CLIFF HANGER!!!

Thanks for the tip, Starseeker, and unsuspectingstoryteller, well..... You don't get to know what happens yet~ =}

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          Unnamed drummed her fingers against the table, staring out her window. It was sunrise this time, and the mountain was tinted with the pale pink flushes of sunrise in the early morning.

          What was it like on the mountain? Would the cool morning mists hug you? What did they feel like? Were they a certain temperature? Hot or cold? Did they feel thick? Did they cover you, like clothes?

           The unnamed girl, or the Uplifted one, sighed. She could run down so many flights of the giant stairs and into the outside world. But would she? Could she if she tried to force herself to? Didn’t she like life here enough?

           What was wrong with her…? Was something wrong with her brain? They had treated her so nicely here, yet she wanted to leave this beautiful place. Why did she want to leave so badly…? Was there something defective about her birth?

            ...Was she being a little bit overdramatic?

Perhaps. But wasn’t she always?

                Today she had to prove that she could rebel from her orderly life. But learning to use her magicks wasn’t such a bad thing. Well...was it? She just spent six hours each day learning how to perfect her magic with Teacher.

                 No, she decided. Rebelling completely wasn’t on her agenda. Rebelling completely wasn’t something she, the cheerful little prodigy of Magiresse Tower, would find herself doing. But she could take baby steps…

                 She could run down the flights of grand stairs (more like slide down the railing) And go to the fifth floor; the floor she wasn’t supposed to go on, where the common Mages and their families lived. She was above them for her magical ability. She wasn’t even that smart, or a prodigy! She just had amazing magics….and that wasn’t even her fault.

                  She smiled, throwing her dirty jacket on and running towards the stairs, then sliding directly down the banister, giggling.

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                 Rien, Kol, and Dilen were...slightly in trouble. Perhaps due to the fact that they were currently in the middle of nowhere, quite literally. The canal twisted and turned so many times that they gave up trying to use it to backtrack. It wasn’t any use. And forwards? The canal just drove into some underground cavern filled with water.

               So it was time to try climbing the thick wall that kept erosion out of the canal. After several tries, it finally worked, and they were over the wall and into--

               “What on earth?” Rien mumbled under his breath. Trees towered everywhere around them, and vines dangled everywhere in the thick underbrush. “Are we in some sorta rainforest?” Kol mumbled. Rien shot him a look. They obviously weren’t; the forest floor was covered with dead leaves, and there was nothing tropical about the area.

                Dilen glanced around. “From the p-pr-progress we made down the c-canal, and th-the fact th-that I’ve never r-read a document on such-ch a biome, we’re somewhere around the Dark Woods.” Dilen said, toying with his necklace. “What?” Kol and Rien exclaimed at the same moment.

                 The Dark Woods were mentioned in pretty much every fairy tale and nursery rhyme. It was pretty clear; they were a stereotype of evil woods that you didn’t want to go into. Evils lurked inside of them, and if you stepped inside...you weren’t very likely to come back. But...nothing was magical-looking about this place, other than the colossal size of the trees and the thick vines that were draped everywhere.

                 Before either of them could say anything, Rien took off running into the forest. “Rien!” Kol yelled. “What the--”

                 Rien grabbed one of the vines and used his momentum to swing a few feet above the ground, his feet pinched closely together around the vine, before his feet finally scuffed the ground and he fell down, landing on his feet.

                 Kol couldn’t help but laugh. “Great, Rien.” Rien flashed Kol a giant grin, then took off running at the nearest vine.

                 Kol glanced over at Dilen. “So, we don’t have any food, and we’re in the middle of a forest that no books have been written about, and we’re completely and hopelessly undersupplied and unprepared?” Kol asked. Dilen just nodded, trembling and fidgeting with his necklace.

                 Kol nodded and accepted it. “Well, for now, let’s work to change a few of those things, shall we?” Kol asked. Dilen nodded.

                 Suddenly Kol froze. “Did you hear that?” Kol whispered. Dilen nodded. “As if s-someth-th-thing fell down somewh-where. Don’t worry, it’s nowh-where near us.” Dilen observed, his head tilted to the side slightly.

                 “Right.” Kol said, then whooped as he took off, running towards a vine and swinging on it.

This is awesome!!! Keep writing forever and ever, Icy!

aghhhhhhh! You torture meeeeeeeee....

Here. This might help shorten Unsuspectingstoryteller's torture sentence. 

Chapter Five: Into the woods

Sor flailed wildly as she tumbled through the air. She could see the plains, though the fires and smoke were just a small glow in the distance--and--

               Suddenly she crashed, branches and leaves reaching up to meet her and snaring her in a web of branches that somehow caught her fall.

              She closed her eyes and moved a few branches upwards with her levitation magic, forcing them to press upwards on her body and support her. It was hard--she had to find each of the branches in her mind, focus on them, and yank on them with her thoughts, tugging them just gently.

             She opened her left, then her right. She was sitting on several branches that had crossed together.

             A trace of Raven’s hair glistened to her left, around the crook of a tree--where was Myst?

             Sor carefully crawled across a giant limb of one of the trees and poked her head beneath the leafy canopy.

          Myst was snagged in several claw-like branches, but they seemed to be sagging under her weight. Her eyes were closed and her chest was barely moving with her breath. Her face was sickly pale and her skin waxy-looking. Sor, whose mind had already released the grip on the other branches, briefly wondered if she could levitate Myst. She quickly dismissed the thought and crawled across the thicker limbs while trying to pinpoint the ones Myst had snagged herself onto. It was hard--she kept on feeling other branches in her mind, a web of sticks.

          Sor finally reached Myst and tried to cradle Myst’s body in Sor’s skinny arms (which were devoid of muscles from a life of living inside in the suburbs). Too late to reach out with her mind, she heard snapping and popping noises--

          The branches gave way beneath them. Sor only had time to yelp, startled, and think wow, that sound was embarrassing, before Ravayn’s hands shot out and grabbed Sor’s wrists. “Why do I have to keep saving your life?” Ravayn murmured, turning her eyes towards the heavens.

          Ravayn grunted suddenly as the branch under Ravayn sagged from the weight. “So...I can’t exactly pull you two up by myself.” Ravayn said slowly. Sor laughed nervously. “Keep on holding on. And please don’t look down.” Sor said, then immediately looked down herself. The ground, covered with dead leaves, was awfully far away. A few branches cracked off of the tree underneath them and plummeted onto the ground below, exploding into a thousand pieces of wood splinters. Sor sucked in a deep breath.

           “Well..” Sor said slowly. “Just...hold on.” Sor closed her eyes and pretended her muscles didn’t ache from holding the unconscious Myst up, pretended she wasn’t covered in cuts from the branches that had whipped at her, pretended she couldn’t feel stings all over her body. Geesh, this has been an interesting day. Sor determined as she slipped into her thoughts.

          She reached out, feeling the branches nearby. She felt them reaching towards her...she was so strained….the energy seeped out of her body….

          Ravayn’s hands got sweaty and dropped the two.

Sor levitated a branch sharply, curving it around her waist like a protective arm. She still clutched Myst. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut. Below her...she couldn’t feel anything with her mind, as she was still levitating the branch. “Ravayn…” Sor hissed through clenched teeth. “Is there anything beneath us to fall onto?” A moment of silence. Sor imagined that Ravayn shook her head, then realized that Sor couldn’t see it. “No, but--hang on.” Ravayn replied.

           There was silence. Silence only broken by birds calling and chirping, and some small animals moving through the dead leaves on the forest floor. Then something swished through the air and tightened around Sor’s waist. “What the heck did you just do?” Sor groaned, her energy sapped by her levitation.

         “Undo the thing with the tree.” Ravayn replied. “You’re crazy.” Was Sor’s wise answer. “Do you want Myst to live or not?” Ravayn questioned. “How will that help her live?” Sor protested. “Do it.” Ravayn growled.

        Sor only had time to think, we’re all insane. How did that happen? Before she let her thoughts go and opened her eyes.

        She dropped instantly.

A few feet above the ground, she stopped sharply, the thing tightening around her waist and yanking her up. Then it gently lowered her to the ground. Sor stared up at the trees, her eyes wide.

          Ravayn was there, dangling a vine in her hands. A vine attached to Sor’s waist.

Sor let Myst, unconscious in Sor’s arms, flop to the ground gently. “See? I don’t need fancy levitation magic to save the day.” Ravayn bragged as she tied the vine to a thick branch and slid down on it, jumping out to the side just before she collided with Sor.

          Then Ravayn went pale, staring at Myst. “L...look…”

A giant, burn was present on Myst’s leg in a giant black and red starburst. Where it had hit a certain Gryphon. So she was the Gryphon? She’s a Gryphon? Wait, no, she can change form? What? When did that happen? Wait, I just met her, why am I thinking--nevermind, I’m too lazy to think like this. I want a popsicle and a normal life in the suburbs with my roomie, not a death-defying adventure. Sor’s mind raced. Shapeshifting wasn’t a concept anyone learned of in Âmethu.

          Sor knelt over Myst. “Oh my Ancients…” Sor mumbled, her eyes wide. Ravayn glanced around. “Check her backpack for medical supplies. I’m going to scout around the area for anything useful.” Ravayn ordered, her mind instantly switched into some sort of survival mode.

          Sor stared at Ravayn. “Right.” From what I could read of Myst, Myst was the smart one. But Ravayn has some sort of survival instinct. Interesting. Sor observed while weakly lifting Myst’s backpack. To her tired and energy-sapped body, the backpack weighed at least a ton….Everything inside was oriented towards the wild, oddly enough. And Myst herself….Myst seemed to be on the run from something. But why? Sor studied Myst’s wound again, and pulled out a--water filter. Not useful. What about a water bottle that had water in it? Sor finally found a first aid kit that had a bunch of supplies inside--that she had no idea how to use.

           Ravayn reappeared, crashing through the leaves. “We’re on the edge of the plains here--the forest ends in about three hundred feet. There’s a little stream about north of here.” Ravayn said, almost automatically. “I think water’s best for a burn.”

           Sor nodded and pretended she understood. Pretend you aren’t thinking about ice cream and popsicles and mmm, ice cream sandwiches, ooh, and comfy unicorn onesies right now, Sor. Sor let her thoughts drift.

           Sor realized Ravayn was staring at her. “You could carry the backpack if you don’t want to haul Myst around?” Ravayn suggested.

           Sor blushed and laughed. “I can carry her!” Sor declared quickly. “...sorta.” Sor mumbled under her breath when Ravayn scooped the backpack up and turned her back to Sor and walked off through the woods as leaves crunched underfoot.        

            Sor half-carried, half-dragged Myst after Ravayn while she mumbled things under her breath.

❄Apologies for there being action for the sake of action in this book. Some things might be repetitive as well; these chapters aren't close to what I'm writing as of now in present day. And once again, a huge thank you to those who have bothered to read Âmethu.❄

THANK YOUUUUUUUUU!!!!

*a bit later* noooooooooooo! This post can’t end here! Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy? 

❄Hey! Sorry that this scene drags on and on; I plan to edit it and make it shorter after NaNo. Please don't leave me comments on how long it was. ._. Thanks so much for your support, here's to everyone who's read this so far. <3 ❄

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  Rien was the one who found the ruins first.

To be fair, it was an accident that he found them. He had been swinging across vines and smacked into a stone pillar covered with moss. Unfortunately, anything but his pride had been wounded.

             As a result, they were in for a round of reminders on who had found the amazing stone ruins and who had saved them all by finding a shelter suitable for all of them to camp in for the night.

            It was time to carry sticks and vines and start making a shelter. Dilen supposed that the ruins had been some sort of luxury temple/home meant to showcase the homeowner as a deity.

             Dilen stared at the carvings in the rock for almost forever, tracing them with his finger. “Hey...We’re doing all the work over here?” Kol asked slowly. Dilen didn’t respond, simply murmured things under his breath. “Dilen.” Kol hissed.

             Rien waved a hand in front of Dilen’s face. “Hey, you there, bud?” Rien questioned. Dilen made a disgruntled growling noise. “Stop th-that! I’m t-t-trying to focus!” Dilen protested.

              “Go focus on building the shelter.” Kol said. Rien moved Dilen’s chin towards where Kol was hauling vines and brush to make a slanted shelter using the stone columns as supports.

              “B-b-but--” Dilen began. “Butts are for sitting!” Kol and Rien yelled at the same time. Dilen blinked at them. “Th-the function of th-the word but, as well as th-the spelling if it were placed down onto paper--” Dilen began to say. Kol and Rien stared at him. “Well--wh-what I’m trying to say is th-th-that, well, you misinterpreted my meaning.” Dilen stuttered.

            “It’s called a pun.” Kol muttered while Rien laughed. Dilen blinked twice. “A...pun? I’m afraid I don’t q-quite underst-stand wh-wh-what you mean th-there.” Dilen murmured.

           “Could you just help us?!” Kol snapped. Dilen blushed. “R-r-righ-gh-ght--sorry--I mean--sorry sir!” Dilen stammered quickly.

           Dilen glanced longingly at the runes as he tugged a small stick around the ground towards the shelter, then misplaced it in the shelter.

       “Dilen.” Kol began. Rien grinned. “Dilen, could you build a fire? I bet you’d be great at that.” Rien said, smiling. Dilen nodded. “I c-c-could successfully factor th-the fire’s movements into th-th-the equation for th-th-the perfect fire.” Dilen murmured, his eyes bright with the prospect of a challenge.

       “And you can carry multiple sticks at once, remember, man.” Rien called, an easy smile on his face.

       “Of course.” Dilen called, honestly taking Rien’s advice. “That boy needs to understand sarcasm.” Rien muttered under his breath. “Whaaat? I thought he did.” Kol joked at Rien. Rien covered a grin.
       A few yellow sparks shot through the air, and suddenly there was a small, well-kept fire in the middle of the ruins.

       Kol scooted over towards the fire, instantly warming himself by it. “Break time.” Kol called out instantly. Rien snorted, but sat down by the fire, stretching his hands out to it. Suddenly, leaves crunched outside their improvised campsite.

       All three froze in unison. Well, Dilen started trembling and instinctively fidgeting with his necklace, but nobody counted Dilen in the first place.

       “Hey, there’s light over here.” A gruff voice called out. “Then go check it out! You know dang well that we can’t return empty handed!” A voice sharply commanded. “And who made you the boss?” One challenged. “And who has the fire magicks here?” The sharp voice retorted. “And who here could’ve flown after them if you hadn’t been determined to murder them with fireballs instead of keeping them intact for our prize?” The gruff voice muttered.

       “JUST GO CHECK IT OUT!” The sharp voice commanded again. Feet crashed through the dry leaves.

      Kol reached for a stick, just in case he had to hit something (well, someone) with it. A figure slowly took shape in the darkness beyond the firelight.

      Kol questioned using his magic. Rien questioned using his. Dilen panicked.

“There’s someone here!” The figure yelled. Suddenly footsteps pounded through the leaves.

     The firelight finally illuminated the group that had discovered their campsite. They were hunters; no doubt about it. They were wearing horrible imitation Horizons for some reason (perhaps to make themselves seem more powerful/rich than they actually were?), and different types of magicks surrounded them.

      Rien waved casually, a nervous grin painted across his face. “Hey, uh, nice seeing you guys? Even though I have no idea who you are?” Rien chatted casually.

      “If we can’t have those girls, this group’ll work.” One growled. Another nodded. “Get them.”

       Rien grabbed Dilen’s wrist and ran.

Kol lingered, but only to smack a few of them with his stick, using it like a sword and wielding it perfectly. When Rien called for him, though, he shrugged at the stunned hunters and ran after the group.

     Rien ran through the shadows of the forest, dodging past shadowy tree trunks and odd shapes that danced in the darkness as he fled. Dilen stumbled behind him, Rien’s hand closed around his wrist.

    Kol crashed through the woods next to Rien. They could feel magic passing by them, but, disturbingly, they couldn’t see it in this darkness. Dilen stumbled and fell flat on his face.

     Kol and Rien halted at the same time, both of them reaching down to pull him up. He quickly stood up and continued the mad dash. The hunters were gaining on them. A blast of magic hit Kol square in the back and he fell flat on the ground.

     Rien yelped, then turned to face the hunters. There was a brief moment of silence, then a loud ear-popping noise burst through the air and the hunters exclaimed things in confusion. Rien was standing with his hands outstretched to the hunters; Kol and Dilen couldn’t see what was happening--

    Kol got up. “Rien! C’mon!” Kol yelled.

Rien stood still, swaying slightly, for a moment before Kol grabbed his arm and dragged him. “Right, right!” Rien yelled, running.

    “See why you should listen to me?!” Kol yelled. “I meant RIGHT, RIGHT there’s a tree straight in front of you!” Rien yelled, yanking Kol to the right. Kol laughed nervously. “I knew that!” Kol said quickly, sounding ridiculous. “Of course you did.” Rien muttered while sprinting for it.

     The shadows seemed to dance around them as they sprinted through the dark (now literally dark) woods.

     Lights and magic streaked by them and adrenaline pumped as they dashed through the woods. Vines and branches snared them from every side, leaving bloody scratches that were far less damaging than they looked.

     Rien hesitated as he ran directly into a vine that swung and whipped Kol in the face. Kol sputtered and ran on, no harm done, but it gave Rien a thought. He nudged Dilen, who ran--or more correctly stumbled--next to him, and whispered “left” in Dilen’s ear. Then he yelled “Right!” to Kol, who, remembering earlier, immediately swerved to the right. There was a snap and a swish. Dilen grasped the plan immediately, but Kol took a few moments to discover it. It was well that he did; the Hunters had caught up by then.

     The vine tightened and the Hunters tripped over it immediately. Then the small group of boys kept running.

     Rien used his momentum and grabbed onto a vine, swinging higher than the first time he’d tried. He whooped as he shot in the darkness, then let go as the shadowy form of a tree trunk appeared and rushed towards him.

     Kol and Dilen’s figures were far off in the dark, simply small outlines. Rien squinted at them as they fled through the darkness. The Hunters were close behind them. Kol and Dilen narrowly avoided several blurs of magic--

     Then Kol figured out Rien’s trick and grabbed a vine, using his momentum. Rien whooped at him and cheered him on.

     Kol did a miniature version of Rien’s whoop as he shot through the air, then tumbled off of the vine. Rien facepalmed silently.

     Dilen followed, but the chase still was on.

They couldn’t escape for long--the Hunters always remained behind them. They were always there, as constant as a shadow behind someone. “We can’t run…” Dilen murmured underneath his breath.

     “But we can hide.” Rien said with a cocky grin. Suddenly, his eyes widened and sparkled. “That’s it!” He and Kol yelled at the same time. “...But we can’t hide.” Rien mumbled under his breath.

     Dilen’s well-trained eyes darted over the forest. “There’s plenty of hiding places here...trees...the ruins…” Dilen mumbled as he tripped, the result of a magic blast. Kol grabbed and tugged him up. “Great. See any of those we can get to without them noticing us?” Rien questioned, obviously irritated.

     Dilen laughed nervously. “Uh...negative.” Dilen confirmed Rien’s fears.

“Great...why don’t we just stop running and give in…” Kol mumbled under his breath. Rien paused for a half second to slap him.

     “There has to be a way. We can climb the vines. Or--” Rien began, never halting his cocky grins. He acts as if he’s so sure of himself. So brave. Why can I never do that? No, I can never do that without a sword in my hand. Kol thought.

     “The trees. Dilen mentioned them. We can use them to gain altitude and eventually vanish.” Kol tried. He may not agree with Rien’s plans, but he didn’t exactly want to be the recipient of a slap like that again.

      Dilen paused and stared at Kol. “That actually was a good idea….” Dilen murmured, his eyes wide. Kol tilted his head. “Why is that so surprising, huh, Dilen?” Kol asked, his eyes glinting.

      “Can we just get outta here!?” Rien protested, sprinting for a vine. “Can you stop being so incredibly cocky and brave and start doing things for once!?” Kol yelled, then yelped, clamping his hands over his mouth.

      “Who’s been saving our lives from the beginning!?” Rien shouted as he dashed towards the nearest vine. “I HAVE!” Kol roared, glaring. “Are you kidding?!” Rien retorted sharply, swinging on the vine and landing perfectly on a wide branch far above the hunters.

     Kol grabbed a vine and swung, his grip on the vine slipping. He turned a combat flip in the air and scrambled for a branch, barely landing on it. There was a yelp as Dilen landed next to him. “I saved your life in the canal.” Kol muttered. “And I’m regretting that decision.” Kol carefully balanced on the branch while Dilen started pointing out thick limbs for him to leap onto.

    “So we’re playing a game of branch parkour now?” Kol muttered. “See? It was your idea. You’re the one that got us into this mess!” Rien flung the words at Kol easily. “Who here had to follow the mysterious man!?” Kol countered.

    “Who here made me see the mysterious man in the first place because he didn’t know how to play a simple game?!” Rien retorted. “Who here said we should play that game in the first place!?” Kol roared.

    Magic shot through the air towards the branch. Kol grabbed Dilen’s arm and leapt to another. “Keep it up, shoot where their voices came from!” A hunter yelled down below.

    Kol met Rien’s gaze in the dark, a little shamefully. Why were they fighting loudly, letting the Hunters hear their voices so clearly, right now out of all times? And it really was such a small squabble, nothing too crazy….‘Sorry’, Kol’s eyes whispered without saying a word. ‘No, it was my fault’ Rien’s sorrowful expression seemed to say.

     “Where’d they go?” A hunter cursed. “I have no idea, I can’t see a thing in this mother-forsaken dark!” Another one roared.

     Meanwhile, Dilen’s thoughts were still on the ruins. According to his study on books of runestones, those were no normal runes that were carved onto the walls of the ruins. He had translated a few words, but he was still sure of one thing. The ruins contained royal secrets.

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❄blushes❄ oh, well, the cliffhangers. I didn't mean for there to be so many, but, well, they'll end soon. I hope. I think. Ahem, shall we just--well--start?

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Myst’s eyes closed and opened a few times, but were unable to see anything. Her leg was on fire. No, it had burned...it wasn’t burning anymore...the fire was gone now...But why did it hurt so much….why did it ache so much?

     There was a splash. “Water is good for burns….right?” Someone murmured, their voice going in and out of focus. Myst’s leg felt cold and numb now…. “Should I try to wake her up?” The same voice asked. Someone was replying to the murmured questions, but their voice was low and far away from Myst, too hard for Myst’s ears to pick up.

      Water dripped onto Myst’s face, cool and refreshing. She sighed, enjoying it while still trying to cling to unconsciousness. She just wanted to sleep in the cold. She just wanted to ignore the agony of her burns.

     She shouldn’t have stretched her Shapeshifting today. She had already shapeshifted once, and hadn’t let her energy recharge for the required hour. Instead, she had pushed her physical form to the limit and suffered the consequences.

     She was surprised they were alive, but she had no time to reflect on that.

Instead, her well-trained mind began to plan, even here, in the fog of sleep. She planned escapes, in case the two girls she had found herself with double-crossed her. She planned refuge. She planned using the best of thousands of words, thousands of ingredients in her head.

    She had weapons; she had a plan. She was weak, but her mind was always strong.

Water splashed on her face and she opened her eyes.

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Sor stared down at Myst. “Mystery? Myst?” Sor called over Myst’s unconscious body. Myst groaned and moved, just slightly. Her chest was barely moving with each of her short breaths. “Can’t you just, y’know, levitate water onto her face?” Ravayn asked, dipping Myst’s awfully burned leg into the shallow and clear waters of the stream.

    “Water’s too...liquid-y. I mean fluid.” Sor explained, trying to get a grasp for fancy words the way Myst seemed to usually do. If Myst would ever wake up.

    “...So you can only move solids objects?” Ravayn thought aloud (it wasn’t a question, more of a rhetorical murmur), also trying to grasp Sor’s point.

    Sor shrugged. “Pretty mu--”

Myst stirred, her eyes opening.

    Both Sor and Ravayn took the long moment to stare at her, their eyes wide. Ravayn looked away. Sor kept on awkwardly staring at Myst, waiting for something crazy to happen.

    Myst blinked at her, giving her a stop staring look. Sor conveniently found a bluebird perched high in a tree to stare at.

    “...Where?” Myst whispered. Even with her weak voice, she still made the simple word sound wise and graceful. “The edge of the Dark Woods.” Ravayn responded, her voice low as always.

    Myst’s eyes immediately darted around, soaking in the nearby area and observing every detail. Her eyes shot over the plains, seeing things that Ravayn assumed she and Sor couldn’t see--strategies, exits, hiding places, possible food sources.

    Myst sat up painfully, yet kept her leg in the stream. Sor quietly marvelled at how put-together a person could be. Nobody she knew could keep that amount of focus and insight. Of course, everyone in Sor’s section of the suburbs could just be crazy, after putting up with someone like Sor for that long. Sor smiled to herself as the thought entered her mind.

    “The Hunters?” Myst asked. Sor shrugged. “We lost ‘em.” Sor stated.

Myst tried to sit up straighter and slipped down again. “Well--now you know about the--” Myst sighed. “Now you know what my magicks are.” Myst muttered.

    “They were brilliant. You can turn into a Gryphon? How does that even work?” Sor asked quickly, her eyes wide and sparkling.

    Myst shrugged, then chose the answer that would make Sor be most quiet. “Advanced and rapid growth of my bone structure.” Myst explained. “It’s painful, and your bones tend to change shape and expand.” Myst intoned, keeping her tone as wise as possible, to dissuade Sor’s questions.

    Sor beamed. “Great...I have no idea what you just said!”

The group fell into silence, exactly as Myst had planned. Myst carefully experimented with pulling her leg from the cool, gurgling waters of the stream. Pain immediately shot up it. She slowly lowered it back into the stream.

   Sor, her voice more quiet than usual, asked the question they all were thinking. “So...what now…?” Sor asked.

    “The hunters won’t quit until they find us.” Ravayn said darkly, her mouth a grim line. Myst nodded while wondering how Ravayn had acquired that knowledge. Perhaps Ravayn was more similar with Myst’s lifestyle than Myst thought.

     “...I can help.” Myst offered.

Sor stared. “Y’mean, you can turn into a giant Gryphon again and fly us all away?” Sor asked, making ridiculous hand motions to go with her speech before she discovered what she was doing unconsciously. She quickly dropped her hands to her side and froze.

    Myst chose to ignore Sor’s actions and simply sighed. “I could...maybe...in maybe three or four hours I could shapeshift again...but something that big…” Myst murmured, considering her choices.

    Ravayn stomped her left foot against the dirt. “Excuse me, miss perfectionist? Have you seen your leg?” Ravayn asked Myst in a sudden explosion of emotion.

    Myst stared at Ravayn.

Sor stared as well, her thoughts spinning. Odd. Normally I’m the only one who reads other’s emotions--I was too caught up in Myst’s cool/crazy powers to see…. Sor pondered.

    “Look, Ravayn…” Myst said, her voice gliding across the air. “I’m offering to help you. I know a safe place for you to lay low until this situation has ended. That’s all I’m offering you, Ravayn--and you, Sor. You can accept it or--” Myst began. “What she means is, we can take it or leave it.” Sor said hastily, before Myst could explode Sor’s mind with hasty words again.

   Ravayn glanced at Sor. Sor nodded at Ravayn.

Ravayn held out a hand. “We’ll take it.”

❄Hey, it wasn't a cliffhanger this time! Also, for Star, I'm hopefully going to be editing out the repetetive-ness after NaNo. :P ❄

Rien sighed, resting in the crook of a tree. It wasn’t the warmest bed he’d had, but it was where he’d rested and kept watch all night.

   Dilen and Kol were in similar positions, ones that appeared to be just as uncomfortable and cold as Rien’s. Rien would gladly murder for a couch. Or a sofa. Or a cot. Or--

   Rien sighed again.
“Rien. Quiddit.” Kol mumbled. Rien immediately shoved that easy grin onto his face. “Sorry, just hadta yawn.” Rien said quickly. “Yawn more quietly.” Kol said, while fidgeting with a stick in his hand. He had been holding it all night, oddly enough, and just running his hands over the smooth surface.

   Now it was Dilen’s turn to sigh. “C-can we g-get moving already?” Dilen asked. That got Rien and Kol’s attention. “Whaaaa.” Rien--well, exclaimed? “It was your stu--your idea to spend more time up here to lose them, remember?” Kol asked, glaring at Dilen.

   Dilen fidgeted with his necklace. “I suppose.” Dilen muttered. “But there’s st-st-stuff on the ground I want to take a l-look at.”

   Kol and Rien turned twin glares to Dilen, although Rien’s glare was sparkling slightly with humor. “There’s stuff on the ground I want to look at too. Like space to run in. And places where you can move more than two inches.” Kol stated.

  Dilen shrugged and kept fidgeting.

“Then why don’t we just go down? Seems like it solves all of our problems.” Rien said, grinning at both of them. “It’s still not very smart, according to the brains here.” Kol muttered, glancing at Dilen.

  “Oh, come on.” Rien said.

“But, in daylight, the hunters mi--” Dilen began to warn.

  Rien grabbed a vine and slid down from the tree, carefully lowering himself down the vine and finally onto the ground. “Tada! No hunters!” Rien yelled.

  Dilen glanced around Rien, at the ruins he’d been studying on the forest floor. Crumbling stone pillars, moss, and carved stone walls surrounded Rien. All of which Dilen had been staring at for the last hour.

   Then, before Kol had a chance to slide down, Dilen grabbed the nearest vine and mimicked Rien, reaching the ground with a careful stop.

   Kol stared at Dilen and spoke his mind. “Dude...did you just--”

Dilen shrugged. “Anyth-thing for a bit of knowle-ledge.” Dilen stated, his voice quiet and shy as always, his amber eyes focused on the ruins. He carefully walked up to a wall of ancient writing, and engaged in a staring match with some of the writing.

  Kol shrugged and dropped down a vine. “So, we’re back in action. What’s our pla--” Kol began.

  “Whoever has the blood...the blood of…” Dilen read out loud. Kol and Rien’s eyes fell on him. “The blood of a…” Dilen tried again, then frowned. “The blood of magicks. Yes, that’s it. Whoever has the blood of magicks may take what is their heritage and sit on the throne of--”

   Rien stared at him. “Dude. Did you just seriously read that?”

Dilen turned towards him. “Well...I may have memorized a few books and speculations on the meaning of ancient runes and--” Dilen explained, then realized they were staring. “What?”

   Rien had the grace to look away, turning a nervous grin towards the ground, while Kol remained staring.

   Dilen slowly turned back towards the symbols. “Whoever has the blood of magicks may take their--ah, aha. May accept their heritage and ascend the throne of Âncielest. This has been known by our people for many years.” Dilen kept on reading. “However, it may be recorded that--” Dilen stopped talking, his face scrunched up in disgust. “Royal p-pr-propaganda, myths on a king’s specific family being more p-powerful than any other.” Dilen dismissed it.

   Rien stared. “So...you’re trying to say that there’s a bunch of royal secrets in the middle of the Dark Woods…?” Rien began.

   “Did you th-think th-these woods are natural?! The climate--” Dilen began. “Wait. Dilen.” Rien said, holding out a hand. “Could you read that again?”

   Dilen launched into the passage.

“Blood of magicks?” Rien asked. Dilen shrugged.

   “Sounds like some fairy tale.” Rien said, shrugging. Kol punched Rien in the shoulder. “The Dark Woods were supposed to be the stuff of fairy tales.” Kol reminded him.

    “Would you call this place realistic?” Rien asked.

“Sérijaci? Are you kidding me?” Kol protested. “We all have magic here. In a few other countries, magic is someone nobody even has, oddly enough.” Kol pointed out.

    Rien nodded, then sighed. “Dilen, what the heck is this all about? The ruins, the messages--”

    Dilen sighed. “It means th-that th-the Queen--” Dilen cut off. “I’m not sure yet...but...it means th-that we h-have a lot of digging to do. If you’re really interested in th-this. Besides, you can’t even return h-home--you’re being h-hunted by several people. Th-they probably got your address.” Dilen explained.

    Kol laughed, then covered his mouth with a hand. “Uhh, right. Well, I’m in for it. As long as someone can find something for us to eat.” Kol said, shrugging. “Not it!” Rien whooped, shooting Kol a triumphant grin.

    Kol slowly sighed. “Fine. You better know how to cook.” Kol muttered. Rien smirked. “Ha, of course I can cook.” Rien said, then trailed off. “....soup.” Rien admitted. Kol slowly sighed. “Are you kidding me?” Kol protested.

    Rien smirked. “I never kid.” Rien said, producing an obviously fake grim face. Kol shoved him into the leaves, then laughed and headed off through the forest as dead leaves crunched underfoot.\