"GO GO GO!" Ruanae screamed at the top of her lungs. Winter was sprinting as fast as his legs could have taken him as he followed in Midnight's footsteps, a panicked Tahlian on top of him.
Ruanae looked behind her again to see a fire elemental storming up to them, slowly falling behind but it didn't seem it would give up soon.
Tahlian also looked behind him to see the same sight. He made a nervous sound and turned back to the road again. He could see a turn that would bring them into Morgan's Vigil.
"Almost there!" He yelled back at her.
Ruanae watched as the elemental that had chased them all the way from the stupid stone bridge they had crossed began to back away from the town they were coming up to. It turned around and made it's way back to ambush another un-suspecting traveler.
She sighed with relieve. Fear slowly left her and pain slowly came back to her. She looked down at her right arm to see a burned spot driven right through the leather. A bruise lay where the rock had nearly knocked her off Winter.
She held back a gasp of pain as she looked at Tahlian who looked a bit shaken. He looked back at her clutching her arm and a look of concern washed over his face.
Tahlian stopped his mount and walked up to Ruanae. He helped her off Winter and removed her hand from the bruise. He flinched as he saw the bruise. It started to turn a black color along with some blue.
"Ouch." Ruanae said as he gently touched it and wove healing into it. The skin turned back to it's purple color and she sighed with relief.
They walked the mounts into the town and asked the guard where the stables and flight master were. They stabled the mounts, asking for them to be teleported to the Searing Gorge town, Thorium Point.
Each one jumped on a gryphon and they took off, laughing as the birds swooped around and glided.
Tahlian had never felt so alive, for the first time since… well, a long time. His smile was nearly glowing as he turned to see Ruanae laughing and staring ahead of her, her smile ear to ear.
"This is so much better than running for our lives!" Ruanae yelled over the wind, looking down to see creatures of the Searing Gorge look up at them disappointed at prey flying right over them.
It didn't take far to long to get to the Loch Modan town, Thelsamar, and land. They each dismounted and walked over to the stable master to find both Midnight and Winter waiting there, munching on some meat they had provided.
They got some more food and were off. It took most of the day to enter into the Wetlands, and as they left the tunnel Ruanae stretched thankfully.
"Thank goodness, I thought those tunnels would never end, you know?" she said
"Yea." Tahlian answered. It was nearing night, "You want to camp out for the night?" he said, looking at the rapidly darkening sky.
"Probably. Lets go under that tree" she said, pointing at a tree that was on the left side of the path, sitting on a small hill that overlooked one of the many parts of a channel of water thought the entire area. The place was littered with crocodiles.
"We should be more cautious with all these animals wandering about, and the orcs that are said to habit around. I'll take the first watch when you rest." Tahlian said, following Ruanae's example of jumping off the mount and starting to unpack his bedroll and food.
"Oh, stop being a 'man'. I'll take the first watch, I'm not that tired." Ruanae said, rolling her eyes as she spread the bedroll out.
Tahlian laughed as he began to search for stones in the surrounding area to start a fire.
"I don't see any sticks around." Ruanae said nervously. She looked at the tree, "I really don't want to even take a chop out of any tree, especially the one that is sheltering us for the night."
"Find another one." Tahlian said simply.
Ruanae set out holding the small axe in search for another tree. She didn't have to go far. She squared her feet and slammed the axe into the rough bark.
"Sorry tree!" she whispered as she left, her arms full of firewood.
She hurried back and dropped the wood next to Tahlian who was taking out the dried up meat.
Soon, a roaring fire and the smell of a cooking meal reached Tahlian's senses. He took another bite out of the apple he was munching on, and turned the meat over.
They ate in silence, listening to the soft wind and the munching of Midnight and Winter eagerly snapping at the fish. As the wind blew across Ruanae's face, she turned to look at Tahlian. His long hair tied up in a ponytail blew as the wind reached it. She didn't notice how long she was looking at him, a small smile had been on her lips but the next thing she knew he looked at her, his food done.
"Finished?" He said, not noticing the look.
"Oh, right. Yea." She said, shaking her head.
She fell asleep, watching the breaths of Tahlian grow steady from across the banked fire pit.
Ruanae fell asleep, her journal cradled in her arms. She awoke to find a tray of food sitting on a nearby table and the room deserted. She yawned and placed the journal, quill, and ink back into her bag and jumped up off the hammock and landed gracefully on the floor.
She took the bread on the tray and munched on it as she left onto the deck of the boat. Tahlian was there, looking onto the seemingly endless sea of blue.
She was about to place a hand on his shoulder, but he jumped off of the boat and onto the hanging wood below.
"Tahlian!" she called down to him. Startled, he looked up. Relief came over him as he saw it was just her, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going swimming!" he called back with a laugh. Before she could ask him why he jumped higher than a human could dream of and at the perk of his jump, he transformed into a beautiful seal. The seal dove into the water barely making a splash.
The seal's head bobbed out of the water and began to race the boat, which was slightly faster than him, so he couldn't get ahead of it. Ruanae laughed at his failing attempts and she jumped down to, the bread now in her stomach.
She landed again gracefully on the wooden part hanging over the water. She layed down and watched the seal, Tahlian, dive in and out of the water laughing and waving at him.
"Ruanae?" a voice called from above her. She froze in mid-laugh and looked up to see Tahlian's father looking down at her with a emotionless face. He was good at that, but whenever he was like that you knew he didn't know how to feel about something, as if torn between laughing or yelling, "Ruanae, what are you doing down there? Wait a moment, is that Tahlian out there?! TAHLIAN!!!" he yelled out, cupping his hands over his mouth, "TAHLIAN! Get back on this boat, Tahlian!"
Tahlian froze in his jump and landed with a flop in the water. Slowly, he swam over to the edge and went deep in the water. A moment later he came jumping out of the water, transforming and doing a back flip at the same time. He had an unusually good agility at such a young age.
Ruanae helped him steady himself by grabbed his hand just as he was about to slip. They managed to climb back up to confront the rest of their parents who had heard him yelling.
"Y-yes?" they both said at the same time.
Tahlian's breath slowly steadied, him unable to get the picture of Ruanae staring at him like that with a smile he never saw on her face before. His eyes began to droop and was pulled into sleep.
Tahlian woke up to stare at Ruanae's back. He slowly got up. The parents were gone to who knows where, probably talking to the captain. He walked out and saw his mother walk up to his with a tray of food.
"Here you go, Tahlian. Breakfast." She said with a smile and handed the wooden tray to him, "Mind you, that's both of yours so don't eat all of it." She walked away above the deck.
He walked back in and took one of the two bread pieces there and left the rest for Ruanae. He walked up to the deck and leaned out, looking over the edge onto the ocean's horizon. He didn't know how long he was there. He suddenly got a thought of going for a swim. He had no idea why, it just seemed like a good idea. He jumped up and landed on a wooden platform just above the water. He heard a call from behind him, and he turned around and looked up to be confronted with Ruanae.
After small talk, he dove in. It felt so good so feel the cool water on his skin, or should he say his seal's skin. He dove above the water and heard Ruanae laugh. He turned to her and put on the biggest seal smile he could and she laughed harder and waved. He dove in and out, enjoying the sound of her laugh.
Just as he doe up again he heard her laugh cut short. Wondering why, he suddenly heard his father yelling at him. He looked up and saw his father looking angry. He plopped back into the water without realizing it.
Reluctantly, he swam up to the boat and went deep under. He enjoyed the water while it lasted, and swam up as fast as he could.
He jumped just as he surfaced, and began to morph into his elf form. He back flipped in the air and landed unsteadily on the wood. Ruanae helped him up and they climbed up to meet the angry parents who had come running.
They coward under the piercing glare of them.
"Y-yes?" they both stammered.
"WHAT exactly where you two thinking? What if a title wave came suddenly?? You both would have gone flying!" Ruanae's mother burst out first, followed by his own mother and then both of there fathers. They no longer could understand a word they were saying, but with one look at each other they silently agreed they were probably talking nonsense.
"Well?" his father said. You could almost SEE the steam coming from his ears.
"Uhhhhhhh…" they both said, "Sorry."
The parents gave them one more glare and set off, murmuring to each other about youth these days.
"Wake up, lazy bum!" Ruanae yelled as she threw Tahlian's bag onto his face. He grunted as the bag made contact with his nose.
"Ouch." Came a muffled voice from underneath the bag. She laughed.
"Common, we have to get through the Wetlands today!" Ruanae said cheerfully.
And they did. They rode through the wetlands with little problems except the occasional suicidal crocodile. They looked out onto the stone bridge that connected them to the Arathi Highlands.
A/N: WOW I just got this sudden burst of inspiration. I know that this story is boring but I PROMISE the next chapter is going to be rushing it along a bit, but don't worry it will be worth it.