To Vanilla- thank you! I quite enjoyed writing about the forest (I am practising my scenery writing, in case you hadn't noticed ^_^ ) yes, Tavian is Octavian and both of your theories are really good, but nope! WAIT AND SEE! MWHAHAHA!
Tavian screamed, hands flying to his face. Blood gushed from between his fingers and he staggered backwards, doubled over.
The battalion raised their shields, readied their spears. They circled Isa, herding her away from the others.
"Isa!" Nidas called, on his feet. The fire in his hair turned a sickly green.
Tavian straightened, grasping for his sword. Bloody fingers made the handle slippery. It took him several attempts to arm himself, but even then he dropped his blade.
"How about you leave?" Isa suggested calmly. "I can do a lot worse than a broken nose."
"We know." One of the other Guard said. Isa frowned at her. "We came prepared for you, Isa. There's enough of us to take you out, should we need to." Isa blinked. She gave a soft laugh, looking round at the other Guard, as if expecting one of them to jokingly offer up a contradiction. When that didn't come, her amusement burst out into wicked peals of laughter, to the point she was crying.
Almost at once, the mood in the villagers changed. They were less defensive, less on edge. They even backed away a little, no longer drawn in by the debacle or held by the Guard. Tavian, with one hand clamped over his rapidly bleeding and swelling nose, swung his sword wildly. Ward snapped his fingers and Tavian yelped, tossing the blade away. The hilt of it smoked, glowing red hot under the leather wrappings.
Isa swept tears away with her fingertips, gradually reigning in her humour.
"Take me out." She snickered. "That's sweet."
"We came to find the border-crosser!" Tavian raged, words slurring behind a stream of blood. "We'll tear this village apart if we have to, we will find them!"
"Nah." Isa grinned. "Ya'll gonna have ta get past me first." The words had hardly left her lips when three Guard threw down their weapons and ran back down the path. Tavian whirled round in shock, spluttering indignantly. Some of the remaining Guard stood fast, some moved back. Isa raised her hands, her marks began to glow, and two more dropped everything and ran.
Tavian turned back in time to get punched in the face again. Except, this time, his hand was in the way, and that didn't fare much better than his nose. He sprawled, clattering in his armour. Isa stomped on his chest and hopped neatly over him. The well exploded. The Guard reacted too slowly. Water hit the sky with the force of a geyser; Isa threw her hands back, as if preparing to leap, and the water roared from its source. It split into two trunks, slamming into the ranks and washing away the sides. Isa sprang forward, thrusting her fists out and the water swirled back on itself. More Guard hit the path, crashing over each other, waterlogged and armour-clad. Tavian struggled to his feet, ducking low and grasping for his sword. Isa lowered a hand to grab him by the scruff of the neck. She flipped her other hand so her palm faced the sky. The water rushed back, scooping up the remaining Guard. She let them wiggle and stab uselessly at her element, her focus on Tavian. She pushed on his armour. He comically spun at the force and her hand slammed into his throat.
"I will-" He began, clawing at her fingers.
"Shut up." Isa finished for him. She no longer looked amused. Her grip tightened and Tavian's feet left the floor. With a flick of her fingers, the trapped Guard was sent after their comrades. The path quickly cleared of them, but she still had Tavian. "No matter how bad you think you are," she said quietly, "I'm worse." He gasped for air, scarlet lines criss-crossing the back of her hand. His eyes bulged, his lips were turning blue.
"Isa." Nidas warned. She tucked her other hand in the shoulder of his armour and spun on her heel. She swung him round as if he weighed no more than a twig. She let go and, just for a moment, Tavian seemed to fly.
The noise he made when he hit the floor would play in Bibi's mind for quarters to come. For the space of three heartbeats, she thought he wasn't going to get back up. But he did. Isa washed him out of town too. Judging by his yelping and the volume of steam, the water had not been as cold for him as it had his troops.
The glow of her marks faded. She crossed her arms and scowled. Nidas rose, the first to move, Char balanced on his hip. He touched her shoulder. "You OK?" She nodded, jaw set. Nidas held her gaze, his expression unreadable. A multitude of colours burned atop his head. Not for the first time, Bibi wondered if her parents could mentally communicate.
Eventually, he sighed, kissing her cheek. Char held his hands out, grasping for his mother. His fire was green. Isa took him and he clung to her, wrapping his little limbs around her as best he could. She rubbed his back reassuringly, the green of his fire slowly turning to a mellowed pink.
"Mama?" Bibi finally found her voice. Isa glanced over her shoulder. "How did you-? The well… it's all the way over there." She pointed at the well, which seemed a little stupid in retrospect. Everyone knew where the well was and it hardly classified as a well now; it was more a pile of rubble, but her mother looked at it all the same.
Bibi was not as powerful as her mother, she knew that. Isa had not had the company of other water imps, she was not technically a fully-trained water imp and she was all Bibi had to learn. But her ability to summon her element from the other side of the village, about two hundred paces away, had not been in Bibi's training.
Isa looked down at Bibi. Her face was carefully blank, but there was a hard edge in her eyes, something Bibi had not seen before and would not want to see again. A lump of ice seemed to slide down through her lungs and into her stomach. She felt her fingers tingle; she didn't have to look to know there was frost forming on her hands.
"You'll learn." Isa finally said, but it was not a definite response. Dark blue flames crackled in her father's hair and she realised- there was more to this than anyone was letting on.
"Well," Ward said, clapping his hands, "that was fun. Ferd, my dear, would you be so kind as to fix our well? Those poor rocks are suffering greatly." He shot Isa a sidelong look, gaining a half-hearted, mumbled apology in reply. "I'll make us all some tea, how does that sound?" He beamed at them. "Excellent!" He said, not waiting on answers. "Bibi, Okia, you two can come and help me!"
"Wait…" Nidas grabbed Ward's arm. "You're not going to teach them how to make your tea, are you?"
"No, don't be silly! Bibi can heat the water for me and Okia can carry the tray!" He wiggled his arm free from Nidas's grip and patted his cheek. "Don't worry, little one, I know my promise. You will get the recipe if and when I die."
"If?" Nidas repeated.
"Yes." Ward nodded, pinching Nidas's cheek. "Come along, you two!" He ushered Bibi and Okia away.
Ferd was already repairing the well. Oti stood watch at the path, hands on his hips. Crazy Lady had already slunk back to her home. Only a few more remained in the square, but they respectfully kept their distance.
"Go 'n' help Ward." Isa said, setting Char down. The boy pouted, but didn't protest. He scampered off, calling for Tio Ward loudly. Nidas and Isa watched until he disappeared into Ward's home. Nidas pulled gently on her arm and led her towards their home, just out of sight of the others. "How did he know?" She asked stiffly.
"I don't know." Nidas shook his head. "But they're gone now, we've got a little time to figure out-" He faltered. She held her hands to her face, as if to blow on them for being cold, tears lingering on her lashes.
"I shouldn't've done that." Her voice was barely above a whisper, shaking. "They're only gonna bring more trouble, I shouldn't… I didn't want… but Bibi-" Her voice cracked and she bowed her head. Nidas stepped forward, wrapping her in his arms. She hid her face in his shoulder, fingers curling in the front of his shirt. He said nothing. His words would fall on deaf ears while she was in this state, trembling in his hold, her breath hitching on every inhale.
Instead, he hummed softly, gently tracing circles on her shoulder and back with his fingers.
By the time she had calmed a little, Okia was working her way slowly around the village, intently watching her tray laden with cups and mugs of all shapes and sizes. She was known for tripping over her feet, but Ward insisted she did it, every time, in the hope that one day, she would deliver all the teas before faceplanting. Two teas down, still a long way to go.
Nidas now sat with Isa on the steps of their home. She gripped his hand, her fingers icy between his. "What do we do?" She asked quietly. "They're already at risk of bein' taken away; if Tavian finds out 'bout Bibi 'n' that fairy…"
"He won't." Nidas assured. "We've not let Tavian take them, in all the winters he's been trying, he hasn't got past us. I'm sure we can handle a secret fairy too."
"I wanted ta kill him."
"I know."
"It'd be so much easier if ya let me."
"They'd have you executed, Isa."
"I know, I know…" She sighed. "But then ya'd have less Tavian ta deal with."
"Oh, there's always some idiot to out-idiot another idiot."
"Sound logic." They fell quiet as Okia approached, her tongue sticking from the corner of her mouth as she concentrated. They took their teas with soft thanks and encouraging smiles. "Go on, mija," Isa sipped her tea, "you can do it." Okia gave a nervous laugh/hum combination and off she went, carefully putting one foot in front of the other. "I don't want ta stop Bibi seein' this fairy, but… I don't know… how are we gonna keep 'em safe, if somethin' does go wrong?"
"It won't."
"But if it does." She pressed. "The Guard won't stop at just them, Nidas, they'll go after the whole village 'n'-"
"Ward can take them." Nidas frowned into his mug. "He's a butthead, but… I'd rather he took them than anyone else. Here." He added quickly.
"What if Ward gets captured?" Isa demanded. "What if everyone's gone 'n' they've got nowhere ta go?" Nidas sighed, brow furrowing reluctantly. "We'll have ta." She insisted.
"No, no." He shook his head. "No, they… they can't, it's too dangerous."
"More dangerous than bein' taken by the Guard?" She pointed out, temper rising in her tone. Nidas swore under his breath, gulping down mouthfuls of scalding tea. "It's the only other thing they can do." She persisted. "I don't want 'em runnin' about out there," she nodded at the forest, "it's best if they go."
"I don't like it."
"I know ya don't, but what other choice do we have?" Nidas hardly ever lost his cool, and- even less than that- was he angry towards Isa. He glared at her, furious crimson flames snapping and hissing in his hair, along his arms. His hand grew uncomfortably warm in hers, but she didn't let go.
"We will look after them." He said decisively, scowling. "You can come out with all the 'if's and 'but's you want, but they stay with us." Isa met his gaze, glare for glare.
"I wish ya'd tell me why, tell me what happened." As usual, he looked away, shaking his head. His fire turned navy and she sighed. They drank their tea in silence. His hand gradually cooled, his grip tight on hers, part apologetic, part reassuring, part stabilising. They watched Okia approach Crazy Lady, the last tea. She got within two feet and tripped. The cup smashed into the side of Crazy Lady's house and Okia threw the tray, yelling obscenities. Nidas hmmph'ed, mild amusement cutting through his bitterness.
"You taught her those." He muttered, corner of his mouth tipping up.
"Not on purpose." She defied, sticking her tongue out. "At least, not all of 'em."