School… writer's block… and a filler chapter… sorta.
Reyanna Pov
I kind of regretted having to wake up.
My leg hurt like heck, my cuts stung, I was still tired, and my entire shoulder-and-back area was a giant purple bruise. And I don't mean the dark blue-black purple most people get. I mean, real purple. Just another great advantage to being Enderborn.
I rolled my eyes and got dressed, checked all my injuries, and brushed my hair before I woke up enough to realize that a good few inches of my hair had been scorched off the ends, leaving an uneven, black tipped mess. One more thing to make today even better. Freaking wonderful.
Zoeya would most likely still be asleep from hitting her head, so I decided that maybe Lomadia or Kim could cut it for me. I'd learned the hard way that I was no good at haircuts.
I tucked my hair into the hood of my favorite blue hoodie, which I thankfully hadn't worn in battle yesterday, and went outside.
We'd set up our camp a ways away from the Nether portal, and I could just see the edge of Honeydew Inc.'s quarries across the plains. It was still early in the morning, and dew coated the ground. I could see Lomadia and Xephos having coffee together outside their tent and talking quietly, so I looked for Kim instead.
I found her climbing a tree.
"Why are you climbing trees?" I asked her.
"Oh, hi! I didn't see you there. It's a nice view. I can see Castle Duncan, and the Jaffa factory, and some other places too, but I don't know what they're called. Come join me." She replied.
I climbed the tree, finding it surprisingly easy even with my leg hurting. We sat for a moment, enjoying the view.
"So, what's up?" Kim said finally.
"Actually, I was looking for you. Are you good with scissors?" I asked. Kim looked confused, so I pulled off my hood and showed her what happened to my hair.
"Oh, sure. Come on, let's hurry up before and do it before breakfast." She said, jumping off her branch to the ground not far below. I followed.
"Okay, here we go." Kim said. She trimmed my hair neatly, even my bangs. We cleaned up the trimmings and talked about random things- hair, high school, (which I was really looking forward too, if I could get in after only home-schooling for so long.) Kim told me about the time Sjin filled her house with chickens, and I told her about how Zoeya and I managed to make blue cookies by pure accident, while trying to make cupcake frosting. We laughed and chatted and almost missed breakfast, but we got there in time to grab muffins and bagels.
The rest of the morning and afternoon was a blur. We packed up our tents, everyone grabbed a flying ring, and we flew for hours. Land sped by underneath us, forests and plains and a jungle and even a taiga with a massive crater in it. Sometime, maybe an hour or so before the sun set, we started passing small towns and villages. Xephos said we'd most likely make it to the Verigan's hold in time for the night, whatever that meant.
Sure enough, by the time the sky started to turn orange, we'd arrived at a stronghold. Giant cobblestone walls marched off on either side. I could hear the sounds of battle training inside- swords clanging, bows shooting into wooden targets, etc.
"It's grown so much." Honeydew marvels.
"It's been ten years, mate." Xephos reminds him. I realize that he's holding Lomadia's hand, and I have to hold back a smile as I remember that they're engaged.
One more reason to survive for, I think. Lomadia's and Xephos' wedding.
I snap back to attention as three guards ask us to identify ourselves.
"Honeydew."
"Xephos." The guards' attitudes immediately change. One of them rushes off to find someone inside. The other two lead us inside.
I'm not 100% sure why, but it's clear that they are important here. I know for sure when whoever is clearly leader appears with the guard from before.
"Xephos! Honeydew! It is good to see you again!" says the leader. "Please, introduce me to your friends."
"This is Lomadia, my fiancée." Xephos says right away. Lomadia smiles.
"Lalna, our co-worker and good friend."
"Nilesy, Lomadia's co-worker."
"Sips, our neighbor and good friend."
"Sjin, Sips' co-worker."
"Minty, Sjin's wife."
"Kim, Sjin's apprentice."
"Zoeya, Nilesy's friend."
"Rythian, mage and Zoeya's boyfriend."
"Reyanna, Rythian's younger sister." I nod at my name. Xephos does not mention my former apprenticeship to Lalna or the war, and I am grateful.
"Teep, Rythian and Zoeya's good friend."
"Ridge, our good friend."
"You are all welcome here. Please, follow me. We have spare rooms for you."
We followed him in. I see Xephos lean over and murmur something into the Templar's ear.
We are given an entire wing of the stronghold. I suppose there aren't many people here.
"This is a bit weird." Kim says to me in a quiet voice. I nod. It's not that this place is exactly creepy, even if it's old and I'm trying not to be too distracted by the library I spot. It's just something in the air seems tense, like a storm waiting to break.
We spend our dinner in a large dining hall, and I see that there's only maybe about fifty people in this stronghold. It's strange- the dining hall could most likely seat a few hundred alone.
Lots of people are watching us, I can tell. It's mostly Xephos and Honeydew they watch, but I can see Lomadia getting her fair share of stares from her seat next to Xephos.
The dining hall is filled with tables, and people are constantly changing seats to talk. I realize with a start that I can't see a single girl among them. It's all male warriors here.
Once I notice this, I quickly realize that a few others are also objects of interest to them. Ridge. Zoeya, Rythian, Kim, Me. Teep. Lalna and Martyn.
"Have you noticed all the staring?" I murmur to Kim when Zoeya, who also sits next to me, is not listening.
Kim nods. "There's this one guy that keeps staring at you. I think he's checking you out."
I make a face. "Eww. You mean he has a death wish?"
Zoeya overhears me this time and soon all three of us are laughing. It's so loud in the dining hall that nobody seems to notice.
Soon we are full and I realize that everyone is dispersing from the hall.
"You may feel free to explore the stronghold, but please, do not venture out into the desert." The Templar says. Xephos and Ridge leave with him, and I was sure that they were going to discuss Israphel.
There's your happy thought for the day! I scold myself.
"Why can't we enter the desert?" Zoeya asks, ever-curious.
"It's cursed." Honeydew says. "But most likely, that's where he is, so we'll probably have to go in anyway."
"Hang on. How is the desert cursed?" Sjin asked.
"The desert is the curse. It almost killed everything once with drought. Now we have the wall to hold it back." The dwarf says.
The room is quiet for a moment, but the topic quickly shifts to the weather, armour, food, and several other things I don't really pay attention to until it's getting late. We leave the hall and enter our wing, where we left our things earlier.
I sit on my bed, unsure of what to do. We'll be fighting tomorrow, and logic says that I should sleep. It will help my wounds heal and give me energy.
But this logic is invalid, because I know that sleep will not bring rest. It will only bring more of the nightmares.
I consider reading something, but the only book I have on me is the one about dream magic and I have no desire at all to find out more that could connect to my nightmares.
I don't feel like wandering around the stronghold after dark, either, so instead I grab some paper and a pencil and draw.
Hours later, I come out of my drawing daze and realize I have several drawings. One depicts Whiterock. One is Willow and Ghost Jr. romping around Blackrock. A third is the view from the hills overlooking Blackrock, where we had our picnic. The fourth is hidden under the others, and a knock at the door keeps me from looking at it.
"Yeah?" I ask, opening the door. To my surprise, its Rythian standing there, seemingly not tired.
"You're still awake." He says, but not as a question.
"I didn't bother trying." I reply. He nods.
"I hope you're ready for tomorrow." He says.
I sigh. "I hope so too."
Rythian nods again.
"Good night." He says, turning down the hall.
"Good night." I echo, closing the door. I turn to the fourth drawing.
It's Baby Jim the volcano, complete with Nilesy's chair and an ocelot running around in the background.
Zoeya might like it, I decide, tucking them drawings away into my bag. I was working on another, but I couldn't tell what it was yet.
That's one more strange thing about me, I guess, is that I draw strange. I draw from memory, normally, but right now I'm so tired I wouldn't be surprised if I'm instead drawing realistic ideas instead right now. I also draw starting at one corner and working my way outwards, instead of starting with the focus of the drawing then adding details. In the corner of this unfinished one is the edge of a puddle or a faraway lake, turning the soil next to it dark and moist. Most likely a puddle.
I decide to let my mind wander as I finish the drawing, my pencil flying over the paper. Sometime, maybe half an hour or so later, I am finished.
I take one look at it and immediately hate my subconscious for choosing this memory to draw, and not another one.
This drawing is much more detailed than the others, and it's a close-up look, as if seeing the scene from just above the ground.
The center of focus is a desert rose, lying on sandy soil. A few petals have dropped off and the soil is scuffed and disturbed. The puddle's edge is in the corner, moisture spreading through the soil outwards from it. On the far side are the edges of more roses, scattered as though they'd been tossed.
My stomach heaves and I feel sick from looking at it. I know that the puddle is not water, but blood. The ground is not disturbed by feet nor the roses tossed by hand.
It is the result of an explosion.
I grab the paper and crumple it and rip as if the memory will go away if I destroy it. I toss the remains out the window out into the desert below.
Once my urge to destroy the drawing is gone, I realize I am exhausted. I change quickly and slip into bed, hardly being able to keep my eyes open. My body drops off into sleep automatically, but my mind knows it will not be a restful sleep.
How could I sleep peacefully anyway, when my own sub consciousness is out to get me?