Forty-Two- Briar-Rose

again, short, but I'll probably go back and edit it later.

Chapter 42

Briar-Rose

There is screaming. Who's screaming? Shut up! I open my eyes to throw something at whoever is yelling, but see Wren, pointing toward the stream. It's night, but in the distance the sky grows steadily lighter.

I get up and stand by him. “Sh, Wren, calm down honey, calm down. There's nothing we can do, sh...” I sooth him, like a mother would sooth a baby. Soon, he comes to his senses, and instead of screaming her name, he only whispers it.

First Ray, and now Marina, both gone.

Wren sits down, shaking uncontrollably.

“Wren, what took her?” Nox asks gently. Now they're in the same boat, both of their loves: gone.

“It looked like an octopus, but with way too many tentacles, and under the water, the top half of him looked like a guy, but above he looked like a corpse.” He shudders at he last word.

“A Hippocamp. Malum had heard about them from Greeks he met when he was human, and was fascinated. But he didn't want horses, so he made his own version and kept the name. Nowadays, he'd probably be sued.” Nox grumbles the last part.

“We'll find her.” Air assures Wren. We sit in silence as the sun rises.

“Jasper, there's something I need you to help me with, we need to go down to the, um, bodies.” I say, turning to Jasper.

“Sure.” He follows me down the field. When we reach them I turn away as a tear slips down my cheek.

“So, can you bury them?” She says, choking back a sob.

“Yeah, step back.” He answers. He plants his feet firmly in the ground and closes his eyes, focusing. Cracks open near every corpse and earth spills out, burying them. Then I step forward and beautiful flowers sprout on each one, coating the field completely, hiding any remaining evidence of Ariel's feast.

“Thanks.” I says.

“No problem.” We stand there in silence for a while longer. “So this is how to dream would've went had it not changed.” He mumbles.

“Dream?”

“Uh, yeah, a while ago I had a dream about this, but it was only a little scene.”

“What happened?”

“Well, basically all I saw was you crying in the middle of this field. And... I kinda want to add something...” He says, walking toward me.

“Yeah? What is i-” I start, but my mouth is suddenly occupied. I stiffen and then relax. We fit perfectly, like two puzzle pieces. He strokes my hair, it feels nice. He breaks the kiss, and puts his mouth on a remaining tear resting on my cheek.

“So this is what Nox feels like.” He sighs and kisses me again. We kiss for a while, and then I feel a pounding feeling in the ground, at a steady pace, seeming to come from underneath the ground. We ignore it, and he tangles his fingers in my hair, but then a crack opens up under him and he falls into its black depths, leaving me alone in the field as the crack closes up, swallowing him whole.

Really now? Really Universe? The person I'm meant to be with kisses me and then, 'oh, sorry, I have to take him you might not see him again, but that's not a big deal, right?', really?! First I'm angry, and then I realize what happened.

We are down to five. I start walking back to camp, touching my lips and feeling happy and sad all at the same time. When I come into view of the others, Nox asks me, using body language about Jasper, and I just shake my head. Page 100! Woooo!

I reach the others. “He's gone, the ground just opened up after some pounding, and he fell, he's gone.” I say.

“Giant. Malum created them to live under the earth, because they were too noticeable and didn't fit in the manor. They developed ways to manipulate earth, much like Jasper. He seems to have created something that can better each of us...”

“Such as?”

“Well, I don't know for sure but eventually we're all going to be taken, we need to be prepared.” Nox explains.

“Extra training, I suppose.” Air says.

“Looks like it, what were you guys doing when he got taken?” Nox asks.

“Um, well... I wanted him to bury the dead people, but that was before he got taken... um, the exact moment he fell, um, we were, um, kissing.” I blush a deep red. I look up at Nox who's beaming, I have never seen that boy smile in anyway other than a sarcastic way or just a little twitch of the corners of his mouth, but a full on smile is featured on his face.

“I knew it! I knew it! I love being right.” He says.

“Yeah, by the way, Ray heard that entire conversation you had with Jasper.” I say, deciding to wipe the smile off his face, get him to stop gloating.

It works, now his mouth just hangs open in embarrassment.

Author's Note

reviews please! it will probably be edited soon.

Reviews

[shawlyn]

Hi Sophie,
The story is going well and moving at a good pace. Descriptors are excellent, making it easy to visualise. Your conversational tones are very well done. A few spelling and grammatical s which I'm sure you'll catch in editing. Did I see a little cheer for page 100? Overall. well done.
Regards
Shawlyn

[Wild Willow Blue]

I like this chapter a lot more than the last. Seems like more your style. Let me know if you edit. (I enjoyed the 100 page thing)

[Sylvana]

It's depressing how they all accept that their friends are being taken away one by one. They're not even really freaking out anymore. I want to know what happens next, how they get out of this and defeat Malum and such.
Great chapter. ^-^

[Amanda]

haha i love the little AN in the middle. an poor Briar-Rose :( and Wren :( and I can't believe I'm saying this but poor Nox :l (he does'nt get a full on frowny face)