Vieva's senses shift into overdrive the minute she steps foot outside the dorms. The moon is hung high in the sky, a pendant in the unblemished sky. Tweets and hoots merge in a peaceful melody, and the night wind caresses her skin and her hair. In any normal circumstances she might've enjoyed this night, but tonight will be anything but normal.
They are going to catch the caladrius. They hadn't gotten to in class, and they had been one of the two groups that had returned empty-handed. Beledras had raised her angular eyebrow at them, a slight frown on her face. That look had made Vieva's blood roar in her ears.
She wouldn't be a failure. Bestels aren't failures.
Vieva perches her hands on her hips as Xara and Lysabel approach her from either side. The wind whips up almost affectionately around Xara, leaves fluttering like butterflies in the air. The three of them stand in the first year quad, which is really nothing but a measly patch of grass, waiting for the boys.
Vieva picks up their footfalls, rushed and uneven from behind her. Vieva sighs impatiently. Xara had offered that the three of them catch the caladrius, if Derald had been too afraid to go back. But Derald, being a normal 12 year old boy, had refused to be one-upped by three girls.
"We're in," he had said firmly. "Right Owain?"
Snagsnout, being the jumpy thing that he is, had just sighed and covered his face with his hands.
Derald pants lightly, eyes darting this way and that. In the moonlight, his dark blue eyes shimmer with silver tones.
"Finally," hisses Xara. "What were you doing? We've been waiting, for, like 10 minutes."
Derald hooks a thumb at Owain. "Snagsnout was getting cold feet."
"I was not!" he protests, his voice squeaky. "I was just wondering why we had to capture this bird in the middle of the night."
"I was wondering that too," pipes up Lysabel. "What about the Fenrirs?"
Vieva rolls her eyes. Leave it to Lysabel Axelane to be the debbie-downer.
Xara snaps her fingers. "I've got that covered. Follow me."
She pivots on her heels and takes off across the quad. Vieva breaks into a light jog to follow her. The other fall in behind her. Xara leads them to the edge of the quad, stopping. She inhales deep.
"The minute we step outside, we'll be out in the open. The Fenrirs may be blind but they have the most precise sense of smell out of all the magical creatures in Ruxnorth. So do exactly what I say."
"Right outside these walls there is a small tunnel, just large enough for us to squeeze through. It leads right to a small clearing in the Nyx Woods. It isn't far from the school either, so we should be able to locate the caladrius once we get there."
Vieva can't help but feel impressed. Not that she would ever voice it. Vieva watches as Xara lets her hair down, then ties it back up in a messy bun, black and dark as a raven's wing. Derald watches too, a slight glazed look in his eyes. All begrudging respect for Xara resubmerges. How is it that even with the dark rumors surrounding her, Xara Roffinnes still manages to captivate everyone she meets? Vieva has always desired one thing; respect. But her father's money only gets her so far. Xara oozes power and leadership from her pores.
Xara rolls her shoulders, bouncing lightly on her toes before darting through the entrance. Vieva's right at her heels, and with a grumble, Lysabel follows. Xara is a shadowy figure just a few feet ahead of her. She's pressed against the floor, and practically wiggles forward.
There is a thud where Derald trips over a rock and Vieva freezes. Because the Fenrirs are blind, their other senses will be heightened. The Nyx Woods isn't very far from her vantage point- would they have heard the noise?
Xara does the same, freezing mid-position. Lysabel whimpers behind her.
"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod-" Vieva interrupts Lysabel with a hiss.
"Shut up, Axelane!"
A low growl reverberates across the field. Then silence. Vieva is scared to release her breath, though her chest constricts painfully. After a painful few minutes of waiting, Xara decides to move again. The field has gone radio-silent again. Vieva squints against the darkness, trying to spot the Fenrirs. But wherever they are, they have disappeared against the night.
Vieva begins to shuffle along. Xara stops, then begins to dig at the ground.
Vieva scoffs in disbelief. "Are we going to dig our way to the woods? Because we might as well turn ourselves in to the Headmistress now to save us the time."
Xara doesn't deign to glance back. "Ah ha! Here it is!" With a grunt of effort, Xara digs her fingers under a large metal plate and heaves. It hardly moves, so Xara summons some wind to throw the metal lid off the tunnel. Using the wind as cushioning, Xara settles it lightly on the floor.
Xara dusts her hands then swings her legs into the tunnel. Lysabel stops.
"I can't see anything!"
Xara offers her a small smile. "It's our best chance."
Vieva's eyes narrow. "How did you even learn about this?"
The smile slips off of Xara's face. She presses her lips together.
"The Warlord's Journal. He used to slip out using this tunnel."
Lysabel gasps, appalled. "I thought we said we weren't going to read it again!"
"You said you aren't going to read it again." Xara corrects. "I never said that."
The boys had been silent the whole trip but at the mention of the Warlord, Owain comes to life.
"I am not even stepping a toe in the same tunnel the Warlord built! What if it's cursed!"
"It's not cursed," says Xara.
Vieva glares at her. "How would you know that? Have you been in here before?"
"No, but he wrote about this tunnel before he learned that sort of magic. Curse magic is difficult."
"I'm sure you would know," says Vieva coldly. Xara stiffens.
"That was over the line, Vieva," Derald growls.
Vieva whips around. "Why are you so eager to protect her? Do you know for a fact that the rumors aren't true?"
"What's this about, Vieva?" Xara finally speaks up.
Derald goes silent. Xara turns, her cloudy gray eyes promising a storm.
"Excuse me?"
"What is this about?" She speaks precisely. "I know you don't like me, but it was my understanding that we'd reached an agreement."
"You understood wrong," Vieva snarls. "All I know is that the Warlord seems to be particularly interested in you but no one here knows why. Call me a liar all you want, but I know for a fact that there are other people out there thinking the same thing."
"For some reason, you seem to think that I care about what others think of me." Xara's eyes narrow.
"Guys," Lysabel whispers.
"How do you even know how to harness so much magic? I know for a fact that there's not one teacher in this school who is a Storm. So who's teaching you?"
"You're implying that the Warlord's teaching me magic." Her voice is flat.
"Guys," needles Lysabel again, her voice shaking.
"Am I wrong?" Vieva challenges her.
"Yes, you are completely and utterly wrong." Xara's heat finally shows. "You are nothing but a miserable, spoiled brat whose power has gone to her head."
"Guys!" Lysabel's voice is more insistent.
"What?" Vieva snaps at her.
She shakingly points across the field.
There's a hulking figure, barely visible in the foggy darkness.
Xara's breath catches in her throat, and Owain moans, saying why me?
"Get in the tunnel." Xara's voice is low and tensed. "Now!"
Vieva doesn't hesitate, slipping nimbly down the hole.
"Go!" Xara nearly pushes Lysabel down, and she crashes into Vieva. For such a mouse of a girl, she weighs more than Vieva expected. Despite the situation they're in, Vieva can't help but feel some foreign feeling. It sits in her gut, a roiling ball.
It's guilt, she realizes with a gasp. She's guilty for what she said to Xara. After a stunned moment, Vieva shakes her head.
She must be in shock.
Soon, all five of them are down the hole, and they waste no time running down the tunnels. It's poorly lit, so Vieva summons a small ball of fire to light the way. Xara nods at her. They don't bother to wait and see whether the Fenrir has figured out where they went. Vieva runs faster than she ever has; faster even than when the caladrius had been chasing them. The Fenrir flashes through her mind. All she has seen of the horrific brutes has been crude drawings, but seeing them in person had been more chilling than ever.
She doesn't dwell on it for long.
Soon, after the continuous running, each step jarrs her painfully. Her bones shake as she pounds after Xara, who pants and huffs.
Thankfully, due to the fire, Vieva can see the exit of the hole. Thank the Founders.
Xara skids slightly up the bank due to the momentum, but when she stumbles back down, she keels over to catch her breath. "I've never run so fast in my life."
Vieva smirks, trying to even her breathing. "I can't say the same. I've been doing runs like this since I was a child. This was hardly anything."
Xara rolls her eyes. "Vieva, I can see your sweating, and your chest is heaving."
Darn it. As long as she could remember, Vieva's always tried to paint herself as glorious in other people's eyes. It's incredibly clear that Father had wanted a son instead of her; he treats Caedric as if he is, and ignores her half the time. So she's had to work doubly as hard to prove herself to him and the rest of the nobility. She's done it so much, that this Vieva Bestel has become a second skin.
But Xara doesn't seem to notice her inner discussion. She's busy pounding her fist against the metal plate. Dust and dirt rains down on Vieva's head, sprinkling in her white blonde hair. She sneezes quietly and blinks rapidly.
"It's not budging."
Lysabel edges forward. "How?"
Xara frowns, frustrated. "I'm not sure. I was able to lift the other one."
"Try summoning some wind," suggests Owain. His words still lie heavy; he must still be recovering from the run.
Xara does as he asks, twisting wind to try and unscrew the lid. But it doesn't even move an inch. The wind dies out.
Vieva climbs precariously up the bank, digging her feet into the small niches to find her footing. Her heart pounds in her chest, a thumping drum. She runs her fingers along the jagged edges of the lid. It's not smooth like the other one.
"It's been fused. Whoever did this meant to close it off."
Derald groans. "So we came out here for nothing?"
Vieva shoots him a sharp look. "I didn't say I couldn't get it open." Vieva turns her concentration back to the plate. "Xara, I'll need your help once I detach it."
"I'm right behind you."
Vieva pulls her magic from her veins, in the form of liquid fire. It doesn't hurt her fingertips; it feels like a kiss of heat. A warm ball of fire collects in her palm, wispy smoke beginning to rise from her skin. A small beam of fire streams from her palm, and Vieva angles it to the line where metal meets soil. The soil's been heavily packed, and with the heat, it begins to fall in clumps. One hits Derald with a wet thwack.
"Can't we just blast our way out?"
Vieva glares at him, forcing to keep her sigh long and slow. "If you don't want to be hauled back to campus by the Fenrirs, then shut your mouth and let me work."
And so he does.
It takes intense concentration, and a lot of energy, but Vieva does, finally, manage to separate the plate from the ceiling of the tunnel. Xara is right there to catch the plate, softly maneuvering it through the hole and to the side. Owain is the first to climb out, gulping large breaths of air.
"Thank the Founders," he sighs. "I thought I was going to die."
"No surprise there," mutters Vieva.
When everyone has dragged themselves out of the hole, they start off to find the nest.
It doesn't take long; Vieva had taken the liberties to memorize the landmarks around the nest, and considering that this is a school assignment, the professor had chosen creatures that frequented all parts of the woods. So really, the hardest part of their task is over. The forest looks creepy, even with the waning light of the moon.
Vieva takes a deep breath. "Hey, Xara?"
Xara doesn't stop, but tilts her head at Vieva. "What?"
"I'm sorry."
Everyone simultaneously stops, silent.
"What did you just say?" Derald asks from behind them, amazed.
Vieva's cheeks heat. "I said, I'm sorry."
Xara crosses her arms, though there is a faint smile on her face. "Well, mark the time and date. Did Vieva Bestel really just apologize to me?"
"Don't make me regret this," she warns. It's too late; Vieva wishes she had just contained it. But somehow, having the words out in the open feels... nice.
"Oh, I'm gonna," says Derald cheerfully from behind her.
Xara laughs once, then lifts her chin at Vieva. "Apology accepted." She winks. "Now let's go catch that bird."
>>AUTHOR'S NOTES
hey peeps! I'm sorry this took so long to come out but I had to rewrite it twice to get it to where i wanted it to be! my original plan was to actually describe them capturing the bird but I decided that the escape from the campus was enough intrigue and excitement, plus it would turn out really long, so I cut it out
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! huge development's happening for vieva- her true self is really starting to come through. hopefully, you'll come to love her as much as I do;)
peace&love,
raniaditi
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