Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Dear Biana,

            You still like flowers, don’t you?

Well, I found this one, it’ll probably be dead by the time it reaches you, but apparently, it’s unique to this region. It’s called an equinox flower. And no, I haven’t asked what the scientific name is yet, you dork, but it looks pretty, and I thought you’d like it.

Other than that, though, I don’t have much to report. Greyfell’s starting to get tired with all the riding, but I promise you (and him) that I’ll be back soon. And I’ll fix everything. So, don’t go worrying your pretty little head about it.

Seriously, Bee. I can see your brow pucker from here. I got this, trust me.

Love,

Marella

             Biana flattened the yellowed paper out, remembering how crisp it used to feel in aer hands. But now, the edges were much more wrinkled from the amount of times ae had fiddled with it. The ink was smudged from aer eager fingers, and later, aer sorrowful tears, but ae still kept it.

             Something about the letter was comforting, knowing that Marella was there, even if it was just the words he’d written. He’d been right, the flower was dead when he’d sent it. It’d disintegrated almost fully a few weeks ago, and Biana had been forced to throw it away.

             Ae smoothed the letter out one more time for good measure, feeling the wrinkled paper beneath aer fingertips before folding it and gently pocketing it back into Silveny’s saddle. The bags had been quite bloated originally, but now nourishment was starting to grow scarce. Despite Biana’s wishes, that meant ae would have to stop in the next town ae came across. However, Silveny’s footsteps had yet to falter. Biana was willing to bet that the horse had explored every nook and cranny of the castle’s grounds, greatly increasing her stamina.

             Not on her own accord of course, but instead on her rider’s. Biana’s thoughts soured as ae unwillingly thought about the graceful princess.

             Silvered bangs, that matched silvery blue eyes and a bright smile. The girl’s laugh was contagious, bubbly, and loud, reaching Biana’s ears even when her words wouldn’t. She wasn’t a troublemaker on her own, but with Marella’s help she could get away with anything in the palace. When the three of them were younger, trouble followed.

             The ghosts of childish squeals filled Biana’s ears, but ae shook them away. Now the nostalgic times were tainted with sorrow, one that ae couldn’t bear alone. But ae wouldn’t have to.

             Biana turned aer attention to the nature around them, listening to the steady beat of Silveny’s hooves on the ground. Aer head swiveled as ae took in the environment around aer. Green trees blocked the sky from view, but patches of sunlight still somehow made their way through the branches. The heavy woods gave Biana cover and kept aer from being exposed, but it still made aer quite uneasy. Something about not being able to see made aer think something unexpected would strike.

             Aer ears pricked, half expecting something to jump out at aer, attacking and leaving aer helpless.

Biana hated being helpless.

But even as Biana tensed, Silveny stayed focused, her ears still standing tall on her head as she trotted along, clearly enjoying the chance to stretch her legs.

Biana closed aer eyes, trying to visualize where ae could stop after this. Ae knew ae were nearing the edge of the thick, lush forests that surrounded The Kingdom of Everglen, leaving aer with only two options to stop.

One was Alluveterre. The whole village was hundreds of feet off the ground, the town built into ancient redwoods that had overlooked the land for centuries, before most of the forest even existed. While Biana’s vulnerability would increase at the inability to escape due to the heights, another factor attracted aer to the village. It neared the edge of the plateau and offered the only way to get down the steep cliffs safely, The Falls.

If someone were to set out on a quest, they would probably be pulled toward that town—Marella surely would’ve been. But Biana was hesitant, since the beautiful tourist town had been overrun by criminals who controlled the flow of migrants and travelers. Ae knew that if he wasn’t sure where to go, he would choose that place last.

So, if ae were going to track it down, ae would check the other town in the district first, Havenfield.

Havenfield was a farming and harvesting town. It was a small village, mostly known for its vast animal reserve. Just at the north edge of the forest, Havenfield offered rolling grassy fields and plains instead of the thick, gnarled trees, that Biana had been traveling under for the past few days. The vast expanse of it was mostly uninhabited, however a couple establishments were set up there, and if Biana was lucky, a shop or tavern would be waiting for aer.

Thankfully, the rural town was much friendlier, but it wouldn’t be a likely place for Marella to have stopped. Biana was willing to check though, and ae needed to stop either way.

Making up aer mind, ae looked up once again at the trees, checking once again to make sure ae were heading in the right direction. While sunlight still shone through on the path, the trees mostly blocked out the light, and a light green moss covered some of the dark twisted bark. The moss pointed Biana in the right direction, north. Suddenly giddy with the promise of a physical destination in mind, Biana sped up, and the trees blurred as Silveny entered a gallop.

Ae leaned forward, placing aer hands on the saddle to steady themselves despite the bumpy ride. Ae breathed in deeply, taking in the earthy smell of the forest around aer. Without meaning to, a laugh bubbled out of aer chest, and a nostalgic feeling of flying zinged through aer body.

Biana looked to the side, and ae weren’t in the forest anymore, instead the blurry trees were replaced with the grassy fields that Biana knew all too well. The thundering sound of galloping filled aer ears, different from the one that was beneath aer.

Ae looked behind aer, almost out of instinct. A girl was to aer left, her silver-tipped hair tied into a low ponytail was on an all-white horse, her grin wide as she shouted something that was lost to the wind. Biana flipped around to aer other side, seeing another person aer age riding an auburn horse, his short, cropped hair filled with tiny braids that did little to keep it out of its face. Marella.

But even as he spat out his hair, a mischievous grin was painted on his face. Its eyes met Biana’s and the grin only widened. His ice-blue eyes sparkled, and without a word, he slowly took his hands off the reins, opening his arms wide like wings, and even as the winds whipped through aer ears Biana could fill in the whooping sound that came from the deepest part of his chest.

He nodded towards Biana, as if daring aer to try it. So, facing forward once more, Biana started to lose grip on Silveny’s reins, only for an invisible force to keep aer holding on. Just before aer hands slipped all the way off, Biana’s grip tightened.

Even without looking at him, Biana could feel Marella’s disappointed stare on aer back.

A sudden stop made Biana gasp, as if someone had dumped cold water on aer to wake aer up from a deep slumber. Aer head whipped back and forth, trying to figure out where ae were now, almost dizzy now that ae weren’t moving. Instead of grassy fields, ae were at the edge of the tree line, facing a small clearing in the thick forest, which had thinned out, surrounding a small lake with shining turquoise water. Silveny had stopped, her tail lazily swatting at flies behind her.

Biana checked aer surroundings once more to be safe, before dismounting onto the squishy grass. With one squelching step after the other, Biana led Silveny toward the clear water. The surface was so smooth that ae could see the bottom, which was shallow around the edges, a slow drop sloping toward the middle of the lake, the bottom of which faded into a dark blue, leaving the rest to Biana’s unruly imagination.

Shaking aer head, ae led Silveny over to the edge, letting the horse drink large swallows of the liquid. Biana suspiciously surveyed the land once more before crouching down beside the horse, taking a handful of cold water and splashing aer face with it. Biana’s head swirled with distant thoughts and worries that ae so desperately tried to shove away, but the churning doubt was a common occurrence now, especially since ae’d started traveling.

Biana sighed, rubbing aer cupped hands up and down aer face a few times, trying to get a grip. This was a time to be diligent, since ae would never know what danger ae were facing. At almost any time, something could-

Silveny reared beside aer, making Biana jump. An ear splitting whinney filled the air and ae spun around, only to be met with a fist being swung at aer head.

Ae grunted, moving so that the punch landed at aer shoulder, before whipping around. A figure, dressed in a familiar royal blue uniform stood panting, fists up. But before Biana could look at their face, they kicked at aer chest, clearly trying to stun aer. But Biana moved out of the way just in time, ducking and swinging a leg out, sweeping their ankles out from under them.

The force of the move made them tumble to the ground, losing their balance. Biana took aer chance and placed aer knee on their chest, which rose and fell with deep, heavy breaths. Ae glared down at the stranger, ready to shout questions and accusations when ae met their gaze.

Biana’s mouth fell slightly open in shock, and ae leaned back a little, letting aer guard down for a split second. The boy took advantage of the moment, springing up from the ground and using his momentum to roll them both over, putting himself on top of aer, pinning aer arms above aer head.

Biana was still stunned silent. The boy’s silver-tipped black hair was longer, and his face was colder, but that was a given with age. The way his cheekbones were set into place, the curve of his nose, and especially the color of his eyes, which were glaring daggers at aer, reminded Biana so much of his twin it made aer heart hurt.

“Tam?” Biana asked, aer voice hoarse.

Tam ignored aer question, still glaring at aer, but not letting up. Biana could still see his eyes searching up and down aer body, looking for any visible injuries, his gaze catching on aer paling scars from months earlier.

He cleared his throat, finally meeting aer gaze. “Fitz is looking for you.”

Biana blinked a couple times, confused. Is that all he came to tell aer? Ae struggled to lift aer arms up, but Tam’s grip tightened, and his voice took on a darker quality.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t drag you back there by your ear.”

Biana sighed, aer body going limp. “Because I’m gonna bring Marella back with me.”

Tam closed his eyes, breathing deeply through his nose. He said nothing for a moment, seemingly thinking. After a minute he finally stood, offering a hand to help aer up. Biana took it, wiping aer grassy hands on aer pants, and taking in Tam again.

It was hard not to, ae hadn’t seen him in over a year at this point. He’d stopped taking trips to the castle as often because of his responsibilities at Choralmere. Tam had been planning to come up to visit, that was why Linh and Marella had left, promising to bring him back with them.

They didn’t.

Instead, Marella had come back alone, more anger in his eyes than Biana had ever seen. Biana had looked around, asking—demanding—to know where Tam and Linh were. His head fell and its hands clenched into fists, but he told aer, eyes dry, what had happened. He told aer about the village, and the fire, and the dragon. Biana could see it trying to lock away all of his emotions but the anger.

It held aer while ae cried.

But Biana hadn’t seen Tam in the chaos afterward. The two each had to take their own times to grieve, and Tam was busy at his own Palace, now the only heir to the throne. Biana used most of aer waking hours fixing the damage done to the town or helping Marella prepare for his quest, the time had simply slipped away from aer.

They used to be so much closer when they were younger, Biana realized, looking at him now. What should have been a reunion full of hugs and smiles was… more than a little tense to say the least. Tam sighed again, making aer focus once more.

His eyes scanned the environment around them, unable to look at aer as he talked.

“Bee… Marella’s been gone for months now,”

“Don’t,” Biana said, cutting him off.

His gaze met aers for a moment before he looked away again.

“Biana, nobody’s heard from him for almost a year now.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Biana snapped. “That’s where I’m going. I’m finding it, and I’ll bring him back. You and Fitz need to mind your own damn business!”

“Marella’s dead, Bee. He was trying to get revenge on a fucking dragon. Why can’t you get that through your thick skull?”

Biana quieted, seeing the concern in his eyes, and lowering aer voice. “But there’s a chance, Tam. Are you telling me that you wouldn’t take any chances to find Linh if you could?”

Tam shook his head, his voice thick. “I would. But Biana… why are you really looking for Marella?”

Biana threw aer hands up in the air. “Because he’s my friend. And friends don’t give up on friends.”

Tam said nothing, his eyes focused on something in the distance. Ae fell silent as well.

“I’m not trying to find the dragon, Tam. I’m trying to find Marella. And when I do, we’ll come back together.”

He finally looked at aer, and Biana could see tears blurring his eyes. “What if I’m the only one left?”

“That won’t happen,” Biana said vehemently. “But I’m not coming back without him, so don’t try to tell me otherwise.”

Tam opened his mouth, but Biana cut him off.

“Marella isn’t dead, I can feel it. So, trust me, okay?”

Tam opened and closed his mouth a couple times, trying to figure out what to say. He finally sighed, looking exhausted as he nodded.

“Fine. Just take this,” He started, unsheathing a small dagger from his belt, and handing it to aer.

Biana bobbed aer hand up and down, neither saying a word as ae sheathed it and looked back at him. They both stood, staring at each other one last time before Tam turned around and without a word, started to stride away.

He turned around, stopping in his steps. “Biana?”

Ae hummed in response.

A hint of a smile made its way up Tam’s face. “Kick Marella’s ass for me.”

Biana grinned, straightening, and saluting at him. “Yessir.”

- 

Biana sighed, gently petting the hair on front of Silveny’s long muzzle. Tam had scared the horse pretty badly, along with Biana. But ae figured that was the point. To scare aer into coming back with him and Fitz. But they both knew that ae wouldn’t do that.

Ae was stubborn. And ae knew what ae were talking about. Ae sure as hell knew that Marella was going to receive a berating for disappearing and scaring Tam (and aer) like it had.

But frightening Silveny that bad really didn’t justify Tam’s odd way of testing aer. Biana tried to shrug it off, figuring out which way to go from here when the bushes to aer right shivered, making a loud sound.

Biana’s head snapped to the source of the noise; dagger immediately pointed out toward the origin. The rustling had stopped, But Biana’s heartbeat pounded in aer chest as ae neared the shrub. Ae approached, willing aer hands not to shake as ae made aer way closer. The bush moved once more, but lighter this time.

Biana’s eyes widened knowing this wasn’t some animal. “Show yourself!”

The shrub quieted for a moment before two people aer age made their way out of the bush. One was covered in freckles, their strawberry blond hair fluffing up on their head, tousled roughly without a care. They came out with both hands held up in surrender. They looked timid and unsure. Whether that was because ae were holding a dagger in their direction, or if ae had caught them, Biana wasn’t sure.

The other had long blonde hair that fell down past their shoulders, and they had a sword sheathed at their side. Their fingers were twitching toward it but were ultimately waiting for Biana to make the first move. Their brown eyes were sharp, and with the glare they were giving aer, Biana was sure they would be a worthy opponent.

But aer attention was drawn to another detail, on their right, the sleeve of their long flowing tunic abruptly ended, showing off that instead of a right hand, their arm ended at around the elbow.

Biana looked at the two back and forth, quite a pair if ae were being honest, but ae refused to let aer guard down for strangers like ae did with Tam.

“What’re you doing?”

The long-haired blonde cleared their throat. “We could ask you the same.”

“Fair enough,” Biana admitted. “But why’re you stalking me?”

The blonde’s eyes narrowed, opening their mouth, assumingly to make a stinging remark, but Freckles stepped in front of them, the top of their head only reaching to the blonde’s chest.

“We heard what you and the other guy were talking about, and we want to help you,” they said quickly.

Without waiting for Biana’s response, they stuck their hand out towards aer. “My name’s Dex, xe/xyr.”

Biana’s eyes widened at the sudden introduction. Clearly Dex was the smoother talker of the two, as the blonde looked like they wanted to tear Biana apart limb by limb. It was almost amusing how they had latched onto an emotion so quickly.

Biana shook Dex’s hand, giving xyr the sweetest smile ae could muster. “Biana Vacker, I go by ae and aer.”

“Sophie,” the third huffed. Dex nudged them, and they added, “They/them.”

Biana bit back a laugh. Ae weren’t used to this attitude and found it to be hilarious. What had ae done to make Sophie hate them already?

“They’re always like this,” Dex said, as if reading aer thoughts. “But ignore Sophie, we don’t have time for them at the moment.”

Sophie scowled as Biana threw aer head back and laughed.

Dex smiled lightly before xyr face turned serious once more. “Like I said, we heard what you and the other kid were talking about, and we want to tag along your journey—just to get off the falls.”

Ae opened aer mouth to tell xem that no, it was rude that the two had inserted themselves into aer business and tried to ride their way to… wherever they were going. They’d eavesdropped and almost gotten away with it.

But Biana’s mind stopped there. Because while barbed accusations flew past like arrows, aer brain also bubbled with questions. So ae swallowed aer anger, instead taking a deep breath and listening to the rational part of aer head for once, asking the question that burned at the back of aer throat.

“Why?”

Dex blinked, clearly not expecting that response.

Biana turned and met Sophie’s gaze, staring them down as ae repeated aer question. “Why would you want to join me on a mission like this?”

Sophie huffed. “We don’t have to tell you that.”

Biana clicked aer tongue, spinning on the back of aer heel back toward where Silveny was waiting.

“That’s a shame,” ae said over aer shoulder, striding away.

Not after two steps, Sophie caught aer wrist, spinning aer around.

“Wait.”

Biana turned, raising an eyebrow as Sophie opened and closed their mouth a couple times.

“We need to get out of town.”

Biana snorted, prying aer wrist from Sophie’s grip. “So specific. Have fun ‘getting out of town.’”

This time Biana stomped away from the two strangers, not waiting for a response. If they wanted to play this game, that was up to them, but Biana was done getting sidetracked.

But Sophie’s words made aer stop.

“Xe can do magic.”

Biana whipped around, aer mouth falling open in shock as ae met Dex’s gaze this time.

“What?” Ae asked dumbly.

For a world filled with odd creatures, magic was an odd trait. The only beings with magic were ones from great wizarding families, where the skill had been passed down from one child to another for centuries.

And the fact that this villager, not a child of a Vacker or a Ruewen, apparently had magic would be a miracle.

Dex kicked the ground, xyr face turning bright red. “Yeah, I figured it out a couple months ago.”

“And xe’s really good at it,” Sophie interjected. “We have to get out so that xe can get better at the craft.”

Sophie turned to Biana, looking aer up and down again before speaking. “We’re from Havenfield, a town just that way,” They started, jerking their head to the left. “Dex doesn’t have a lot of opportunities there, and you seem like the perfect person to help us get to where we need to go. We were wondering if we could tag along for a part of your journey, just to head in the right direction.”

Biana opened aer mouth to refuse, to tell them that it was too dangerous, but then ae closed it again. Looking back and forth between the two of them, ae could see the desperate look in Dex’s eyes. The pair had clearly never traveled far and would probably get themselves killed.

Plus, it wouldn’t hurt to have company, Biana admitted to aerself. Ae’d already started getting lonely, and ae had only been traveling for a few days. Ae wondered how Marella could do it, in complete solitude. But at the moment, ae shook those thoughts away, instead focusing once more on Sophie and Dex.

“Sure. But we might have to stop in your town to stock up, because I’m running low on food myself.”

Sophie nodded, “I’ll have to stop by and saddle up my horse as well.”

Oh. That would probably help them move along faster. The trio made their way back to Havenfield together, and soon the path widened, and they made their way back through the trees, talking about simple things like names and families. Somehow, Biana managed to avoid the fact that ae were quite literally royalty hidden, not wanting to reveal too much about aerself.

Sophie mostly stayed quiet as well, leaving Dex to do most of the talking. Xe chatted in a way that made Biana smile. It was a mindless rambling of sorts, rolling off xyr tongue in a language that no one could truly understand but xem. And maybe Sophie, just by the way they reacted to Dex’s muttering. But Biana could only pick up bits and pieces, and ae were okay with that, glad to hear something other than the pounding of Silveny’s hooves.

Just as Dex had started talking about xyr newest invention, they reached Havenfield itself. Biana handed Silveny’s reins to Sophie, hesitating for a moment beforehand. The blond seemed to understand however, offering to let aer walk Silveny toward the stables. Biana refused, allowing Sophie to take over the job while Dex prepared their horse.

Ae unfolded a neat illustration of Marella, aer fingers brushing a familiarly worn letter before closing aer bag. Ae ran into an inn to stalk up on food, asking anyone ae could about the missing person.

No one seemed to have seen him, just as Biana had expected. Ae should have known that Marella wouldn’t have come here, not while searching for a dragon. Disappointment still bubbled in aer chest however, knowing that ae were just as far away from aer friend as ever.

Biana put the paper away, instead deciding to use the inn for what ae needed, grabbing food, water, clothing, and other essentials for the potentially long journey, not wanting to have to stop for a while. Even Silveny might have trouble carrying these bags, ae realized, as an auburn-haired woman helped Biana carry the food and supplies to the stables.

After almost an hour of packing and loading and rearranging things, the trio was finally ready to set off. Biana was met with the sight of Sophie and Dex on the back of a speckled gray horse, a bloated bag of their own thrown over its back. Sophie was at the front, their face set in a stony expression, but their eyes filled with anticipation.

Behind them, Dex wasn’t holding in xyr excitement in the slightest. Xe bounced slightly, and xyr whole face was lit up with excitement.

Biana smirked, throwing aer bag over the back of Silveny and boosting aerself up. Ae made the horse go forward at a slow trot, Dex and Sophie’s horse (Iggy, ae believed) trotting beside aer.

“You ready?” Ae had to ask them both, head turning to watch their reactions.

“Yes,” they both answered, and when Biana looked into both of their eyes, ae knew they both meant it.

So, all ae had left to say was, “Let’s get into danger!”

-

Traveling with Sophie and Dex was relatively anti-climactic. It was mostly quiet, only the sounds of the nature around them as they galloped along.

Equipped with two more people, and knowing that Marella wouldn’t’ve stopped at Havenfield, they decided to head onward to Alluveterre.

For the most part, the three were silent, trying to traverse as much land as they could without stopping in between. Every once and a while, one would break the silence, asking a question or making a comment. It was mostly Dex, who kept all three of them comfortable with the right amount of talking, but sometimes Biana, or even Sophie would chime in.

They still stayed polite, asked light-hearted questions, and overall made sure not to cross any boundaries. This, and the constant reminder that they were just there made Biana realize something. Ae had invited absolute strangers to travel with aer, deciding to trust them not to kill aer. Ae could imagine how much Tam—or hell even Fitz—would be talking aer ear off right now. How ae was all alone and trusting anyone immediately was a bad idea.

But as Dex and Sophie helped aer set up camp, lightly bickering as they did so, Biana realized that ae didn’t regret letting them tag along.

Dex could be chatty, and Sophie was blunt—sometimes even rude—but the two of them made really good company. Ae didn’t trust them, not yet. And by the way that Sophie always had a hand near their sword, ae could tell that the sentiment was returned.

But for complete strangers, Dex and Sophie weren’t too bad.

It was three days into traveling. They’d been trying to cover as much land as they could, minimizing breaks and stopping only when it was dark, resting then repeating the same process the next day.

The surroundings were mostly the same, and Biana had decided to travel the path with the least amount of forest possible, so they wouldn’t have to weave their way through trees until it was an absolute must.

So instead of towering trees, the trio traveled through prairies, the bright summer sun shining on their backs, making frequent hydration a priority for both the horses and the riders.

They were in a silent period, Biana trying to keep aer thoughts from spiraling as to how far away Marella could be, and how much danger he could be in. With every second wasted, he was getting farther and farther, and Biana could feel it.

It made aer crazy, made aer wish that they could speed up, go faster. But they still had two days left, and even Silveny had her limits on how far she could push herself.

But they had to keep going, keep pushing onward toward their next fixed distance, Alluveterre. The aforementioned crime-town made aer nervous, but it was aer only choice on the plateau.

“Biana?” A voice called, breaking Biana out of aer panicked thoughts. Ae looked over aer shoulder, seeing Dex’s distressed expression.

“What’s wrong?”

Ae noticed suddenly that Dex was in front, meaning that xe and Sophie had switched places while ae were thinking.

“I-I’m not feeling the greatest. How much would it set us back if we stopped now for today?”

Biana glanced at where the sun had just barely passed midpoint. It would take a lot of time out of their journey. So many hours that Marella could be getting farther out of Biana’s reach.

But ae glanced back at how desperate Dex looked on the back of a very tired looking horse. Biana knew that Silveny probably looked and felt the same. And to be honest, ae were tired too.

So, swallowing aer annoyance, Biana cleared aer throat. “It shouldn’t be too bad. I see a good place up a bit further; can we stop there?”

Xe nodded, head bobbing up and down, as if the promise of stopping had renewed a bit of energy.

They stopped, setting up camp while it was still mid-afternoon. They even had time to eat a fully cooked dinner before it got dark. As the sun dipped lower toward the horizon, Biana made sure the horses were set before sitting close to the campfire, taking advantage of the low light.

Ae sketched in aer journal, estimating their distance from Alluveterre as close as ae could from a map and a pen. Ae could hear the sound of Dex’s and Sophie’s quiet whispers from where they were a few meters away, but the crackling of the fire made it impossible for aer to discern what they were saying.

Finally, Dex made xyr way over to Biana, sinking down to the ground beside aer.

“I’m sorry we had to stop early because of me,” xe said sheepishly.

Biana shrugged, still not looking up at xyr. “It’s fine, I think we all needed it. How’re you feeling now?”

“A lot better,” Xe admitted.

“That’s good.”

They both fell silent, but Biana could feel xyr looking over aer shoulder to see the page of aer journal that ae were sketching on.

Ae’d flipped the page from the map and had started sketching familiar features out of habit. Biana lost track of the time, and soon the baren sketch had filled out, the curve of smirking lips, unruly head of hair, and eyes that sparkled with a special kind of mischief.

“Is that your friend?”

Biana absentmindedly nodded before adding, “Marella.”

“What’re they like?”

Biana’s head whipped up sharply, not really expecting the question.

Dex’s eyes widened in alarm. “Shit- sorry that’s a really personal question- you don’t have to answer that.”

Biana looked back down at aer sketchbook, saying nothing as the chirp of the crickets filled the air.

 “He’s… really stubborn. It’s crazy, like trying to butt heads with a mule. If it’s made his mind up, there’s no way that you’re going to change it. I admire that about him, but it’s also incredibly annoying.”

Dex laughed. “Sounds an awful lot like Sophie.”

Biana nodded vigorously. “Exactly what I thought. If the two of them ever got into an argument, I think I’d fear for our lives—maybe even the fate of the world.”

Dex and Biana shared stories. Biana talked about Marella and Tam and Fitz, ae even talked about Linh, which was definitely a first. But something about Dex’s laid back yet excited demeanor made xyr really easy to talk to.

Despite only knowing xyr for a few days, when they both parted and decided to head to bed, it felt as though Biana had known Dex for years. Like they were childhood friends, catching up over a warm meal and an exhausting day.

That was something Biana hadn’t had in a while, ae thought to aerself while watching the stars. Someone to talk to openly. Ae could share anything with Linh or Marella when ae were younger. But after the accident, Marella had become inconsolable, and Biana never wanted to add to his problems, no matter how much it encouraged aer to.

It was nice to be able to talk freely again.

-

Biana scanned the environment around them, knowing that ae was being overkill, but the words that Tam had left with filled aer head filled Biana with paranoid doubt. Ae knew that ae had to come back, for him at least.

So being cautious was the only option.

The group had been traveling for five days now, meaning this was the last day of travel that they had before they’d reach Alluveterre. It also meant that they’d finally have to merge into the thick forests. Luckily, there was a stable right before the forest started to get too thick, so they could make sure their horses were in good care. Unfortunately, traveling on foot would slow them down tenfold, but the trees and shrubs were simply too thick for horses to squeeze through.

After dropping their horses at the stable to pick up on the way back, Sophie, Biana, and Dex hiked their way toward the thicker tree line, all of them seemingly much more on edge than they had been merely an hour before. It was odd to think that only the landscape before them had turned light-hearted conversation to a tense silence, but Biana couldn’t spend too much time thinking about it, instead making aer way toward the city of trees.

The sounds of the forest started to fill Biana’s ears, along with the crunching of footsteps on the forest floor. Soon the noises fell into a natural rhythm, and Biana started to tune them out. Walking would definitely slow them down by a lot, but Biana still figured that they could make it to Alluveterre before dark, hopefully.

“Uh, guys?”

Biana stopped turning around to look at Sophie, who usually didn’t talk unless absolutely necessary. Sophie had stopped, their hand wrapped around their sword, their grip so tight that their knuckles had turned white.

Biana followed their gaze and immediately knew why. A figure, dressed in all black was slowly walking toward them, a cape-like cloak flowing behind them as they walked, making Biana’s heart freeze.

That definitely wasn’t the royal blue ae were used to.

When the figure kept moving forward without a sign of stopping, Sophie and Biana seemed to realize something at the same time. They both pulled out their weapons, stepping forward in front of Dex. The figure seemed unfazed by the two’s weaponry, not even faltering in step.

The person got around five meters away from them before stopping, standing motionless.

Dex pushed xyr way between Biana and Sophie, despite the disapproving noise that came from Sophie’s throat.

“What do you want?” Xe asked, xyr voice hard but not quite unfriendly.

The figure said nothing, just standing idly, watching them with their posture still relaxed.

Sophie took a single step forward, their sword held upward, and the figure quickly pulled out a sword of their own, their reflexes so fast that Biana’s eyes couldn’t even really register the movement.

Sophie bolted forward; their form lithe as the loud clanking of metal filled the air.

Biana pulled Dex away from where the two were fighting, not really knowing what to do. Ae could join Sophie but would most likely end up tripping them up instead, but ae didn’t want to run either, leaving Sophie behind with someone trying to kill them. Dex seemed to be in the same position, xyr eyes wide as xe watched Sophie battle with the figure.

When Sophie had insisted on coming along with Dex, Biana had supposed it was simply for their own comfort, knowing that xe were safe. That was still true, ae supposed, but ae had never guessed that Sophie would be so incredibly adept with a sword.

They looked like they were dancing with the other figure, flying, and moving to the beat of music only they could hear. Each step almost looked rehearsed, and their eyes were narrowed in concentration, following the figure’s sword smoothly.

Each clash of the two’s swords made Biana’s anxiety rise a little, but ae were stuck. Suddenly, ae saw a flash out of aer eye, and ae realized that Dex was missing beside aer. Biana turned to see xyr standing on top of a sharp rock, holding a small stick. Xyr eyes were almost closed, and xyr brow was creased in concentration. Biana could even see a bead of sweat gleaming on xyr forehead.

Suddenly, Dex’s eyes flew open, and from the tip of the stick, a light green light shot out, fast as lightning, striking the figure right in the chest, making them fall over.

The rebound of the spell unfortunately knocked Dex backward, making xyr fall off the rock xe were standing on. Xe met the ground with a soft oomph . Biana met Sophie’s astonished gaze for a moment before they both rushed forward, helping xyr up.

Dex groaned, rubbing the back of xyr head as xe sat up. “Did I get ‘em?”

Biana could do nothing but nod, aer words still stuck in aer throat.

Luckily, Sophie seemed to be able to do the talking for aer, peppering Dex with questions as xe hobbled over to where the now-burnt stick lay, picking it up and examining it will a reserved sort of curiosity.

“How did you do that? What spell did you just cast? Are they dead?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know, and uh… I hope not, because I really don’t wanna add ‘murdering someone’ to my wizarding resume.”

Sophie fell silent, staring at the figure splayed on the ground. “I guess we should get going, in case they aren’t dead.”

The other two nodded their agreement, setting off toward where they were originally going.

Sophie took the lead, hand resting on their sword as they moved forward, head swiveling at even the smallest noise that came from the forest. Luckily, the figure seemed to be the only danger that they’d face, as odd as it had been. Had they been a mugger? A stray rogue, looking to cause some trouble? Biana had no idea, but a thought plagued aer head. Were they sent to find them?

It was an absurd question, Biana knew. Not many people knew of aer, just because of how elusive that Vacker family was. But the way that they’d approach seemed different, rather odd for someone who actually wanted to get something from them. Someone who wanted to simply take something, or cause trouble, quick and easy. The figure seemed to have been playing with them, or maybe even distracting them.

Biana didn’t know what it was, but it was fishy. Ae fell into step beside Dex, subconsciously making aer footsteps match xyrs, and ae finally spoke up, getting the words that ae’d been trying to say before.

“Sophie wasn’t kidding.”

Dex laughed, immediately picking up on what ae were saying. “Yeah, I guess not,” xe said, one hand reaching back to scratch xyr neck. “I have no idea how I did it though.”

Biana nodded. “That’s why you’re here, right? To find a mentor?”

Dex shrugged. “I guess so—I mean, that’d be the most ideal,” xe added when Biana raised an eyebrow.

“But… magic is really rare. And finding a wizard willing to teach anyone outside of their descendance? That’s one tall order.”

Ae supposed xe were right. Biana had never heard of a magic user outside of one of the famous families. At one point, the Vackers had magic within them. But that’d been lost many centuries ago. Now that ae thought of it, ae couldn’t name a single wizard that hadn’t come from a magical family.

“So, what’re you going to do then?”

“Well, getting out here and practicing is better than just doing hard labor. I told you about my dad and his alchemy business. What would he think, if instead of doing what I was meant to, I instead ran away, fantasizing about what I could be? That’s why I never really told my family.”

“Y-you never told your family about your magic?”

Dex looked away, trying to look nonchalant, “What would they think of me then? I was already a freak, why give them more reason to think so?”

Biana shook aer head. “You’re not a freak, Dex. I mean, unless I’m a freak too.”

Sophie snorted from ahead of them. “That’s entirely possible.”

“Hey, if I’m a freak, you’re a freak, I hope you know that!”

Sophie stuck out their tongue and turned back around.

“But Dex from what I’ve heard, your family would never think you’re a freak, even if that isn’t particularly true.”

Dex glared at the back of Sophie’s head as they snickered but turned back to Biana with half a smile. “Thanks.”

Ae smiled back. “Anytime.”

After a few more hours of walking, the trees started to grow so tall and thick that even when Biana craned aer neck, ae still couldn’t see the tops.

The forest floor had suddenly grown so much darker, and the only thing that kept them from being in complete darkness were lanterns, lighting the way towards winding paths that only led their way deeper into the thick foliage. The air had taken on a sort of earthy smell, like the sky was so far away that the trees had taken over its scent.

The flat, winding paths were hard on Biana’s feet, and what made it harder was that Sophie was leading with an insanely quick pace. It probably didn’t help that one of Sophie’s strides were about four of Biana’s, but ae didn’t let that stop aer from keeping pace.

Ae were too busy looking up at the trees to notice that the footsteps in front of aer stopped, so Biana ran into Sophie’s back, letting out a soft oof as ae did. Aer head snapped back into focus, peeking around Sophie to see why they’d stopped.

What stood in front of them was an old rickety ladder, with a sign that said Going up? It had an image of Alluveterre’s most prominent feature, two tree houses connected by a bridge and an arrow. Sophie turned around to look at Biana, asking aer a silent question. Biana shrugged, they only had one way to go from here, and that was up.

So, Sophie took off without another word. Waiting for them to get up a couple rungs, Biana started climbing, and ae heard Dex do the same behind aer. The ladder was cold to aer touch and made a squeaking sound that didn’t make Biana feel secure in the slightest, but ae just kept putting one foot after the other.

Ae climbed.

And climbed.

And climbed.

Then, finally, when Biana thought ae were going to fall, or that the ladder would simply give out beneath aer, ae heard Sophie let out a small noise of victory, and sure enough, when ae craned aer head to look up, ae could see that they had safely made it to the top.

Biana shimmied aer way up onto the wood platform and offered Dex a hand as xe did the same, before turning around to take in the view of the bustling village.

It was unlike anything ae had ever seen before. People of all species walked around in harmony, Biana had met aer fair share of magical races in aer life, but never this many at once. Two ogres sat outside what looked to be a café, loudly arguing while having an arm wrestle. Gnomes and dwarves both seemed to be working on a project, yelling clipped words to each other from different places on a tree that was marked under construction by bright yellow paint. Two goblins were exchanging pleasantries with a troll, as they took an easy walk around the city.

And the town itself?

Businesses and homes were jutting out of trees, and in particularly thick ones, staircases and even small elevators were carved out toward the top. The style of the cozy wood cottages reminded Biana of the stories aer mother used to read to aer, only the thought of aer soft voice making Biana’s exhausted body want to shut down.

Ae realized that ae had to get the trio a room, or just a place to stay in, because with all the shenanigans earlier today, the three of them looked (and felt) dead on their feet. So, Biana checked into a room, thanking the clerk graciously, and plopped down on a bed, realizing how much ae missed sleeping anywhere but the floor.

Biana peeled off aer grimy clothes and drew a bath, sinking into the warm feeling gratefully. It’d been so long since ae’d felt clean. Ae didn’t mind traveling, in fact, seeing the expansive world that ae lived in was quite a treat. But something about being clean and taken care of was a feeling that no traveling could replace.

After finally settling for the night, Biana pulled the covers up to aer chin and rolled over, smiling a bit as ae did. Ae’d find Marella, or at least, ae’d get on the right track. Somehow, Biana felt closer to him than ae had in months, and ae would find it.

Biana rested aer head on the soft downy pillow. Ae relaxed for the first time in a while, fantasizing of lands of eloquent elves and royal crystal towers, but even there, ae were saved by those familiar ice-blue eyes.

-

“So, where are we checking first?”

Biana shrugged, not really answering Dex’s question.

Ae knew a decent amount about Alluveterre, but not so much about the makeup of the town itself. Thankfully, because it was so high up, the village got a lot more warmth than the forest floor. The sun shone clearly through where the branches were thinner, bathing the whole town in a golden morning light.

Sophie put the back of their hand above their eyes, shielding their gaze from the glaring sun.

“What about there?”

Biana turned to follow their gaze.

In one of the middle treehouses, stood a large wood building, bigger than a lot of the ones surrounding it. Biana was curious as to how it was even staying up on the platform that it was built on. A big wooden sign advertised that the building was a tavern, and a pretty popular one at that. It seemed that all the inhabitants and tourists of the town were flocking together toward the one building. Ae supposed ae probably should have thought of that.

“Yeah, that should work.”

Biana started forward, stopping only for a moment to carefully grab something out of aer bag, almost making Dex crash into aer. Muttering a quick apology over aer shoulder, Biana fished through a small pocket for a moment before slipping the fully illustrated photo of Marella out into the open.

When ae were drawing, ae half debated making it a search warrant sign, or maybe a ransom, but as angry as ae were at Marella (and how much he deserved it,) Biana supposed that ae should give them as much of a chance of survival as possible. At least, before ae found it, and followed through on aer promise to Tam.

Before pulling on the long, bar-like handle to the inside of the tavern, Biana turned to look over aer shoulder.

“Let me do the talking, okay? I’ve got a feeling these guys will be much more hostile than anyone we’ve met so far.”

Sophie and Dex both agreed, though Sophie reluctantly. Biana made them promise not to get into a fight before taking a deep breath and flinging the door open.

It was… much lighter than expected, and it flew open with a resounding crack!

All the heads in the building turned to look toward the doorway, where three cowering teens stood, looking like they’d been busted for doing something they shouldn’t.

Biana felt heat rise all the way up the back of aer neck but ignored it. Ae instead made a beeline back to the nearest bartender, who was cleaning glasses, with Sophie and Dex trailing behind aer.

The bartender looked up, unimpressed as ae stormed toward them. They gave a deep sigh before opening their mouth, probably to tell Biana that ae were way too young to be drinking alcohol.

But before they could, Biana slammed down the piece of paper in front of them, making the customers in aer immediate radius jump. Ae really wasn’t making a good first impression, ae realized as the bartender glared daggers at aer.

But Biana still carried on, clearing aer throat. “Have you seen this person? Its name is Marella Redek. He was last seen five months ago, and last we heard, it was chasing after a dragon that—"

“Woah, kid. I’ll stop you right there,” the bartender interrupted. Biana squinted, looking at their name tag, which read Ruy, he/him.

“If your friend was chasing after a dragon, there’s no way he’s alive. I hate to break it to you this way, but there’s no way that it’s finding that beast and living.”

Biana opened aer mouth to snap at him, but someone beat aer to it.

“Ruy Ignis! That’s no way to say it!”

Biana’s head whipped in the direction that the fragile voice came from. A blonde woman with a head full of curly ringlets was sitting a few feet down from where Biana and Ruy were talking. She was with a group of people, all of whom had paused their conversation to watch what was happening before them, which was probably more interesting anyway.

The woman’s blue eyes snapped back to Biana. “I’m sure that’s not it, Dear. Ruy’s so antisocial he doesn’t even know what the sun looks like. Let me take a look and see if I recognize your friend.”

Biana nodded, aer legs like jelly at all the hostile pairs of eyes that were focused on aer. Back at home, ae were always like this whenever ae had to give speeches, stumbling over aer words, and sweating as ae addressed aer kingdom.

Even now as the woman in front of aer scanned the drawing, Biana felt an embarrassed blush make its way up aer face as ae caught the eye of a couple strangers. As soon as ae made eye contact with them though, they looked away.

After a long moment, the woman handed back the drawing, frowning.

“I haven’t seen your friend, I’m sorry. But I’m sure that someone here has. If you’d like, I can ask around with you.”

Biana smiled half-heartedly. “That’s alright, thank you for your help, though…”

“Oralie,” the woman finished for aer. “Oralie Fathdon.”

“Biana.”

“It was nice meeting you, Biana. I wish you good luck finding your friend.”

“Thank you,” Biana said sincerely. “We’ll need all the luck we can get.”

Biana turned around to see Dex and Sophie looking almost as sullen as ae felt. “Well, it was worth a shot, let’s go back to the hotel and plan where we check next.”

The two both nodded, following Biana as ae led them to the entrance.

“If I may,” A deep voice started from behind them, and Biana turned around once more.

A tall man with short, cropped black hair stood in front of aer.

“If you know anything about where your friend went, I might be able to help you out with the general area. Did it give you any clues about the area around where he was going?”

Biana opened aer mouth to say no before closing it to reconsider. “Well-”

“Maybe the Pyre snatched him!” A voice shouted from a few tables over.

A couple more people joined in with drunken laughter.

But when Biana turned back to the man standing in front of aer, ae saw real fear in his eyes.

“What’s the Pyre?” ae asked in a hushed tone.

The man’s tone matched aers as he answered, “Not a what, a who.”

Even the drunk adults’ laughter seemed to dim at the question, and the whole tavern went silent, as if straining to hear the man explain the mysterious stranger.

“Fintan Pyren. There’s many rumors about him. Some say he’s a dragon, others say that he hunts them. But legend has it that if anyone tries to kill a dragon, he’ll steal their soul, and turn them to nothing but ash.”

“He’s a monster,” someone else chimed in. “He feeds on the flesh of his victims and relishes their screams.”

“One time I heard he killed someone-”

“Did you hear about that councilor that disappeared?”

“I remember he was a councilor at one point.”

“I also heard that he’s ga-“

THUMP!

A loud pounding sound hushed the crazed whispers immediately, and everyone turned to see the origin.

At the back of the tavern, hiding in the shadows, was a large ogre. He had what looked to be a permanent scowl on his face, and the biggest sword that Biana had ever seen resting by his right side. He must have been at least nine feet tall when he stood, and razor white fangs stood out against his gray leathery skin. He leaned back, fiddling with a sort of cracker in his fingers while he talked.

“I’ve met Fintan Pyren, and he’s all of what you’ve said. He’s a monster, a mercenary, sure. But.” Dimitar started, leaning forward. “He’s also a smooth talker.”

“He could manipulate and lie all day, and he’d have no problem taking on a dragon. Fintan would build you towering, shining castles, crafted from clever words and phrases that would make you want to fly. But that’s not dangerous,” He chuckled.  “He’d make you watch it crumble. It would buckle and crack under its weight, but somehow you don’t know.”

Dimitar crushed the food in his hand, letting the tiny crumbs rain down from the table for dramatic effect. “The most dangerous thing about Fintan Pyren is that he could destroy the tallest of towers, but you’d only know after you were standing in the rubble.”

Sophie stepped forward, looking Dimitar up and down. “If you know this Fintan Pyren, where can we find him?”

Biana held aer breath, elbowing Sophie in the side as Dimitar’s nostrils flared. They’d made a promise that they wouldn’t start a fight, but it looked like they’d just broken it.

However, Dimitar simply gave a bitter laugh. “You have gumption, I’ll give you that. But it’s impossible to find Fintan, he has to find you, but I’ll still humor you.”

Sophie, Dex, and Biana leaned closer, listening to the directions carefully.

“You’ll want to start the trip around sunrise, because traveling in this forest at night is a death wish.”

Biana quickly secured aer bag, making the bed and checking that ae had everything one last time. After making sure everything was perfect, Biana climbed down to the main level of Alluveterre, where Sophie and Dex were already waiting.

Sophie had a leather messenger bag wrapped over their shoulder, along with the sword that Biana was getting used to seeing at their waist. Their blond hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, making it easier to see the little freckles that sprinkled their face. Their expression, along with most of the other times Biana had seen them, was stoic, simply ready for the next adventure.

Dex stood next to them, around a head shorter. Xe were yawning – as Biana had discovered while traveling with xyr, xe was not a morning person. Xyr strawberry blond hair was as unruly as ever, and xyr dimples became apparent as xe met aer gaze and smiled.

Biana rolled aer eyes lightheartedly at the odd-looking trio, letting Sophie take the lead out of the village.

They took the group in twisting paths, most likely to lead any unlikely followers off their path before they got down on the ground near danger.

Ae prepared aerself mentally for the long travels that ae had ahead of aer, along with the potentially dangerous criminals that ae’d have to meet. Just as Biana was about to make the final turn, a hand wrapped around aer wrist.

Ae suppressed a yelp, turning to whack the perpetrator where it hurt, but stopped when ae realized that it was Ruy.

His voice was low, and his eyes darted side to side as he pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket.

“Listen, I’m not usually someone who cares about other people, but since you’re about to be twice as vulnerable as you are up here, I figured I’d warn you.”

He handed the piece of paper to Biana, and ae felt aer jaw drop in shock.

“The royal family is hunting for you.”

Sure enough, aer face was pasted on a wanted poster, above the words RETURN ALIVE AND UNHARMED TO PRINCE FITZORY VACKER FOR REWARD OF 2,000 LUSTERS.

Ae supposed ae shouldn’t have been surprised, if Fitz got desperate, he’d do anything to get aer back. But ae weren’t expecting it to happen so soon. Ae glanced up from the paper to thank Ruy for the heads up, but by the time ae were done he had vanished.

“Biana?”

Biana glanced at the paper in aer hand. Now would probably be a good time to tell Sophie and Dex about aer heritage but talking about it now would only waste time.

Later, ae decided, as ae ripped up the paper. Ae would tell aer friends about being a runaway heir later, after they were out of harm's way.

“Coming!”

“You’ll have to cross a couple streams, so be careful or you might get an unwelcome drenching.”

“I feel like I’m playing hopscotch,” Sophie grumbled as they jumped and wobbled on another rock.

“Or the floor is lava,” Dex added helpfully from behind them.

Biana snorted. Dimitar really couldn’t call these streams , not when there was a current that could probably sweep someone off their feet. But ae supposed he was much taller than any of them – either way, he was right about the water being unwelcome. Sophie had already accidentally stumbled into it when the water was still shallow, leaving their feet soaked in chilly water.

Maybe that was why they were so grumpy.

Biana didn’t want to join them, so ae kept aer arms out wide to keep aer balance and took aer time. In front of aer, Biana could see Dex doing the same.

So far, they had crossed over some other terrain that the ogre didn’t warn them about. Sharp rocky out clippings, bushy pathways bursting with thick thorns, and even a fox den.

The journey, suffice to say, was not going exactly how Biana had planned.

After what felt like hours of scrambling over slippery rocks, Biana jumped onto the hard ground, where Sophie and Dex were waiting for aer.

They had stopped. Sophie was lying on the ground, arm and legs spread out as deep breaths escaped their chest, making their face flushed. Dex was sitting down as well, and Biana wiped off some sweat from the back of aer neck. This part of the woods was quiet, the only sound that filled aer ears was the rushing water behind them. Thankfully, ae could tell that the trees were thinning out.

Biana plopped down next to Dex.

“How much longer do you think we have?”

Ae shrugged, hoping that it wasn’t too much. Dimitar had said they’d reach their next checkpoint within the next couple of days, depending on their pace. Obviously, they’d been slowed down by the rough terrain, so that measurement seemed to be getting more and more inaccurate as time passed.

The back of aer head nagged Biana to keep moving, to keep looking for Marella and the dragon, which ae’d only heard about. Not to listen to a random stranger and take the hardest path possible. But the bigger part of Biana knew that this was the best lead that ae had.

So, ae kept pushing forward, and so did Sophie and Dex. Neither of them really complained, apart from a few grumbles and mutterings that Biana silently agreed with. But they still stuck with aer, and ae were thankful.

Maybe that was what pulled Biana toward the edge of the stream. Ae cupped aer hands together, trying to get as much water as ae could. Then, ae whipped around, throwing it in Dex’s direction.

Xe yelped, jumping up in indignation as xyr head snapped to see Biana stifling a laugh.

Xyr annoyed glance instantly turned determined. “Oh, it is so on.”

Dex dashed to the water, not even flinching as xyr feet sank into the cold stream. Xe bent down, splashing so much water at Biana that aer whole front was soaking wet.

Ae gasped at the freezing water that immediately made aer shiver…then followed xyr, bending down and scooping up more water. Soon, they’d both somehow gotten even deeper, laughing, and playing like they were kids again.

Biana stopped, waist deep in water, gesturing for Dex to do the same. For some reason, xe did, and Biana turned around slowly to see Sophie amusedly watching them. Biana grinned.

Their eyes widened when they figured out what ae were planning.

“Don’t you d-”

Before they could finish, Dex skimmed xyr arm across the surface of the river, flinging it all forward to soak Sophie in a wave of cool water.

Sophie’s eyes widened astronomically, and they gasped at the cold water hitting their chest.

“ Dexter Alvin Dizznee ,” Sophie seethed.

They spun on their foot and stormed away without another word. Biana and Dex shared a glance.

Shit. They probably shouldn’t have done that.

“Should we…”

Dex shook xyr head. “I think that would make it worse. Sorry, they usually don’t mind stuff like this, if I knew I wouldn’t have splashed them.”

Biana opened aer mouth to tell xyr it was okay, it was aer fault too, when Dex’s eyes widened. Ae turned around to see what xe was looking at, when ae saw Sophie in the air, hurtling towards them.

Ae thankfully had enough sense to close aer mouth before the impact, but water still splashed aer in the face. Ae wrenched aer eyes shut a second too late.

After the initial splash, Biana wiped the water out of aer eyes, and opened them to see Dex sputtering, Sophie standing next to xem, their left hand resting on their hip.

“That’s what you get, you asshole. Next time you’re dead.”

Even as a small cough escaped xyr mouth, xe made a universal hand gesture that made Biana laugh. The sound made Sophie turn around, and before Biana knew it, cold water splashed in aer direction as well. It only made aer laugh harder.

Finally, the trio pulled themselves out of the stream, Biana silently thanking aer past self for packing an extra set of everything. Ae wrung the extra water out of aer dripping hair, deciding to put it up so ae could at least stay a little warm.

Biana came around the tree that ae were changing behind to see that Sophie had constructed a fire, and Dex was using xyr blanket as a hood of sorts, but Biana could still see that xe was shivering. Unfortunately, getting wet and setting up camp had taken up the rest of their afternoon, meaning that the sun was starting to dip in the sky when ae had settled.

Biana chatted with Dex and Sophie a bit, before agreeing that Dex would take the first shift of guarding tonight.

Ae settled down, dreaming of a wild grin once again, expecting dreams of Marella’s lips to come to aer like usual. Soon after aer eyes closed, Biana’s brain fulfilled aer with memories of Marella and Linh and Fitz and Tam, frolicking in fields and laughing as a family.

But soon the sweet images burned into nightmares.

Disconnected screams and shouts ravaged the inside of Biana’s mind, rattling aer brain. But those weren’t scary, not really.

It was only when the noises turned to memories once more.

Not memories of good times.

             Ones of that night.

             The night that started it all.

             Biana was deep in one of aer favorite books. It wasn’t even one that most could enjoy. It was a nonfiction book instead, filled with all of the numbers and statistics that ae could dream of. Some of the castle’s staff, the horses, the gardens, you name it, and it was in there.

             Not only were there statistics and data, but there were also personal entries by the queen at the time, who Biana found to be hilarious.

             The book had to have been hundreds of years old at this point, but the queen who wrote was still witty enough to make aer smile, sprinkling witty comments and even some puns that even sometimes made aer laugh aloud.

             How Biana wished that ae could meet her, if only for a minute, just to know what she was like in person.

             Biana’s door slammed open and ae jumped, shaking aer head as Fitz rushed in the room, his breathing heavy.

             Ae slammed the book closed at the look on his face. “We have to go.”

             Ae stood to confront him, but he took aer wrist and wrenched aer away, desperation radiating off his body

             “Where?”

             He said nothing, weaving through hallways and down stairs, not slowing down for the quickest heartbeat.

             “Fitz, where are we going?”

             Silence.

             Finally, after another couple seconds, Biana dug aer feet in the ground, making Fitz stop and turn around exasperatedly.

             “Tell me what’s going on,” Biana demanded, trying to wrench aer hand away.

             His grip tightened around aer wrist, and he used his other hand to muss up his hair.

             “Mom said we have to get as low in the castle as possible.”

             “What—why?”

             Fitz sighed, glancing over his shoulder before meeting aer eyes again. “Because there was a dragon attack on a village near here and she wants to be safe.”

             “ What?”

             This time Biana forced aer hand out of his grip, running toward the nearest exit, ignoring the Fitz’s calls after aer. Ae weaved through the majestic hall, clipping aer foot on a corner and stumbling before catching aer balance.

             Biana made aer way around another turn before stopping, out of breath. Ae pushed open the double glass doors, padding aer way to the edge of the balcony, and ae saw it.

             Not the dragon, Biana couldn’t see or hear it from where ae stood but instead the village. Or whatever was left of it.

             Most of aer view was blocked by dense trees, but yellowy smoke filled the air, spanning hundreds of meters in the sky, hiding the usually bright blue from aer view. The air smelt strongly of burnt sugar, so much so that it made Biana’s eyes water.

             Ae had to strain to see, but over the trees ae could see billowing yellow flames from the places where the wood grew thin. Screams filled the air, and it was only then that Biana realized, something that ae should have recognized much earlier.

             That village was the only one to the east of the castle, one that had the best way to travel from region to region. The very town that one would set off towards to pick up a traveling relative.

             The town that Linh had left for not even a few hours earlier.

             “Biana.”

             Ae turned around to se aer mother, faer eyes wide as fae reached toward faer daughter. “We have to go, we have to get out of here—just in case it comes for us too.”

             Biana shook aer head, falling to aer knees.

             “No, we shouldn’t—we can’t leave her to die.”

             “Biana”

             Ae looked up, to see Tam, his face contorted in a look of pure rage.

             Ae frowned; this wasn’t what had happened.

             “It’s all your fault!” He screamed. “You should have known!”

             Biana scrambled backward and when ae blinked it was Fitz, his eyes sad as he offered his hand.

             “It’s time for the funeral, Bee.”

             Ae shook aer head. “No.”

             No, no, no.

             This really wasn’t right. Fitz hadn’t asked aer to go to the funeral. It wasn’t him that had offered to hold aer hand while aer cried. It wasn’t him who had let aer rest aer head on his shoulder.

             Fitz had been there; he wasn’t the one who had taken care of aer.

             It was—Marella.

             It was there, as if Biana’s thought had summoned him from aer deepest subconscious.

             It smiled. “Hey, Bee,” he said softly, holding out a flower. It looked beautiful while it was alive, a deep red color, its flowers fanning outward in a wild sort of way.

             “Mare?” Biana scrambled over aer own feet, trying to get to Marella. To touch him, to know it was real. But he took a step back, the flower wilting a bit as he did.

             “Marella? We-we have to go. We can save Linh and Tam. We can go get them—we’ll be a family again.”

             Marella shook his head, its eyes glassy as he stared at aer.

             Biana opened aer mouth to say something—anything. But a bright light interrupted aer, and when aer gaze drifted to the ground, fire had started to engulf the castle grounds, burning bright all around aer.

             Biana’s voice tried to crawl out of aer throat, but the only thing that ae could manage was a wheeze as ae stepped back in horror.

             Marella’s eyes glinted with a yellow tint, reflecting the flames around them but also something else, something deeper.

             The flower had caught on fire now, burning to ashes in Marella’s outstretched hand. It fell into the flames below, Biana’s horrified gaze following every step.

             Biana looked back up at Marella, not even knowing what to expect next. A rattling scream tore its way out of aer throat.

             Because what was looking back at aer wasn’t Marella. Its towering head made Biana have to crane aer neck toward the sky. Ae wanted to bolt backwards, or forwards even, anything to get away. But ae were frozen in place, fear rooting aer to the ground.

             What was standing in front of where Marella had once been was a beast. It was a murderous, greedy, disgusting-

“BIANA.”

Biana gasped, surprised at the salty taste that coated aer mouth. Aer breaths came out choked, and aer vision was blurred as ae tried to take in aer surroundings. It took a couple of breaths to it all to come back together in a pattern that ae remembered, one that seemed so new but so familiar at the same time.

Colors soon began to separate from one another, and Biana could finally recognize Sophie’s face, which was contorted in a concerned expression. They had a strong hold on Biana’s right shoulder, but their grip loosened when they saw that Biana’s eyes were starting to focus.

Sophie scooted back, dropping their hand to their side. Their gaze flitted toward the ground, embarrassed.     

“Sorry. I really didn’t want to wake you up unnaturally, but the pain on your face was… overwhelming, and I just kinda had to make sure that you were okay.”

They shrugged casually as they said it, but Biana flushed, sitting up and wondering how ridiculous ae looked, crying like a baby in aer sleep.

Ae furiously scrubbed at aer eyes, trying to get the remaining tears off aer face. Taking deep breaths, Biana tried to look calm and collected, as if Sophie hadn’t just seen aer at aer weakest.

Biana opened aer mouth to say something, but all that came out was a small squeak. Ae shut it again, flushing bright red. Sophie probably thought ae were stupid, crying and squeaking, having nightmares like a child.

Ae paused, discreetly looking up despite not wanting to see the pity in Sophie’s eyes. But they weren’t looking at Biana, instead they were looking at the flames of the campfire. The flames had died down, but still offered the only dim light in the clearing, as the moon seemed to be hiding away.

Biana cleared aer throat, trying again. “I’m sorry. Is it my shift yet?”

Sophie shrugged. “Nah. I got enough sleep already.”

Biana nodded, and on instinct aer gaze traveled upward, to where at the tips of the trees, hundreds of stars poked through. Linh used to talk about the stars all the time, she was obsessed, and just from her ramblings, Biana could still find Ursa Major, even with the limited amount of sky ae could see.

“Also…”

Biana’s head whipped to see Sophie looking up as well. Their eyebrows were creased in thought, and their hand lay limp at their side as they stared up at something only they could see.

“I get it—the nightmares I mean. It sucks ass, and I’m sorry that you have to experience them too.”

Biana blinked, and ae followed Sophie’s gaze back up, watching the stars as ae spoke.

“I would say it’s fine but it kinda isn’t.”

Sophie snorted.

“Thanks, though,” ae said. “You’re right, nightmares do suck. And… for what it’s worth I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”

A loud crash made Biana jump, and ae lowered aer gaze to see Sophie standing. They were frozen, as if only just realizing how big of a sound that their sudden movement would make. They met Biana’s gaze for a moment before the two of them seemed to have an unspoken conversation.

Biana turned, trying to see if Sophie had woken Dex. After craning aer neck for a moment, Biana let out a small sigh of relief.

Just at the edge of the dim light that the fire offered, Dex was still sound asleep, his face set in a peaceful expression that could only come from unconsciousness.

Biana turned back to Sophie, biting back a smile at how startled they were, their expression priceless. It wasn’t helping that they had a scowl pasted back on their face, like usual. Ae swallowed aer laughter and looked around once more.

“Do you know what time it is?” Biana asked quietly.

Sophie shook their head. “I think it’s still a couple hours ‘til dawn though.”

“Wanna start packing up to get a head start?”

Sophie shrugged. “Sure.”

Not that there was much to pack. Biana and Sophie rolled up blankets and pillows, and Biana even had time to cook breakfast. Sophie gathered wood for aer to have enough light and heat to roast some nuts and vegetables before the sun rose in the sky.

When it finally did peak through the tree branches, Biana was finished, and had put out the fire. Not long after that, Dex woke up, xyr hair mussed up and xyr eyes filled with sleep. Xe gave Biana a dimpled smile when ae offered xe some food, and gladly accepted.

Soon, the three set off once more, going the same direction that they’d started heading in. Thankfully, this time there were no pointed bushes, jagged rocks, or deep streams to cross, but the way that Dimitar had phrased the next part had put Biana on edge.

“If you keep heading North, you’ll make it to Ravagog Falls. Once you get there’ll be Fintan’s sign. You’ll know it when you see it.”

Ae had heard of the waterfalls only from Tam, but very briefly, as he had many more interesting things to say about his travels. But from what ae remembered, he’d said that it took a while to climb down. Which would be a problem eventually, but Biana wasn’t too worried about it. Yet.

The sounds of birds in the trees made Biana feel slightly better. The woods that they’d been traveling in before had been oddly quiet. But now the sounds of nature were abundant the thinner the trees grew. However, with the thinning of the woods came the thickening of the undergrowth.

Bushes, vines, and fungi covered the ground. Sophie and Biana both tripped many times, so much so that Dex ended up taking the lead. Even xe weren’t accustomed to the change however, as the only thing stopping xyr from falling on xyr face were Sophie’s lightning fast reflexes, their hand whipping out to catch the back of xyr shirt when xe tumbled over a small pebble.

Xe muttered a quick thanks and kept moving.

Somehow, the trio were able to stumble upon a fairly flat path, save a few rocks and tree roots. After walking for a while longer, Biana could hear the crashing of water if ae strained aer ears, and something else.

It took aer a moment to puzzle out, as the chirping of the birds and the swishing of the leaves in the trees distracted aer, but finally after a few moments ae could hear the dull rise and drop in frequencies. Another couple meters, and Biana could make out voices.

Ae stopped, standing upright before deciding to move forward to investigate. Biana gestured for Dex and Sophie to look out, creeping forward and making sure that aer footsteps stayed muffled against the hard ground, in a way that only years of sneaking food from the kitchens could do.

Sophie drew their sword, holding it out in front of them as they also crept forward. Dex also managed to pick up a stick, and with shaking hands held it out in front of xyr, ready to cast a spell if need be.

The closer that they got to the voices, the more Biana realized that they’d rounded a corner to break in the trees. The path would go right next to it, and as easy as it would be to avoid them, Biana wondered if the voices had anything to do with the way they’d been ambushed earlier.

Ae pushed forward, unsheathing aer dagger and falling into place beside Sophie. The voices got louder and louder, until Biana could distinguish that there were only two, at least, two of them talking. They were speaking in a different language, one that Biana couldn’t understand. Sophie looked just as intrigued, and Biana remembered one of ae and Dex’s many conversations, where xe had told Biana that Sophie could speak many different languages.

By the look on Sophie’s face, it seemed that they understood whatever one the voices were speaking in. Their face was in a suspicious scowl, and after a moment it turned into a frown, whatever the strangers were saying couldn’t be good. Ae gestured for Sophie to attack with aer, and for Dex to stay back.

The two crept to the edge of the bushes from where the voices were, and without giving away aer location Biana could see that the strangers had a horse-drawn cart and had even set up camp. Ae couldn’t see the two peoples’ faces, but decided to put aer dagger away, hoping that if the travelers were hostile ae could pull a Sophie and unsheathe aer dagger quickly.

But unless necessary, Biana decided to put it away. From the corner of aer vision, ae saw Sophie do the same to their sword, sheathing it quietly, but still having a hand on the grip. Biana held up fingers, signifying when they’d go through.

Three.

Two.

One–

Biana and Sophie both sprang through the shrubbery, and the travelers were much clearer now. One had long braided dark hair, gathered in a half-up, half-down style. A royal blue dye covered one of the braids, popping out against the dark brown. The other traveler had wild curly hair that they let roam along their shoulders.

Biana felt like a jerk suddenly, because ae and Sophie had just intruded on two innocent people’s camp. The shame increased as they both screeched, jumping up from what had previously been a calm conversation.

The curly-haired one grabbed a frying pan, talking rapidly in a language that Biana was half-glad ae didn’t understand. Ae let Sophie do the talking, which didn’t seem to be a good idea, because the more the blonde spoke, the harder the brunette gripped the frying pan, and the other’s eyes narrowed to slits.

Sophie finally sighed, turning to Biana. “They’d both like you to know that our apology isn’t accepted, and that we’re both assholes.”

Blue Streak snorted. “You got that right.”

Biana’s eyebrows rose, and so did Sophie’s. Ae didn’t expect the traveler to speak two languages. By the brunette’s next words, Biana’s expression must have given away aer thoughts.

“Listen, this was nice and all, but you’re kind of creepy,” they said, lowering the frying pan. “And rude bursting in on us like this, so if you could leave that’d be great.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s a good idea. We’ll just– we’ll be on our way.” Biana started to turn around, half-dragging Sophie with aer when the loud crashing of leaves interrupted aer sentence.

Immediately all four of them were on guard, Biana raised aer fists, the brunette once again held the frying pan out like a weapon, and the loud unsheathing of a sword let Biana know Sophie was ready as well.

All four stood silent, with bated breath as the noise came closer, and closer, and-

“Dizznee?”

Dex’s eyes widened, focusing on the brunette that stood just behind Biana.

“Heks?”

Sophie and Biana both shared a glance, seeming to be equally confused as Blue Streak, who was trying to catch the brunette’s eye.

But they were too busy staring at Dex, who was staring right back at them. For what felt like minutes that was all that happened, but finally the brunette broke the trance, rolling their eyes and plopping to the ground.

"As if this day couldn’t have gotten any worse.”

“Do you two…know each other?” Biana asked.

“Unfortunately,” Dex muttered.

“Should’ve known you were behind this, Dizznee. Runs in your blood.”

Xyr head snapped up. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Xe practically spat, storming forward until xe and the curly-haired person were nose to nose.

“Are you two heading to the falls?” Sophie asked Blue Streak, giving Dex a pointed glare as they physically broke the two apart.

They sighed. “Yeah. We’re just packing everything up for the journey down. Or…we were.”

Sophie stuck out their hand. “Sophie Foster, they/them. We’re heading the same way.”

“Maruca, she and her,” she said, shaking it. “Is that why you jumped us?”

Biana quickly glanced to see Dex and the brunette bickering again, and rolled aer eyes, stepping forward to introduce aerself.

“We’ve had some… unpleasant run-ins with some rogues, I’m so sorry that we returned the sentiment to someone undeserving. And– Biana, ae/aer.”

Maruca’s eyes widened for a moment, and Biana’s heart sped up, wondering if somehow, she knew about Biana, but quickly her expression returned to normal. So quickly that Biana was left wondering if ae’d imagined it.

“Nice to meet you both,” she said quickly. “And for what it’s worth– I have no hard feelings. Can’t speak for Stina though.”

The three turned around to see Stina and Dex still bickering. The two of them seemed to feel the three pairs of eyes resting on them. Dex abruptly cut xemself off, and smiled sheepishly at Sophie, who was giving them the sharpest glare that Biana had ever seen. If looks could kill, Dex would be six feet under.

Stina walked over, draping her arm around Maruca’s shoulders and her demeanor seemed to change a bit. She was smiling, but there was a viciousness in her eyes that Biana didn’t want to cross.

“So, Dizznee found some other losers to hang out with, I see.”

Dex rolled xyr eyes, muttering something that only xe could hear as xe joined the rest of the group. Stina whispered something into Maruca’s ear, and the other girl pulled back, letting out a loud laugh that bounced off the trees around them.

“We better get going,” Dex said, as Maruca and Stina began chatting once more. Xyr voice was hard, and xe took Biana’s wrist, like xe was going to drag aer across the entire globe. Biana twisted aer wrist out of xyr grip and whipped around, looking at the two travelers once more.

“Is there a fast way to get down the falls?”

Stina and Maruca shared a glance, and Maruca shook her head slightly. Stina turned back to the three of them.

“We’re heading the same way, so I can show you the fastest path to hike down.”

“Really?” Sophie and Dex both said at the same time.

Stina shrugged. “Why not? Just give me a sec to finish packing up and we’ll head north.”

-

Stina was… blunt, to say the least. Maruca was behind them, riding her and Stina’s horse. Sophie had pulled back to chat with her, and Dex had stormed ahead, xyr fists clenched and a half-hearted excuse of needing to be a lookout.

What was surprisingly pleasant was that Stina wasn’t terrible to converse with. They’d talked about mundane topics, such as what was beyond the falls, along with anything about the terrain that Biana should know.

Stina had answered all aer questions patiently, but unfortunately, she knew nothing about the coordinates of Fintan Pyren. However, she had offered up some very useful information. Such as the fact that the contents of the forests changed from the dark, dryer redwood forests to dense moist jungles. However, Stina said that if they wanted to keep going north there was a ravine that they’d need to traverse. There was a bridge, thankfully, but people who were afraid of heights wouldn’t fare well with the unsteadiness of the wood.

She said that with a pointed glance up ahead, glaring at the back of Dex’s head.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what did xe do to make you hate xem?”

Stina shook her head, as if shaking her previous thoughts away. “Nothing.”

Biana raised an eyebrow, and Stina sighed, running a hand through her curly hair.

“We mostly just pranked each other when we lived in the same village.” Her eyes darkened. “But then we parted ways when our village was attacked.”

Biana fell quiet, because ae could fill in the blanks. A righteous anger filled aer chest. Dragons were horrible beasts, ae decided. They caused damage and heartbreak everywhere they touched. Ae understood why Marella left to kill one.

But ae also remembered the before . Before the dragon attacked. Linh. And well, life.  

Ae remembered pretend games, where Marella would flap his imaginary wings, and let out a loud roar. Linh and Biana would laugh and squeal, while Fitz would fight it off with his makeshift sword.  They’d run around the meadows and in the kitchens and through the hallways. How ironic it seemed now, that out of the four there were only two of them left. It filled Biana with bitterness, one that fueled the bright anger in aer chest. Ae shoved it down, turning to Stina with what ae hoped to be a neutral expression.

“Do you know if there are any dragons that live north?” Ae asked.

Stina looked up, her gaze faraway as she seemed to mull over the question. “I’ve never paid enough attention as to where they come from, but my best guess is that it’s from a mountain to the northwest. If you have to go that way for your Fintan Pyren, I’d avoid it if you could.”

Biana nodded, thanking her, and moving quickly forward, past where Dex stood, frozen. Ae pushed past xyr to see what xe had stopped for. Only now ae had noticed the increase in sound, so wrapped up in aer feelings and memories.

“That’s the falls?” Biana asked, raising aer voice to be heard over the crashing of water.

Ae’d expected the waterfall to be big but… not like this. The water fell over the edge of the plateau, and it expanded for so long that it looked like this was the edge of the world, mist rose up from the white rapids below, adding to the effect. If it weren’t for the faint outline of green trees, Biana would have thought that this was the end of the world. Ae certainly felt like ae’d traveled that far.

Maybe this was why Dimitar had described the rivers as streams.

“How’re we going to get down?” Dex asked, stepping forward to Biana’s side.

Biana shrugged, stumped.

“We can help with that,” A voice said from behind them.

Biana and Dex both turned to see Stina, standing with her hands crossed, an eyebrow cocked as she smiled ruefully.

“Maruca and I travel up and down the falls all the time, so much so that we’ve come up with a system.”

“So, what she means,” Maruca added, slouching off the horse, “is that I can help.”

She cracked her knuckles, one after the other then snapped. A blue light flickered and Dex yelped, jumping back as it expanded. It flew outwards until a domed shape surrounded them. The light wasn’t too bright, but it still bathed the five and their surroundings in a purplish tinge.

“I wouldn’t touch it, if I were you,” she said, and Biana turned to see Sophie frozen, their hand outstretched as if to feel if the barrier was solid. “It shocks bare skin.”

Sophie retracted their hand, flushing. Biana’s gaze quickly flicked to above them, where the light had stretched into a sort of net. Then it hit aer. A forcefield, that’s what Maruca had made. Aer mouth dropped once more. Ae had known magic was real, (ae traveled with Dex after all) but ae hadn’t seen anything like this before.

“Impressive, isn’t it?”

Biana jumped, turning to see that Stina was next to aer, looking up at the forcefield. Even though she had a smug look on her face, her eyes were still filled with awe at what her companion could do.

“It’s called Psionipathy. She’s really good, one of the best I know. Well—the only one I know.” Biana laughed as Stina scratched the back of her neck.

“Why are you helping us?” Biana asked. “We weren’t really… the best.”

Stina snorted. “No, but I believe in helping people who need it. And… you can’t tell xem, but I don’t actually want Dizznee to die.”

Biana smiled. “I won’t. And… thank you.”

“Don’t mention it, good luck finding your guy or whatever.”

Without waiting for aer to respond, Stina spun on her heel, barking something at Dex as she went to prepare their cart. Biana gulped, turning back to look at the expanse of falling water. Stina had warned aer about a ravine, but surely it couldn’t be as bad as this, right?

At least we aren’t climbing down, thought Biana as Maruca explained the plan. She could make disc-like slabs out of her forcefields, and she could make enough that she could make a staircase. That was how ae managed to get a cart and a horse down the waterfall so easily, along with two people.

But, she explained, there were rules that the trio would have to follow to get to the ground safely. 

First off, they couldn’t let their bare skin touch the fields unless they wanted to get a pretty mild shock. It wasn’t the end of the world if it happened, but if they touched it, it wouldn’t be pretty.

They’d also have to go one at a time, so that if they fell Maruca would be able to catch them. If more than one of them went at a time, she wouldn’t be able to save them if they fell off.

And finally, they had to try not to stop, because momentum is important. Again, it wasn’t really a requirement, but it’d be better if they followed it.

Once the three of them agreed, they had to decide who would go first. They ended up deciding on Dex, since xe could both hold xyr own, and it was probably a good idea to get xem away from Stina as soon as possible.

So, xe hugged Sophie, shouldered xyr stuff, and without another glance hopped across the dangerous staircase toward the bottom of the falls. Sophie and Biana both watched with anxiousness and anticipation as xe took one jump after the next. Biana felt aer stomach do a summersault every time Dex’s feet left the ground.

Aer fingernails dug into the palms of aer hands, until ae was sure that there’d be crescent shaped marks from the amount of pressure. Aer heart clenched all the way until Dex made it to the ground. Ae had to squint through the mist to see xyr tiny body, but ae laughed when ae saw xyr waving at aer.

Biana smiled and waved back just as enthusiastically.

Sophie had decided to go next. They both shared a brief glance before Sophie started their way down, and Biana’s hands once again shaped into fists.

Biana tore aer gaze away from Sophie’s unsteady form to look at Stina, who was watching Sophie intently as well. If it weren’t for the tightness in her shoulders, ae would have thought that she was completely calm with the situation. Then Biana’s gaze slipped to Maruca to see her arms spread out and a bead of sweat running down her forehead.

Ae turned back to watch Sophie, who’d stopped despite Maruca’s advice, they looked back, their eyes scanning the horizon before meeting Biana’s gaze.

Biana heard it then. The sound of hooves, pounding on the ground. Not just a couple either, a group. Hooves battered on the dry earth, and combined with the roaring water, it sounded like thunder. The loud rumbling made Biana want to cover aer ears.

Instead, ae turned to look over aer shoulder to see glimpses of armor and blinding white horses. Aer already racing heartbeat immediately quickened, not just because of the threat of horses, which meant people. But it was the royal blue colors and banners that Biana could see through the trees. Ae could even see the wings of a familiar crest before ae whipped around, turning back to gaze at Maruca, only to find Stina staring at her.

“I guess I owe you a luster then,” she said to Maruca.

Maruca’s eyes narrowed, and she managed a nod, most of her focus on the effort of keeping the force fields up.

“Go,” she spat to Biana without even looking at aer.

“But you said-”

“I know what I said,” Maruca interrupted. “But people are looking for you, and if you don’t want to be caught you have to get down this plateau right now.”

Biana opened aer mouth to protest but Stina cut aer off. 

“Listen, your Majesty, we’ll be fine. Just go, before it’s too late.”

Biana locked eyes with her for a moment, seeing the sincerity in Stina’s eyes before dashing forward, using the muscles in aer legs to jump as far as ae could. Ae landed on the first forcefield, almost falling on aer hands before pushing forward.

Dex had made it look easy, Biana thought to aerself as ae panted. Ae’d made it about halfway down, but it was getting harder and harder to stay upright. It had probably only been a minute or so, but all ae could feel was the time slipping away.

Biana jumped, but in the air ae glanced up to see Sophie waiting, only a couple steps up from the ground where Dex was waiting. They had turned around, and their gaze was locked on Biana’s.

Ae didn’t understand what they were doing. Why weren’t they moving? Biana cupped aer arms around their mouth.

“Keep moving!”

Ae jumped once more, but this time aer feet stumbled upon impact, and without meaning to, ae fell forward bracing aer hands out in front of aer as ae fell to aer knees. Ae gasped; a small yelp escaped out of aer mouth as electricity jolted down aer spine.

Dammit.

Stina wasn’t kidding.

Ae stood up, and scrambled to the next forcefield, and the next, until ae and Sophie were only one step away from each other. Sophie’s words finally clicked in Biana’s brain at the closer proximity.

“We’re not gonna make it.”

Biana shook aer head, leaping to Sophie’s step and taking their wrist in aer hand.

“We have to.”

Ae sped up, and almost telepathically Sophie and Biana leaped, their feet touching down then jumping up in sync. Soon they were eight steps, then seven, then six.

Ae could see the expression on Dex’s face, the tightened anxiousness of knowing that xe couldn’t help. Biana knew that xe didn’t know any magic that could save them, unless xe manifested psionipathy, xe couldn’t help them get there any safer.

Biana was suddenly aware that they were over water. Moving water. This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all.

Aer vision focused and ae leaned forward, trying to move faster, make sure that they would make it. That they would make it to Fintan. But Biana’s heart rose all the way to aer throat as muffled shouts of outrage sounded from the top of the falls. Because Biana knew aer brother was up there, watching aer battle to get safely to the ground. Biana also knew that he was watching aer every move, to make sure that ae were secure.

So ae could imagine how Fitz felt as the only thing that kept aer above the white rapids disappeared. The world’s noises flared as ae fell.

Down.

Down.

Down.

Everything seemed so long now, what had to have only been seconds felt like hours. Biana’s body moved through the air like molasses, even though ae knew that wasn’t the case. Out of aer peripheral vision ae could see Sophie a bit below aer, their face twisted in a panicked expression. Everything was so… overwhelming. Colors brightened, noises blended together until the screams and the water, and nature all blended into one. Ae wanted it to stop. Just for It all to stop. But the world didn’t seem to answer aer wish, because then ae hit the water.

Cold.

Freeing water filled aer mouth, rushing into aer lungs. Biana’s mouth was wide open when ae’d landed, forgetting to shut it tight in the moment of free-falling.

The sounds all quieted into a single ringing in aer ears as aer body screamed. Biana’s mind was confused, and the strong currents left aer spinning, blind and def, defenseless against the raging tides.

The world rushed all around Biana, but the darkness of the water eliminated any clear pattern, and all ae could do was go along with the ride. Even as ae floundered helplessly, trying to remember the summers spent swimming in shallow creeks and ponds, the flapping of aer useless arms didn’t help against the merciless current.

Something solid brushed against aer fingers, then something else scraped aer back. Biana’s feet drag along the ground for a moment, but before ae can use the bottom to propel aerself toward the surface, it’s ripped away once more. Ae manage to break one hand to the surface, the cold air whipping around it before ae sink back into the torrent.

Ae wanted to scream, but the water would only replace the little air that ae had left. Aer lungs burned, and all ae wanted to do was release aer breath, full well knowing that ae’d drown.

The rushing of the water blocked out any sign of Sophie or Dex or Fitz, making Biana question which way was up and which was down. Something else collided with aer ribs, sending a sharp pain up aer side. But within seconds, the sensation is washed away, replaced by pure terror. What part of aer body was which?

Aer thoughts grew panicked, and ae can’t help but wonder what had happened to Sophie. Aer brain spun even faster than the water did, and it made Biana want to release aer breath even more.

But before aer brain could give into the urge, Biana’s head harshly connected with a sharp object, taking away even that as well.