Ender, Chapter Nine

Gabrielle stumbled on a stray tree root. Her pack fell open, and apples spilled out over the ground. "Careful," said Bodil, helping her to her feet. Louise helped her pick up the runaway fruits.

They were walking through a spruce forest, late in the afternoon. The refugees had escaped the Mines three days before, and immediately headed into the forest. So far they had not been pursued by the Chancellor, but Gabrielle was still nervous. She was also exhausted. Her dress was torn and dirty, and her hair was a nightmare. Her arms and legs were scratched from thickets of thorn bushes.

They walked along in silence for another hour or so, until Jerome, who was leading them, held up a hand. The five stood at the crest of a hill, above a clearing. In the clearing were buildings, made of cobblestone. The wooden roofs of the buildings had now rotted. The place seemed abandoned.

"Should we check it out?" Jerome asked, turning to his exhausted comrades. Bodil and Louise nodded. Bashur yawned, and then said, "Yes. We need a place to sleep for tonight." Gabrielle agreed. "At least we'll be sheltered, not like last night." She said. The night before, they had been caught in a rainstorm.

The travelers drew their weapons: Bodil and Bashur had diamond swords, Gabrielle and Louise had iron swords, and Jerome carried a rare diamond axe. They advanced cautiously towards the cobblestone city, expecting to be ambushed by angry villagers at any moment. Suddenly, a rotted wooden roof caved in. Louise screamed at the sight of what came out of the house.

It was a dragon, beautiful and horrible, to Gabrielle's surprise. She'd always thought that dragons were mythical. It was huge, as big the Town Hall back in the Mines. Its scales were emerald green, and it had spines of lime green along it back. It opened its mouth, revealing a blood red tongue and teeth as large and sharp as daggers. It spread huge emerald wings and flew off of the building, landing in front of Jerome. It stood on two back legs, and reached for Louise with its front talons. Gabrielle's heart hammered with fear. Was Louise about to die?

No. "Get away from her!" Jerome yelled, bringing his axe down towards the dragon's claws. The creature pulled its claw back before it could be wounded, and turned its golden-eyed gaze towards Jerome. It gave him a look of curiosity and bewilderment, as if to say, Why are you trying to hurt me, little human? It warbled and poked its nose at Jerome, who dropped his axe in surprise. The dragon smelled him, and then rubbed its head against his chest, nuzzling him with its huge snout.

Bashur laughed. "I think he likes you Jerome!" he said. Jerome nodded. "Maybe it does," he said nervously. "After all, I am very likeable." He patted the dragon's snout carefully, and it crooned happily, closing its eyes and rubbing its head on Jerome's hand.

"Well, now we have a dragon, apparently." Bodil said. "Time to make camp!" He adjusted his pack on his shoulder and began to walk into the abandoned city. "Let's try to find a building that's stable."

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Ashley twirled in front of the mirror. Her strapless dress was made of a bright turquoise colored silk, and it hugged her slim frame. It fell in waves of aqua fabric to her toes, with a bubble hem so she wouldn't trip. Her hair was curled, and pulled up into a loose but elegant bun with sparkling hairpins. She wore simple silver heeled sandals. A bit of pink lip gloss, mascara, and some teal eye shadow and eyeliner completed the look. "You look amazing," said Lyssa. She had let Ashley join her in her room to prepare for the first night of the Midsummer Festival – the dance. Where she was expected to dance, with Mitchell Hughes no less – not that she was nervous.

"You look beautiful too," Ashley told Lyssa. Lyssa was wearing a strapless navy-blue taffeta gown. Silver sequins were scattered around the waist and the top of the dress, like patches of stars. The dress was floor-length, and it ended in a ring of blue fabric at Lyssa's toes. She wore a pair of silver flats. Her brown hair was curled, and pinned back from her face with sliver barrettes. The dress, Ashley noticed, brought out Lyssa's blue eyes nicely.

"Thanks," Lyssa replied, hugging her brown shoulders. Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door. "Are you two ready yet?" called Ian from the hallway. "We're all waiting on you." The two girls laughed, and then walked out of the room. They followed Ian down the hall, through the kitchen, and out onto the wooden porch high above the ground. The rest of the guys were waiting there, talking to each other. They each wore almost identical dark suits, Ashley noticed, although they each had a different color tie. Ian's tie was dark blue, Quentin's was orange to match his hair, Jason's was light blue, Ty's was lime green (a nice contrast to his red eyes). Adam wore his amethyst amulet over a royal purple tie. He wasn't wearing his sunglasses, so his golden eyes were visible.

Mitch looked up and smiled at Ashley as she came out of the house. His tie was red, and it almost seemed to enhance the color of his warm brown eyes. His hair was spiked up again, like he usually wore it. He walked over to her and offered her a bouquet of white tulips, bound together by a turquoise ribbon. "Thank you," she said, taking the flowers. "No problem," he said. "You look beautiful tonight." She blushed. She seemed to blush a lot around Mitch.

"Come on guys, let's get going," called Adam. "The party starts in a few minutes."

"Let's go then," said Jason, and the group began to walk down the wooden stairs to the celebration below. Mitch held her hand as they walked.

The jungle looked so different that night that Ashley felt she was in a different place. Green and gold streamers hung from the tree branches, along with twinkling little white lights. It looked like the stars had fallen from the sky and settled in the trees. At the center of town, a wooden dance floor had been built. Couples whirled on the dance floor, twirling and dipping or just swaying to the music. Colored spotlights – green, purple, and pink – swept across the crowd, turning the people blue, then gold, then back again. A blond boy with blue eyes was the DJ. He controlled the music.

The guys and Lyssa fanned out across the dance floor, joining people they knew. Mitch and Ashley continued along the sidelines, not dancing yet. "I'll be right back, Mitch said. "I'm going to get us something to drink." He walked towards the table with a huge cut glass punch bowl on it, filled with red liquid.

Ashley stood awkwardly for a moment, not knowing what to do. She noticed Ty, all by himself, leaning against a table. She went to join him.

"Why aren't you dancing?" She asked, leaning on the table. He was watching Adam dancing with a girl with pink and purple hair. He mumbled something that sounded like, "The person I want to dance with wouldn't want to dance with me."

"Do you like her?" Ashley asked, gesturing to Adam's dance partner. She wore a lavender dress. Ty looked startled. "Dawn? No!" he said. A lock of his auburn hair fell into his eyes, and a deep blush covered his cheeks. "No, I don't like her."

"Oh." Ashley said. Ty turned his attention back to Adam and Dawn. His expression, though he tried to hide it, was much the same as Ashley's expression when she looked at Mitch. A sneaking suspicion crept into her head. Quietly and casually as she could, she asked, "Do you like Adam?"

Ty looked as if his worst nightmare had just come true. He hurriedly said, "I have to go now!" before bolting away to the other side of the dance floor. Ashley was startled. She hadn't meant to insult him.

Jason, who was dancing nearby, noticed Ty and approached Ashley. "What happened?" he asked. She shook her head. "I don't know! He was watching Adam and that girl dancing, and it looked sort-of like he had a thing for Dawn, so I asked and he said no, but it was obvious he liked someone, so I asked…"

"…if he liked Adam." Jason finished for her. He sighed and put his head in his hands, muttering a curse word into them. "You guessed."

"So he does?" Ashley asked, concerned. She felt terrible. "I didn't know – I mean, I didn't mean to hurt him…"

"I know," said Jason, looking Ashley in the eye. "He… you can't tell anybody, okay?" Ashley nodded vigorously. "Ty has been keeping that secret for five years now. You cannot tell anyone. Not Mitch, not Lyssa, especially not Adam."

"Okay," Ashley agreed. Jason looked at her, and said one more thing. "I like you Ashley, but Ty is like my brother, okay? If you tell anyone, if you hurt him like that, I will personally hurt you sevenfold." And with that, he walked away. Ashley felt horrible.

A few minutes later, Mitch finally returned. He carried two cups of punch, giving one to Ashley. "Careful," he said as he handed it to her. "You don't want to ruin that beautiful dress." She thanked him and took a sip. It tasted like fresh strawberries.

When she'd finished her cup of punch, Mitch held out his hand to her. "Dance with me?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said nervously, placing the empty cup on the table behind her. "I'm not really sure how."

He laughed. "Believe me Ashley, I can't dance either. But it'll be fun to try!"

"Oh, all right," Ashley said, caving in. "One song. Then I'm done. " She put her hand in his, and he pulled her out onto the dance floor.

They danced for hours. Finally, the DJ announced the last song of the night. It was a slow song. Mitch took Ashley's hand in his. "May I have this dance?" he asked. Ashley smiled shyly. "Of course."

Mitch smiled. He put his hands on her waist, and pulled her closer to him, although not so close that they were touching. She placed her hands on his shoulders, and they swayed to the music.

"Is it windy tonight?" Mitch asked quietly, a smirk on his face. "Because you just blew me away."

Ashley feigned insult. "Mitchell," she said, looking him dead in the eye and trying to hide the pink glow that threatened to escape onto her cheeks. "If you expect me to continue dancing with you, you'll have to drop the pick-up lines."

He smiled his eyes sparkling with amusement. "All right," he said. "I'll try something more forward." He didn't say anything for a moment. They continued to dance as they had before. Their eyes met again, and she noticed that there was a tiny bit of gray mixed in with the caramel brown.

He leaned in, and their lips met. Fireworks went off in Ashley's head. She closed her eyes and threw her arms around his neck – his hands were in her hair, pulling out the sparkling pins one by one. Her brown hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall. The pins clattered to the floor. Ashley had never felt this giddy.

But then she heard the screaming. Mitch heard it too – they broke apart. It was Ty screaming Adam's name. Adam himself had fallen onto the floor – he was twitching and spasming horribly, and Ty and Jason were beside him, calling to him frantically. Lyssa ran past Ashley in a blur of blue, falling to her knees beside Adam, crying out to him, screaming his name. Tears ran down her cheeks - Lyssa, who kept her social mask so subdued that you could never guess what she was feeling. Ashley looked at Mitch – she saw the concern and fear in his eyes for Adam, his friend, his brother. Together they ran to his side. Ashley sat beside Lyssa, who wrapped her arms around Ashley and cried, "What's happening? Why won't he answer me?" But Ashley couldn't answer, she was as afraid as Lyssa was. Quentin and Ian ran for help, away from the dance floor. The music was still playing, and the colored spotlights kept dancing – they seemed so out of place, mixed with the shrieks of partygoers.

Suddenly Adam stopped moving. The spotlights stopped moving, leaving Adam in a circle of yellow-gold light. The amulet at his throat glowed bright purple. His eyes opened. No, Ashley thought. Not again.

He had no pupils or irises. His butterscotch eyes were gone, replaced by blank eyes that glowed white. He sat up, smiled viciously, and laughed in a deep voice that wasn't his own.

"Fools," he said, in the same voice Natara had spoken in almost two months before. "Soon you'll all be dead."

DID I CLIFFHANGER YOU ENOUGH?

That chapter was fun to write, except for the Skylox part. That made me sad. Poor Ty. It was also the longest (2,396 words if you count this author's note!) By the way, if you are not comfortable with Skylox (Adam x Ty), then you may not want to read the rest. It will not be a major part of the plot, but it will be important.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, whatever you celebrated I hope you had fun and got cool stuff (I got a lightsaber and tickets to Pax East! :D). Also Happy New Year!

Please review on what you thought of the kiss between Ashley and Mitch. That was the very first time I ever wrote a kiss scene. I escalated quickly, huh? One minute they're kissing happily, the next minute their friend is being posse- wait. It's better if I don't tell you what happens to Adam.

If you have theories on what will happen in the next few chapters, let me know in a review (or a PM, if you are not a guest.) I love to hear what you guys think of this story!

Happy 2015!

Love, Speckle