legs remained planted where they were and her face quickly rehardened, her teeth sinking into her lower lip as she met Rayla's glare while her fingers twitched in anticipation mere millimeters above the crossbow's trigger. Tension left the air in the clearing buzzing hotly and a confrontation seemed imminent until the banshee's cool voice sliced clean through the heat.

"Everyone just stop! I believe there's been a huge misunderstanding here! Madeleine, put down that hazard of a contraption before you hurt yourself again or somebody else!"

"But-"

"Now!"

An angry huff puffed from Madeleine's scowling lips but she did not argue further. While her eyes remained fixated on Callum and Rayla, the latter in particular, she tentatively slipped off the glove and deposited on the ground by her feet with the utmost delicacy to avoid accidentally setting it off. However, that wasn't good enough for Rayla.

"back away from it."

Madeleine's face flashed angry red, but at a nod from the hooded woman, she reluctantly obeyed and shuffled away from her invention until there was at least a yard's distance between them. "There, ya happy?"

Rayla ignored the redhead's sass completely as she stared down her attacker, her blades still tightly clenched in her hands, "You attacked me; what is there to misunderstand about that?"

"Well, we actually kind of attacked them first..." Callum interrupted only for his tongue to magically transform into a rock when Rayla swivelled her scalding gaze onto him, and the nervous grin he offered her didn't win over.

"Both of us misinterpreted each other's actions. I thought you were planning to harm Madeleine in order to take the prince for your own malicious aims-"

"Well, you weren't completely wrong."

"-but now I realize that we are on the same side."

Rayla scoffed so loudly she startled a pair of unwitting birds that had made the mistake of coming of perch on the limbs of a nearby sapling only a moment before, "You seriously expect me to believe anything you say after you almost drowned me and your little friend threatened to shoot us?! Ha! Give me one good reason why I should listen to you, oh terrible phantom!"

The woman went very quiet for a moment before raising her head just enough for Rayla to catch of glimpse of a pair of vibrant violet irises that shone like polished gemstones beneath the shadow of her hood. "Don't skewer me."

"No promises."

Moving slowly as to not accidentally provoke an attack, the woman grabbed the brim of her hood and pulled it back, allowing lengthy ringlets of fluffy, somewhat messy, snow white curls to spill down to her thighs as the sun kissed the lightly tanned skin of her face. Starting just below her bottom lip, a line of dark blue dots stretched down to the bottom of her chin, each marking slightly smaller than the one before it, and from within her cloud-like mane, out poked a pair of rounded and stubby, light blueish gray horns as well as two pointed ears rimmed by shimmering fins that were also a fair shade of blue. Removing her gloves next, the girl held up a hand in plain view, wiggling her four fingers so the light danced on the translucent webbing between them.

"This a good enough reason for you?" she muttered, her flat tone making hard to decipher whether she was being sarcastic or deliberate.

Rayla didn't answer. In fact, aside from her eyes that skimmed over the other elf from head to toe, she didn't even move. Callum, however, was an entirely different story.

"You...You're an elf! You're another elf!" His shoulders shook with his nervous laughter before he breathed a long sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness! I thought we were in serious trouble for a second there."

"She could be a fake."

"Huh?"

"She just accused me of disguising myself as an elf. We can't just assume she's the real thing because she looks the part," Rayla repeated bluntly, but even as she said those words, she subconsciously lowered her swords to rest idly at her sides.

The she elf's head tilted slightly to one side and a coy smile stretched across her lips. "You really think an ordinary human could mimic the wail of an Oceancry elf that perfectly, Moondrop?"

"It's Rayla, not Moondrop."

"Anora."

"I wasn't asking. What are you doing wandering around on this side of the border and with a human no less?!"

"I could ask you the same thing, although I think I already have a pretty good idea of what's your story is." Without the threat of being flayed by Rayla's blades to keep her down, Anora gracefully picked herself up off of the ground and brushed away the dirt that clung to her legs before casually scooping Zym into her arms. When she gently scratched at the nape of his neck, the dragonling trilled happily and went limp in her embrace, his complete vulnerability a testament of his trust which only brightened her smile. "I'll tell you whatever you wish to know, but first we should move somewhere more secluded to ensure the prince's safety. That okay with you, Moondrop?"

"Fine." Instinct and years of training both reeled in Rayla's head, aghast that she would agree to something so foolish, but Rayla was far too focused on Anora to pay them much mind. Despite the fact that the other elf easily towered at least a head over her, she still tried to appear intimidating by puffing herself up to her full height and keeping their gazes locked together. "But if you do anything even slightly fishy, I promise that nobody will ever find your body once I'm done with it."

Anora merely snorted in amusement. "You Moonshadow elves truly are excessively paranoid."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing. There's a hidden glade with a pond and waterfall nearby that we can go to, and if you weary travellers are hungry, Maddie and I would be more than happy to catch a few more fish and treat you to some lunch."

Madeleine groaned, "We would?"

"Yes, we would."

"That would be great!" Callum's eyes sparkled brighter than they had all day at the mention of food, but the gleam flickered slightly when he noticed Rayla's disapproving scowl in the corner of his eye. "What?"

"You're unbearably naive." she grumbled sourly with an exaggerated roll of her eyes before begrudgingly trailing after Anora, leaving Callum to stare at the back of her head, utterly perplexed, as he wondered what exactly he had done wrong this time.

-------------------------------

The glade was surprisingly beautiful. The water of the pond shone like cerulean tinted glass, clear enough for onlookers to see all the way to its bottom where the smartest fish wedged themselves amongst the stones and leafy freshwater plants, while carpets of long, impossibly green grass dotted with colorful bursts of neon flowers danced along its outskirts. The only noise that could be heard was the trickling of the waterfall as it splashed down from the rocky, moss-covered cliff that was just off center in the little alcove accompanied by the occasional whistle of the wind or twitter of nearby birds, creating a peaceful symphony that sank beneath the skin and soothed the soul as the network of large trees along the border of the glade wove their branches together to seal the little pocket of beauty safely away from the rest of the world. Rayla never would have guessed that such a beautiful spot could exist outside of Xadia in the land of mankind.

Of course, the moment quickly became a lot less serene when a flying fish unexpectedly nailed her on the cheek.

"Sorry, Rayla!"

Zym immediately dove for the still flopping fresh catch as it landed in Rayla's lap, gobbling it down whole in the blink of an eye. Wiping fishy residue from her face, Rayla shot a scowl at Madeleine and Callum, who both sat hunched by the water's edge fussing over a catapult-like contraption that the former had ingeniously assembled in a matter of minutes out of a pile of spare parts, fishing net, and things she had gathered from their surroundings. "Why do you have to make a device to catch the fish for you? Just do it yourself!"

"What's the fun in that?" Madeleine chirped in a rather smug retort, a choice she immediately regretted when she observed Rayla's eyes shift from mildly icy to unforgivingly frigid. "M-Maybe we can move a little further away so you're not in the direct line of fire."

"I would do that." Anora called from where she was squatted across from Rayla, prodding at the kindling of the campfire crackling between them with a long stick before feeding it another generous handful of twigs and leaves to help it grow. When she noticed the dragonling go scampering in the direction of the water, she added, "Make sure Zym isn't eating your catch as fast as you can bring it in."

Rayla didn't take her eyes off of Madeleine or her contraption until both had moved at least two yards down the shoreline, which may have been rather excessive to say the least but she wanted to be absolutely certain that she was out of range before she let her guard drop. Anora, however, misread her body language to mean something else entirely

"They're oddly intriguing to watch, aren't they? With such ingenuity, they hardly need magic." she purred, hints of awe and pride coloring her voice.

"That's one way to look at it," Rayla scoffed, sarcasm dripping from her lips in thick droplets as she finally turned her back to the waterfront and swiveled her attention onto the dancing flames before her, "So let me make sure I've got everything straight. Your parents were the guardians of the half of the Ocean Nexus bay that resides in the human world, but you haven't seen them since an attack separated you?"

"Correct."

"And the reason you're travelling with a human-"

"Maddie."

"-is because her open-minded parents took you in and hid you after you rescued her from an undercurrent, but you two got split up from them when the townsfolk where they lived found out your secret and chased all of you out?"

"You're good so far."

"Huh, you have worse luck than I do," Rayla mumbled before her common sense could kick in and stop her, but judging by the giggle that rang from her lips like the chiming of a cluster of small silver bells, Anora found the observation equally amusing. "I guess what I don't understand is why you went to save Maddie in the first place. I mean, I had a reason for teaming up with Callum, but you just acted without one. She's a human and you're an elf; why didn't you run the other way as soon as you saw her?"

A gust stole through the glade, tousling the grass and shaking the branches of the trees as though the forest itself was laughing at such a question. Anora, however, simply continued to smile as she set aside her stick, satisfied for now with the fire's current state, and reclined back into a more comfortable position as the light from the flames danced in her deep eyes.

"I suppose it's simply a part of my nature."

Rayla could sense what was coming. "Ugh, you're about to get all philosophical with me, aren't you?"

"Only if you don't mind."

The Moonshadow elf shrugged her shoulders in weary resignation. "Just get it over with."

"Do you know anything about the Ocean arcanum?"

"Not really. Water isn't exactly my thing."

"Well, what do see when you look at a body of water?"

"My worst nightmare."

Anora's composure rippled for a moment as she strived to suppress the giggle swelling in the back of her throat like a wave, but it spilled out anyways in the form of a rather crude snort. "Beyond that. What do you perceive when you look at the water, like this pond for example?"

Yep, this was getting more and more like Rayla's talks with Lujanne and Villads every second. Allowing her eyes to drift to the pool, she hardly thought at all and blurted whatever came to her mind, "Well, it's kinda still and calm, I guess?"

"And yet, despite appearing that way on the surface, down below it is brimming with life and activity."

"Yeah, I'm still not getting it."

"Those of us with Ocean arcanums have a special understanding of the relationship between perception and reality, much like those with Moon arcanums like yourself. However, while the Moon arcanum focuses on perception, the Ocean arcanum puts more emphasis on reality. While we may be limited to our perception of something, that doesn't change the reality of it. At one moment, the ocean may be calm and inviting, and in the next it can become stormy and dangerous. Everything and everyone contains unknown potential beneath the surface, and we can allow that capacity to fill us with either a fear that holds us captive or a hope that makes us brave."

"So basically what you are telling me is that my hatred for water actually stems from the fact that the magic of the Ocean pretty much directly contrasts that of the Moon?"

This time, both girls busted out in laughter, catching both Callum and Madeleine offguard and enabling Zym to wriggle free from the former's arms and scarf down with unrivaled speed the small pile of fish that had accumulated next to the latter.

"I don't know. Anything is possible after all," Anora purred while flashing Rayla an impish wink. "Anything else I can clear up for you?"

"Actually, there is one more thing: what in the world is this banshee nonsense that Callum was babbling about or are you as clueless about it as I am?"

"Um, for the record, it is not nonsense. Banshees are very real and very dangerous!"

Rayla shot a sour glance over her shoulder. "I thought you were busy fishing."

Callum's nose wrinkled at Rayla's snide remark as he eased himself down beside her, Zym once again wrapped snugly in his arms, and the girls quickly caught a whiff of the pungent stench of raw fish tainting the dragonling's breath. "We decided Zym needed to be kept away from the water if we ever want to eat. You seriously don't know what a banshee is though?"

"No! For the last time, I've never heard of a freaking banshee in my life!"

"Banshees are creatures of human myth, not Xadian."

Rayla's lips twisted into a sly smirk that she made certain Callum noticed. "Myth, as in not real?"

"Oh, we're very real, Rayla. The details of our legends amongst the humans are just a little...embellished."

Once again, Callum's skin whitened to that same corpse-like color he had adopted when they first encountered Anora, and though he didn't consciously realize it, he scooted a little closer to Rayla. "Wait, you mean you're really..."

"A banshee? Yes and no."

Groaning, Rayla lowered her face into her open palm, her fingertips gently massaging her forehead as it began to ache. "Great, now my head is really starting to spin."

"The banshees of human folklore are a complete hoax, but they did originate from something real. Any guesses as to what or who might've served as inspiration?"

When all the pieces clicked together in her head, Rayla's cheeks flushed pink at her own stupidity. "Oceancry elves! Of course!"

"Correct, namely the Oceancry elves that have served as the guardians of the Ocean Nexus or the shores of Xadia. It was pure coincidence that a few deaths occurred after someone witnessed us scream, but rather than fight the folktale, we decided to use it to our advantage."

Callum's brows drew together in sheer confusion, "Wait, can only female Oceancry elves scream like that?"

"No, both women and men alike can screech like that, though the pitches might be different."

"Then how come banshees are always said to be female?"

A devilish sparkle going the flames dancing in Anora's eyes. "Have you seen any male elves, Callum? It isn't exacted a hard mistake to make."

Rayla's hand flew to her mouth to muffle her giggling; she imagined Runaan wouldn't have taken too kindly to such a remark. Fortunately, the scratching of scales on scales and the thump of Madeleine's nets hitting the ground drowned her out.

"Okay, I caught 'em; somebody else can cook 'em." Madeleine grunted as she flopped down between Callum and Anora. "Also, I was thinking about your little dilemma, and I think I've got a solution. If you guys can't get to Xadia by land, why not go by sea?"

The giddy warmth in Rayla's chest immediately evaporated, and she must've gasped because all eyes were suddenly on her. Her entire body had gone numb and dead aside from her racing heart, which beat against her ribs in panicked protest. She couldn't speak, couldn't find the words.

"Not an option. We have to find another way." Callum insisted, grabbing Rayla's hand and giving it a tight squeeze while Zym nuzzled her shoulder with his nose. These things should have brought Rayla comfort, but instead a painful heaviness began to well in her chest.

"No. We can't waste time looking for an opening along the border. If the sea is our best option, then we'll go by sea."

"But Rayla-"

Rayla offered Callum a weary smile and clenched his hand in return. "It's alright, Callum. I'll manage."

"If you plan to go by water, crossing over the Ocean Nexus would be your best bet." Anora offered, lowering her eyes before the others could notice the sadness lurking in their corners, "I could take you there but the journey will take a few days at the very least. We'll need to gather some supplies before we depart to limit the amount of stops we have to make along the way-"

"Are you sure you want to go back there?" Rayla frowned, not needing to see Anora's inner struggle to know that it was there.

Slowly, Anora allowed her eyes to drift from Rayla to Callum and finally to Zym. "If it means returning the Dragon Prince home and hopefully stopping the coming war, absolutely."

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