8 ~7~

We raced through the thick undergrowth and passed a moon-lit stream.

We've had to outrun monsters and lose them in the maze of trees. Lucian kept talking about claiming our charms. We kept telling him to shut up.

By the morning, our muscles ached, and our thighs were rubbed raw.

"We should rest" I suggested.

"But-"

"We need rest" Fraya agreed.

Reluctantly, Lucian climbed down from his light grey horse, slightly stumbling once his feet hit the ground, then steadied himself.

"There's a little lake down this slope," He said, then he led his horse away from us.

"We'd better follow," Fraya said as she too stumbled off of her horse and headed down the slope.

I slid off of Artemis, and stumbled backward, my feet catching beneath me, and fell into a small bush.

"Off off off!" Called a small, shrill voice almost immediately.

I stood, and when I turned around, I saw a strange girl fixing up the leaves and twigs I had just snapped and bent.

Once she was done, she straightened up and glared at me. She was a lot shorter than I was, but she looked around my same age, and she definitely was not human.

Her hair was made of bright green leaves, her skin was flawless, and the color of fresh soil, and her lips were tinted green, but her eyes were a pretty chestnut brown.

"You could have killed me!" She snapped. This took me by surprise.

"You? But I-"

"Yes me! You sat on me!" She said, pointing down at the little bush.

"That's a bush"

The girl was nearly shaking with rage.

"It is not! It is a shrub! Sh-rub, understand?"

I nodded, "I'm so sorry about...Your shrub"

"Me!" cried the girl, "Apologize to me! I am the shrub!"

Light green tears streaked down the girl's face.

"Ok," I said. "I'm sorry about... You"

The girl smiled, "Ya mean it?"

I muttered something under my breath, that was a cross between "You have got to be kidding me" And "She's insane"

"Ivy!" Fraya's voice called from behind me.

I whipped around, thankful to see her making her way over to me.

"Oh!" She said once she saw the girl. "You must be Silvia," She said.

Silvias eyes went wide. "How do you-"

"Your a bit famous among the Harbingers" Fraya smiled.

The girl let out a little snort of laughter, then vanished.

"What was th-"

Fraya put a finger to her lips as she led me away from the bush.

"That," She began once we were far enough away, "Was a Nymph. Very emotional creatures, you don't want to make them angry"

"A little late for that," I said. "I sat on her bush"

"Shrub" Fraya corrected, "Never call a Nymph by the wrong name"

I started to nod, then stopped immediately once I noticed what was perched on Lucian's arm.

"You killed a Phoenix!" Fraya fumed. "Are you insane! Do you know how rare those are!" She continued to yell as she stocked down the slope after him.

The silver-blue bird let out an ear-splitting cry, and suddenly, Fraya wasn't going to kill her brother.

"Phoenix's make amazing charms" Lucian shrugged.

"Are you that desperate for a Charm, that you kill the most endangered bird of the second world?"

"I didn't know it was endangered" Said Lucian.

"Clearly"

"Just admit it" Lucian teased. "My Charm is cooler than yours will ever be"

"I'm going to kill you"

"Not with my new Charm around you won't"

"Charms fail all the time" Fraya shrugged.

"Nope. Not Mirk"

"You named you Phoenix, Mirk?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Because its a terrible name"

"I think it's a cool looking bird," I said as I made my way to them. "Whats it do? Asteria, in Mr. Banors' class, told me that every charm has its own abilities that can be passed down to its Possessor"

"I'm not sure what its abilities are" Lucian admitted.

"How could you-" Fraya started, then she turned to me. "The Phoenix can paralyze its opponent with its deafening cry and can burst into flame when threatened"

I thought this was interesting.

"Sounds pretty powerful," I said.

Lucian shook his head. "Not really. My ideal charm would be the Dragon charm" He sighed, "But only one person has ever killed a real dragon before. And now, they're rarer than Mirk"

"Please change its name" Fraya begged.

"No. I like it, you don't have to"

We spent the rest of the afternoon hiding under the shade of the trees, getting in as much sleep as we could, and watching Lucian try and tame his new pet.

And as soon as the sun had sunk behind the last tree, and night fell upon Nave once again, we were back on our horses, head north, to the Sapphire Province.

"How much further?" I asked. Even resting the whole day hadn't numbed the pain in my legs completely.

"A few more hours. Think you can hang in there a bit longer?"

"Do I have a choice?"

I knew we've arrived once the sound of the choppy sea came into view, along with looming mountains.

"Do you think they'll ever wake again?" Lucian said, staring into the shadowy distance.

Fraya followed his gaze. She shrugged.

"I hope not. Without the Queens around to trap them again..."

"You're not talking about the mountains, are you?" I asked, thinking I finally understood where they were looking.

"Their not mountains," Said Fraya, still looking at them. "Their giants. Trapped in a deep slumber by Queen Adola"

"Queen Adola did that?" I said in awe.

Fraya nodded.

"The Queens have done much more than trap the giants in slumber" Lucian went on.

I began to ask, "Like what?" When Fraya's voice cut through my words.

"We're here," She said in a hushed voice.

I watched as we drew closer and closer to a lighthouse on the edge of a dark cliff.

"Your fathers a Lightkeeper," I asked.

"Nope," Said Lucian, "He's the keeper of light"

"What's that?"

"He is possibly the most powerful Possessor in all of Nave. Aside from the Queens themselves of course"

"Who is he? I mean, who is the Keeper of light?"

"He protects us from the keeper of dark" Said Fraya. "It's a pain to explain so I won't do it now. But to put it simply, the keeper of dark is an evil force, not from our world. And our father keeps him at bay"

I nodded as if I understood. But really, I didn't.

We slid off our horses at the bottom of the small rocky cliff and climbed the rest of the way. It was terrifying! With the sea spraying in every direction I almost fell like six times. But eventually, we reached the front door of the Lighthouse.

"Your knocking," Lucian said.

"What? Why?"

"Uh, because you're the reason your here-"

"No, you're the reason we're here!"

Lucian opened his mouth to argue when a rapping sound made him hesitate.

Fraya had been the one to knock.

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