Disclaimer: Everything belongs to the author of the Medoran Chronicles, Lynette Noni.
His lavender eyes fluttered open, darkening with life as they did so, allowing him to be aware of not only the blanket of snow beneath him but the orange-skies above him as they slowly transitioned to a pinkish-purple hue. His first thought was a comment about the sunset in front of him, but just as he was about to speak, a chunk of weight on his chest left him breathless. That's when he realised—shouldn't he be seeing white?
"Kitten?" Niyx croaked, his voice barely audible. He expected to find a piece of armor, or even flowers, on his chest. If it weren't for the loud rumble of his attempt to wash away the sandpaper-like feeling in his throat, Alex would never have looked up.
The sight of her broke him. From the unruly knots on her brown head; to the whites of her eyes, now tinted pink, matching her nose; down to the slight part of her lips as she gave him a big smile, the corners of her eyes crinkling with euphoria. She ran an arm under her nose, still unable to let go of her smile. Niyx couldn't help but reflect a small smile of his own.
"How?" Yet one word was all it took to wash it way. "Kitten, don't tell me you—"
"I had to Niyx! I had to!" She cried, refusing to meet his eyes. Her grip around his vest tightened. "I couldn't let you go without trying," she whispered, "I had to claim you again."
Releasing a long and deep sigh, Niyx glanced at her. "You really are a magnet for trouble, aren't you?" Stars, what am I going to do with you, Aeylia?
Alex huffed. "And to think I was going to miss your sense of humor," she muttered, receiving a wolfish grin from the Meyarin as he sat up, only for it to turn into a wince. She was quickly by his side but he shook his head. No one made a sound, a single question lingering in the air. Alex was the first to break the silence.
"What happens now, Niyx?"
He got comfortable and sighed again. She could hear the uncertainty and apprehension in his voice.
What were they going to do? More importanly, what was he going to do? Now that Aven's become aware of his unwavering loyalty towards Alex—the same girl who broke the Prince's heart a millenia ago—Niyx knew he was treading on dangerous ground. He was certainly not going to find Aven dancing happily through the woods.
"I don't know Aeylia," he answered honestly, "Obviously, Meya's not an option right now and—"
"What about Draekora?" Alex wondered, with the lift of her head.
"You know I can't go back—"
"But you can," she said. "I'll be there with you. I'll tell them you're innocent. They'll understand." Or at least Zain and Kyia might, she mentally added.
Propping himself up onto one arm, he winced, "But before you do that, I suggest we take a trip to your healer because I'm feeling petty sore right now. I don't know whether that's just me or the battle at Graevale really took a lot out of you."
Alex watched Niyx push himself upright until he was standing up with a hesitant look on her face. As if reading her mind, he said, "Don't worry Kitten, I can still move."
With that, she wrapped her arm around his waist and supported him as he whisked them off to Akarnae through the Valispath. They shared a comfortable silence, knowing that the other needed their space to gather their thoughts. Unsure as to what will happen next, they both kept their thoughts to themselves. They were terrified. Petrified even. They both acknowledged that Aven was capable of many things, and now that he has declared a war against all mortals—who knows what's going to happen. And they weren't ready for that, not yet at least.
"Alex!" Dix cried, jogging towards her with Jordan by her side. "We were worried sick! We thought that— we thought..." Her voice faded as soon as her eyes landed on the man that stood before her, the man that stood by her best friend's side. Aven Dalmarta's right hand man—Niyx Raedon.
Before she could even react, Jordan took a step forward and extended a hand in front of Dix. "Alex, what are you doing? Get away from him!" He barked.
Niyx did nothing but take some of his weight off of Alex thinking that it would ease the tense atmosphere between them, but it didn't occur to him how much he really needed Alex's assistance until his leg wobbled causing him to almost crash onto the floor. She tightened her grip around him.
Alex saw Jordan's body tense at her gesture.
Cautiously, she said, "I know who he is, Jordan."
She knew that anything involving Aven was a sensitive topic for him, but they didn't know Niyx like she did. He was much more than just 'Aven's right hand man' and now she has the chance to tell them.
"Then what're you doing? He's—!"
"—Innocent," she finished. "He's innocent of everything you think he did, Jordan. Please. Believe me." She glanced at the two of them with a piercing stare. She wanted nothing more than but to tell them about her friend, her protector. "I'll explain everything later, but for now I need you two to trust me. Do you trust me?"
Alex was certain that Jordan was hesitant to trust her from the unwavering look of fear in his eyes. He knew she was much smarter than to get caught by Aven, much stronger. Yet...
Dix snaked her arm around his and clasped their hands together. Her touch broke him free from his thoughts. Dix nodded, encouraging him to trust her; he knew he should, but he couldn't help but stand warily around Alex and the Meyarin.
"Alright, Alex," Jordan said, "I trust you."
"Thank you Jordan," she said, glancing not only at Jordan but Dix too. "You have no idea how much this means to me. I'll tell you guys everything later, but for now we have to go see Fletcher." Glancing up at him, she added, "Do you need anything?"
He knew what she was implying. As much as he loved his Maggie, he didn't want her to see him like this. Especially since he was on the brink of life and death not too long ago. He knew that if she ever found out about his second encounter with death, he was going to be in for a lecture of a lifetime. Considering his life span, that's going to be a long while.
"She'll find her way around, I have a feeling she'll find out herself."
Niyx was right. Though he didn't expect it to happen right away once Alex had opened the door to the MedWard.
"What seems to be the problem, Alex?" Fletcher questioned, glancing at not only her but Niyx too.
Alex knew that the staff at Akarnae seemed to trust many of her decisions, this being one of them. "We were at the battle at Graevale"—Maggie stiffened—"and I need you to check his vitals." She said, careful not to reveal his name just yet. "And if possible, can I also get something to ease soreness?"
Alex watched as the two siblings stared at each other with eyes like saucers. She couldn't help but wonder just how close Niyx and Maggie were as they seemed to be having a mental conversation of their own. They both stood still, moving nothing but their head every now and then.
From Alex's perspective, their conversation looked intense not knowing that it only consisted of different variations of the same question being repeated over and over again by Maggie and the same answer by Niyx. Their conversation then ended with Maggie rolling her eyes, followed by Niyx just as Fletcher arrived with the vials needed.
"Those vials should ease the soreness a little bit," Fletcher explained, "As for your friend here, he'll need to take two doses since his pain is a little more extreme than yours. But other than that, he should be just fine. Is there anything else you need me to do?"
"Nope," Alex replied, smacking her lips together creating a popping sound. "That should be all, thank you."
"Anytime."
With that, sensing that they needed their privacy, Fletcher left the room. Alex's eyes flicked over to the two siblings whose eyes were both narrowed at each other, their arms crossed. She couldn't help but watched them amusedly, waiting for someone to speak up.
"Alright, mind explaining what happened at Graevale?" Maggie started, shifting her weight over to one leg.
With a shrug, Niyx answered, "Yeah I kind of do, actually." Thus earning him a whack in the arm.
"I'm serious Niyx," despite her words, Maggie couldn't help but crack a small smile herself. She immediately composed herself and turned to Alex. "I'll take care of him from here. I can't guarantee anything, but good thing we have Fletcher."
"Thanks Maggie, don't beat him up to much now. Alright?" Alex joked, waving as she left the MedWard knowing that she had unfinished business to take care of. She was already tired just thinking about it; she'd have to explain the battle to at least three different groups of people, she was not ready. But first, she headed off to check up on her friends—Bear especially.
As discrete as they possibly could, Maggie led Niyx to her quarters at Akarnae. She had no idea what her brother was going to do next, unbeknownst to her that he didn't know either but he was thankful that he had a temporary place to stay even if it is just a day or two. Niyx couldn't help but wonder what he could do next since Aven thinks he's dead, surely he could get around get some things done but at what cost?
Niyx saw all the different kinds of bows and arrows neatly lined against her wall once entering her quarters, he couldn't help but release a small chuckle at the sight. She always had been much neater than him or at least to an extent, he thought glancing at the pile of half-open books cluttered on her round wooden table, sitting at the center of the room. His eyebrows furrowed at the glowing flower resting on one of her books.
Where did she get that? He thought, wondering if Aeylia had given her some. Before he could open his mouth to ask, Maggie started to speak with a nostalgic glow to her eyes.
"You know, this reminds me of when we were kids," she said, covering the small smile on her lips as she brought her mug closer for a sip. She gestured for Niyx to take the other mug in her hands before continuing. "Back then when Sarnaphs and thunder storms used to scare me." Now, nothing scared her more than the thought of losing Niyx but she wasn't going to say it out loud, afraid of the fact that his ego might grow too big for his body to handle.
Niyx chuckled at the memory. "I remember going back to my room in the middle of the night, only to find you crying under my sheets. You wouldn't stop crying no matter how much I try to comfort you, I was scared you were going to shrivel up and die because of how much you were crying."
She laughed, remembering which thunder storm he was talking about.
Niyx smiled. "Or those times when I'd start to feel lonely and visit your room late at night."
"Then we'd stay up telling each other stories, or find ways to steal those cookies Mum loved to make without making a single sound.. Dad, being the light sleeper he was, would always catch us rummaging through the kitchen cupboards at three in the morning. He never did snitch on us though." She chuckled, awaiting for his reply but was met with a weird, yet soft, look on his face. Her eyebrows knitted, "What? What is it?"
"After all they've done, how can you still call them that?" He asked, his voice sharp yet quiet.
"They're still our parents Niyx; the ones who raised us—our Mum and Da—"
"No." It was a simple yet harsh reply. "They didn't raise us. They never even had the audacity to give us attention—never gave you attention, especially when they found out that you had wanted to go on the Varrungard. After that, they refused to see you as their daughter, Mayra. They ignored you for weeks—stars, no, months—believing that having an heir was more important that their child's happiness. I should've done something."
"You did do something, Niyx. You did more than just something and you know that. You sacrificed your life for me and everyone around us. You told me yourself that you knew what you were getting into yet you decided to go on with it." Maggie stated, "Give yourself some credit."
He was speechless. He had wanted to argue back saying that he could've done more, but he also knew that his efforts were going to be pointless considering how stubborn Maggie could get.
Simply, he said, "Thanks May. That means a lot." And with that, Niyx leaned over and grabbed the salt shaker and added a pinch to his mug.
Maggie leaned back and wrinkled her nose, "Who adds salt to their milk?"
Niyx scoffed. "You're just jealous that I've got good looks and good taste," he retorted with a matter-of-fact tone in his voice. Maggie laughed, chucking a pillow at his head. He choked, wheezing out a cry of agony, "Mayra, my milk!"
A/N: Hey guys, what's up, it's Ann (without an E aha)
I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and comment down below (is that how works?) if you liked this chapter and is looking forward to some more. I'll try to update as soon as possible, but please remember that I am only human so I obviously won't be consistent. But anyways, this chapter wasn't really edited, ish, so if you do see some mistakes feel free to point them out (nicely) and I'll be sure to get it.
That's all I have to say for now, sooooooo
Until next time! See you next chapter! :)
"EMBRACE THE WONDER"