MISTY BLUE

I wake up with the sun filtering through the curtains in my room. I stretch and yawn.

Venom is standing beside me, watching. He tilts his head to one side and points at my leg. It's only five, and the silent rule of 'no speech before six' still stands.

I whip my covers off and glance at my leg. A healthy pink scar has almost sealed it, and it barely showed any signs of bleeding.

"Toko is arranging for a group of spies to find Father and our people." Venom whispers. "The spies will try and convince them to hold off the attack. Meaning we stay here a bit longer." He grinned.

Suddenly, a blaring trumpet sounds from outside. I laugh openly, and suddenly the whole kingdom is alive with the sounds of happiness.

I leap up and chase Venom down the stairs and into the kitchen. Everyone else is already down there, sitting around a long table.

Grace is standing at a stove with two frying pans. She lifts one and swivels the other, and the smells of frying bacon and pancakes waft across the room.

We all settle at the table, and Venom begins to speak. Grace floats over and shushes him. She then hands around plates of bacon, eggs and pancakes. Everyone falls on the food as if they were starving.

"I hope we haven't forgotten our mission." Venom begins, ducking as someone throws a tea towl at him. He explains the thing with the spies.

TJ slams her spoon on the table and we all stare at her silently. She's fuming, practically breathing fire. It's so... it's so damn cute. I shovel spoonfuls of egg in my mouth to hide my smile.

"I'm not going anywhere until we rescue Lilly!" she snarls. Tears form on the edge of her eyelids but she bravely keeps them there. Venom shakes his head.

"There's no time. King Red might want to take back Aradon next week." he says. Dusty glares at him from across the table and I can't help but speak up.

"It took us almost six months to get to KuryKubi and now your expecting us to get back in a week? That's impossible! And Lilly could die!"

Dusty starts yelling at me, saying I'm going to make TJ cry. TJ is swearing, saying words a twelve year old shouldn't know. Everyone is talking and yelling at each other.

Arcturus stands up suddenly and starts throwing frozen peas at everyone until they shut up. We all wait for him to speak, glowering with looks that could melt ice.

"I'll find her. We will meet you at the Magic Forest." he says. There was no arguing with him. Venom nods slowly, thinking. Arcturus continues.

"If I'm not at the forest by the end of January, send someone to come for us." he finishes. "I will go when those spies leave, and travel with them to Aradon." I hug him tightly.

Venom smiles and nods, saying this is one of the best ideas he's ever heard. TJ just smiles sadly. Grace throws a plate at the wall and it shatters.

"Ari, I'm not letting you go again!" she says fiercely, tears in her eyes. Arcturus hugs his sister and they burst into tears. Then Arcturus turns to me.

I kiss him, and he holds me. The others are staring, but that's not important. When we finally break apart, I'm crying and Arcturus is trying not to.

"I love you Ari." I murmur. He just smiles sadly.

I take a deep breath and tell myself I will enjoy the rest of the time we have in Kurykubi. With or without Arcturus. Tears prick in my eyes.

Later that afternoon, we stand in the kingdom square with the families of the spies. There is a lot of hugging and crying. I glance at Grace.

She's lost everything she loves. Her mother, her home, Beji and now her brother. She leans into Venom's shoulder and cries.

I grab Arcturus and kiss him again, an then we're both in tears. I let go and he mounts a black and white horse. The five spies are sitting on their own horses and ponies. They rear and gallop away.

Arcturus casts me one last, hopeful look. Then he too, turns and gallops after the spies. I watch him go, tears rolling down my cheeks.

The cool wind is cold on my face an it ruffles my blue grey hair. Grace has her chin raised defiantly but is struggling not to cry.

I hold out my arms. Even though I'm a head shorter than she is, the abandoned twenty year old collapses in my arms, sobbing. TJ and Dusty hug us both and Venom has tears welling in his eyes.

As the sun slowly sets, we head home and collapse on our beds. I burrow under the blankets and listen to Grace next door. She won't sleep tonight, I'm sure. After a while, the world starts to fade into the blackness of sleep.

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RECAP RECAP RECAP

If you haven't read the first book, Here is what's going on that's important right now. Misty Blue was shot in the leg with a poisoned arrow and the doctors at Kurykubi healed it. Lilly was kidnapped by Dermorians, who killed the leopard Beji as he tried to stop them. Aradon, their homeland, is under attack and the kids are on a mission to find help at Kurykubi and defeat the invaders.

So there you go.