Chapter 2: Scratches and slashes

"That way!" Tecna shouted over the creature's resounding screech. She was running at the head of the group, weaving her way through the rubble strewn across the square towards one of the few shops that hadn't been reduced to ruins. She knew the shop well; it was an electronics store, boasting a set of double doors made from reinforced glass to prevent break-ins. She wondered whether the fact that the doors weren't shattered meant that the glass was too strong for even the creatures to break through. She had to hope as she unlocked the doors with a spell, slipped through and held one open long enough for the rest of the group to pass. Then just before the creature could fly in behind them, she threw herself against the door to shut it. The creature slammed into the door with a shriek, and Tecna was relieved that the sound didn't fully transmit across the glass to deafen her, and was even more relieved to discover that the creature – despite its heavy armour – couldn't in fact break through.

Hearing the loud slam against the glass, Sky and Riven rushed to help Tecna hold the door shut while Nabu, wanting the girls to conserve their magic for a more desperate time, said a spell to seal the doors. Purple light shot up the gap between them and only when doors stopped jerking open every time the creature threw itself against them did Tecna back away to join the girls, who were panting in the middle of the store, eyes wide with dread. Sky and Riven stayed by the threshold, just in case Nabu's spell failed to work.

"Now what?" Stella demanded, suppressing the urge to hiss in pain at her scratched arm. She glanced around the group, never before having seen such horror twist their faces. Even Riven looked scared. She stood staring at him, watching the way his deep violet gaze slid over them all to make sure they weren't severely hurt. She thought she saw him frown slightly when he glanced at her arm, but then thought better of it when he instantly looked away.

"I don't know," Flora said softly. "But we can't stay in here forever."

Sky nodded. "She's right. We have to keep moving; it's the only way we can survive."

"But where do we go? That thing's just going to follow us." Layla seemed to glare at the creature thrashing on the other side of the door.

"Sky and Riven are going to have to kill it," Nabu said. "We have to conserve our magic for as long as possible. Is there anything in here that could help them?"

"Not unless those things can be defeated by radio waves," Tecna replied, scanning the shelves and tables in the store. Then it hit her: she had access to radios. She quickly scrambled to the nearest one being displayed in the discount section and swiped away the promotion card beside it. Breaking open the base, she glanced over her shoulder. "I need batteries."

Riven glanced around the store, but the battery shelf was bare. Evidently the owner and the last people in the shop had taken all the batteries before leaving to evacuate. He cursed silently, angry that not even a single cell had been left on the floor amidst the discarded packaging. Then he glanced around the store again and spotted a storage room at the back. He gestured Nabu and Sky towards it and pulling his sword from his waistband, he turned to the girls. "Stay here and guard the door," he told them and instantly, Flora and Layla took up defensive positions, while Stella backed away, cradling her scratched arm. She could've sworn Riven glanced at her scratches as he walked past, but then, he might have been looking at her disapprovingly for not helping her friends defend, even though she was powerless.

Sword raised, Riven stood back as Sky kicked open the storage room door. It was pitch-black inside, but then Nabu extended his sceptre, and its dull purple glow revealed shelves and shelves stacked with cardboard boxes. Riven pushed past his friends into the room after lowering his sword; it was clear from the lack of wreckage that there were no creatures lurking within the shadows. His friends followed him and they began raking through the supplies in the boxes.

After finding only cords of wire, ink cartridges and headphones, Nabu finally came upon a small box of batteries. "Found them," he declared, flipping one of the packets over to examine it as he made for the door. "Let's pray they're the ones Tecna needs."

Sky walked out the storage room behind Nabu, carrying a box full of flashlights he knew they'd need for when night fell. Riven mildly noticed as his friends left; he was too immersed in a search for something of his own. He'd never really been looking for the batteries, but for a first aid kit. The urge to find one had come the moment he'd seen Stella's scratched arm. He figured she must have scratched it on a jagged piece of debris whilst running and initially, he'd thought nothing of it even though he'd noticed Stella clenching her jaw. But when he'd walked past her, he'd seen a larger gash and blood.

As he scoured through the boxes, Riven tried to convince himself that the group would later need the first aid kit and that he wasn't just looking for it for Stella. Her wound was simply what had triggered his search. But as he kept searching and found no trace of even a cotton swab, he realised his desperation to find the kit was for her.

Riven wanted to deny it, but there had been something about the way she hid her pain that he couldn't stand. He didn't like the look of fear on her either, and with clenched teeth he admitted to himself that that was why he'd light-heartedly joked with her when he'd found her. Numbness on her face was even worse. It was why he hadn't been able to look at her more than twice while they had been walking to the square.

He preferred seeing anger in her expression, the fiery glint of temper light up her golden eyes. He even liked it when she babbled on about clothes and shoes and her hair, because then, she looked alive. He just didn't like it when she decided to comment on what he wore. It was clear when she did that she didn't like him, that he would never be good enough for her.

Stella needed someone passionate, someone who could stand to hear those nauseating pet names, and put up with her shopaholic ways. Riven could never do that. That's why he'd never tried to create anything between them – he didn't give a damn that Brandon was in the way.

It wasn't just that Stella was attractive but that she possessed a light he couldn't help but feel drawn to. She'd had him trapped since the day he'd met her. She was outspoken, carefree and had a temper that mirrored his own. A temper which he loved. He'd been drawn to the way she carried herself, mesmerised by the valiant way she fought, and amused by her antics, at what came out of her mouth.

Stella seemed different now, changed. And that by nothing other than what had become of Magix and their situation. Riven wondered whether he'd ever again see the Stella he'd always been so drawn to. It seemed like it would take the ultimate brightness to burn through the fear clouding her eyes. He would have to find that brightness for her if he ever wanted to see her golden eyes without their current dullness.

The search for that brightness started now with finding the first aid kit, which at last Riven uncovered hanging in the darkest most corner of the storage room. He carried the small box out into the store, where everyone was gathered around Tecna as she wired her computer to the radio's circuit board. The box Nabu had found lay at her side, the batteries in it having been used.

"Any luck yet?" Layla asked just as Riven reached the back of the group.

Tecna twisted one of the knobs on the radio and when only static came through the speakers, Layla got her answer. There were no more questions after that. Everyone left Tecna to work in silence and the girls resumed guarding the door, behind which the creature continued persisting to break the glass.

Its perseverance reminded Riven of Stella and with that thought, his gaze trailed to her. She was still cradling her arm, standing beside Tecna, almost pleadingly looking at the radio, and Riven could see that there was more blood welling from the largest gash on her arm. He slowly crept towards her and gently, he took her elbow. She turned, blinking at him in confusion. Riven didn't explain; he just led her aside and motioned that she sit on a TV stand. As she perched on its edge, Riven crouched down and pulled a bottle of rubbing alcohol and swab of cotton from the first aid kit. Unscrewing the cap on the bottle of alcohol, he wet the cotton swab and reached for Stella's arm, without once glancing at her expression.

Stella couldn't believe what Riven was doing. She was convinced she'd woken up in a parallel universe. In shock she watched as he lowered the cotton swab to her skin, and she couldn't help hissing sharply when the alcohol met her scratches. Eyes clamped shut, she tried to pull her arm away but Riven's grip was firm around her wrist.

"Hold still," he said, tilting her arm for a better view of the scratches. They were worse than he'd thought. Each one was red, a raised line of flesh marring her perfect skin. The gash in the centre was the worst. It wasn't bleeding profusely but the gap between her split skin made Riven feel as if Stella needed stitches. He cleaned gently and carefully around the gash but Stella still felt the sting and clamped her hand around his wrist. His own hand tightened around her arm in response, and the next thing he knew, he was stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

Stella's eyes flew open the moment she felt Riven's thumb brush her skin. Now she had no doubt she'd woken up in a parallel universe. "What are you doing?" she demanded shakily.

"Cleaning your wounds," Riven said, his thumb still rubbing her hand, his gaze still cast on her scratches, never flicking elsewhere. He paused as if warning Stella to brace herself, then ran the swab of cotton down the length of her gash.

Biting, blazing pain bloomed in Stella's arm and she bit down on her tongue to keep from crying out. Her arm jerked back but Riven tugged it forwards again.

"If you stop moving, I can get this done faster," he said, sounding almost annoyed as he continued cleaning around the gash, instinctively becoming gentler every time she flinched.

"I can't help that it stings."

"No. But it can't hurt more than getting hit by magic."

Another dozen swipes of the cotton swab across her arm and Riven picked up the tube of healing cream in the first aid kit. He squeezed a glob of it onto his finger and then spread it over the gash on Stella's arm, which looked raw from being cleaned. He noticed as he was dabbing the cream that she didn't flinch. Not once did her arm twitch even slightly. Riven glanced up at her, expecting to meet her gaze but found that she was sitting motionlessly with her eyes closed. His cream-laden finger stilling, he studied her: her creaseless forehead, her loosely shut eyes, the neutral rest of her lips. Serenity looked good on her, the same way vitality and anger did.

Finally detecting the absence of Riven's thumb against her skin, Stella broke from the calm the feeling gave her and her eyes flickered open. She caught Riven's gaze briefly as he looked down and resumed spreading the healing cream, and she would've bet her wings that he reddened if it wasn't so dark to be sure. A small smirk played on her lips until Riven started wrapping a piece of gauze around her arm, at which point, her lips parted to suck in a breath. The sudden pressure on her gash hurt. And the pain just mounted as Riven kept wrapping, pulling on the bandage to force her split skin closed. When he was done, Stella could only just flex the muscles in her arm.

Her gaze dropped to the bandage then, and after seeing how neatly it had been wrapped, she opened her mouth to say "I'm impressed – it didn't seem you were the type to pay attention in first aid class," when Riven's hand reached for her face. Stella almost fell off the stand she sat on. But then she felt something soft and wet glide against her cheek and realisation dawned. Riven was wiping her face with a cloth, damp with saline water. The open bottle stood next to her foot. He moved the cloth slowly over her face, rubbing at the more prominent patches of dirt, leaving no plane of her face uncleansed. Stella's eyes drooped. Her head felt light, tingly, like it did when the girls played with her hair at sleepovers. The only difference was that now she also felt hot. Whenever Riven would tilt his hand to move the cloth and his fingers would skim over skin, heat would rise to her face, rendering Stella wanting to swipe the cloth away and feel his cool and rough hand on her cheek, on her jaw, his fingers grazing her eyelids. The desire was terrifying but she couldn't think past it with him so close to her, mopping her skin.

She felt herself relax as he continued with his unexpected pursuit. The thought that they were abandoned and desperately trying to get to safety was so distant, it felt a forgotten dream, one she'd had years ago. The sound of the creature thrashing against the door was no longer audible, nor were the sounds of Tecna typing furiously on her laptop; the only sounds Stella heard were of her own breathing and Riven's. The only thing she smelt the saltiness of the saline water; the only thing she felt the softness of the cloth, the firmness of his fingers pressing on it.

He dragged the cloth over her skin once, then twice, until the dirt streaked on her face faded to reveal her untainted complexion. This was the first time Riven had seen her without makeup and he wondered why she wore it. Her features were perfect: Her skin had a natural glow and not a single blemish. Her lashes were naturally long and thick, and her lips needed no gloss to draw attention to their plumpness.

He let the cloth drop from his hand with an inaudible sigh, and at the same instant, Stella's eyes flickered. "Thanks," she said, her voice soft.

Riven gave her a small nod as he returned the supplies he'd used to the first aid kit. Stella watched him for a brief moment, then her gaze swept over the others in the store. Sky had moved to kneel beside Tecna and was saying something to her as she typed. Flora and Layla were still by the door, their stances tense, hands cupped around orbs of magic. Nabu stood by the cashier's counter, putting the remaining batteries in the torches Sky had brought out.

"Riven." Stella's gaze trailed back to him as her thoughts took an involuntary turn.

He looked up at her, pausing in the middle of screwing on a bottle cap.

Stella felt her stomach churn. "Do you think the others are…dead?"

For a single second, Riven seemed taken aback, then his nonchalance reappeared. He didn't answer. What could he say? He'd seen the way Stella had reacted when Tecna had hinted at the rest of the team's demise. She'd been devastated, looking as though she would be sick. If he told her they were dead for definite, she would only blame herself, and he couldn't bear to see guilt on her face. Not so soon anyway. He'd seen it just an hour ago, when she'd been crying for Tecna outside the mall.

He stayed silent, but she was staring at him, waiting for an answer. He knew that if he turned away, she'd only pose the question again, so he sighed and looked her straight in eye. "That's not important," he said at last. "What's important is thatwe're alive. If you keep thinking about the others, your morale's going to fall, and we can't afford that."

"How can you bear it?" Stella asked, her voice cracking. "How can you stand knowing that Musa might be dead?"

Riven closed his eyes. "Is this about Brandon?"

She shook her head and tears fell down her cheeks. "This is about how you don't seem to care about the others. I can see that you're scared, but you aren't worried or pained, like the rest of us. Even Layla and Nabu, who have each other, are worrying for everyone else, but you…" Stella sniffled. "Has Musa even crossed your mind? Have you spent even a second thinking about her?"

"I can't afford that in this situation," Riven said coldly. "We're trained to control our emotions in times like these and focus on surviving."

"She's your girlfriend!"

Riven scoffed. "That's less than an appropriate title."

"What does that mean?" Stella was staring at him now, eyes wide under crinkled brows.

Riven grabbed the first aid box and stood up. "I don't have to explain my relationship to you," he said, already walking away towards Tecna and Sky.

Feeling a shadow shroud her, Tecna turned to find Riven standing at her back, staring at her laptop. "It worked," she told him. "I managed to send out a help message."

Riven dropped to his knees. "Did you get a response?"

"We're waiting on one," Sky said, rubbing a finger on the laptop's touchpad to keep it awake. "But Tecna's not sure who the message reached, and if the transmission was only realm wide then we're not going to get anything."

Tecna nodded. "Which is why instead of staying here to wait for a reply, we should still try and find someplace online so I can reliably contact another realm and call in help."

"Can you think of anywhere that might still be online?"

Tecna glanced at Riven and when she caught sight of the first aid kit he held, her eyes lit up. "The medical research facility! They have one of the most consistent connections in the realm, and the centre's underground and extremely secure so there's a chance the creatures haven't destroyed it. And even if they have caused some wreckage, we're bound to find a working computer; the centre has hundreds."

"Sounds good. We'll head straight to the facility after we make a stop at a clothing and weaponry shop," Sky decided. Riven and Tecna nodded, then Sky rose to his feet, turning to look at the creature outside the store before glancing at Riven. "We better send that bastard back to hell."

Riven smirked as he stood, and both he and Sky pulled out their swords. Layla and Flora stepped away from the door, attacks waiting at their fingertips in case the creature gained the upper hand. "Just shout our names if you need help," Layla said as Nabu came towards them, his sceptre raised to lift the door-sealing spell at his friends' signal.

Riven gave Layla a nod, then rolled his neck while eyeing the creature, looking for any weaknesses in its armour he could plunge his sword through at the first chance. There were no such sorts of weaknesses. The entirety of the creature's gigantic body was covered in one piece of shiny armour. He would have to attack its wings just like he'd done with its brethren, a slightly smaller creature who he'd faced before happening upon Stella.

"Push the creature into the street as soon as the doors open," Nabu said. "You can't let it come in here; we won't have time to escape and it'll kill us all."

"The bastard's too big to push that far back. We'll have to throw something at it." Riven glanced around the store, seeking something heavy. But everything he found was small and light – toasters, music players, games consoles. The biggest things were the flat screen TV's, but they weighed next to nothing.

"I could produce a vine to throw the creature back," Flora suggested.

"No," Riven said, suddenly getting an idea. "Cast a spell on one of those TV's instead. Make it heavier. That way you'll lose less energy."

Flora immediately extended her hand and pink curls of magic floated towards the largest TV in the store. A second later, the stand it stood on sunk a little. Riven and Sky hurried over and with great strain lifted the TV and carried it back to the door. Layla and Flora stepped further away as they approached, and Riven didn't know whether it was so he and Sky had more space or so that they wouldn't become the creature's first prey if it got inside.

Lowering the TV to the floor, Sky and Riven flexed their muscles and set their aim on the creature's torso. Then they bent to lift the TV again and started to work up a steady swing. Riven glimpsed Stella's dread-etched face just before nodding at Nabu to lift his spell, and the next thing he knew, purple light was receding rapidly down the gap between the doors.

Everyone held their breath.

Suddenly, the glass doors burst open, the creature trying hysterically to push its huge form through the opening. And just as the doors slammed against the walls of the store, Riven and Sky launched the TV into the air.

They watched whilst being deafened by the creature's screech as the TV sailed towards the writhing monster.

It was a direct hit.

The creature staggered backwards, its feathery, black wings caving around its body. Riven pulled his sword from his waistband as swiftly as he ran outside. Sky was beside him in a matter of seconds, and sword raised, Riven charged towards the creature to make the first strike.

Stella couldn't bear to watch. She whirled on her heel, hands trembling violently at her sides. Her fear eclipsed even the burning pain that blossomed in her scratched arm as it shook. It eclipsed everything but the sound of the fight behind her: Metal clashing against metal. Feet scuffing the ground. Whooshes like a giant curtain being swung carrying on the air. There were grunts and thuds and sounds too blended to distinguish. But always, overpowering everything else, there was the constant screeching and cawing from creature.

Stella felt dizzy as she listened to it all. Her ears rung. And they were still ringing long after the noise had ceased.

"Stella."

She heard her name through the ringing in her ears, but only very faintly.

"Stella. Hey, Stel. It's over."

It was Layla's voice, Stella realised, and it was coming from near the door, where Layla obviously stood. Stella turned around, hoping she hadn't misinterpreted the relief in her friend's voice or made it up completely. She hadn't. Riven and Sky were safe, standing tall in the doorframe, the blood on their swords marking their victory. Stella couldn't help smiling, and it seemed the rest of the girls and Nabu couldn't either.

"Come on," Sky said after a moment of victorious silence. "We need to go. The noise we caused must've altered other creatures near here."

Stella hurried over to the group. She looked them all over and her smile grew with escalating relief and subsiding fear. The group filed out the store then, and as they walked past the battle scene, Stella spotted the creature lying on its front atop mound of cinder-coated bricks. Deep red blood gushed from its back where its wings should've been, sliding down its armour in thick rivulets to branch off into thinning estuaries at its legs. Its enormous crow-like wings lay crooked in the middle of the street; blood dripped from the place they'd been cut. The creature's sword, identical to the one hanging from the belt of daggers around her own waist, lay beside its head, and Stella noticed as she squinted that it was stained with blood. Her head swivelled to find Sky, but he only had a few more tears in his suit than before. Stella scanned Riven over next, then gasped, noticing the large slash in his waist. The blood on the blade was his.

Before she could bring it up, the group stopped, and Stella realised they'd made it downtown where the shops they needed to get to were.

Nabu pointed down the street. "To save time, I'll head over to the weaponry store and see what I can find, while all of you find a change of clothes," he said, gesturing to the wrecked clothing shop behind Flora.

"No." Layla grabbed his arm. "It's not safe to go alone. I'll come with you. Tecna can get me some clothes."

Tecna gave a nod. With that, Layla and Nabu hurried down the street while the rest of the group hurried into the clothing store. They waded through the clothes lying on the floor near the door-less entrance and stepped over the fallen rails and racks until they reached the back of the shop, where the only ash-free clothing hung. Everyone immediately spread out to find themselves a durable outfit, but Stella followed Riven.

She stepped in his path near the changing rooms and he raised a brow.

"You're bleeding," Stella said, glancing pointedly at his wound.

"I'm fine."

She glanced down at his cut again. "Tell that to the blood dripping down your suit."

Riven was about to repeat that he was fine when she grabbed the first aid kit he was holding and motioned to the cluster of seats in the shoe section. He knew better than to argue with her, not while she had on that look assuring him that she would get her way. He let out a breath, then walked over to sit on one of the seats. She kneeled down before him and opened the first aid box, taking out the same things he'd used to treat her scratches. He watched her with amusement, knowing as a princess, she'd never before attempted bandaging a cut. Let alone a slash the size of his.

"Why are you doing this?" Riven asked as she damped a cotton swab with the rubbing alcohol.

"I want to return the favour."

"Stella," Riven said, refraining from continuing till she looked up to meet his gaze. "You don't owe me anything."

Stella didn't seem to care. "Pull down your suit," she said as casually as she could, but Riven caught the hint of hesitation in her tone.

His lips curved into a smirk, and suddenly he wanted to see her blush. "You do it."

Stella almost dropped the cotton swab.

"What?" Riven said. "You're playing nurse, aren't you? Consider me a helpless battle victim."

He watched as she blushed right up to her hairline and far beyond the straps of her pale nightdress. Her eyes were wider than he'd ever seen them, golden irises glued to his own. He held her gaze as he reached behind his back to unzip his suit and peel it off the top half of his body. Her gaze flicked between his chest and face after the suit fell away, before finally settling on his chest. Riven's smirk grew. He made no comment, just let her take in the sight.

At last, Stella snapped out of her stupor. She'd been too dazed studying his chest to think, but now as all those held back lewd thoughts came flooding into her mind, she struggled to concentrate on cleaning his slash. She gave herself a moment to clear her head, then pressed the swab of cotton roughly, vengefully against his wound.

He didn't flinch.

Angry now, she briskly cleaned all around the slash, wanting a reaction from him. Anything. A simple clench of his jaw. But it was as though he was immune to pain.

Growling, Stella pulled out the roll of gauze from the box, and with a simple spell – one she could easily muster with her low energy – she made it wider. Then she leaned forward and wrapped the gauze around Riven's waist, hoping as she pulled on it that his wound would sting like hers had when he'd pulled on her own bandage and that she'd finally get a reaction out of him.

Riven still didn't react, but Stella had already gotten her revenge. By leaning forwards. Her nightdress had slipped dangerously low and Riven's mouth had gone dry. It hadn't helped that she didn't have a bra on. He sat, looking away from her at the shoes racks now. And she didn't have the slightly idea that he was as embarrassed as she had been.

Stella finished wrapping the bandage, and after securing it, she sat back to glance at her work. Riven's bandage wasn't as neatly wrapped as hers but it was holding and that's all that mattered. She waited for a moment till she remembered that Riven didn't voice his gratitude. She got up then, walked off to find an outfit and left him alone to examine his bandage.

Stella had just finished dressing herself when a scream she would never forget rang through the shop. She whirled to face the doorway and at the same time Riven, Sky, and Tecna's heads popped up from behind clothing rails.

There was a creature outside.

Fear spread like wildfire through Stella's body and she couldn't move. She watched as Tecna and Sky ran towards the changing rooms, watched as they ducked into a curtained stall. She knew she should run and hide like them, but she was even more frozen than before.

The creature had Flora.

It had been Flora who'd screamed.

Stella felt a cry rise up her throat. She opened her mouth. But then Riven was there, and his lips was on hers, and she was shoved to the floor.

So...what did you think? Is it fluffy enough? Is it realistic that Riven feels that way about Stella?