Lloyd's POV

"Cole―" I heard a cry from Jay, temporarily distracting me from the fight. My head pounded. No, nothing could've happened, I told myself. Cole was one of the strongest people on our team. He was fine. Jay was just being dramatic and overreacting.

A flash of silver told me a sword was coming my way. My mind snapped out of its thoughts. I quickly dropped to the ground, barely missing the blade, and heard a yelp from someone behind me. Unable to recognize the voice, I figured it was probably a Shadow Rider. I swung my right leg in a circle around me and tripped a few of the cloaked figures, having already run out of weapons.

Although it would be nice if I could use my powers, I couldn't risk it because using them would cause my entire body to strain and collapse, as I had found out the hard way a few minutes ago. I probably wouldn't have made it if Morro (or at least I was pretty sure it was him) hadn't pulled me away from the Shadow Riders just in time.

Since everyone was just a jumble of black, it was hard to tell one person from another. I hastily got to my feet, panting. My arms and legs were already sore and it was getting hard to breathe. As I jumped over the fallen figures, I felt a blade whoosh past, scraping my arm. My foot made contact with something soft, which I presumed was flesh, making a squishing sound.

Trying not to gag, I covered my mouth and ran as fast as I could, accidentally stepping on some more bodies. I prayed that I hadn't killed anyone. Nevertheless, the taste of bile was still fresh on my tongue along with the salt and grime from a few strands of hair that had found its way into my mouth. All this made me want to puke even more.

Suddenly I found myself wrapped up in rope.

"Not him!" someone screeched, "Get the princess!"

"Yes sir!" they replied, and I heard footsteps leaving.

The rope didn't loosen, however, and I struggled to break free. The binds cut into my skin like knives, even through my clothing. I was wearing a T-shirt and shorts though, so that wasn't much protection. The rough fibres poked at my skin. I had a feeling some even sank in, drawing blood. Since whoever tied me up decided to wrap part of the rope around my neck as well, it was getting even harder to breathe. I huffed and spat out my hair.

The point of a blade pressed itself against my throat, and from that I figured there were still people guarding me. Just a little more and it would draw blood. The person pushed it a bit farther, and under the hood, I saw a glint of sharp, white teeth. I was less worried for myself than I was for Rumi, though. They came for her, just like Morro said. My mind raced. If they got her, they would kill her. Or torture her. Or both.

"Don't hurt her!" I cried, "Take me instead!"

The person who had tied me up jeered and walked past me. "Riiight. 34, keep an eye on him."

I glared at whoever was under the hood, but my eyeballs strained from trying so hard to look sideways since I couldn't turn my body. When 34, who had the sword to my throat, wasn't watching, I threw a kick, which was weaker than I would've liked, at him and jumped as far as I could before allowing my body to roll.

I shut my eyes tightly as sand flew into my nose. Sneezing terribly, I found myself at the feet of someone else, who I presumed to be a Shadow Rider. They laughed and pressed their foot on my chest, rendering me motionless. I gasped for breath, the sand grains still sitting uncomfortably in my nose.

"Who attacked the princess?!" someone howled angrily. My eyes jerked open. The person standing above me froze and looked towards the direction of the sound. Beneath the hood, all I could see was yet another black mask.

The same person continued screaming. "We need her blood but not blood that's days old! By the time we get back she'll be dying! We can't take her now!"

My heart pounded even faster as if it wanted to jump out of its ribcage. It beat so hard I was surprised that the Shadow Rider's foot couldn't feel it. I threw up in my mouth again, and I had a feeling that if I couldn't get upright soon, I would choke on my own vomit.

"What are we gonna do?" someone yelled.

"Take the Master of Wind?"

"Where even is he?"

"We're not supposed to take him anyway, you idiot!"

"Never mind, take the blond one instead!" I wondered who they were talking about then realized it was myself when two pairs of hands grabbed my arms.

Soon, I was jerked up and dragged up into the air. I coughed, trying to get the vomit out of my mouth. By the time I was able to make any sounds, nobody other than the Shadow Riders flying nearby could hear me. The chaos on the island started to shrink, and soon it was just a big black blob.

Exhaustion that had somehow disappeared during the fight swept over me. I grew limp and stopped struggling, realizing that there was no escape from my situation. The Shadow Knight's minions were taking me to their lair. And I could do nothing about it.

My body went limp and my eyelids grew heavy.

I prayed that Cole and Rumi were all right and fell asleep seconds later.

Harumi's POV

A bright light shone in my eyes. My eyelids twitched and I wanted to reach up and shield my eyes but my hands refused to cooperate. Someone had wrapped a cloth tightly around my left hand, which was propped up on something else. I vaguely remembered the events of the fight.

"Is... is she waking up?" Nya's anxious voice rang in my ear.

There was a very pregnant pause. As much as I wanted to return to my dreamless sleep, I forced my eyes open. All I saw were blurred figures.

"Oh my god, you're finally awake!" Jay cheered, "We were so worried! Luckily Zane stayed calm and collected when..." His voice trailed off as the three people standing over me slowly came into focus. Zane, Jay, and Nya. They all looked exhausted and had cuts and bruises on every inch of their skin.

I was lying down and suddenly conscious that they had added sand to the area under my head so that it could be elevated above the rest of my body. My left hand was raised as well.

"Where are the others?" I rasped.

Nya looked at me quizzically. "What did you say, Rumi?"

I coughed, about to get up into a sitting position, only to get pushed back down by Zane.

"No, princess, you need your rest," he insisted, glancing at my wrist.

"But the others—" I protested, only to see all three of them shaking their heads.

"We insist," Jay said, "Don't worry about them."

"But Cole—" I said, "I heard Jay screaming..."

"He's alive," Nya took a deep breath and gestured to my right, and I could see him, with his entire lower body elevated, behind Jay and Zane in my peripheral vision, "But barely. We had to use most of the bandages to cover his stab wound, so um..." she scanned my wrist, which was crudely wrapped in white bandages, sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

"We also gave you guys the last of the healing tea, so..." Jay added.

I relaxed. "It's fine. Is he alright?"

"Yeah, though he hasn't come around yet," Jay said, "Morro said we're probably gonna have to carry him around."

"Okay, speaking of Morro, where is everyone else?" I asked.

"Morro is fishing for food," Zane replied, "But um..." He started wringing his hands nervously then glanced at Jay and Nya.

"Lloyd and your sister were captured," Nya mumbled, biting her lip. She avoided looking at me.

Part of me wanted to jump up and freak out, but after what happened that night, this was almost expected and I was too tired to do anything. Besides, I really only wanted to interrogate Morro before doing anything else, despite how selfish that desire was. At this point I was too exhausted to even feel guilty though I had just woken up.

"But, uh, Morro said he's almost certain the Shadow Knight isn't gonna actually hurt them," Jay quickly added with a weak smile. "And his instincts are pretty good."

The knot in my stomach tightened as I wondered just how reliable Morro's instincts were. But what else could I do? "So are we now gonna wait for Cole to wake up? Also how long was I out?"

"You just slept for half a day," Nya answered, "And yeah, after that we'll be on our way."

They explained that they were building a raft to get us off of this forsaken island. Apparently after the battle, Zane had found dark blue gems on the cloaks of the fallen Shadow Riders. Those dark blue gems could only be found in the caves of a certain mountain area in the south, which meant that we now knew where the Shadow Knight's lair was located. Conveniently, it happened to be located a few miles south from the southern shore of the gulf, and also it was only a few miles north and part of the same mountain range of the Light Alps. That meant we wouldn't need to take a detour. We were getting close to the Crystal Blade.

I barely paid attention to what they were saying. Once I detected a prolonged period of silence, I decided to ask about the only person I currently wanted to talk to. "Can I talk to Morro?"

Zane nodded and headed off to find the Master of Wind. Nya looked at me with a questioning look but neither she nor Jay said anything about it.

"By the way," Jay piped up, "Do you want any food? We just had lunch and there's some fish left over. Zane cooked it and it's actually not bad."

"Sure," I said, and he hurried off, grateful for something to do. My stomach rumbled consciously and I hoped that nobody heard.

Nya and I didn't talk much and when Jay returned, I ate the fish within a minute. It wasn't enough to satisfy my hunger, but I didn't complain. Soon, Zane came back with Morro, who was carrying a big bundle in his arms, wrapped in the cloak of a Shadow Rider. The latter's dark olive skin was streaked with red, and his thick black hair hung lank around his shoulders. I figured the bundle was fish from the smell that wafted through the air. Even from a distance, I could tell he was avoiding my gaze.

"Can I speak with him alone?" I asked.

They shared a look and nodded. Zane took the bundle and the three of them left without another word. Morro, now sitting cross-legged on the sand between Cole and me, was still concentrated on looking somewhere else.

"That was you wasn't it?" I said, wanting to get it over with. Though I already knew the answer myself, I still felt like I needed confirmation.

Morro nodded once, suddenly very interested in a couple of blades of grass at his feet. Strands of hair fell over his face, but somehow I could still see the green of his eyes. He had a chiseled jawline and high, angular cheekbones, unlike Lloyd, whose features were much softer. I studied Morro a bit more and realized that his eyelashes were much longer than I expected... Suddenly I felt self-conscious and quickly looked away.

"You know what, who cares," I muttered after neither of us spoke for a long time, hoping he didn't notice my staring. "I mean, what you did totally sucked, but hey, I'm alive. And besides, the forest magic stuff corrupted you so you weren't in control."

Morro's shoulders relaxed a bit as he finally looked up. "That's reassuring," he said with a small smile. "Your wound should've probably healed by now. Mostly." Seeing my puzzled expression, he continued, "I don't know how this works, but maybe since we're already dead or something, stuff heals a lot faster than normal. My arm got scorched once and the burn disappeared in a day. I also got stabbed once. I don't think you're fit for walking just yet though." He bit his lip and returned to staring at his feet, all tense again.

There was an awkward silence.

"I don't hate you," I said, "Just to make things clear. Except next time when you try to kill me, let's hope I'm not too close."

He forced a nervous laugh. "Right."

I paused. "But not gonna lie, us avoiding each other isn't gonna do any good for anyone. So we should at least be acquaintances. Shake on it?" I held out my hand, wondering when it was that I had chosen to let my guard down.

He took it and for a while we simply held hands without shaking, continuing to avoid eye contact. Then Morro broke free first.

"I'm gonna go," he said hurriedly and stood up.

"Where?" I asked, not wanting to be alone.

His cheeks flushed as he mumbled something that I couldn't quite catch.

"Don't leave," I said, regretting those words as soon as they came out of my mouth.

Morro's eyes met mine again and after a moment's hesitation, he slowly sat back down and looked away again. "If you say so."

Lloyd's POV

"Wake up," said a raspy voice that I didn't recognize. A bright light was shining into my eyes, presumably sunlight.

I reached up to shield my face, then realizing that there was a blanket covering me, I threw it over my head. Except someone yanked it out of my reach. I heard the slamming of metal against metal.

Groaning, I reluctantly opened my eyes and found myself lying on a hard stone floor, staring at a wall of prison bars. My arms and legs still had red lines and several scratches, a result of the battle. The blood had dried already, leaving a dark red scab behind.

A person in a cloak shoved a pathetic meal through a small window in the cell door then left with my blanket. I looked up and saw a blindingly uncomfortable oil lamp at the roof of my cell. It probably was going to keep burning even at night. After shutting my eyes tightly several times, I walked over to examine the tray's contents: a piece of hardened bread, thin soup that emitted a funny smell, and a small bowl of rice with some distasteful-looking potatoes and a small, burnt piece of meat I could barely recognize. I stepped back in disgust.

"Gross," I said loudly.

"Lloyd?" someone said cautiously from my right. I knew that voice and spun around, searching for the source, but of course I couldn't see anything except the blank gray walls.

"Ruby?" I whispered, searching for the source but seeing nothing except for dank, gray, stone walls.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, "You're awake!"

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"Well we got captured last night, if you want the specifics. I saw some of the fight and you guys were so brave." Ruby sighed, then went on, "I'm so glad you're here. I mean, it's a bummer you were captured but I meant that, um, I'm happy you're awake now. I've been talking to myself for so long I think I might be going insane." She laughed nervously.

I grinned, glad that I wasn't alone either. Though it would be nice to chat, my attention was focused on something else. "So uh, how's the food?"

"Not great," Ruby replied defeatedly, "But what can we do? At least it's edible."

A rush of sympathy for her surged through my chest. Imagine being a princess then suddenly getting dragged onto a crazy adventure with a group of village teens that you'd never met. Then needing to fight creatures you had never seen before. Then getting captured. Then having to eat disgusting food. And not to mention having your crush be mean to you when other guys fought to even see you up close in normal circumstances. I admitted that I was getting off way more easily than she was.

"Can you give me a minute to eat?" I asked.

"Oh, of course."

Taking a deep breath, I gingerly picked up the bowl of soup and brought it up to my mouth. It smelled foul but I was aware of my stomach growling in hunger and that my throat craved moisture. I shut my eyes tightly and guzzled the whole thing in one gulp, trying to ignore the taste. I quickly gobbled up the rest of my meal. The food tasted just as vulgar and the bread felt like sandpaper on my tongue. Somehow I managed to not throw up.

"Um, Ruby, what do we do with the tray after we finish?" I asked, wiping my mouth with my shirt. Not hygienic, but at this point I couldn't care less.

"Just keep it there, they'll take it."

"Okay."

"What do you think the others are doing?" I asked, "We should break out."

"No, we can't right now. From what I've seen, the guards patrol during the day anyway and I haven't figured out where we are yet."

I sighed. "What time is it?"

"Well, we just had lunch, so probably noon."

"I don't think we need to know where―"

"Wait, I think I hear someone talking," she interrupted, "Shhh."

I pressed my body against the bars to listen. Voices could be heard at the end of the hallway, and even though they were barely audible, I was able to pick up what they were saying.

"So the blond one woke up?"

"Yeah." That must've been the same person who had woken me up earlier.

"Wonder how long it's gonna take for them to get here though. God, all that flying was tiring."

"Ugh, which idiot foiled the plan?"

"Who knows? Well, whoever it is, they're gonna pay for it when the boss finds out. Oh, and he will."

"Why didn't we capture the guy with the green streak in his hair though?"

"Boss said so. We're not supposed to question this stuff."

They want Morro too? Why?

"I wonder why the boss thinks it was a good idea to put our base here though. The Crystal Blade is literally a few miles away."

I gasped, then quickly covered up my mouth.

"Shush, we don't want the prisoners to hear," the guy snapped, "If you wanna talk, let's go someplace else."

The slam of a metal door told me that they were gone.

"Ruby!" I whisper-shouted after a minute or two. It was hard to not scream. "Did you hear that?!"

"Yes!" she whisper-yelled back, the excitement in her voice pronounced.

"Well, I guess now we know what to do," I said, feeling a smile curl my lips. My hands grabbed the bars and I felt them bend slightly as fire began licking the metal. I let go quickly so that the fire wouldn't do too much damage, or else the Shadow Riders guarding us would notice.

"Get ready, Ruby, 'cause we're breaking out after dinner."

A/N: Sorry for the late update. As everyone probably knows already, my life is a mess. 

I had a competition today. It went badly, but our team got a decent place bc this OP person carried. As for individual round... Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Aaaanyway, thoughts/predictions? 

Thank you guys so much for reading and suffering through the cringey writing present especially throughout the earlier chapters! 

(Also I think once we get to Chapter 30 we're gonna have to slow down the updates or maybe even go on a hiatus. I write really slowly and it takes about 2-3 weeks to write one chapter and I constantly go back and change stuff. Chapter 29 concludes what I would consider the first arc so I figured it would be ok to post it since I probably wasn't going to change anything. It would be irresponsible of me to give you guys an inconsistent story ya know)

Ok I'm done bai have a good weekend!