Awakening
Morning light was only just beginning to stretch over the land of Clarus, creatures of the night had returned to their slumber as the animals who rose with the sun ventured out to start their day.
A black wolf and a winged girl were quickly making their way though the forest. The two are rarely seen apart, they were a strong and frightening duo most people would rather not have against them.
The pair swiftly traveled though the green of old trees and forest flora, years of experience and skill showing in their movement as the trees steadily thinned out. The teenage mage with wings of pure darkness flew up high as the wolf stopped in his tracks at the edge of the vegetation.
The girl reached a higher vantage point, her sharp eyes searching the open plains in front of them for any signs of blighted land or monsters.
The calm and even fields were disrupted by massive chunks of a sky island that had fallen just hours before. It seemed safe enough, they'd just have to stay clear from the unstable earth and rocks that had crashed down.
Diving back towards her companion she nodded, "All clear, let's go."
The wolf sprinted forward upon hearing those words. With a running start the girl shot up in the air again, following the beast closely.
As much as she loved flying in the open space, the girl knew she had a bad sense of direction and had the tendency to get lost fairly easy. Keeping an eye on the big wolf leading the way to town she noticed he suddenly slowed down to look around.
That's not a good sign, she thought, gliding down until she was next to him.
"Ray?" She called as she stopped working her wings, once she was standing they vanished into thin air.
"What's the matter, is your nose picking up on something worrying?" She asked, looking at the surrounding tall grass. There could be plenty things hidden here, what was he tracking?
The wolf ignored her in favor of sniffling around some more, until his head shot up towards one direction and he bolted.
"Hey!" The girl exclaimed, already getting annoyed with Ray's attitude.
Her irritation faded once she saw what he'd snuffed out, there was still quite some distance between them, but she saw a pile of rough rocks, earth and roots poking above the grass.
Big stains of crimson stood out against the rock formation.
She rushed forward as she saw Ray shift back into his human self, "Kaida, there's a body," he declared with urgency. His eyes were still wild, pale blue and a deep rich brown staring back at her. It's one of his most recognizable features, even in his alternate form.
"A dead person?" Kaida asked in slight disbelief as she got closer.
She took in the beat up and broken form of a girl splayed across some of the lower rocks. She looked to be around the same age as them, her pretty brown hair was tangled and matted by blood.
"I assumed so yes, going off the smell of blood that hung in the air," Ray told her, there was a lot of blood but strangely enough he couldn't see any wounds bad enough to be the cause.
What had happened here?
He then noted the girl was barely breathing, apparently so did his sister.
She was still alive.
Kaida pushed past him, touching the girl's cheek to slowly guide her to look at them. Her eyes were fluttering open but looked very dazed.
"You'll live, don't give up on me now," Kaida firmly told the girl who was failing to stay awake.
She slumped forward, Kaida reached out to keep her from hitting her head against the rocks. Okay, now what?
She held onto the girl but had no idea how to proceed, guess I'm stuck in this position.
Ray stared at the two girls in mild horror, "Did she just–?"
"No, wait–" Kaida hushed him, checking for a heartbeat, relieved to find a strong one beating steadily. "Yeah no I don't think so, she's alive alright." The corners of her mouth involuntarily raised upward.
If Ray noticed her smile he didn't comment on it.
"So... What are we supposed to do now?" He asked. Funny, she was thinking the same thing.
"How should I know?" She challenged, already feeling the frustration bubbling up from the situation they found themselves in. "We were already heading to town, let's stop by at Alvee and Jay's, they'll know what to do." At least she hoped they would.
Kaida looked at her brother, who had barely moved from his grouched down position before– and even after the unknown girl passed out. Was he thinking too much again?
As if he heard her unspoken question he realized he hadn't replied to her suggestion, "You're right, Alveena could heal up anything we can't treat normally."
Okay, well if he's in, he can haul her all the way to town.
"Alright, you carry her, she's too much of a dead weight for me to hold while flying," Kaida decided, already pushing the limp girl towards her brother.
"Don't insult the hurt and unconscious stranger Kaida," he told her with a sigh and a small smile, "Push her onto my back once I'm shifted okay?" And so he did, a pale blue light shone as the mage turned into a large wolf, wavy obsidian fur glistening in the warm morning light.
Kaida did as he asked, hoisting the girl up on his back. Kaida almost never traveled on the wolf's back, she could fly or run along just fine, no need to inconvenience her brother.
She figured it'd be best if she walked along next to him, it's not like he can run like usual when there's a half dead person situated on his fluffy back. She hoped the girl wouldn't roll off of him while they made their way towards the town.
To Miklion, across the whole plain of grassy fields, very slow and steady...
This is gonna be a long walk.
He swore he had felt it coming, the trip towards town had been a long one and Kaida had walked beside him the entire way. Gliding along with her magical wings didn't work out, she'd be too fast and hated holding back her pace.
It also happened to be a beautiful day outside.
"It's too sunny for niceness so don't give us any looks or I will kick you in the shins," the young mage growled at a group of people she caught staring. Which was understandable given their predicament.
He was carrying a girl who looked to be at deaths door, while his sister was stalking forward with purpose, glaring from under the hood of her completely black cloak. Which was nothing new for her or anyone who knew Kaida, but most folk didn't wear dark cloaks when the sun and its stars were shining this brightly.
The group his sister just ever so kindly told off was holding their tongue and now glancing the other way, but Ray decided to give her a pointed look, "Remember, we pay no mind to them— " he waited for Kaida to finish one of their oldest rules.
"They won't vlekim pay mind to us," she spat with a wide and forced smile before dropping the act, "Problem is they always do though," she muttered.
Kaida wasn't wrong, he knew this, but she had to stop yelling at strangers or bluntly provoking random people. A change of style probably wouldn't hurt either.
He sighed, giving her a small smile before he started walking a little faster, hoping she'd follow suit without throwing any more off comments.
They arrived at the modest magic shop of their —acquaintances?
His sister considered them friends but...
Kaida jumped over the few wooden steps leading towards the entrance before she knocked on the small glass windows of the closed door.
It didn't take long for a displeased fae to answer it, "Not on the glass Kai–" he cut himself off as he quickly took in the situation before him, "What happened?" The fae shrieked loudly.
Already so panicked? Well, he is one to overreact...
"Hi Jay," Kaida smiled innocently, earning her a harsh look from the tall guy who clearly wanted an explanation.
Ray left this one to Kaida.
"We found her like this," she began, turning to look at him still carrying the limp girl like a potato sack, "she needs help Jay," she stated seriously.
The flustered fae held the door open wide so the two could walk in with their... baggage? "Dear stars," he heard him curse, "You'd better explain yourselves later."
Sharp eyes belonging to the owner of this little magic shop fell on the girl as soon as the trio walked in. Seeing Kaida and Ray drop by wasn't anything new, but...
"Who is this poor soul?" Alveena asked monotonously, not particularly feeling much pity for the girl Ray was carrying on his back. Rather, she was slightly baffled and amused they brought one of Kaida's victims here.
Not that her face showed any of those emotions.
Though her friends were never phased much by her ever stern expression.
"We don't know," Ray spoke up when nobody else did.
Then the smallest of the group surprised her, "Can you patch her up?" Kaida asked, her tone being a strong indicator that she was not joking around.
Alveena looked at Jay to see if he knew what this was about, but he merely shook his head. Deciding she'd ask later, Alveena prioritized the unknown girl's dire situation. "Of course I can, who do you take me for?" She bluntly stated.
"Bring her to the back," she instructed before retreating back to her study.
They followed through the open arch doorway leading to the place where she often, yet reluctantly, help her friends when they're injured.
The room didn't look like that of a skilled healer, more like one of a traveling librarian witch. More shelves were supporting books than potted herbs or medicine. There were books about all kinds of topics, magical or not, along with many different trinkets showing Alveena had either been to a lot of different places or just got many odd gifts from others.
Ray lay the girl down on a small wooden bed Alveena had gotten once she realized how uncomfortable the old low table she had used before was for patients.
Jay never liked that thing, it reminded him of a creepy platform table that could be used to sacrifice people on as an offering. Even if Alveena kept explaining to him it had been used as a library desk for kids and that the only thing filling the carved lines in the wood had been ink, not blood.
While on the topic of blood, where was the girl actually wounded? There was blood, sure, but no cuts or indication of broken bones could be seen. Her bare arms weren't even scraped up, while her clothing had many holes and cuts that seemed like the result of a battle or maybe a struggle to survive in the wild.
After not so kindly expelling the others from the room, Alveena got ready to work on her new and unknown patient. She swiped her fingers at the open arched doorway, a spell quickly forming a magical barrier nobody could cross until she lifted it.
She planned to get to the bottom of this.
As for the three others, a long waiting game had begun.
However, with Jay in the room, it'd hardly be a silent endeavor.
"So," he started, "I didn't take you two as the type to help out complete strangers," the fae teased. Kaida huffed and threw herself on an old leather chair standing close to the window, fully planning to take a nap and skip out on this conversation.
"That's because we're not," Ray grumbled, already irritated about the situation. Kaida was going to have him deal with the fae on his own wasn't she?
Jay forced out a dry chuckle, "Don't get me wrong, I understand why someone would help an injured person who's clearly in need of aid—" he pointed out.
"What I don't understand—" he continued, turning to look at Kaida sprawled over the chair —"is why you would be that someone," he remarked, waiting for her to realize he was talking to her, "Kaida."
She opened one of her eyes to look up at the magic trinkets floating arounf close to the ceiling. "There's just something about this girl," she trailed off, seemingly mulling something over in her head.
Jay shot her a contemplative look the smaller girl didn't catch.
Well how about that.
Neither boys knew why Kaida suddenly showed pity– or maybe it was curiosity,– towards another person. But something the two did know, was the fact you should never prod a dragon when it's trying to rest.
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