AN: MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope that you all have a great Christmas and New Year. Apologies for the delay in posting to this story, I had writers block and a lack of time but hope to have more time over the coming month to work on my fan-fiction. The song that helped inspire this chapter is called Not Gonna Get Us by t.A.T.u
I'd like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed this story so far :)
Chapter 8
Not Gonna Get Us
Helia loved the woods. He loved the trees, the grass, and the dirt that helped things grow. He loved the birds who sung inside the highest crests of their homes and enjoyed the sun against his face. But after trekking through it for so long he was slowly growing to resent it. He craved an open field without logs or trees that they needed to be wary of. He craved steady ground with no holes or hills, where you could keep walking through the softer grasses without rocks sticking into the bottom of your shoes. He craved water, a decent shower in his home and some time to think. But he knew that wasn't possible.
Icy lay still on the other side of the cave, though Helia had no sleep at all. It had become almost a ceremony for the two when they slept, to ignore one another's cries or pleas into the dusty air and slumber on but this night he couldn't. Whether it was the rain pouring outside or the endless travelling he knew they had yet to traverse, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that they needed to get moving at some point. Rain or not, their followers would be close behind, and the water would only cover their tracks for so long. If there was a time to move it was now.
"Icy," Helia placed a hand on her shoulder and she gently aroused and sat herself up. "It's morning."
"We should get moving."
"How much farther?" He asked, tone serious and volume low. Icy released an exasperated sigh for there was truly no way for her to answer the question without crushing his faith in there only being 'so far' they needed to go. She needed to crush the dream and swiftly before his hope of finding some sort of salvation was lost entirely.
"A life on the run has no end, it's a circle, you are like a mouse on a wheel. You run and you run and you run and just when you think you are at the end of your tether you run again. I can't say how much farther we need to travel, nor in exactly what direction, but I do know that we can't stop… do you understand?"
He nodded and smiled a little.
"What?" She asked, a little confused.
"At least you answered me without yelling for once," he laughed. "We better get going, I've packed up everything, hope you like the rain."
"Not necessarily," Icy smiled before shooting a blast outside the cave door. Within seconds the rain that was falling heavily from above seemed to hit an invisible shield and solidify into a rectangular sheet of glass. It was beautiful, thin, and barely noticeable. "We can use this."
"Sounds good to me."
The glass shield protected the two as they walked keeping their bodies protected from the rain. Helia couldn't help but look above and watch the water collect and run from the sides. Rain always had something magical about it. The way that water would fall from heaven and onto the world that needed it below, as scientific as its justification, still held an air of mystery. Each droplet, regardless of its final destination, would provide life and healing to whatever it touched. On a warm summers day it provided relief, to someone grieving it provided a mask and home for the salty tears that they shed, to plants and animals it provided life and kept the heart of nature beating for eternity. Flora had always told Helia about the magical properties of water and yet he never had time to stop and appreciate just how beautiful it truly was.
"I don't understand how you can hate the rain," Helia muttered softly making Icy chuckle slightly. "I mean it's so beautiful, so magical."
"Maybe to you it is," Icy replied, "but for me it's only a sad reminder."
"A reminder of what?" He dared to ask. Icy turned and glared at him with her bright blue eyes. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked." His apology made Icy turn and continue on their path quietly through the forest, there were some questions too difficult to answer and others that required another piece of herself to be shared. Giving Helia any information about the Shard and her family was already a dangerous affair; sharing even more of herself with him was a more hazardous gamble.
"It reminds me of my family," she spoke softly, making Helia lift his head from the forest floor to listen more intently, "and the first night that the Shard found us." Her words were shattered with a blast that hit the ice shield, breaking it into parts that flew at the two. Helia quickly pulled Icy behind a nearby rock ledge. Wincing, Icy lifted her hand from her arm where a deep gash was leaking red crimson blood down the pale canvas of her skin. Quickly, Helia ripped the sleeve off his shirt and placed it over the wound to soak up the blood as blasts flew at them from above.
"Icy, make me a weapon out of ice," He instructed.
"No," Icy shook her head, "I can fight my own battles."
"You're injured, you need my help."
"I'm fine," Icy replied, turning around and firing some ice shards at the cloaked figures floating above the rocks another fifty metres away from them. Her eyes closed as pain roared through her arm and she returned to her position.
"Please Icy…let me help." Helia's eyes pleaded with hers and as stubborn as she was he hoped that it would be enough. "You told me that I needed to trust you, I need you to trust me too." Without a word Icy conceded, placing her hands together and focused on the task. Carefully she pulled her hands apart as the ice between them formed and, once complete, Helia found himself staring at the most beautiful bow he had ever seen. Quickly, he located a nearby vine, strong but flexible enough to form the string and he attached it while Icy created a series of ten arrows to follow. Weak from the exertion she leant back against the rocks, holding her wounded arm and struggling to keep her eyes open.
Helia took aim from behind, dodging behind the expansive rock formation before firing the first arrow. It hit the rocks and shattered into pieces making Helia load the next one and try again. His only experiences with bows and arrows had come from his training time at Red Fountain and even then he was still a little rusty. Another arrow fired, this time hitting the wizard cleanly in the shoulder. A second cloaked wizard fired from the left and Helia quickly responded, feeling the tension inside the vine release through his fingertips. A clean shot through his eye caused the man to fall forwards and land in a crumpled heap among the plants. A third hid behind the trees to his left. Helia moved his position, aimed and fired at the wizards hand before another ended his life quickly. Another to his right hand side ran towards him and Helia stood and met his chest with the tip of the arrow. He stumbled backwards and fell to his knees before Helia finished it for good. Racing back to Icy he kneeled beside her.
"Icy, wake up," he shook her shoulders and her eyes opened slightly. "Come on, we have to keep moving." She tried to get to her feet but found herself slipping further and further into the world of unconsciousness. Tentatively, Helia lifted her into his arms, placing one hand under her knees and the other around her back. Quickly he ran through the wood, away from their attackers and the sounds of voices in close pursuit. He turned to see them following quickly behind and knew that their chances of getting away at this speed were slim, if close to nothing, but he kept going. His lungs burned as he pushed his weakening legs to their breaking point, running and jumping over logs, turning and weaving a path through the dense bushland to a new safe location.
"They're gaining on us," he whispered weakly between strangled breaths. "I don't know what do." His arms were aching, his legs struggling to keep up the pace that his mind wanted them to travel. Icy was right, they were never going to stop running, they were always going to be followed, the two of them were never going to be truly free. Icy's eyes opened once more as she looked over Helia's shoulders, the blasts from their magic hitting either side as Helia swerved to avoid their attacks. Rain still poured from above, now soaking through the two of them and their attackers. "Put me down," Icy whispered firmly.
"No, are you crazy?"
"I know what I am doing, put me down!" Helia stopped and let her return to her feet. She found her balance and remained still as the line of the Shard approached. Lifting her head to the sky she smiled slightly. "Helia, lie on the ground and don't move." Having been told numerous times by the ice witch that he should follow all instructions immediately, he did so, lying on his stomach next to Icy
and not moving a muscle.
Icy held her hands out to either side as she concentrated. A blast from the shard landed directly beside her but Icy refused to be wavered from her task. As the raindrops fell they joined into one another and Helia's eyes widened when he saw it. A wall of Ice shards, like slender needles formed either side of Icy. Millions of the single threads hung in the balance, awaiting the command of their captain to charge into battle. Helia lowered his head further as another shard appeared over his body.
Icy rotated her arms, turning her palms to face her targets and the ice needles pointed in the same direction, each one reflecting a glimmer of magic at the very centre. Then came the signal. Icy released them, they flew through the air like bullets and pierced their targets, entering and exiting flesh, ripping the souls of those before them to pieces. The yells and screams of men died and the forest quietened itself once more.
The sun shone through the clouds as the rain became nothing but a fine mist causing the air to become thick and heavy. Helia stood next to Icy as she fell slightly against him for support.
"Wow," was the only word that passed his lips. Suddenly rain had a whole new meaning and purpose. Rain had saved their lives.
AN: Thanks for reading and please review :)