I, Songbook22, give @MLB998 my permission to copy and paste this chapter onto The Writing Game.

"Glacia?" I stood up, rubbing my still-bleary eyes. "Aquilo?" I didn't want to jump to conclusions, but when they didn't answer, I let out a long breath. "Shiznuggets," I muttered under my breath, shaking Leo awake. "Up you get. Our lovely siblings are gone."

Leo yawned and stood up. "Ah, geez. This isn't good. Blair?" He called out, walking towards the cave entrance. "Blair?"

"Huh?" Blair, who had been on watch, sat up, rubbing her eyes. Her kitten, who had shrank down to a normal kitten size, lifted its head and let out a hiss. "Stella, what are you talking a... bout..." Her eyes landed on the spot where Glacia and Aquilo had been. "What?" She jumped to her feet. "They're gone! Why did they leave? This makes no sense, oooohmygoodness they're going to be killed! We have to find them!"

Even as I contemplated how odd it was that level-headed Blair was freaking out, her noise had woken up Acorus and Teriana. They joined us at the mouth of the cave, followed by Covie. All three were accompanied by their animals.

Leo was already standing and had taken stock of the situation. They're gone, he thought to me.

Yeah. I noticed.

"Where are they?" Leo asked, out loud this time.

Blair was still freaking out. "They got kidnapped! Oh my Lord, they're going to be killed!"

"Who?" Covie rubbed her eyes blearily, yawning.

"Glacia," Acorus answered as he looked around our makeshift camp. "Aquilo, too. Where'd they go?"

"They were kidnapped!" Blair shrieked hysterically. "I didn't even see it! Oh, this is all my fault!"

"But their eggs are gone, too," Teriana noted at the same time.

I rubbed my temples, they were giving me a headache. "Guys! Shut up!" I let out a long sigh. "I should've known this would happen."

Only Leo didn't look surprised. Of course, I'd already told him. I couldn't make out any words in the chatter that followed until Leo yelled, "QU-IET!" Then he nodded to me. "Tell them, Stella."

"Wait, Leo knows and we don't?"

"Blair, hush."

"Thank you, Acorus." I sighed and proceeded to tell them what had happened as my egg had hatched. I wasn't sure what their reactions would be.

Blair, for some reason, started freaking out. I didn't get it, she was always so level-headed. But her rambling wouldn't be helpful.

I tuned her out and looked at Acorus, who looked thoughtful. "I didn't expect that," he finally said. His wolf leaned against his legs. "So if they're gone..." He frowned. "They were the only ones whose eggs didn't hatch. Maybe that's why they got out without Blair realizing."

Covie furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Acorus continued patiently, "we have no idea what their eggs contained, or what their powers were. Stella has a phoenix, so he, uh, she, whatever gender it is... Obviously has phoenix powers. Blair's cat can control its size."

Blair continued freaking out in the background.

"Do you think that's why Blair's acting like that?" Leo glanced at her, looking worried as he absentmindedly patted the mane of his lion cub.

"Yeah." I furrowed my brow, trying to think. "An animal normally associated with trickery is a fox, but Teriana already has one. Maybe one of them got some sort of snake?"

Teriana looked down at her fox when it was mentioned, almost as if she had forgotten it existed. "Maybe that's why they left, or why Blair is so out of it. I mean, look!" She gestured to her sister, who was pacing back and forth and muttering anxiously.

Acorus looked at his wolf, pursing his lips as he thought. "A snake might make sense for Aquilo. Maybe some sort of python."

But where did they go?

Leo glanced at me, obviously having overheard my thoughts. Not sure, his voice responded in my head.

Covie rubbed her shoulders as a cold breeze whisked through our little cave. Her bird landed on her shoulder. "I don't know about you, but let's try to fix Blair first before we figure out Aquilo and Glacia."

Acorus nodded his agreement, but his response was lost as I heard the fluttering of wings.

My phoenix landed on my shoulder, and I glanced at it, surprised. I'd almost forgotten about the fiery bird. Was it a he or a she?

I'll have you know I'm a she, thank you very much.

Holy- I shook myself to stop myself from shouting out loud.

Leo raised his eyebrows at me. What did you do?

Nothing! It was the bird!

The bird can hear you, you know. And I have a name. And-

I rubbed my temples. "Leo, get out of my head. I'm trying to talk to my bird."

Teriana stared at me. "Stella, what in the world are you talking about?"

"Nothing! Everyone just shut up for three seconds!" I let out a long breath, trying to sort my thoughts.

Acorus and Covie exchanged glances, but neither of them said anything.

I closed my eyes and entered my thoughts again. Okay, you're a she. Want to tell me your name?

Emelicia Vetne Indiasta Feroni, the phoenix answered promptly, looking proud of herself.

Oh, dear Lord.

I heard that. Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted-

I sighed, cutting off the fiery bird. "Guys, meet Emelicia," I told them slowly, running a hand through my hair. "Apparently she can talk in my head."

Leo clasped his hands together. "Fantastic! I needed more irrelevant information!"

"Shut up, Leo."

"Thank you, Acorus." I turned to look at Emelicia, then back at the others. "Can you guys try to calm down Blair, please? Emelicia is very persistent about telling me something."

On showing you something.

"Never mind, on showing me something. Fantastic."

Was that sarcasm?

No.

I think that was sarcasm. Emelicia ruffled her feathers, holding her golden head up high. Maybe I just won't show you.

I waited patiently, pressing my lips into a thin line.

Oh, okay, you talked me into it. Emelicia let out a squawk, startling everyone in the group before gracefully gliding off my shoulder and perching on a log.

Confused, I followed. "Emelicia, what exactly are you trying to show me?"

Are you always this impatient?

I huffed. "Well, I don't have much time to waste right now. If Glacia and Aquilo are actually as evil as I think they are, we don't have tome to spare. Show me what you want to show me and make it quick."

Teriana glanced over at me, looking concerned, but went back to soothing her sister. "Blair, Blair, look at me. Calm down. Please, please, please, just calm down." Her expression was filked with worry.

Grumpy, grumpy, grumpy. Emelicia shook her head, managing to look disapproving. Close your eyes, she finally instructed. I'm going to show you what happened.

"You can do that?"

Honey, I'm a magic fire bird. Is there anything I can't do? Now hurry up, I thought there wasn't time to waste.

I bit back a retort and instead closed my eyes. "Okay, fine."

"Stella, what are you doing?" I heard Covie's voice call out, but I found I couldn't respond.

Don't worry, you're in good wings, Emelicia's voice reassured me in my head as I felt myself fall backwards.

~~~~~~~~~

Blair sat on a log outside the cave entrance, her kitten pacing back and forth on her lap. She laughed as it climbed up to her shoulders and weaved around her neck.

"Blair!" I called out to her, relieved that she was no longer freaking out.

I thought you were smart, Emelicia reprimanded. This is what happened. And I'm only going to show you once, so shut up and pay attention.

She didn't notice Aquilo roll over, too busy looking for danger around us. She didn't see Glacia open her eyes, didn't realize the danger was within us. An egg cracked.

Oh, dear.

Glacia stood up, making more noise than necessary as the egg cracked some more.

"Hi, Glacia. What are you doing up?" Blair asked, looking at her and tilting her head. Her kitten hissed at her, making Blair hush it.

"Bathroom. Nature calls," Glacia responded. "Do you have any idea where I could find an out-of-the-way place so there aren't any unfortunate mishaps in the morning?"

Blair loosed a breath. "Um..." She pursed her lips, then pointed. "I think there's a little clearing over there. You can try there."

By then, the egg had cracked, and a scaly head poked out, followed by a long, sinuous body.

I caught my breath. It was a king cobra. Oh, this wasn't good.

Aquilo met eyes with the snake and slowly, imperceptibly, nodded.

The snake slithered along the cave walls and into the brush outside the Giant's Typewriter. It vanished from sight as Glacia continued talking to Blair. "Okay. How far away do you think it is?"

"Not quite su-" Blair made a strangled screeching noise as the king cobra slithered down the tree and wrapped tightly around her neck. "Glacia!" She choked out. "Help!"

Glacia's cheery demeanor faded. "You know, it's a shame you were on watch. I quite liked you."

Blair's eyes widened even more, and she struggled frantically to pull the snake off of her.

Glacia's eyes glowed purple, staring into Blair's. "Good night, Blair. Enjoy a few hours of sleep paralysis."

The snake relinquished its hold and slithered to the ground.

Blair collapsed, falling to the ground in the same position she'd been in this morning. Her eyes were wide, staring up at Glacia.

Glacia looked down at her. "See you soon, Blair. See you real soon." She grabbed her egg as Aquilo stood up. "Typical of you, leaving me to do all the work."

"Oh, shut up." Aquilo slapped her arm as his snake twined up his legs and wrapped itself arpund his arm. "Let's go, we're wasting time."

Without another word, the two of them ran.

Hi everyone! I'm Songbook22! I'm a teenage girl, like most people on this website, and I love writing! I am constantly attacked by plot bunnies, and am currently in the process of planning out a new story called Picture Perfect. It'll be posted on my account sometime soon! Thank you all for reading my chapter, and don't forget to comment! I love constructive criticism!