I stumbled my way over to my fallen ally and kneeled before her, hesitatingly laying my hands on her battered body. The spiked tree had struck her with such force that a pool of blood had already gathered beneath her motionless body. I could see the color slowly draining from her face. She was severely injured.
The sharp spines of the tree pierced her body in multiple places, where deep wounds seeped blood. Her right shoulder and arm were no longer in their natural alignment, and torn flesh showed bone beneath.
I did not know what to do. I did not know how to save her. I did not know if I could! Unable to form a coherent thought, my panicked gaze lay on Willow as shaky breaths racked my chest. I choked out a sob as tears rolled down my face. I’ve only known her for such a short time, but she felt so close to me.
A low growl interrupted me as the dragon noticed us again. I focused my gaze on the dragon and fought to regain my footing. I had no time to think about the beast. We were still in grave danger and I needed to focus on the enemy, but I couldn't help stealing a glance back at Willow, hoping that she hadn’t lost too much blood and that we would both make it out of this terrifying ordeal alive.
The dragon opened its gigantic jaws. Light gathered inside as it prepared to fire a deadly beam. “No!” I screamed. My grief spiraled into distorted rage. I had only been on this journey for two days - made a new friend - and now, was I losing her? “Not, today,” I growled in rage. “Dragon. You may be powerful, but you’re not going to kill us today!”
I stood my ground grimly, forming a thick shield of magma with all I had in my stoke, blocking me and Willow. As the dragon unleashed its powerful ray of energy, I was gradually pushed backwards, and my burst of energy began to falter. “Please, just hold on…” My desperate plea fell on silent ears. The shield cracks, caves in, and-
Suddenly, Willow stirred and her limp body lifted off the ground. Her necklace, glowing with strange energy, spun rapidly. Bright waves of water radiated from it, flowing continuously to encase my shield in a cocoon of water. My eyes widened. The material only told in tales and legends was now before my eyes, within my reach.
The wall of Shadowglass remained floating in the air even as my control on it loosened. It emanated an aura of strength and grandeur. Its deep, dark color twisted in swirls under the glow of Willow’s necklace.
"Shadowglass... You shall not break this..." A deep, unfamiliar voice intoned from somewhere within Willow.
A powerful surge of light flooded out Willow's body. The blood flowing out of her body slowed, then halted. Her wounds knitted back together, leaving behind smooth, unblemished skin and no trace of blood. Her arm moved, sliding into her shoulder joint with a pop.
She opened her eyes. Her once blue eyes were now a glowing shade of violet. She stood up and held out a hand in front, her long, wavy hair rippling in the wind. The wall of obsidian began to push the dragon's beam backwards. "Dragon, you tried, but you are unsuccessful." The obsidian wall, containing all of the dragon’s gathered energy, forced the scaled creature's attack back onto it. "Die, dragon.”
The beam exploded, said dragon's head taking the full brunt of the damage, splattering blood all over the place. Me and Willow (or whatever she was at the moment) dropped the shield. The wall dropped to the ground and shattered. My body were devoid of energy from exhausting my Stoke, and Willow was probably in a similar situation. I faded into sleep, my last sight being Willow’s stoic face and the glow from her necklace fading.
***
I woke up around sunpeak, pushing myself upright and looking around. Willow remained asleep, snoring slightly. I felt like I had been soaked in water again: every movement caused me pain. I managed to get some emberfigs from my stoke, though I barely had enough energy to do so. I ate them, relishing the refreshing feeling that came with it. I can now move without pain. I stood up, seeing a piece of weird material in front of me. I picked it up and examined it. It looked like part of a star, similar to an arrowhead. The shard was colored brown, green dotting a few places. I smiled. We’ve obtained the first shard out of the five. What else could it be? I pocketed it and a few remaining emberfigs.
Partially to celebrate and partially to sate my hunger, I decided to hunt. Before I did, though, not far from the Earth Shard, I found a piece of the Shadowglass from the wall. The rest somehow disappeared, probably crushed when the dragon fell onto the wall, crushing it into dust and vanishing with the wind. Someone might have also gotten rid of it, maybe whatever possessed Willow? Was it Tide? There was only one shard left on the ground, and I made it into a small knife. There was no need to polish it, as it was already very sharp. It cut into spruce wood decently well, and I used that to make its handle, binding it temporarily with some plant fiber.
Being unfamiliar with the forest, I decided to stick near Willow to avoid getting lost. Scouring the nearby location, I headed in the direction opposite the way the dragon came from, as it had destroyed everything it laid its hands (or tail) on. Once I got closer to a more covered area, I stood completely still, letting my ears do all the work. A faint rustling nearby disturbed the peace of the forest. I conjured my hunting knife from my Stoke, taking another chunk out of my energy, which I didn’t have much of.
The source of the rustling were a pair of rabbits. They stood outside of their hole while munching on some berries. I threw a rock in their direction to distract them. One of them stared alarmedly at the disturbed foliage while the other scrambled back into the hole. I frantically leaped over and grabbed the rabbit’s the neck before it could cry out, and twisted. Success.
Moving a safe distance away from the hole (so I have a chance at catching the second rabbit), I prepared the rabbit for cooking and impaled it onto a stick. After putting together a pile of dry sticks and leaves, I ignited them and started to slowly cook the rabbit. I impatiently turned the spit, hungry for a bite of food.
While it cooked, I noticed the second rabbit slowly move out of the hole, sniffing all the while. I scoffed mentally. The poor thing can’t even recognize the scent its friend sizzling on the fire. I grabbed a rock, hefted it, heated it, and threw it in an accurate arc enhanced by my pyrokinesis. The rock struck the rabbit’s head. I rushed over and grabbed it by the ears as it recovered from the blow. It squealed and kicked at my arm. I snapped its neck. No time to feel guilty now.
I walked as fast as I could back to my meal, which was starting to turn black on one side and kind of raw on another. I hastily turned it and sliced off a bit of the charred side with my knife. Half of the rabbit was gone before I even knew it. I used some sinew to replace the binding of my Shadowglass knife, gathered up some more dry sticks and leaves, and moved my setup back to where Willow, who was still unconscious, lay. I set up the same thing for the second rabbit and was eating another emberfig when she woke up.
She jolted awake with a start. She pushed herself up. “Flint!” She choked out. “Where are you?”
“I’m behind you.”
Willow turned around. She stared at what I was eating curiously. I nodded at my snack. “Emberfig. Restocks my Stoke’s energy store. Really exhausted it back them.” I turned the spit. “Hope you eat meat. Does it need to be cold or raw?” I joked, hoping to lighten the mood.
“We’re not ice, we can stand some heat. The meat would be fine. If I got any closer to the fire I wouldn’t be.” she said, shifting away from where I was cooking the rabbit, ignoring my jape. “I’m not in a mood to joke around. My back hurts like a burn.” My playfulness vanished, and I shifted closer.
“Oh yeah, your back. Pierced by a thorn oak.”
“Pierced?!” Shock flashed across Willow’s face, and she rubbed her back, as if trying to find a wound.
“Yeah.”
“Then how am I alive? How much blood did I lose?” Willow started panicking, and I placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. I described what I had seen before we passed out.
“Interesting. My necklace started spitting out water, it made Shadowglass by combining with lava, and, more or less, killed the dragon? And my eyes turned violet?” I nodded. She furrowed her brows for a moment. “That’s Tide’s eye color!”
“Tide? I was thinking, did he possess you or something? I think he took control of your body, mended your body, and helped us win?”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“I think so,” she said. “I had a nightmare while that was happening though.”
I pulled the earth shard out of my pocket, as well as another emberfig. “The dragon’s body disappeared, but this was left on the grass. Part of the Star Bridge I told you about, I suppose.”
“We got the first part that easily?” I scoffed at her words.
“You call that easy, when we put ourselves in a one-sided beatdown by a monstrous dragon, practically getting skewered by a huge spike, and almost being smothered to nothing if our ancestors hadn’t interfered and saved us?”
“It was in no way a one-sided beatdown. Anyways, I thought it could have been worse.”
“Yeah, try topping that.”
“Whose idea was it to try to take the dragon down?”
“Who agreed with that idea?” We both grinned as we started to bicker again. I handed her the now cooked rabbit, and she tore into it eagerly. “So, what’s our plan?” I was hoping she had an idea on how to navigate across Water’s land.
“Asking me? I thought you were the master planner.” She said between rapid bites.
I pulled out the map from my back, opening it so Willow could see. “Here, it says that we should be going towards a place called Twilight Bay. You familiar with it?” Willow’s eyes widened, and her consumption of the rabbit paused.
“I do know, but it’s dangerous, especially at night. You sure there’s no alternate route?” She examined the map, pointing at a location that seemed to be a detour. “Wait, here’s one... Jagged Cliff and Crystal Cove? That’s much worse than Twilight Bay! There are huge groups of Aquamaws waiting for us in Crystal Cove if we somehow get past Jagged Cliff.”
“I guess that settles it then.” I said, grimacing when I remembered my encounter with the crocodile when I first met Willow. She gave me a knowing smile.
“Should we wait until sunrise? I thought you said it was dangerous?”
“Did I say we were going now?” I set up my tent while Willow’s appeared out of her backpack, hitting me with a breeze of cold air. I made sure to keep some distance between them. “Good night!” She said, and I nodded in acknowledgement. I lay down for a while before I heard her enter her tent.
The next morning, I woke up from my deep slumber to the sound of flapping. Crawling out of my tent silently, I saw a pigeon pecking at the ground near Willow’s tent. Having no good ranged weapon that wouldn’t be a risk to the still sleeping Willow, I threw my newly made dagger at it while running towards it. The weapon clipped its wing and buried itself in it. Despite that, it flapped into the air, making high pitched noises. Its flight was only shoulder-high, though, and I easily caught it with a leap. I plucked it and cooked it after that.
I had no idea why the loud piping made by the bird didn’t wake Willow, but the crackling from my fire certainly did.
“What’s that sound? Who’s that? Show yourself!”
“You should really know by now. I set up a fire to cook something. Besides, shouting won’t make an enemy want to kill you less,” I muttered. “You ready to go or do you want a bite of something?”
“Food would be useful, but not essential now. We do need some on the trip though.”
“That’s why I caught this bird. Do you want some of it or can I store it?” I asked, ripping off a wing and tearing into it.
“Sure, toss me a wing.” She seemed rather lethargic today.
“Come over here and get it yourself. Me being the hunter doesn’t make me the slave by default.”
“Aww, has your Fire clan not taught you about treating ladies with courtesy?”
“I believe it’s courtesy enough to wake up early to cook food for you.”
“For me? Do you not eat?” As I handed Willow a wing, I finished mine and buried it, packing up his supplies, while Willow nibbled tentatively at her piece, enlarging her bites after realizing how hungry she was. I hurled the Shadowblade in her direction. She managed to snatch it out of the air before I could cry out, belatedly recognizing my error. However, Willow remained oblivious to the situation, until the pain set in. Her eyes shot open, and she dropped it onto the ground. “What the heck?” She exclaimed, clearly upset.
I hurriedly apologized. “Sorry! I didn’t realize it was that sharp! It’s a remnant of the obsidian wall we formed when we fought the dragon.”
“Good thing I didn’t grab it tightly. It could give me some nasty cuts.” Getting over her anger and pain, Willow examined the blade. “Wow... it looks well-polished, and the edge looks like it can slice well. Did you sharpen it or is this natural?”
“I didn’t. I cleaned it a bit, but I couldn’t wash it as there’s no lava around here. The handle’s made from some spruce. Speaking of washing, could you perhaps wash it for me? I don’t want to touch any water.”
Willow’s plucked a leaf off a nearby tree. A stream of water flowed out of her necklace as she held the knife to it. “Do you not drink water? Won’t you get dehydrated?”
“Dehydrated? What’s that?” I stopped pacing and looked Willow in the eye upon hearing the unfamiliar term.
“When your body doesn’t have enough liquids.”
“We don’t need water. I thought that was obvious.”
“Well, how did you expect me to know?”
“Anyways, we don’t necessarily drink water since there’s not a lot of it. We can drink lava.” Willow turned towards me, with a look of abject horror on her face.
“There is no way you drink liquid that can melt someone’s face off!” Willow exclaimed, eyes boring holes into me, as if looking for a lie. She sounded like she couldn’t even believe the words that came out of her own mouth. Exasperated and slightly amused by the look of her face, I explained to her.
“Lava won’t do that to us, since we’re really resistant to high temperatures, which isn’t as uncomfortable to us as it is to you. The lava we drink is not made of molten rock. Instead, it’s really more like water, but red and warmer.”
Willow handed me the knife. “Thanks, it looks cleaner,” I mumbled, running my finger over the sides of the edge.
“Just don’t throw it at me again.” She grumbled. After she had finished packing, we started to walk towards the place called Twilight Bay. “Also, you mentioned that you had something called a stoke yesterday, didn’t you?” I nodded. She picked up what I said. “What’s that?”
“It’s a storage space in a pocket dimension all Fire people have. We can use it to store our weapons, supplies, and our energy resources to fuel our usage of Fire, Conjuring them to appear next to us when needed. Look, I can put my bag inside right now.” I held my backpack in my hands and closed my eyes, sending it to my Stoke. A few seconds later, the bag disappeared. “Before you ask, ‘why didn’t I store everything inside,’ it actually has a limited space, and more items inside it drains your physical strength faster than if you were holding it.” I closed my eyes again and the bag appeared on the floor. I picked it up and put it on. As we walked, I picked up my flail, which was lying on the ground near where we battled.
“Actually, Water people have something similar! Most of our tools and weapons can be compressed into water and warped into a storage container and changed back anytime. We can also use water to construct temporary weapons, though not as strong as one that actually takes time and effort to make. Those have bound structures that make them stronger.” I cast Willow a slightly jealous glance.
“Not every one of us has a Stoke. We needed to train our mental capabilities before even trying to form one. Incorrect techniques could result in death.” I involuntarily gave a small shudder when remembering my experiences. Apparently, Willow noticed it.
“Did something like that happen to you?”
“Yeah. I managed to form a small pocket space after a long time of training, but it collapsed soon after, which paralyzed for the greater part of my thirteenth Rotation.”
“We never asked each other our ages. How old are you now?”
“I’m seventeen. And you?”
“Sixteen. We’re getting close to Shrieker territory so be careful where you step-” As we talked, I stepped onto the tail of what I would later know as a fanged shrieker, Willow’s attempt at warning me being just a tad too late. It made a horrible shrieking noise. At once, several others poked their heads out of nearby trees and the forest floor, shrieking raucously. “Oh no. Back away and - don’t look them in the eyes!”
“Whoops. Too late!” Not knowing how to deal with fanged shriekers, I accidentally looked one in the eye, which acted like a taunt. It snapped its beak viciously, cawing loudly. “Should we fight them?”
“Seems like it’s the only way!” Willow summoned her trident while I unsheathed my Shurkien. The group of fanged avians howled and amassed midair. They dove at us.
Willow’s flung her trident into the middle of the flock, knocking some of them to the ground. I swung my Shurkien, shearing through many birds and turning the once intimidating flock into a flurry of feathers and blood. Bodies fell to the ground all around us.
Organizing again and calling reinforcements, the cloud of violent birds let out an ear-splitting scream, dive-bombing us, this time in a wide array. Willow held her trident in front of her horizontally, presumably defending, while I Conjured my flail, once again at a disadvantage without a ranged weapon. Several of them managed to get to me, violently snapping at me with their beaks, drawing blood. In response, I killed many of them, splashing blood everywhere. I really should have stopped and defended myself sometimes, rather than kept fighting and just taking the hits.
After an unnecessary confrontation, I received many cuts on his arms, though Willow was completely fine. “How are you not injured at all?” I asked while dabbing some flavender extract onto a particularly deep wound, wincing in pain.
“I’ve fought plenty of those annoying things in my training. I know when to defend and when to attack, unlike you,” she replied, unknowingly pointing out one of my major flaws in battling. “Seriously, not knowing how to protect yourself when needed will be a major issue in future fights for you.” I sighed, annoyed.
“Thanks for pointing out things that I already know I need to work on, little miss perfect,” I snapped.
“I was just trying to help you, not badger you,” Willow muttered. She looked hurt from my words.
“Fine. Let’s keep going.” I put away my medicine, shrugged on my backpack, and walked towards Willow, avoiding the dead birds.
“Oh, and look for banana-shaped fruits. The leaves on their trees can be useful,” Willow said.
“Banana? Like the fruit?”
“What other banana do you know?” Willow looked at me curiously.
“Some kids back home keep calling boomerangs bananas, because they’re curved. A few of my friends have also started to use the name,” I explained, and Willow burst into laughter.
“Why would the kids call them bananas?” She said between giggles. I frowned at her.
“I don’t know. Maybe because they’re both curved and the kids don’t want to pronounce ‘boomerang’?”
Willow’s laughing fit escalated. Unable to hold herself upright, she collapsed to the floor, clutching her stomach while snickering. I rolled my eyes.
“I don’t know what you’re finding so funny. Anyways, they’re both the same shape, so I’ll look for bananas on our way. What is your problem?” I exclaimed as Willow, who had just calmed down, started laughing again. I sighed and sat down, waiting for her to settle again. I’ll probably have to bear with this for a long time.
