"This seems to be going over well," said Night with a delighted smirk. "That Flury has no idea what he's in for."
"Brother, I must protest!" shouted Day from her enclosure. "I thought we had agreed that Flury was put in the world to do good!"
"He's gotten too close to the source of his powers," said Night, glaring at his sister. "If he becomes any stronger, our positions will be put into question."
"That wasn't your concern when we decided to make Flury. You were afraid that the higher ups would demote us to mortals for our failures! So you made something so benevolent and good that there was no question of our motives."
"He is still a mortal," said Night, "and so still subject to the weaknesses of mortals."
"We're equally susceptible! You're jealous, you fool!"
"How could I be jealous? He was created from us, and so we are still higher than he is."
"And yet you have still seen fit to trap me in this evil cage of darkness?" she said, touching the shadow bars of her prison. "The higher ups will question you for sure!"
"If I can get rid of Flury without their knowledge, we'll all be fine. Sister, he is weaker than us to the temptations of evil."
"You hypocrite! You don't call what you're doing evil?"
"I call it necessity."
"The gods will punish you, Night. We are but the Night and Day of one world in a million, easily replaced entities."
"Don't you ever want to be promoted? Don't you want to see the paradise that the gods rule from?"
"The gods have more responsibility than you can imagine," Day snarled. "They would never let one such as you be a god."
"If persuaded properly, they would," Night replied.
"I'm warning you, Brother, keep your place in the order of things! Don't meddle with the way of the worlds!"
"I've taken so many souls from that world that I could wage a war with any world," Night chuckled. "Sister, I have kept you alive out of mercy. Maybe you will see your errors when I am a god. I will bring Flury here, alive. I will weaken my storm, and I will bring his flesh and blood here in addition to his soul. He can join me, or perish."
"It has slowed down," said Blade, cupping another inquiry spell in his palms. "I don't understand."
"Neither do I," said Flury, sitting quietly and looking into the distance. Flury, Blade, and Kit were all sitting on the roof of Camilan's dormitories. They had been resting in the desert city for three days, and were expecting the onset of the storm at any time. The mass of spinning air, like a cyclone and yet not a cyclone, had circled itself several times, slowing more and more each day. It was lingering fifteen miles from the city, as horrific a malevolence as ever.
Flury was glossy and rested once more, healed in almost every way. Bolero had relocated to the city itself, where she was treated with wary respect. She was in the small area that Elda and Flury had been flying a few days ago. Elda was currently below in Hesian's room, sleeping. She was healed as well, golden rather than mud-colored.
Finn, Corkoran, Myrna, Derk and Querida had also been rested, and were preparing a translocation spell to the coast. They had received a message from a curious flying pigeon that Deucalion and his entire force were on their way across the ocean now, and needed direction to the desert city. It seemed that Senera's forces had been found by one of Deucalion's advance guard, and that every single one of them was dead, save for a lone griffin called Harmad, who had gladly joined them.
Cazak and Callette were staying with Flury and his group, who were taking steps to destroy the storm. The two griffins were bright-eyed and alert, and though they were no use when it came to magic, they were formidable adversaries.
"I'm worried, Flury," said Hesian, emerging onto the roof from the stairs the occupied the side of the building. "I still want to come with you."
"Hesian, you can't fly," said Flury, looking at his friend sadly. "I think you should stay here to guard the city. Strong magic will be needed."
"That's right, you will need strong magic. I'm coming with you, Flury," the fox hissed. "You think I would come this far with you and stand to be left behind? I think not."
"Hesian, none of us have much of a chance of winning against something like this."
"Flury, I need to tell you something," said Blade, who had been looking strangely at his inquiry spell for the past ten minutes or so. "I think that storm is- is after you."
"What?" squawked Flury. "That doesn't make any sense! Me?"
"Send your own inquiry spell," suggested Kit. Flury gathered light to his talons, forming it into an orb of radiance.
"You will find out the purpose of that anomaly," Flury whispered sternly to it. A pair of black, shiny eyes opened on the surface of the light, and a small mouth opened: "I'll try," it said softly.
"You'll accomplish your goal," he repeated. "You will find the purpose of that anomaly. Who has created it? Who controls it? You will find the answers." He stood on his hind legs, throwing the talon that held the spell back far behind him. He hurled it as hard as his muscles could manage, adding a powerful shield and speed spell as it hurtled into the distance.
"Why did your spell have a face?" asked Blade curiously. "That's rather a strange touch to add."
"I didn't add it," said Flury. "My inquiry spells always do that."
"That's rather strange," said Blade, shaking his head.
"It definitely is," agreed Kit. "I could only do that if I did it knowingly." Flury shook his head, settling back into a crouch. The spell was taking rather long.
After a few more minutes, they all saw a burning ball of light flying toward them at a ridiculous speed.
"You overdid it," said Hesian, crouching behind Kit.
"A little bit," chuckled Flury, leaping into the air and plunging backward as the force of the spell hit him. He regained his balance with a few flaps of his wings, and landed gracefully on the roof, full of renewed vigor.
"What did you find?" he whispered to his spell. It looked at him, its eyes full of horror.
"The Night wants to break your spirit. He created the storm to bring you to his horrible castle of darkness," it sobbed. "It wants to kill your friends. It wants to kill Elda."
"It's a good thing I'm not afraid of the dark," Flury said to the little spell. "You've done well. Now go and rest." The light dissolved, and the little creature ceased to exist.
"Flury?" asked Hesian. Flury was frowning mildly at the torrent of sand that swirled in the distance.
"I'll teach the Night to break anyone's spirit," he said furiously. "Especially if it, or he, I suppose, wants to kill Elda. I'll leave tomorrow. I refuse to risk you if I alone can get through alive."
"Flury, leaving us behind isn't an option," said Blade, smiling. "You know that."
"You're rather stupid to think otherwise," said Kit.
"You can't come," said Flury morosely. "You'll be killed. They don't want to kill me- yet. I'm going alone."
"You're not," hissed a female voice from behind Flury. "You're stupider than I thought if you think you're leaving me behind."
"No," snarled Flury, whipping round to face Elda, "Never would I risk anymore lives, especially yours."
"I swear to the gods above, I'm going!" she screeched exerting her voluminous voice to its maximum volume.
"No, you're not!" Flury thundered in reply.
"I said I'm coming, and that's FINAL!" Elda screamed, nearly knocking Flury backward with her magically enhanced voice.
"Elda, I don't want to argue with you. Not now," Flury said pleadingly.
"Oh yes, now," she replied. "Do you honestly think that I would follow you around the world, halfway again, then fly around in circles with you if I didn't mean it?"
"Your pride has nothing to do with it!" Flury said, becoming truly angry now. He was the one who had done the following, not her. "I've kept you safe so far. I'm not going to undo the work I've already done."
"You forget that I'm your equal when it comes to magic," Elda hissed. "I'd fight to come with you if both of us weren't so direly needed."
"You're not his equal," said Kit from out of the blue. "I don't think any of us could match some of the things Flury has done, Elda."
"I'm going with him," she said, a trace of a whimper in her screech. "I'm not listening to anymore of this drabble."
"You're not coming," Flury said calmly.
"I'm not good with goodbyes," she said. "So I won't be saying any. We'll leave at dawn, Flury."
""Elda," he said weakly. "Please, consider for a moment what your death would do to my conscience."
"If my pride has nothing to do with it, then neither does your conscience, Flury. See you at dawn."
"No," he whispered. He had come out on the wrong end of the argument. "Why won't she see reason?" he asked himself, falling to the ground in a dead slump. "Where did I go wrong?"
"I think the question is, Flury," Blade chipped in, "Where did you go right? She's willing to follow you to the death. If that isn't enough for you, nothing will be."
"She'll die, Blade. She'll die," he replied weakly. "It doesn't make a difference." However, Flury felt comforted by the reassurance that he was so very loved.
"We'll all die, we'll all live," said Hesian, "We don't know what tomorrow will bring, my dear friend. I've already contacted Bolero, and she knows the circumstances."
"I don't want any help. If someone has to die, it should be," he said, whimpering slightly. He was distracted by a sudden buffet with someone's large talon.
"We won't hear anymore of this," said Kit. "For the strangest wizard in the world, Flury, you're sure a baby sometimes."
"Who left it up to you to determine that?" snarled Flury, reinvigorated by Kit's disrespect. Wait a second, he thought. Disrespect? Did he actually think he deserved respect? He was going farther as a wizard than he had ever thought possible. He was suddenly expecting his friends to show him respect. This thought hurt him more than anything Elda could say.
"I'm sorry," Flury said, shrinking to a smaller stance. "I won't stop any of you if it's what you truly want." He looked positively tortured by the thought.
Author's note: I apologize if this seems a disappointingly short chapter, but it needs to be broken at this point. Thank you again for your reviews.