Prompt-

"Hey, hey, stay with me! Keep awake, I need you, you can't leave! Please!"

This oneshot is a little different. It's a Keeper of the Lost Cities Fanfic, but it's not about the main seven book characters. So, it's in the book story line and timeline, but I made up the plot for this specific oneshot, and created the main characters. It'll make a little more sense once you start reading.

Zarah ran faster than she ever believed she could. She dodged another arrow and ducked around one of the few columns that still stood. Zarah wiped her forehead, which was now covered in sweat, and tried to steady her breathing.

For a short moment, the only sound she could hear was her heavy panting, until the silence was broken.

Zarah could hear the angry footsteps resounding from down the hallway. Her body shook in terror, she knew she couldn't just wait here. They would kill her. Zarah made a final decision, she would run.

She bolted out from behind the column, and heard the alarmed shouts of the cloaked figures behind her.

Zarah's heart pounded in hear ears as she sprinted between the broken statue of an once regal unicorn, until she tripped over a pile of debris. Zarah cursed, pushing herself up from the ground as the rebels grew near.

She knew she wouldn't be able to run from them forever, so Zarah needed time to find shelter or help. She tucked a strand of her curly brown hair behind her ear, and prayed this would work.

Still running, Zarah reached down and picked up a medium sized chunk of ceiling that had fallen in all the chaos. She turned her head just enough to see the terrifying cloaked members in close pursuit behind her, and when they were in perfect range, used telekinesis and some physical force.

Zarah watched as the chunk of ceiling flew straight into one of the member's faces, and bit her lip to refrain from laughing. She could celebrate later.

Smoke from the fires stung Zarah's throat and her breathing became quicker and more pained. She didn't know how many causalities there would be by the end of the battle, bu Zarah feared there would be many more than expected. How could the Council not prepare them for this?

Zarah knew they knew what was coming. They knew a war had started. But what did they tell the elves? Everything was fine, they had everything under control.

But look where they were now. Foxfire, burning down at the Neverseen's hands. People we're injured, some already dead, while the Council sat on their crystal thrones.

The Council claimed they were gathering forces and had a plan. Zarah knew they didn't.

They would wait for everyone to either die, or for people like the Black Swan to show up. The Council acted like the Neverseen would suddenly stop and call off the battle. As if.

They wouldn't stop until they got what they wanted or everyone was dead. The thing was, nobody knew what the Neverseen wanted. Or, anyone Zarah knew for that matter.

She rounded a corner, wishing she had a perfect memory. Through the shattered glass of a broken window, Zarah could see the battle still raging, just as terrible as before. There were bodies strewn around the charred ground—Zarah hoped they would wake up, though she wasn't sure.

She could see a figure running towards her from the depths of the hallway, their identity shrouded through the flames which danced and waved at the figure, daring them to come closer.

And they did, not only came closer and ran faster towards Zarah, but extinguished the flames by forcing a jet of water through them, the hissing flames gone silent. The figure neared, and Zarah began to take in the character.

The warrior had immense control over the water, and did not whatsoever seem nervous around the flames. Zarah could see the person in more detail now, a slim, fair-skinned girl with long black hair, dyed silver at the ends. Her silver blue eyes held fury and determination, as she ran towards Zarah.

Not only when Zarah stopped running was when she remembered the dark soldiers behind her. But the other girl was faster than they had expected, spraying water all over the Neverseen members, then throwing kicks and goblin throwing stars.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked, worry filling her perfectly sparkling eyes. She walked slowly over to Zarah, as if afraid she would scare her.

"Uh, yeah, thank you," Zarah stuttered out, and the girl smiled.

"I'm Linh Song."

"Zarah Bellis."

"Nice to meet you, though it could be some better circumstances," Linh replied. Zarah nodded and smiled, just as Linh spoke again.

"We should get going, there might be more of the Neverseen coming this way." Zarah nodded once again, and willed her legs to follow Linh's graceful steps. They passed through multiple hallways Zarah wasn't familiar with, occasionally finding a Neverseen member and knocking them unconscious.

When the two girls reached the outside of Foxfire, Zarah got her first glimpse of the real battle that raged on.

Soldiers in black cloaks with a creepy white eye Zarah had seen up close very few times fought against a small group of goblins, a couple gnomes and dwarves, even a few ogres, and plenty of elves.

She noticed the differences in the two rivaling groups. The Neverseen wore dark, hooded cloaks with daggers and various weapons lining their waists, and of course, their trademark, the symbol that left people with nightmares and filled your minds with dread; the white colored eye with a circle around it.

Then you had the Black Swan. They wore midnight blue cloaks, no weapons hung around their waist, most in the organization relied on abilities, with the exception of the goblins, ogres, and a few elves. They hid underneath no hoods, which somehow made them seem friendlier, like you might be able to approach one of them without getting your head sliced off.

She was surprised at how many elves fought on the Black Swan's side. It was a known fact that elves' minds could easily break when too much guilt was there. She guessed that they had some kind of training for their minds to be stronger, built for defending.

Linh turned to Zarah. "I need to go help my friends, you can go to Havenfield; people are setting up a survivors camp there in the yard, or, you can stay here and fight." Zarah opened her mouth to say she wasn't a warrior like all of these people were, but Linh cut her off.

"I saw you running from those Neverseen soldiers, you had some speed, and the way you timed the debris? You could be a huge help. But only if you want to, most elves aren't fighters, but, I think you could be an exception."

Zarah thought about going to Havenfield. It would be safer, she knew and she could get treated for her scratches and burns. The thing that stood out most to her though, was that Zarah knew her family would be there.

Zarah's mother and father loved her very much, and kept her down to Earth. The feeling was mutual. She knew her parents were probably freaking out right now, at Havenfield when they realized Zarah was still at Foxfire.

Her sister was one of Zarah's only friends. Sure, Zarah was thirteen and Mila was seven, but they understood each other in ways not even her parents understood. They had an unsaid pact to stay together, always. Zarah wasn't going to break that, just bend it a little.

Her family would do anything to keep her safe, and she appreciated that, but it was Zarah's turn to keep them safe. If anything happened to them and she could have stopped or prevented it, she knew she wouldn't forgive herself.

"I'm staying." Zarah couldn't believe the words that had just come out of her mouth, but tried to gather all the courage and strength she could muster at the moment instead of dwelling on the probably dumb answer.

Linh smiled, "Your very brave, Zarah. Have you manifested yet?" Zarah opened her mouth but quickly shut it. That would be a problem. She hadn't manifested yet, despite all the ability detecting the staff at Foxfire put the students through.

By now, most kids would at least have some idea of what was coming their way. Zarah's mother was a Phaser, her father a Flasher. She suspected she would end up one of those, but hadn't accidentally gotten stuck in the floor or blind her family with light just yet.

That was probably for the better, because neither sounded very pleasing to do so, especially when you weren't sure what exactly the outcome would be.

"That's alright," Linh's gently voice snapped Zarah out of her thoughts, "by the looks of it, your pretty strong at running and telekinesis. Would you mind trying to pick up a weapon instead? It's okay if you don't feel comfortable at the moment. I'm not going to try to push you, I know how most elves feel with weapons."

Zarah paled. Elves weren't the strong type with weapons, unless you were taught to be so. But she knew this was a dire situation, which is why she replied in the complete opposite way she normally would have.

"Okay, but I'm not very good with upfront and melee weapons in general."

"Great, how about we go pick you a long range weapon, then."

Zarah wasn't sure where Linh and her would find weapons mid battle when most of them were probably in current use. Linh answered her question by pulling a charm off of a necklace that was recently hidden in the depths of her midnight blue cloak. As she looked closer, Zarah realized that a crystal was embedded in the deep black charm, which was shaped in the Sign of the Swan.

The crystal was tinged yellow, meaning it led to somewhere in the neutral territories. Zarah had never traveled anywhere farther than you could see some form of elf civilization or the glittering buildings of Eternalia.

"Ready? After we find you a weapon, we'll leap back here, and finish this battle." Zarah nodded, not trusting her voice to speak with all the anxiety stuck within it. Somehow calling this attack a battle made it all seem so much bigger, and scarier. More real. This attack—no, this battle—could be the changing point for Zarah, or the last time she saw Foxfire.

She held a grip on Linh's wrist, and together they stepped into the light, the familiar, soft light caressed her body, and Zarah wanted to follow the light, to disconnect from the world for just one minute. But she knew she would never come back from it.

That minute would turn into half an hour, that half an hour would turn into a full hour, which would sink into days, until Zarah was no more but part of the light forever. She couldn't let that happen. For her mom and dad, for Mila.

For the elves.

For herself.

For those who couldn't protect themselves.

Zarah and Linh reformed in a cold, humid room. The room had gray walls, and weapons of all sizes and shaped lined the walls, while others collected dust in buckets on the floor.

They browsed the room, staying away from the melee weapons until one caught Zarah's eye.

It was one of the weapons in a bucket in the very corner of the musty room, a beautiful, delicate wooden bow. An empty quiver lie next to where the bow was, that seemed to match the bow perfectly.

"I think I like this one," Zarah announced, looking up from the bow and quiver to face Linh. She was examining the bow in Zarah's hands, until a small grin grew on her face.

"Good. Let's go find some arrows for that."

After a little while of searching, the two girls found some arrows appropriate for Zarah's bow, and prepared to leave.

"Alright, once we leap back, we will have to be ready. There's no telling what happened during the battle while we were gone, so listen now." Zarah nodded and listened contently. "You will have to find a spot behind some debris to be able to use your bow. How about you practice real quick right now?"

Zarah turned to an empty spot on the wall with a small punture already there, most likely from a nail or screw that had been removed. She lined up her bow, sliding an arrow into place, and took a shaky breath. Her hands shook, and Zarah tried to steady them. Linh noticed Zarah's shaky hands and unsteady breathing and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay if you don't want to do this anymore. We can leave the bow and arrows here and I can leap you over to Havenfield. It doesn't matter to me, as long as you feel comfortable."

She didn't answer and instead drew her bow steadier, closing one eye in concentration. Goosebumps lined her arms and tiny beads of sweat forms on Zarah's forehead. Once she thought the arrow was as lined up as straight as possible, she released the string and let the arrow fly.

It zoomed past Zarah's hand, and she squeezed her eyes shut until she heard the sound of an arrow sticking into the hard walls of the storage room.

Zarah slowly opened her eyes, afraid of what she would find. She knew it would only be an arrow stuck into the wall, but what if it missed completely? What Zarah was really afraid of was if it hit the mark perfectly. What would that mean? That she was made for battle? She mustered up a poor amount of bravery and felt the light fill her eyes once more.

The arrow was, indeed in the wall, or the tip of it at least. She had to admit, the shot was pretty accurate. The tip of the arrow was embedded in the wall, about an inch away from the pin hole.

"Not too bad, you'll get the hang of it," Linh spoke.

"Thanks, now we should get back," Zarah replied. Linh nodded and pulled out another leaping crystal. They linked arms and stepped into the light, facing the burning building that was Foxfire, the battle continued on, bodies were strewn around the cracked ground, but neither side backed down.

"Alright, go sit behind that," Linh pointed to a large pile of debris that used to be a wall, "pile of debris, only shoot when it's clear for you, and if you need to restock on arrows, use this leaping crystal." She handed Zarah the crystal from her necklace and looked her in the eye.

"It leads to the storage room we found your bow in. Only leave if your completely out." Zarah nodded and ran to her hiding space. She took a shuddering breath and closed her eyes, thinking of Mila and her parents.

Her eyebrows furrowed and a sudden surge of determination overcame her. Zarah nocked an arrow, and waited until she heard no noises or voices directly around her. She crouched behind her barrier, only her eyes showed as she locked her bow into position.

She looked for a target, her head darting around the battlefield. She didn't want to start off with a target that was near or fighting a member of the Black Swan. That could end up badly. She finally found a perfect target.

A Neverseen member was standing out in the open, no Black Swan members anywhere are them, fiddling with a strap on his waist band.

Zarah turned her bow to the member, finally releasing it and hastily finding protection behind the debris. She looked up a few moments later, and the Neverseen goon was flat on the ground, an arrow embedded in his upper abdomen.

She fought the urge to vomit at the sight, but gathered her bearings and lined up for the next shot.

The battle went on like this for at least three hours, and Zarah had to make a few leaps back to the storage room throughout. Soon though, after long periods of fighting, there were few Black Swan members left, but fewer Neverseen members.

The battle ended, and felt shorter than expected. But, at the same time, it had felt like the longest few hours of her life.

"Hey, how are you holding up there, soldier?" Linh crouched next to Zarah.

"Couldn't be better."

Linh laughed and pulled Zarah to her feet. "Nice to know that you have stamina, and that your okay."

It was clear Linh was on the front lines, blood stained her jawline and she had a bit of a limp, grime touched almost all of her visible skin.

Zarah wasn't exactly in top shape either. Her dark, curly hair was matted down with sweat, and she felt like the bruises lining her skin would never heal. Just as she was brushing away some dirt and dried blood off her body, she began to see citizens and families leap back to see the damage, probably getting word the battle was over.

One group caught her eye. Zarah's family. Her parents looked terrified and clung to Mila as their eyes darted around. Mila's eyes scanned the crowd as well. That's when Zarah realized. They were looking for her.

Zarah tried to call out, to tell them she was okay, but no sound came out of her voice. Linh noticed her gazing and a sad smile grew on her face.

"Don't worry about the rest of us, okay? Go talk to your family." Zarah's eyes never left her family, and she nodded softly. Just then, Mila's eyes matched with Zarah's and her mouth dropped open. She said something to her parents who's heads whipped around to where Mila pointed.

Mila ran foward, towards Zarah, who suddenly spotted a dark figure approaching her sister from behind.

"Mila!" she yelled, "Run, now!" Zarah pointed helplessly at the cloaked figure who sped up, knowing there was no hiding now.

They grabbed Mila, holding a dagger to her trembling stomach, and turned their hidden head to Zarah.

"You," the demanding, female voice said, pointing a threatening finger at her. "We saw you during battle, pretty good archer, I would say. You the Black Swan killed ours during the battle. You come with us, and this poor little girl won't get hurt. You refuse, and this will only make things harder."

Tears streamed down her younger sister's face, and she looks like she would have a panic attack any moment.

"No." Zarah knew that was the wrong answer the moment it slipped out.

"Excuse me?" the figure replied menacingly. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Linh and her friends, including the infamous Sophie Foster, creeping slowly, closer to her sister. But now wasn't the time to obsess over cool people you wanted to be friends with.

The figure spoke again, "Is that your final answer?" Zarah stayed quiet, not knowing what to say. There was no knowing if the Neverseen would really let Mila go, if they would really stick to their word.

"I'll take that as a yes." The cloaked figure decided. They drew back the dagger, before plunging it straight at Mila's stomach, who screamed and thrashed.

The crowd screamed and parents hid their kids behind them, but she had no idea what to do. Zarah yelled out something along the lines of, "Don't touch my- let her go- no!" and threw out her hand, as if that could stop it.

And turns out it could.

A glittering blue force field appeared in front of her sister, the cloaked figure stumbled back in surprise, and Mila took that opportunity to run back to her parents, who cradled her and sobbed.

"A psionipath, as well. Very helpful indeed." Zarah took a shaky breath. Did she just do that? The Neverseen member spoke again.

"So, I take this as a no, your not joining our side? Or, should I say, willingly? I mean, it would be helpful to have another member with the ability of being a psionipath on our side, other than Ruy. But, he's so childish, he'd be annoyed we brought another in."

Zarah was starting to get confused, where was this going?

"Um," she cut in, and the talking stopped. "What are you doing?"

"What am I—what am I doing?" they stopped picking at the scrappy cloak and turned their attention to right above Zarah, on the roof.

"Stalling."

The elves whipped around, but clearly not fast enough. An archer was crouched on the Foxfire roof, and everyone had been too distracted to notice them. An arrow came flying, lighting fast, straight at Zarah.

Her face paled as the arrow struck her lower abdomen sideways, and a rush of pain flooded over her. Zarah looked down at the nauseating sight, looking back up to see Linh and the rest of her friends staring, a hand covering her mouth.

Zarah collapsed in a heap on the scalded ground, and her sister was the first to run over.

"Zarah?" Mila asked, her voice nothing more than a whisper. But Zarah didn't have the strength to answer back. Linh ran over too, and crouched beside her.

Mila spoke again, in a more devastating, sadder way. "Hey, hey, stay with me! Keep awake, I need you, you can't leave!" her voice turned into a plead, "Please!"

She tried to stay awake, to listen to her sister and Linh. The last thing she heard was a strawberry blonde boy with periwinkle eyes, calling for someone named Elwin. Then the darkness pulled her away.

. . .

Zarah awoke in a medical cot, and rubbed out the tiredness in her eyes. With an aching pain, she pushed herself into an upright sitting position and peered down at her stomach. It was wrapped several times in gauze and bandages, some blood still soaked through.

She could hear voices outside the room, but couldn't tell who they were. Just then, someone with messy, dark hair who wore crazy spectacles walked in through the door.

"Oh, hey! I'm glad your awake, Zarah." she looked at him with wide eyes. "That is your name, right?" She nodded but pushed through the tables and cots towards the door. "Hey! Your not supposed to be of bed rest yet! Wait-"

She opened the door to find Linh and Sophie quietly talking in the hallway. Their eyes both went as wide as saucers when they saw her.

"Zarah! I was so worried, how are you?" Linh rushed to ask. "I'm fine," she replied, she needed to get straight to the point before Elwin came and made her go back to bed rest.

"I'm here to apply," she announced. This time Sophie spoke first.

"Apply for what?" she wondered aloud.

Zarah took a moment to make sure she realized what she was doing. This would change her life, and impact her family's—if they let her in.

"The Black Swan."