Derald isn't scared of much. While the rest of his family nearly fainted when they'd learned about the Warlord's escape, he hadn't felt a single morsel of fear. Sure, there had been nervousness, but also restless excitement. He loves his home, but nothing truly interesting and intriguing ever happens.

But he'd rather become Owain Snagsnout than spend a class period tromping through the mysterious Nyx Woods.

The Nyx Woods encompasses the majority of the island of Ruxnorth, patchy in places and normally stretching miles in all directions. Almost every region is majorly composed of the Nyx Woods, exactly the reason why the main cities are incredibly populated: The Nyx is well-known for the abundance of strange creatures living amongst the trees.

Derald jumps as he's subtly whacked by a low-hanging tree branch, his thoughts vanishing.

Vieva snickers.

"Something funny?" he glowers.

Vieva's a few paces in front of him; Owain and Xara are taking the lead, surprisingly enough. Owain seems spurred on by Derald's obvious discomfort. Normally, he'd be proud of his roommate, but that fact that it's at Derald's expense irritates him.

"It depends." Her eyes widen mockingly. "Are you afraid of the Woods?"

A defensive blush arises on his cheeks. Derald tries to combat the coloring of his face with a glare.

"No. I'm not."

"Tell that to your face."

Derald hurries to the front, Vieva's delighted laughs fading behind him. Xara looks at him sidelong, eyebrows raised.

"Don't ask," he mumbles to her. Instead, Derald turns his focus on the Woods. It's broad daylight, which lessens his wariness slightly, but it doesn't eliminate it. Many of the dwellers of the Nyx Woods are just as active in the day as they are at night. Inhibitors notwithstanding, the Woods are beautiful. Strong, ancient trees, twisting their way towards the sunlight. They're so tall, Derald can't even see their tops, no matter how much he strains.

The forest is dotted with sunlight that has slipped past the eager, yearning fingers of the tree. The floor is littered with leaves and moss, providing a spongy, soft surface for walking. Lenore and Diadys engage each other in the skies, their shadows covering the five of them every so often.

"Are we going to talk about the safe, or what?" Derald asks. Vieva hisses.

"Idiot! What if someone hears us?" She looks around frantically. Derald seizes his moment.

"Why? Are you scared?" he sneers.

Vieva snaps her head back to him, eyes narrowed. Her eyes shine like molten vats of lava.

"I'm not scared of anything." Vieva lifts her chin, a silent dare. Derald grins. She's trapped with nowhere left to go.

He strides up to her, nose to nose. He can feel her breath on his face. In the corner of her eyes, Xara rolls her eyes.

"Want to prove it?" he breathes.

Vieva stares up at him, unwavering.

"No." She stomps past him.

"No?" Derald echoes, jogging to catch up to her.

Xara steps in to intercept him. He starts to groan but she holds up a hand.

"This is ridiculous, you two. We're on a deadline, for Founder's sake, and there is still no sign of a caladrius." First, she glares at Derald. "As for the safe, we are putting it to rest for now. We need to focus on this project. Half of the other groups have already caught their creatures, and we haven't even found ours."

"Obviously," scoffs Vieva. "I've been trained in the art of hunting since I was a babe. If I were working alone, I'd have been the first one done."

Xara whirls on Vieva. "And you. You seriously need to shut your mouth, suck up your ego, and actually work with us. You are one petty insult short of becoming a nuisance. Understood?"

Vieva looks testily into Xara's dark eyes. "Understood." But the fire brewing in her eyes says something different. Derald is unsurprised. Vieva Bestel has never submitted.

"And what about you, Smirky?" Derald realizes she's directed the question towards him, and he nods.

Xara passes them and Vieva shoots him a seething look. This isn't over.

Blissful silence fills the space, and soon enough, they stumble upon a cheery clearing. It's dotted with wildflowers and haloed by gnarled trees, with specks of sunlight peppered through. If Derald had any appreciation for delicate things, which he doesn't, he would've considered it pretty.

"Why don't we start here and analyze our next steps?" Owain suggests. Lysabel smiles at him.

"That's just what I was going to say!" Lysabel exclaims. Owain turns beet red. Derald sighs. Extra boost of confidence or not, Owain is still the same boy. Mum would've taken pity on him.

Poor lad, she would've clucked her tongue. He just needs to find his footing, that's all.

As of now, the chances of that seem extremely likely.

Xara gasps sharply, hand flying to the side of her head. Derald leaps to attention.

"Xara?" Lysabel runs to steady her friend.

"I'm fine," she croaks. Owain and Derald look at each other, confused. What's happening? Xara's eyes are wide, and a sheen of sweat has eclipsed her face. Fear is written clearly on her sharp features. Even Vieva's eyes are narrowed, focused on the clearing. Derald does the same. There's nothing there; it's still the peaceful scene they surveyed just moments ago.

"I don't like this," Owain whispers to him. Derald nods absently. Xara's strange reaction to the meadow has only heightened his fears. What if there really is something there? Is it a Storm trait, to sense things?

Xara stands straight finally, shuddering. The four of them watch her unblinkingly.

"Are you going to tell us what that was?" Vieva demands. Lysabel shoots her a glare, but Vieva merely shrugs.

"Nothing. Just some chills. It's happened to me before." He can tell she's trying to feign a nonchalant expression, but the quivering of her knees and her pursed lips say otherwise. Vieva looks like she's about to push for more answers, but thankfully, an unexpected shriek diverts their attention from Xara's episode.

"What was that?" Owain asks, even though it seems he doesn't want to know the answer.

Xara smiles grimly.

"That," she grunts. "Is a caladrius."

It is as if something clicks in Vieva.

"That wasn't far off. Based on the frequency, maybe half a mile. If we run, we can catch it. Xara, you said they build nests, correct?"

Xara nods.

"Then we should expect that we are approaching the caladrii when we see abandoned nests, and more branches on the floor knocked down by their wings."

Derald can't help but gape at her. She may be as annoying as a tick, but he has to admit she's knowledgeable.

Xara bobs her head. "Let's go."

The five of them race in the direction of the sound, with Vieva in the lead. She barks directions, in a quiet but firm manner. Xara looks more than happy to comply.

Finally, they slow to a stop, huffing and puffing. Owain wheezes and looks like he may collapse, but Lysabel leans on him for support and he jolts right up, stiff as a board. Owain looks at him through wide eyes. Help me.

Derald just shakes his head.

Vieva crouches, pressing her index fingers to her lips. She doesn't look tired from their sprint. In fact, she looks even tenser. Derald is an athletic student, but running is not his strong suit. The school only featured one sport, and that is a sport that involved familiars, and not a lot of physical exertion on the lower half.

But he feels charged up instead of tired, and ready to go and capture one of those creatures.

"Our creature is there. But she is not asleep, and I think we were too loud. She is still scoping out her surroundings. We must wait until she is asleep before tossing the net."

"A net?" Derald whispers vehemently. "That's it?"

"That is our first option," Vieva responds. "That and the rope. This," she digs around in her breast pocket, then retrieves two small vials. "This is our second one. I hope we do not have to use these."

"What are they?" Lysabel asks.

"Tranquilizers." She hands them to Owain. "That will be your job."

"What?" Owain all but shrieks. There is a rustling, and Derald peeks up only enough to see the head of the creature. Its large, white, furry head is pricked alertly, but upon seeing nothing, it nestles back to sleep. The caladrius is mostly a large owl, except downier and with no night vision. They are mainly creatures of the day. They are about the size of a small car, which in comparison to other creatures, is preferable.

"What?" Owain repeats, but quieter.

Vieva exhales shortly. "Trust me, Snagsnout, you aren't the person I want to be giving these to. But I don't have a choice. The rest of us will be engaging it. You need to use your Gaia magic and sneak it along the ground."

"Stick it into the toes. That's where they're most vulnerable." Xara adds.

"I can't do that! I can barely grow a tomato!"

"You can," says Derald firmly. "Because we don't have another choice."

Owain curls into a ball. "Yes, we do. You can avoid the tranquilizer altogether! We aren't even supposed to be using those!" He glances at Vieva almost frightfully. "Where did you even get those, anyway?"

"Where do you think?" she asks frostily. "But that's beside the point. You won't even have to move, Snagsnout. It's not a big deal."

Owain sighs melodramatically. "I'm going to regret this. Give it to me."

Vieva smiles in satisfaction.

Xara nods at Owain. "The four of us need to sneak up on her, and silently toss the net. I've been tinkering with my powers, and I can probably conjure some wind to help us out. When we get the net over her, we need to lower her softly to the ground. We don't want to hurt her. She'll thrash, but we need to keep her under the net so we can get a lead rope on her. Got it?"

Vieva snorts, disbelieving. "If we have to depend on the unpredictable magic of a Storm, then this plan is doomed from the start."

Suddenly, a swift breeze slaps Vieva in the face, slipping her silvery hair over her face. When she clears her long, pale strands from her face, Xara raises an eyebrow. Vieva blows another piece of hair from her face and starts gathering the net.

Derald offers her a silent high-five. Xara quirks a smile towards him, her hair fluttering about her face. When he'd first met Xara, he hadn't known what to think about her. The rumors swirling around her had echoed in his ears. Until he had met her, and learned that she is nothing like what everyone believes.

Vieva hands him one end of the net. "We need to be vigilant and quick." She puts her hand against her brow and looks up. "We don't have much time. We've been out here searching for too long."

Xara places her hand on Owain's shoulder. "I don't think we'll need your help, but be ready, 'kay?"

He gulps.

Vieva sneaks around the bush first, with Derald, Xara, and Lysabel following her. The caladruis female is perched in her gigantic nest and nuzzles deeper into her silky feathers. Her head is facing the other way, but she's obviously sleeping. Thank the Founders. A cold sweat breaks out over his skin. The caladrius is one of the more well-known creatures, but it's still a feral, wild animal. Who knows what will happen?

Oh, how Derald wishes he could've volunteered to tranquilize it. He could be sitting safely behind the bush, away from the caladrius's talons. There's no escape now.

It's at times like this that Derald wonders if the professor really likes children. None of his other professors have assigned projects that have the potential to kill you.

He can feel her great blustery breaths as they edge directly beneath the nest. Derald swallows hard. How embarrassing would it be if he had been subdued by a bird? Derald straightens. There is no way in all of Ruxnorth that he will be bested by a fluffy bird. The nest creaks as they sneak under it. Vieva points up, and crouches, ready to throw the net. Xara purses her lips, face scrunched in concentration.

A slight wind picks up and Derald's chest collapses with relief. "It's working!" he whispers to the others.

Vieva waves at him frantically. "Don't jinx anything!"

The words had hardly left her mouth when the caladrius turns in her nest, starting with laser-eyed focus at the four of them. Vieva promptly shuts up, and Derald's limbs seize.

"You just had to say it, didn't you," sighs Lysabel, looking more weary than angry. Derald doesn't say anything; she's right.

It seems as though the caladrius is merely going to stare them down, but after a moment, she releases an ear-splitting shriek, launching out of her nest.

"Abort!" Derald yells, dropping the net and pumping his legs in the direction they'd come. The girls do the same. Xara uses her Storm magic to propel her forward and she soon overtakes Vieva and Derald.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Vieva yells at her, eyes sparking. 

Xara doesn't look back.

Derald flies over the bush, only to find Owain curled up in a fetal position on the ground, whimpering.

"Oh, for-" Derald yanks him up by the shirt and nearly drags him along. Owain stumbles for a bit but is soon running alongside Derald.

His adrenaline and fear merge together, and he forces himself to run faster. The bird screeches at them, and the sound reverberates through this head.

Don't stop running, don't look back.

His survival instincts kick in and Derald goes into overdrive, pounding his feet against the forest floor and leaping over fallen branches.

One thing's for sure.

He's never going back into those godforsaken woods.

>> AUTHOR'S NOTES

I'm baaaack! did ya miss me?

i removed a few projects from my profile, and stopped writing the Therondia Series. which means The Ruxnorth Academy Series is my new project! eeek!

i swear, I'm so excited- and what better way to come back by putting my guys in a near-death situation? kidding aside, i will be working on The Elixir on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday -> those are going to be my publishing days officially. so expect updates then;)

it's good to be back in the wonderful world of Ruxnorth! 

peace&love,

raniaditi