Aquila
Vikalyn, Kingdom of Howard
It had taken them quite some time, the irritation built and their anger soared as they tried to look for the magical rabbit that Samuel had told Aquila. Their purpose was to serve king Dyron, but in this instance, they were only being detrimental as they were unable to move forward.
They had no new leads, they were wandering blindly in a forest looking for a pest of a creature that does not seem to exist and they were hungry. They had all transformed themselves into Ecanus once more in order to fool anyone who might have spotted them.
But their leader Aquila, the one who had managed to seduce and extract information from Samuel the sinner, smashed his fist against a tree’s trunk in anger as they still had no new leads.
“Fucking hell!” he roared while his subordinates stared at him in fear and wonder, “The king of darkness will have our heads should we fail!”
The fear of doing Dyron wrong hang heavily over their heads, they had wanted to please the king and be spoiled by his everlasting happiness and joy for them. But it seems their time was running out.
Aquila had considered flying back to Samuel and getting more information out of him, but remembered how honest he had been when they were talking. He had been pretending to be ‘Erica’ back then, a friend of Colter apparently, and the sinner had answered his questions honestly and without trouble.
The squad of vultures, guised as Ecanus, decided to rest against a big trunk of an ancient tree that stood in the middle of the forest, their search had been fruitless, and a few minutes of rest would not have detrimental to their cause.
Until they saw him.
“Who are you and what are you doing here?!” his voice echoed in the forest, it was a mixture of wonder and irritation. Prince Gian forced himself through the underbrush and stared at the group of vultures pretending to be citizens of the kingdom of Howard.
“Your highness, Gian Howard” one of the vultures said suddenly, bowing low. The others followed immediately, but Aquila’s senses flared with danger and warning.
In that moment, a wave of light flickered from the prince and connected into the vulture that had called him in such an honorific.
“Do not shit with me” Gian said angrily, his eyes were filled with doubt and anger, “It is of custom to only call the king “your highness”!
The vulture that took the hit groaned in pain, twisting and trying to get back on his feet while Gian focused on another one.
“Do not make me repeat myself. Who are you people and what are you doing here?!”
Aquila’s mind immediately went to work as he stepped forward with his arms spread out as if in surrender, “We are merely poor citizens of your kingdom, Prince, we do not mean to trespass as we are only a simple folk wishing to look for fruit.”
“Yes, yes, we are simply looking for fruit!” the other pretentious Ecanus repeated, as if trying to placate the prince’s burning anger at their presence.
But Gian’s eyes widened at the mere mention of fruit, his mouth was suddenly transfixed in annoyance and he drew his sword.
“I told you, do not fuck with me. Who are you?! You are not of Ecanus descent, any normal citizen of the kingdom would know that fruit does not specifically grow in this area!” He pointed his sword at Aquila, “Undo your tunics and show me your marks!” the prince demanded angrily at them.
In that instance, the instinct to simply murder the prince took over them all. Yet they knew it was going to be a hard battle if they did so. While Colter was feared as the roaring inferno, Gian was in his element. They were in a location where the arrogant older prince had them in the palm of his hand.
Gian shook his head this time in annoyance and sheathed his blade, “Never mind. I knew from the moment I saw you that you creatures were not citizens of my kingdom” His arrogance knew no bounds as he suddenly announced that the kingdom of Howard was HIS kingdom.
Aquila bit back the instinct to claw at his face and mutilate whatever is left of him after, he would not risk the entire operation simply on his anger towards the prince.
“Will you not speak?!” Gian said arrogantly, this time and immediately, one of the vultures pretending to be an Ecanus darted at him.
The Prince clicked his tongue in slight annoyance and easily dodged the fake Ecanus’s claws. With little to no motion, he had landed a mighty blow on his face which sent the vulture flying straight into the tree trunk.
He connected with a violent splatter, sending splinters and splashes of blood flying all over.
“Again.” Gian repeatedly, his arrogance even more overbearing this time, “Will you not speak?!”
They all responded with silence, and Gian simply chuckled while focusing all his energies into the earth. At once roots and tendrils of earth appeared from the ground and managed to lock the vultures in. Their throats, arms and legs were tied down and this time Gian closed in, his royal blade drawn, ready to spill blood if needed.
“By royal decree, I could simply slaughter all of you here for trespassing. But I am in a brilliant mood today, so I will let you go. Under one simple condition, tell me why are you here?”
The tendrils that had locked them down loosened, almost instinctively, one of the vultures fled, flying away at blinding speed to Gian’s chagrin.
“Negotiation’s failed, I guess?” he told himself and Aquila’s fear gripped him as he finally showed them his true power.
Vines, rocks, bullets of earth, leaves and even seeds seemed to follow his very whims and focused on the fleeing vulture. Prince Gian had only motioned to spread his arms in front of him, but the elements he controlled instantly tore their way towards the escapee.
It was a visceral sight, Aquila turned away as he watched one of his brethren be ruthlessly slaughtered by the royal prince’s powers.
Rocks had torn into the runner’s body, penetrating him and tearing through his flesh without resistance, vines had locked themselves against his neck and held him as leaves and tendrils of the earth impaled and sliced at him.
It was grisly.
What was left of the escaping vulture was but a blood splatter and a bit of flesh hanging and dripping from a tree’s branch.
“Do not run from me” Prince Gian told them greedily, his eyes filled with violence and confidence, “I shall listen to thee, speak and do not lie!”
Aquila, not knowing what to do next, had no other choice.
---
Vida
Vida’s Apartment, New York City
“Sooooo tell me what happened?!” Tessa asked Vida a few nights later, she was staying over at Vida’s place in a sleepover, they were both wearing matching pajamas and lying on the bed like high school kids blushing over their crushes.
But Vida was simply frowning as she remembered what happened days back, they had almost kissed, it was quite a romantic moment with all those fireflies and stuff, but it turned awkward when Colter decided to turn away and ask to leave.
“Don’t be shitty with me, Vida Vance!” Tessa roared, noticing that the past few days had been spacious between them. There was an aura of awkwardness and a tension that filled the air. “Tell me what happened. Why are you and Homeless Lover Boy suddenly at odds?”
Vida, unable to resist her best friend just sighed and told her all about their date at New York’s Central Park.
The way they held hands, the way Colter had laughed like a young child, how he had always felt alone, how he had found a beautiful Evodia tree and how the fireflies danced around it when the darkness came.
Tessa was listening intently to her words, trying to find out where everything went wrong, she had sensed a building sadness in Vida and she had also noticed it at Burn’s.
They were simply polite and professional, there was no flirty smiles, no jokes and no laughter. It was as if they evaded each other. Somehow, in Tessa’s mind she believed Colter did something wrong and she was about to find out what.
Vida’s eyes suddenly became teary as she said “Then I moved in to kiss him during the dance of the fireflies and he rejected me!” After saying this, she burst into spasms of cries and sorrow, burying her face in Tessa’s shoulders.
“Jesus Christ, woman!” Tessa tried to chastise her but Vida just would not listen, “You are really taking rejection badly, aren’t you?!”
Vida sniffled sadly, still thinking about how cold Colter was now.
“You must be that badly affected huh? “ Tessa told her testily, staring Vida straight in her amber eyes, “Does this mean you’ve fallen in love with him? Don’t you dare lie!”