THEIR dance costumes waved around, creating a blur of silver and white, with Vivien laughing and trying to escape from the clutch of the girls of the village while Gisel held her down and Clara was torturing her. They wanted to know about her and Zephrain and all she could say was "shut up".
The door to the building flew open, letting in the harsh frozen wind. It swirled inside, bringing snowflakes, ice, and Marjien. "Vivi!" she called, interrupting the laughing and the music.
She was instantly on her feet, recognizing the urgency in her young friend's tone. She stepped over Gisel and Clara and rushed to her side. "Come on, Celine needs us. It's their two men, they were out in the snow too long," she said as grabbed her cloak and tossed it to her while she hurried to take off her dance slippers and put on her boots. "They seemed to be attacked," Marjien added in a whisper.
Worry and frustration showed through her expression, and she knew there were multiple reasons
ZEPHRAIN was still hovering near the doorway when he heard Celine and Angelica telling Vivien to rest. He moved the cloth from the door to look at Vivien and saw her trying to stand. She looked overly exhausted, even if her mask was still on her face, and was going down. Before he could think about her other situation - that she was wearing one cloth down to her underwear - he was already moving past the door and hurried towards her. Before she toppled over or any of the girls could move, he was already in front of Vivien.He caught her by the waist, keeping her upright and holding her close to him. She was trying to look at him but he could see past the holes of her mask that her eyes were closing. "You did a good job, Viv," he told her. "Thank you."She then closed her eyes completely and lost her consciousness. Zephrain shifted Vivien and hooked his other arm under the bend of her knees and carried her in bridal style. He turned to Celine, Angelica and Marjien. "She h
"I CAME from the Li Tribe," Vivien began. She paused and watched for their reactions. Nobody even batted an eyelash as they stared at her. She turned her eyes to Zephrain and they stared at each other's eyes, his emerald ones unwavering. "So, you knew," she despaired. How much do they know?Zephrain nodded. "We suspected when you used the crystal magic. But now that you confirmed it, we still can't understand how you acquired such power. Healing using the crystals or even transforming into one is not a quality a Li possessed, no offense meant."Vivien shook her head. "None taken." She looked down at her hands and continued, "Ever since I was little, I've had this magic apart from my tribe." She found herself not looking at them. It was easier to tell the story if she didn't have to look them in the eyes. "This power, the Crystal Beast, had been in our tribe a long time, even before the Blood Stars were born. But sometimes it skips generations. My great grandaunt was the
VIVIEN stood up and squinted into the distance, but the raiders were too far away for her to see. "How do you know?"Zephrain let out a foggy breath and smiled. "The light.""We have to tell the others," she said, taking his hand and heading for her their shared house. He hurried along beside her, the snow and ice crunching under both of their boots.Worry created a storm within her. Raiders are not the same as bandits. They were Krysts defected from the ranks of Krystalline Palace and were creating ruckus all over the Kingdom of Demetrius. She couldn't remember a time when a village was attacked with her in it before. And as far as she could see, the village in the Cold Mountain was well-hidden and tucked away into a remote place in the mountains, almost impossible to find unless you knew it was there. It was probably simply bad luck that they had been discovered, but that bad luck could ruin them.If there were raiders on the way, the village would need to
A TENSED silence settled over the village as they waited for the raiders to appear. Up on the ledge, Marjien hoped that Vivien would be safe. She knew that Vivien was hell-bent in protecting this village. It was always like this when Vivien felt compelled to protect something or someone.Not all in this village could fight, but they - the villagers - were willing to sacrifice themselves to protect their home. Including the two young women beside Marjien.Gisel, who was positioned on Marjien's right, was shivering and nervous, but she also looked confident. Clara, however, was calmer in the outisde. Among the two of them, Clara was hard to read. Sometimes, she teased around but there were times that Clara was silent and focused on her work. Marjien had seen battle numerous times before, and seeing Clara holding a bow that seemed like a natural extension of her arm made her deduced that Clara was adept in the long-range combat."Maji," Gisel said, scooting closer to
ZEPHRAIN was immersed in the battle, steadily clashing with raiders and cutting them down. He was exhilarated. He never had this difficulty in a battle before. The raiders were indeed a step higher than normal rebels he subdued. A flash of light caught his eyes, and he followed it, spotting Vivien briefly among the boulders as she careened up the path. Crystals glinted on her body as she was heading up for the village.Where was she going? Why would she be going back to the village? Zephrain froze as he looked up at the village gate. Unless something had gone wrong... Zephrain turned and ran for the barricade. He sheathed his swords at his back and speed up his pace. "Celine! Take over the command!" he shouted amidst the battle noise.Celine looked over at him curiously before she ducked and swung her flaming sword. She then looked over to the direction Zephrain was taking and she saw Vivien racing for the village. She turned her head to her team and yelled, "Notch up!"
AFTER the raiders' attack, the village took a few days to put everything back in order. The body of the dead raiders were buried at the back of the village. Zephrain tore a part of their garments and secured their belongings to bring back to the Krystalline Palace as proof.The sun was out and the sky was actually a nice grey-blue as the village gathered at the edge of their winter quarters to say goodbye to Zephrain and his group. Since the weather had temporarily cleared up, it was the perfect opportunity for them to leave the village.Vivien stayed near Marjien as she and her friend stood by the villagers. "Are you sure we are not going with them?" Marjien asked.Vivien didn't say anything, watching the interaction between the team and the villagers."We'll miss you all," Clara said as she hugged Celine. She held the the Fire Kryst at arm's length and turned to Zephrain and the others who were being hugged by the other villagers. She then smiled at Celine.
ZEPHRAIN had brought Vivien in every part of Vestia after their first meeting in the Cold Mountains. Their love grew, their love blossomed. Even at the end of Angelica Rein's life, she knew that their love was true and wished she would witness Zephrain marrying Vivien Li, despite her identity as the Crystal Beast.When Zephrain went back to the palace with Vivien and Marjien a year later, Prince Ciaran fell into a deep slumber. His brother saved a man named Jared Dale, a distant relative of theirs and the great grandson of Ailene Ricca, one of the Knights of Shaula. Zephrain discovered the dungeon and found his mother's darkest secrets. Appalled by what he had seen and learned, he left the palace and gave up the throne to his brother upon his awakening.Because of his decision to leave the palace forever, Vivien hated him. And he used that hatred so she could make herself stronger.Zephrain let a tear spill from his eyes as he stared at the woman lying at the white
CHLOE spent her whole couple of days getting drowned. Literally. Nobody told her that the lake got a sucking energy from beneath it, for Demetrius' sake!"AAAHHH!!" she screamed for the nth time for the day before being pulled by the strong pressure that goes to the bottom of the lake. A bubble of water enveloped her before she shot up into the surface."Focus, Chloe!" Neptos shouted from the side, comfortably sitting at the big rock and holding his jug of beer. "I can't look after you all the time!"He set her down on the flat stone, breaking off the bubble of water. Chloe fell onto her knees and hands as she coughed the water that invaded her system. "You...you're not helping," she panted.Neptos rolled his eyes and stood. "Rest first. Don't jump in. I'm not going to save you." He walked away and into the house.Chloe groaned as she rolled to her back and closed her eyes. She lets her breath become normal before she opened it and stared at the sky.