Runaway Ven

The pile of oddities suddenly began to quiver and shake, then started to rise off the ground, growing two legs, then moving upwards, then growing two arms. Finally, a giant boulder got to the top of it all, and it roared.

Don't ask me how, because I don't know. It just roared, okay?

Its massive frame towered over Tiran, who stared up with disbelieving fear.

What have I done?

Its meaty arm, made out of dirt, plants, and rocks, slammed its fist into Tiran, right onto him. I saw him raise his hands in protection, and shout something, but then the rock fist hit him, and he disappeared in an explosion of dirt.

"Omã!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face.

Disassemble.

The creature collapsed, and I half ran, half staggered to the oval's newest feature; a giant crater. I looked down, praying that my mentor had somehow survived, and almost sobbed with relief to see his form at the bottom of the hole move slightly.

Without hesitation, I dropped into the hole and ran to his side. He was mumbling to himself, nearly unconscious, and delirious. Somehow, I knew the word for lift, and I spoke it.

"Zïån." I whispered, and navigated Tiran's now floating form out of the hole, and gently onto the ground. I used the spell on myself, and quickly dragged Tiran to the horses.

Peeka was frightened, but refrained from freaking out, but Bess was shying like crazy, rearing her front hooves, and making it impossible to get Tiran onto her back.

"Yéø." I cried, then swore to myself that I would use no more magic for the time being. It was too dangerous.

Calm.

Bess calmed down, and stood placidly as I tied Tiran's body onto the saddle. Like when I had entered the Forgotten Forest, I connected the horses with a strip of rope, then swung myself onto Peeka's back.

"Go!" I yelled, and kicked her sides into a thundering gallop. She seemed to understand the urgency, and hurtled past the trees with an alarming speed, making everything we passed into a blur. Not that it would've mattered, as my tears blurred my vision anyway.

What have I done?

As soon as we reached the waterfall, I jumped off Peeka, and began leading them up the ridge, urging them to go faster as they picked their way along the outcropping.

When I entered the rocky cave, I started through the passageways, and suddenly felt a presence in my mind.

Pandorå.

Hurry, get help. Tiran is hurt. I told her, relaying my grief through the message. The presence withdrew, and as I hurried the horses through the tunnels, Estïqiã suddenly appeared, Pandorå right by her side. Taking one look at my tearstained face and Tiran's body, she sprinted to Bess, and untied Tiran. With inhuman speed and strength, she threw Tiran over her should and ran away, towards the house, faster than I could've gone.

When I reached the room, I put away the horses the fastest I'd ever done, then ran to the couch, where Saol and Estïqiã huddled around Tiran.

"Is he all right?" I blurted out, hoping that he......no. I wouldn't think like that. He couldn't be dead. Not Tiran. For a heartstopping moment, Estïqiã and Saol only stared at me.

"I'm....I'm fine, Ava." Tiran's tired voice floated up from the couch, and I gasped with relief, realizing I hadn't been breathing. I looked down at his form, and his face was deathly pale, but very much alive.

"Real question is, are you okay?" Pandorå's fractured grammar asked, and I jumped when I realized she was standing right next to me. Her little wings started beating, and she perched on the top of the couch.

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm okay." I snapped, emotionally spent.

"Ava, you used an enormous amount of power." Estïqiã told me, raising her hand to place on my shoulder, hesitating, then lowering it back down. Her face is worried, but behind it, I can see fear. I can smell their fear.

"I'm fine, Estïqiã. Really." I insisted. "I mean, I'm better than fine. I feel wonderful, like I could do whatever I wanted."

"Ava, you almost killed Tiran with your magic!" Estïqiã's voice rose to an unnatural pitch, spurred on by disbelief and terror. "It's....it's not normal, the amount of magic you used, especially for someone who didn't know magic existed only weeks ago."

"So? Isn't that good?"

"Too much magic can kill you, Ava. If you ever.....ever overextend yourself, it's over. You're done. Finished. You should've died back there, as soon as you started saying those words. Tiran didn't even teach you those words. It's scary."

"But I feel fine!" I cried.

"And she should." Saol broke in, and everyone looked at him. "I mean, it's in the Prophecy, right?"

"How do you know the Prophecy?" Tiran asked, looking a little less pale now. Saol hesitates.

"I don't know, and I'd rather not talk about it." he responds carefully. Saol and Estïqiã look less than pleased with his answer, but nod their assent anyway. It wasn't safe to ask Saol to go poking about his past. He might go into conniptions again, or worse.

"Anyway," Saol continues. "it says that one warrior will 'stay strong, no matter what is cast.' I think it means she has an unusually strong immunity to magic. Makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Yeah...I guess so." Estïqiã said slowly, still staring at me. "Tomorrow, we will see what that means exactly." Estïqiã moved to her room, and Pandorå followed her. Saol moved to the door, and left quietly, going to wherever he usually goes.

"Go with him." Tiran told me, bringing himself to an upright position, managing a smile. "You earned a day of rest. And I won't take no for an answer." he added, seeing me open my mouth to protest. "Go on." I reluctantly shuffled out the door, pausing once to look back at Tiran's tired but firm face, then slipping into the cool air of the cave.

Saol was already out of sight, so I hurried to catch up with him, and soon reached the mouth of the cave, where I caught a glimpse of Saol as he moved quickly through the trees. I almost ran down the ramp, then jogged to where I had seen him last. Branches kept catching on my rough tunic, and I pulled at the corner of my shirt in frustration, which was stuck in a particularly thorny branch. When it was released, I backpedaled, thrown off balance, and almost fell over.

After adjusting my shirt and tucking a few stray strands of hair back into my loose braid, I started forward again, but I hadn't taken more then two steps when something suddenly gripped my ankle and skyrocketed upwards. My body was completely flipped upside down, and I let out a little shriek of surprise.

Then I let out a scream of fear.

Two feet away from me, Saol was standing with a bow and arrow in his hands, his hand drawn up to his cheek, the arrow taunt on the string. His expression was cold and calculating, not like the Saol I knew, but like a totally different person.

Like he was going to kill me.

"Saol!" I screamed, and his face suddenly registered shock. For the first time, it looked like he realized what he was doing.

"Oh gods!" he shouted, dropped the bow and arrow.

He released the arrow.

A wooden shaft whistled through the air, straight towards my forehead, and I was too terrified to even scream, or cast a spell. I only shut my eyes in petrified fear, and waited for the inevitable.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, I opened my eyes a crack to see the pointed tip of the arrow inches from my face, frozen in time.

At least that's what it looked like, until I saw Saol's hand gripping the end of the arrow, his body still holding the lunge he had preformed to grab the arrow out of midair.

"You...." that's all I managed before fainting dead away.

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"Estïqiã?" Tiran called out, groggy and disoriented from the nap he'd just had. His body was stiff and sore, but he sat up, massaging his temples, and forced himself to stand. After an initial dizzy spell, he staggered to Estïqiã's room, yawning widely. Pandorå was sitting at the fireplace, breathing smoky air onto the logs, in an attempt to breathe fire.

"Where's Estïqiã?" Tiran asked.

"Office." Pandorå pointed at the opening on the far wall, which led to the new room they had been working on. It still was missing a door, so Tiran simply stepped over the doorway and into the cavernous area. Estïqiã was building it for when Pandorå became to big to sleep in her room, but Tiran wasn't sure how the dragon would leave the room. As he looked upwards, he guessed that she would take out the ceiling entirely, then fashion a door of some kind to cover the top.

There was another opening, smaller sized, that led to what Tiran guessed was the study, so he picked his way over the debris in the room, over to the entrance.

He started in through the doorway, then froze, seeing an almost crying Estïqiã, staring into a blue orb.

"Please don't cry, Qiã." a voice begged. Tiran's blood ran cold. He knew who it was.

Jakin.

"Why would he do that?" Estïqiã covered her face with her hands.

"You know why. Father wants me to marry Ven." Jakin said sadly. "So he repealed the free marriage act, and started pressuring King Par."

"Can we do anything?" Estïqiã asked, despair evident in her voice. Tiran knew this was a major invasion of privacy, but he couldn't tear himself away.

"I...I don't know. I've told Father, to his face, that he has no right to be doing this, but he won't listen. He says that if Par agrees, then we will be forced to marry." Jakin sounds heartbroken, so helpless. "But...."

"But what?" Estïqiã suddenly demands, looking up.

"There is a slim chance, a risky venture, but I can't say now. All I can say is that not all hope is lost. Mother still believes she can help." Jakin's soothing voice made Estïqiã smile hopefully. Tiran felt cold and detached inside. She never looked at him like that.

He retreated back to her room, and went straight back to the couch, sitting down heavily. He remembered back when they were children, when it was all so much easier. First, it had only Tiran and Estïqiã, friends, soon, Tiran had hoped, to be something more. Then Jakin came, when the royal elvish family decided he should spend time out of the palace walls, and Estïqiã befriended him immediately. The three spent precious few years just playing, before things got complicated. Estïqiã fell for Jakin, and he fell for her, but Tiran was left behind.

"Well, look who finally decided to wake up." Estïqiã walked in, smiling, giving no indication that she knew of Tiran's snooping. "Are you going soon?"

"Actually, yes, I was just about to leave." Tiran lied. "Heading home to....do stuff." he finished lamely. Estïqiã laughed.

"You have fun doing that stuff." she chuckled, showing Tiran to the door. As soon as she opened the door, however, they saw a girl standing there, about to knock on the wooden surface. Her skin isn't as dark as Tiran's, but is a shade or two darker than Ava's. Ava's was more of a cinnamon shade, while this girl had a sienna brown skin tone. She's fairly tall, taller than Ava by quite a few inches, but her regal and sturdy frame seems small and scared standing in the doorway. Right now, the girl looked embarrassed and out of place, her brown eyes darting from Tiran to Estïqiã.

"Ven." Estïqiã sounded very, very angry, and Tiran subtly moved in front of her, to keep her from acting rashly.

"Hey, Ven. Long time no see." he said cheerfully.

"Yes." she agreed, looking flustered. "I...I came to walk you home, Tiran."

"Me?" Tiran looks nonplussed. So does Estïqiã.

"You want to....walk him home?" Estïqiã asked. "Why?"

"Uh....no reason." Ven flushes.

"How did you even get here? I heard Par won't let you leave the palace." Tiran asked.

"He won't." Ven looks down, and goes silent.

"So....." Estïqiã breaks the quiet. "Why are you here?"

"I, ah.......I....." Ven suddenly looks up. "I ran away." Tiran gasped, and Estïqiã c***s her head to one side.

"Why?"

"No reason." Her gaze returns to her shoes.

"Ven?" Tiran asks gently. "Do you need a place to stay?" She bites her lip, and brushes back a strand of her short, choppy brown hair. Tiran looks at Estïqiã, and she immediately backs away.

"No....oh, no. Uh, uh." she shakes her head, but Tiran quickly pulls Ven inside.

"Ven, will you excuse us for a moment?" Tiran asks, and drags Estïqiã into her room. Pandorå is still sitting at the fireplace, where a little fire burns, Pandorå looking immensely proud. Tiran shuts the door.

"Estïqiã, you have to help her. She ran away from home!" Tiran insists.

"You don't understand!" Estïqiã pokes her finger into his chest. Pandorå looks at their spat with some interest, then returns her attention to the fireplace.

"Maybe I would if you explained it to me!" Tiran returned hotly. He knew perfectly well what she was upset about, but he couldn't reveal that he knew. Estïqiã became quiet, and looked around, shifting her weight. Tiran waited. She'd tell him when she was good and ready.

"I.....I was talking to...um...." Estïqiã rubbed the back of her head, ruffling her long, straight, raven black hair, and Tiran became painfully aware of the smell of her homemade lemon shampoo. "I was talking to Jakin, okay? And he said his dad was going to marry him to...to Ven."

"Estïqiã, look at me." Tiran said firmly. "You can't deny her help just because you're upset about the marriage. That could be the whole reason why she ran away." There's a long, prolonged, uncomfortable pause, before she spoke again.

"Fine." Estïqiã relented. "She can stay on the couch."

"Thank you!" Tiran hugged her tightly. They both knew Ven fairly well. She had played with them from age four, joining the group a little later than Jakin, but then her parents locked her away at age fifteen, deciding that she was not to be trifled with commoners. Which was far from the truth, as Tiran's father was a fairy noble, Jakin was the prince of the elves, and Estïqiã's father was a renowned sword maker, plus she was chosen as a dragon magic holder at age sixteen.

Unfortunately, Par, king of the unicorns, had always been a wise and fair ruler, but fiercely overprotective of his only daughter.

"Tell Ava I said goodbye." Tiran told Estïqiã, walking to the door.

"Tiran! Where are you going?" Ven asked unhappily. Tiran hugged her, too. She looked like she was going to faint.

"Home. Estïqiã will take care of you. Don't worry, I come back every morning. Ava is Estïqiã's.....friend, and I'm teaching her magic." Tiran smiled at her one more time, then started out the door.

"Wait!" Ven stopped him, and he turned around. "Um, I was just wondering.....could we........can I walk you home?" she stammered, and Tiran smiled slightly.

"It's too late for that. I don't want you walking home alone. But you can come with me to the Traveler's Path." he offered.

"The Traveler's Path?"

"It's a little road, about a hundred yards past the tree line. It's not far."

"Um....." Ven blushed again. "Uh, yeah, that would be great."

"Okay." Tiran smiled. "Let's go."

Author's Note

So, Ven is princess of the unicorns! And so another character is thrown into the mix:)