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Alan
Albert
Almor
Cazal
Drev
Godric
Grover
Igan
Simon
Sirius
Tiri
Ainad
Aire
Brenda
Lani
Lian
Raj
Romani
Zy
Drev  Blog Adoptables My Stories |
Five-part Short Story / Written 5/20/05 / Rated PG-13
This was originally written just because these two characters really needed some developing. I think a lot of it is really good just because it really paints a clear picture on who each of them are. When Aire accidentally happens across Drev's island in one of her excusions, they form an unlikely alliance and find they have more in common than they could have ever imagined.
| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |
| Part 4 | Part 5 |
Part 1
Drev sighed heavily as he hacked through some of the heavy foliage on his island. He had been feeling really down lately, ever since Naya had passed.
Seeing Ainad acquire such power made him feel terrible. Why her and not him? If any of them could handle massive amounts of magic and put it to use, why Ainad? If anything she might bring it to use once a year when she was in mortal danger - and even then, she was never in danger from anyone except him.
Not to mention that since that event, it seemed as though his own magic powers had been stripped from him. Granted his transformation powers seemed to be weakening with age, but he never expected that they'd disappear completely. He felt so powerless now; his own sister was stronger than him.
How could Naya do this to him!? After all he had done for her, even in her death, she chooses to pay him back by stripping him of the magic that he was rightfully born with!? She always favored Ainad. he thought bitterly. Everyone does.
He swung his sword hard, barely grazing the side of his pet, Kuive. Kuive yelped and jumped backwards but hadn't been hurt, thankfully, as he was a ghost.
"Why couldn't she leave me with anything!?" Drev demanded. "She didn't trust me? Is it just because I'm a guy? Well now I'm no different from anyone else - what good am I anymore? I can't sneak around, I can't change, I can't even protect myself with anything other than my own strength. What's so special about that!?"
Kuive laid his ears back and inched away from Drev, knowing it was best to avoid him in times like these.
"Now what am I supposed to do?" Drev wondered as he slammed one of his blades into the ground and sat roughly on a nearby tree stump. "Even if I still want to try killing Ainad, she's too sensitive now. She'll feel me coming from a mile away! And I have no way of disguising that."
"... maybe that was her plan all along. Make me all vulnerable and then take away my magic so that I can't hurt her precious Ainad. Well, what's to stop Ainad from hurting me now!? She's got the obvious advantage!"
But he knew Ainad would never do anything to him - and that only added to his anger and confusion on the whole issue. His entire life seemed to be one disappointment after another. What had he ever done to deserve this!?
And, as if all of this wasn't enough, he was really beginning to question the company he kept. Jax and Radon were probably his best friends - not for the way they treated him, but for the fact that they were simply the only people who really bothered to talk to him any more. Granted, every time they opened their mouth it was either an insult or some kind of terrible accusation. Why did it seem so hard for him to make friends? Just anyone would do... someone to sit and listen to him, someone who might even care about how he felt...
He sighed and shook his head. What was he thinking? As if someone like him could ever come across such good fortune... He was cursed to be forever damned - in every possible place of his life.
"C'mon, Kuive." he grumbled through a partial choke as he stood and withdrew his blade from the ground. "Let's go home."
He had barely even spoke when he noticed his gargoyle's ears perk and then lay back threateningly. Drev recognized this behavior from Kuive being scared or excited before - he usually acted like this when there was an intruder on the island. Drev quickly dropped behind a large plant and eyed Kuive carefully. "What is it, boy?" he hissed.
His question was soon answered as a small Dragon rounded the bend. She was humming and walking with a cheerful bounce in her step. She had a small backpack draped over her shoulders and stout blue gremlin at her side.
What the...? Drev thought incredulously as he patted Kuive to calm him. What is she doing here!?
"Pretty creepy island, huh Quilly?" the girl said as she paused to survey her surroundings. "It's like it's frozen in time or something - we haven't even seen any animals or anything."
Her gremlin nodded and examined a nearby twig before trying to eat it.
"It's kind of boring here..." she continued, "I think I like the jungles and forests on the mainland better. Are you ready? Hop on, let's go home."
Before he even knew what he was doing, Drev had stood up and stepped out from behind his hiding place. His face was twisted in hatred and disgust as he flung his sword out and grazed it just below the girl's chin.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded through clenched teeth, ignoring the fact that she wasn't armed.
"I... I was just exploring!" she whimpered, eying his blade with misty eyes. "Please don't kill me, Drev, I wouldn't have come here if I thought..."
"Now you're going to tell Ainad, aren't you?" he snarled. "So she can come out and keep trying to 'cure' me? I can't let you tell her where I am. This is my home. My sanctuary."
"I... I understand!" she said, "I won't tell her a thing!"
Drev narrowed his eyes and watched the Gremlin cling to Aire's leg for protection from the growling Gargoyle. He didn't really feel like killing her right now... but he didn't want to let her go. If Ainad found his island, then he really would have lost everything...
"No." he said, reaching out his other arm and gripping her tiny wrist. He had barely closed his fingers around her arm when a flash of bright blue light hit him and knocked him backwards out of breath. He landed hard on his back and quickly sat up, re-gaining breath in short gasps.
Aire looked just as terrified as he did as she stood frozen in her spot, a single tear streaming down her left cheek.
"How... how did you...?" he asked between breaths.
"I don't know!" she sobbed. "What just happened!?"
"You've obviously developed some of your mother's magic." he coughed, still not ready to fully stand up yet. "You've never done that before?"
"No!" she said, "Did I hurt you?"
Drev ignored the question, hoping to avoid the fact that a young girl had just knocked him off of his feet. "Well... I guess I was about your age when...."
"You have magic too?" she asked. "My mom never mentioned... I guess I always thought you were normal..."
"Mine was different." he explained, ignoring the thought about being considered 'normal'. "And she probably didn't want to scare you."
Aire calmed down a bit when she realized Drev wasn't attacking her anymore. "You were my age, though?"
"Yeah," he said as he leaned back on his arms and allowed his torso to stretch and alleviate the pain. "I was pretty young... one of my mentors taught me how to channel my magic and use it. Otherwise I never would have known how to do anything with the powers I had..."
He trailed off when he realized what he was doing. Here he was, sitting and chatting with his niece... the one he swore to kill, no less. Why was she being so civil to him anyways?? What was she planning!?
"Do you think my parents will teach me how to use it?" Aire asked, "You know, if I have it too..."
"Why should I care?" Drev snapped, suddenly angry at himself for being so polite for so long. "No go on and get out of here before I decide to kill you again."
Aire's excited expression quickly changed to an angry glare, "Well you don't have to be so ignorant about it!" she grumbled. "For a minute there, you seemed pretty normal - not at all like what my mom says about you. Come on, Quilly, let's go. Quilly?"
She looked around to find her Gremlin crouching terrified behind a rock as Kuive just stood there staring at him. Quilly was moaning and squirming as though he were really uncomfortable - Aire had never seen him like this before, usually Quilly got along with everyone.
"Quilly, what's wrong?" she asked, rushing towards him and looking concerned. "Shoo, you stupid Gargoyle!"
Drev had finally stood up approached them to get Kuive. "I thought I told you to get out of here, Aire."
"Well I can't leave without my pet!" she retorted as she continued trying to coax Quilly out.
Drev growled and stepped back to watch, "You know you'll never learn anything about magic from your parents, right? They'll teach you the sissy ways to use it, you'll be lucky if you can even ever get your spark to happen again. Your mom was terrible with her magic... she couldn't even do a spark by the time I was fully in control of my powers."
Aire grabbed one of Quilly's legs and pulled him out, kicking and screaming before turning back to glare at Drev, "Well who's more powerful of you two now, huh? Maybe magic's not something one should rush into."
Why you little... Drev thought, resisting the urge to strangle her right there. "We'll see. We'll see how powerful you are the next time you happen across me. God willing, I hope you can at least sense me sooner."
"I will be." she retaliated. "And I'll even be stronger than you."
"Not if you're learning from Ainad." he sneered.
But she had heard enough and leapt up into the air before he could say any more, dragging Quilly along with her.
Drev seemed pleased with himself for getting in the last word, but he was also struck with a slight bit of paranoia. What if she did tell Ainad where he was... and, even worse, what if she eventually became stronger than he was? She was already halfway there...
Aire refrained from offering Drev a rude gesture as she flew away. Who was he to question her parents like that anyways? Here he was, living alone and stalking small girls like herself - didn't he have anything better to do? Of all people, who was he to insult her family? Maybe Ainad had been right about him all along...
Having learned better from her last visit, Aire decided to leave Quilly at home this time. She had decided to take a trip back to Drev's island... partly because she had a lack of anything better to do and partly because she was curious. What did he do all day, cooped up on that island alone with his creepy Gargoyle?
Ever since she discovered she might be developing some magic skills, she'd felt invincible. She had seen what kind of power her mom had, it only made sense that she would gain similar powers! Drev couldn't hurt her if he found her - she could just use her magic to protect herself.
At least... that would be ideal - but she had only used her magic once... and that was on accident. She still had no idea if she could call on it again - or if she could even use it on command. But, no matter - she'd go completely undetected. It was just a simple spy mission; he wouldn't even know she was there.
She adjusted her backpack on her shoulders as she neared the island. Now she just had to find him... it was a pretty big island...
After browsing the island and doing her best to stay hidden while doing so, she eventually found him. What is he doing? she wondered as she noticed him being led through the dense forest by his Gargoyle. She swooped down silently and perched herself on a branch where she could watch.
She noticed Drev pause and leaned in for a better look. That big oaf. she smirked to herself. Who would want to spend all day, every day alone!? What's he even looking for?
She watched closely as Drev signaled for Kuive to fall back and he ducked behind a tree. Aire craned her neck past a large branch in order to get a better look at what he was hunting. When she finally spotted it, she nearly fell out of the tree in surprise! She clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming and watched Drev, terrified for him. What was he going to do?
Before Drev and Kuive, in the middle of the field, stood a large deer-like creature. Or, at least it only resembled a deer more than any other creature she could put her thumb on... It stood about nine feet from the bottom of its three-toed hooves to the tip of its ears. Its horns, rather than branch towards the sky, bent backwards lying nearly parallel to the creature's back. They also seemed to be connected in the center - as though the antlers were bent to form some misshapen halo.
Its face was more similar to a bear than a deer, she thought, and its tail was slightly longer as well. The worst part about the creature, though, and probably the reason it had initially scared her was the fact that it appeared to be glowing...
The creature's eyes were a deep blood red and looked as though they lacked pupils. She even thought that she could see right through it. Was it a ghost? And why wasn't Drev running away!? That thing could trample him!
She watched carefully; partially because she was curious to further understand what exactly the strange creature was and partially because she wanted to see how Drev would handle the situation.
She was surprised to see him taking it rather well. In fact... this was the calmest she'd ever seen him. Usually, when he was around her family, he was loud, obnoxious, and constantly enraged. Now watching him was like watching a strange dream sequence. She watched as the creature reared up on its hind legs to reach and lick off some moss higher up on the tree's trunk. Slowly, Drev moved out from behind his tree. He was staying crouched low to the ground and moving slowly and fluidly towards his prey.
She couldn't believe it... he was actually hunting that monster! Kuive followed slowly behind Drev, barely ever parting more than inches from Drev's ankle. He, too, was focused on the beast, following loyally behind his Dragon master.
She watched as Drev and Kuive drew closer to the creature and Drev drew back his right hand. She couldn't tell what he was holding in it with the fog all throughout the clearing, but he wouldn't have it for long. She had barely even noticed it was there when Drev flung it towards the creature, hitting it square in the neck.
Without warning, the creature reared back and let out a terrifying bellow that pierced the silence. Aire yelped and clung to her branch quickly to keep from falling off. The creature whipped around and lowered its large head before charging straight at Drev and Kuive. Drev and Kuive, however, seemed hardly phased by its reaction and both of them managed to dodge out of the way before it reached them.
The creature took a sharp turn and charged them again. It overshot its attack as Drev and Kuive managed to avoid it once again. What are they doing!? Aire nearly panicked. Are they trying to get themselves killed!?
She was so caught up worrying about their fate and wondering what they were doing, that she didn't even notice them moving steadily closer to where she was hiding. The creature continued to charge and overshoot Drev and Kuive, growing continuously more exhausted. Aire had just noticed that she could hear the creature's wheezing when it took a final charge at its two hunters, directly in the path of her tree.
She didn't catch it soon enough, and when the beast's massive head connected with the base of her tree it completely shook her loose. She shrieked and tried her best to catch herself, but ran out of time and landed squarely on her side, knocking the wind out of her lungs. She gasped for air and forced herself to sit up just as the creature turned towards her.
"YOU!?" she heard Drev shout. "What the hell are you doing on my island!? I told you to... get... get... GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
Aire wheezed helplessly and clawed at the ground, trying to pull herself out of the way as the creature lowered its head and stamped its large feet. Heavy tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision as she continued her staggered crawl. She was going to die like this, she knew it. Right here in front of the creepy ghost creature and Drev. What a sucky way to die.
She blinked again, causing a few tears to spill over and roll down her cheeks as the beast left its spot and began charging towards her. She knew she couldn't run away - she could barely even breathe! And her side and arm ached... could she even stand up?
"Help me..." she gasped, though she knew Drev wouldn't be able to hear her. She glanced up towards the charging creature and ducked her head down just as Drev flung himself out in front of her and took a blade to the creature's neck, causing it to disappear in a cloud of smoke.
"DAMMIT!" he said, turning towards her and flaring his nostrils, "I've been hunting him for the last month! Go figure I finally get to him and you show up and ruin it..."
"I'm sorry." Aire whispered, clutching her right wrist to her chest, "Please don't kill me, Drev... I was scared."
"Kill you!?" Drev snorted, "Oh, I could do far worse... especially after you scared away the Eldebeast Kro. I thought I told you never to come back here."
"I..." Aire started, before she realized she didn't really have a decent excuse, "I accidentally left my backpack."
Drev stared at her incredulously, wondering if she really expected him to believe that. Why had she really come back? He couldn't allow for some little girl to be hanging around a place like this. But... how was he supposed to get her to stay away without killing her...?
Then again, why was he so afraid to just kill her and be done with it? After all, she had knowingly come back to the island - it was her fault for walking into this trap. Ainad would be completely devastated if he killed her only daughter. But then there was the fact that Ainad was more powerful than he was... if she came to seek revenge, he wouldn't stand a chance. Not that he'd be able to live with himself after ever losing to Ainad anyways...
He sneered at Aire in complete disgust. She was sniffling pitifully and wringing her wrist next to her chest. Didn't she have any friends to occupy her time? What could he do to punish her?
He shook his head slightly once his mind started concocting ideas of punishment. His ideas of punishment were definitely not the same as most parents... and the thought of doing anything like that to a child was just... inhuman. He knew that first-hand - and he swore he would never take part in such villainous acts.
So what did parents usually do to punish their children? Make them sit in a corner? Spank them? Take their allowance? He wondered if this was why children were so undisciplined these days...
He watched as she struggled to her feet, gangly knees knocking together and wobbling to keep her balance. She flailed one arm out to the side and started to fall backwards when Drev reached out and grabbed her pack. It stopped her fall and he tugged on it to turn her around to face him.
"It... it really hurts." she sobbed, motioning to her wrist. "I landed on it funny and I can't feel my fingers. And... and my wing doesn't feel right either."
Drev winced; he wanted to get her off the island as soon as possible... but how was he supposed to do that with her in this condition?
"My mom can fix it." she said. "I know she can."
"Then you'd better get going." Drev snorted as he slung his sword over his shoulder and turned towards the path to his cave.
"But... how?" Aire asked, wide-eyed at the thought that he was really just going to leave her there.
"I don't know!" he snapped. "Walk, swim, something... just get out of my sight before I change my mind about killing you."
Aire frowned and teared up again. "But... I... I can't just stay here and..." How was she supposed to explain to Drev that she was scared or hurting? He couldn't understand that... and he'd probably quickly grow annoyed with her whining, too. She bit her bottom lip to keep it from quivering and looked cautiously up to where the large green Dragon stood over her.
She couldn't help it, it was the only idea she had - she still doesn't know what possessed her to ask it, but before she could stop herself, she opened her mouth and blurted, "Will you take me home?"
The question caught Drev off his guard and he opened his mouth slowly, hoping that some kind of smart comeback would jump right off his tongue. But he seemed to be at a loss for words - how was he supposed to answer that!? He didn't want to make her worse when she was already hurt... and he didn't want her to hang around his island.
Without a word, he reached down and lifted her effortlessly by her backpack. Aire quickly covered her eyes as Drev leapt roughly into the air. The slow, steady beats of his wings were hypnotic as she hung below him by the straps of her backpack.
They were both praying that no one would see. After all, each one of them couldn't bear the humiliation of being seen with the other - especially with Aire dangling from her backpack like that. What would Ainad say?
Aire's fear slowly melted away as they drew closer to her forest and she squirmed slightly once she spotted the welcoming stream of smoke drifting out of Ainad's chimney. Drev quickly lowered them into a dark corner of the woods next to the house. He dropped Aire while she was still a good six feet in the air, but she caught herself and landed on her feet. "Don't tell your mom where you were." he said shortly. "And don't ever come back to my island."
Aire, however, wasn't listening. She was so shocked that it had actually worked... she had gone to Drev's island, been discovered, fallen out of a tree and talked him into flying her home - how on earth was she still alive!? The way Ainad talked about him, she should have been dead the minute she fell out of the tree and into his sight. Why did he spare her? Maybe Ainad was really wrong about Drev...
"Thank you." she said quietly, adjusting one of the straps to her backpack as it was sliding down her shoulder. "Thank you for bringing me home... I owe you one."
Drev simply snorted and turned to leave as quickly as he had arrived. Aire watched him leave and wondered if he was heading back to resume his hunting. She felt bad about chasing off the creature he had mentioned, but she still didn't understand what it was - or even why Drev was hunting it.
Stop, Aire. she commanded herself. Stop wondering about this or you'll end up going back there again... next time you won't be as lucky.
With a slight spring in her step from the excitement of being home, she stepped forward into the meadow. The sun was just starting to set and the fireflies were coming out and dancing all over between where she stood and where the house was. She noticed her mother's silhouette in the kitchen window and couldn't help but grin.
Never before had it felt so good to come home.
Aire shot a nasty glance at Hugs as she passed through the main room in her cozy woodland cottage. Her mother had gone off to the city to visit her family there and Aire had been left under the watchful eyes of Ainad's dreadful pet Nimbus.
Hugs sizzled a little to let her know he was watching and she rolled her eyes. Leave it to a cloud to think he's got seniority over a Dragon. Why her mom kept him around, she would never know. She had been plotting for the last few days on the best way to get Hugs back for the way he'd treated her, but she had had no such luck on coming up with a worthy punishment.
"Broooo wooo!" Quilly sang as he grinned back and forth between the two. He was probably the only reason Aire and Hugs hadn't started openly fighting - both of them were pretty fond of the little Gremlin, and it was out of respect for him that they kept their differences below the surface.
"Hmph." Aire snorted as she stormed past Hugs and out the front door. She knew he wouldn't stop her - he was only left behind to make her life miserable, not to baby-sit. She placed her hands on her hips and stared out into the forest, still feeling angry with the Nimbus inside. It was bad enough being bossed around by her mother - she didn't need her stupid pet doing it too.
She was so lost in her thoughts of Nimbus-torture, that she paid no attention to her surroundings. Her mother had warned her before she left that she shouldn't step out of the house without first checking the forest. Ainad had been teaching Aire how to sense other magic - or, at least, other magic descended from their ancestors. Aire was getting to be pretty good at it, too - but she would still prefer to learn things like fight-back magic rather than avoid-and-run magic.
Nearby, behind a large tree just on the border of the woods, stood the most unwelcome of all visitors to the Lirakalya Meadow: Ainad's brother. He hadn't seen Ainad coming or going for the last few days, but it looked like Aire was still there. And... damn she looked a lot like Ainad... standing there like that.
He shuddered slightly, the resemblance sent a chill down his spine - maybe it was because she was the age Ainad was the last time they saw each other... that fateful day that changed both of their lives forever. In fact, Aire seemed almost exactly like Ainad was: very powerful, but too cowardly to act. It made him sick.
Why was all of the good magic wasted on fools who wouldn't use it? She's living her life playing and exploring, just like Ainad did when she was that age - useless things! He hated that fact... He could be using magic for important things like hunting and spying.
Aire was just stretching her arms high above her head thinking that it looked like a good night for moth-trapping when it happened. A sense somewhere deep inside her pricked and she froze. He's here. He was there, somewhere in the forest. Come on, she urged herself, Channel it, find him, find him!
Her eyes swept the forest looking for any possible sign that Drev was nearby. Where was her mom when she needed her!? So she had learned how to sense... what good would that be if he chose to attack?
Come on, concentrate! He had to be... somewhere towards the path... to the left of the lamppost... beyond the well...
At the perfect time, a firefly flared up in the distance and Aire felt the sharp prick inside her again - there he was. She had caught the quickest glance of a shadowy figure crouched behind a tree. Probably trying to decide if mom's here, she thought, ...coward.
Drev knew he had been spotted. He had been watching her reaction closely - had she learned to sense? What was he supposed to do now? If Ainad was really gone, and it was just Aire - then he could take her... but he didn't like the idea of charging forward. Something about her didn't feel right...
"What's the matter, Drev?" he heard her call. "Scared of the fireflies?"
He twitched slightly in a mix of rage and hesitation. He couldn't let his guard down... it could be a trap.
Aire, however, was loving it. She knew she had no power over Drev, but she liked to provoke him. It was obvious that he was jealous of her magical skills - even if she didn't have the right handle on them yet. "It's okay..." she taunted, "they won't hurt you, I promise."
Drev decided he had enough and stepped out from behind the tree, straightening himself up to his full, towering height. "You'd think..." he hissed so low that she could barely understand him. "That one child wouldn't act so careless without their bodyguard to take care of them. Are you trying to prove yourself? Trying to make like you're something special? That must be it - in a life where you've accomplished nothing other than hiding behind your mother, I'm sure you're glad she's away. You finally have your selfish opportunity to get yourself killed without her here to step in for you. Well let me tell you something, you ungrateful little brat - blatant stupidity should never be mistaken for martyrdom."
Aire blinked, Ouch....
"I've never seen such a disgrace at this age - not since your mother was younger."
At this, Aire finally snapped, losing all common sense and storming across the meadow to where Drev was standing. "You heartless son of a bitch." she spat. "What could she have ever done to you to make you hate her so much? Aside from the fact that you're jealous of her, what other problem do you have? You claim you're going to kill her - you've been saying it since I was a baby... yet you still haven't because why? Are you afraid? Afraid you'll lose the only person who ever had the heart to care for you?"
"SHUT UP!" Drev roared, charging towards Aire until they were toe-to-toe. They each started at each other with more hatred than either of them have ever felt towards another.
You could never understand.
Suddenly, as if their anger had erupted between them, they were each thrown backwards. The immense light that had suddenly flooded the dark forest had temporarily blinded them both, but when Aire's eyesight finally came to, she quickly spotted the source.
Hugs the Nimbus had burst from the house once he realized Drev was in the yard and had thrown the two apart. It looked as though he was closing in on Drev, who was still rubbing his eyes painfully and trying to open them to get an idea of what had just happened.
"Hugs stop!" Aire commanded. Nothing would make her look more cowardly than sending her mom's Nimbus to protect her. She wanted to be the one to hurt Drev - to finally put him out of their lives. Why did Hugs always have to get in the way!?
Hugs zeroed in on Drev, sparking and spitting like Aire had never seen him do before. Drev had covered his face with his hands and was writhing and dodging as many lightning bursts as he could, but he wouldn't last much longer...
"HUGS!" Aire shouted as she stormed up behind him, "I said STOP!"
As if an invisible fist had closed around the small Nimbus, Hugs completely froze. He was frozen with a shocked look on his face, and his electricity had completely cleared off. He was now only glowing an eerie blue glow, lighting Aire next to him and Drev at her mercy in front of them.
Drev flopped over and inhaled sharply, his body still smoking and his eyes rolled back slightly behind his eyelids. Aire winced when she saw him and bit her bottom lip. Now what?
A minute ago, she was ready to tear him from limb to limb in any way she could. Now, with Hugs as her witness and Drev at the disadvantage, what would she do?
Drev's hand twitched slightly and she heard him moan; he was coming to. Slowly, he opened his eyes and turned them towards Aire. He was still lying flat on his back and he wasn't moving - she could tell he wouldn't have to sit up even if he could... he was just waiting for her to finish it.
I... I can't... she frowned, It was an unfair fight... Hugs shouldn't have intervened. If I'm going to finish him, I want to do it on my own. She narrowed her eyes at him and remembered the last time they had met, almost two months ago. Drev had shown her sympathy when he could have easily killed her. Now the tides have turned and it was up to her to decide on the next step.
"Come on, Hugs." she mumbled as she plucked the still-frozen Nimbus from the sky and held him at her side before turning to Drev, "We're even now." she said, "I'm not going to do or say any more - I haven't forgotten how you helped me before. I will give you this warning: if you ever come back here, don't think that I'll stop Hugs from killing you. And I don't want to ever hear you talking about my mom like that again. Or else I just may have to kill you myself..."
With one last cold stare, she turned and headed up the path towards the cottage holding Hugs at her side. Ainad would be home the next night and, as far as Aire was concerned, she wouldn't ever have to know what had just happened.
Hugs remained frozen until Ainad came home the next day. She was shocked and wondered how he had managed to get like that, but neither he nor Aire said anything. In fact, neither of them mentioned the entire incident at all. Aire kept it secret because she didn't want to get in trouble and well, she figured Hugs would be pretty embarrassed by the whole ordeal.
It was nice to have Ainad back, though. Things always felt safer with her around, and Hugs was a lot easier to stand.
A few days later, Aire decided to take Quilly out for a walk. They had both stayed cooped up in the house since her fight with Drev and they both thought some fresh air sounded like a good idea.
She decided they'd stay close, not that she was worried or anything, but just in case. Then Ainad would be nearby - it was always a good idea to have a backup plan.
Quilly loved getting out and immediately took off in all directions. Aire simply followed him and grinned, she would never stop being amused by her little pet. Soon, all thoughts of danger had completely cleared her head. The only thing on her mind was searching that nearby log for a good bug specimen...
She had no sooner taken a step towards the log when a large hand stretched from the trees behind her and clapped over her mouth. The other one soon followed, grasping both of her wrists tightly behind her back.
Aire attempted a scream, but it was useless. She squirmed and stamped her feet before Drev finally leaned in and spoke over her shoulder. "I wanted to talk to you." he said as he started to effortlessly drag her off.
Aire shot him a spiteful glance and murmured in protest. It wasn't long until they had nearly reached the shoreline - Aire was sure Ainad wouldn't be able to sense them all the way out there.
Drev removed the hand from Aire's mouth and began tying her hands behind her back. "Are you kidding me!?" she shouted at him. "You think this old trick's actually going to work!? Untie me!"
"Well, I figure, if I tie your hands just right, you can't use your wings and fly away."
He's right... Aire thought reluctantly. She couldn't even move her wings with her arms in the way like that... Darnit...
"Well... what do you want then!?"
"I wanted to talk to you." Drev said, looking slightly sheepish.
Aire looked incredulous; what on earth would he have to say to her!?
"I wanted you to know," he said carefully, "That Ainad's not the only one who's ever cared for me."
Aire stared.
"Right before Naya left, she came and talked to me. She said she really cared for me, too. And some of the soldiers who raised me... they cared about me too. And the couple I stayed with before coming here."
"Why...?"
"I just thought you should know," he said finally, "that I'm not totally unloved."
"Why are you telling this to me!?" Aire looked horrified. "I don't care!"
"BECAUSE IT'S IMPORTANT!" Drev roared, tugging hard on her rope, causing her to crash to her knees. "It's important to me!"
"Okay, okay!" Aire cried, wincing in pain. "Okay, so other people like you too, that's great."
"I did a lot of thinking about what you said," Drev started again, ignoring her, "And I just thought you ought to know that. You don't even know me but you think you do. You make all of these assumptions based on what Ainad's told you. But she's probably never even really told you what happened between us, has she?"
"That's because I never asked!" Aire said, "That's between you and her, it doesn't concern me!"
Drev seemed satisfied with this answer. "I just... don't want you to judge me by what you've heard from your mom. Really, you haven't done anything wrong to me... I mean, if I overlook the whole Eldebeast incident and your constant insistence of invading my private island..."
Aire winced but Drev continued, "I... I don't think it's fair for me to hate you just because who you're related to. I'm willing to give you another chance if you'll give me one in return."
Aire was speechless, "You mean...?"
"Not like... love each other or anything!" Drev said quickly looking disgusted. "Just... not hate each other. Think you can live with that?"
"I can live with that."
"Well, then I kind of had a favor to ask..." Drev added hesitantly. "Ainad's teaching you magic and... well, I never really learned how to control mine - Ainad and I didn't really know when we were that age, but now that she's figured it out and she's telling you, I thought that maybe you could show me... I mean, if you think you understand and I have a chance for... you know, I always wished I had understood better... could have saved me years ago and it's got a lot of use and..."
"Hold it." Aire said looking astounded, "I can barely understand where you're getting at... you want me to teach magic to you!?"
"Well, it's not like Ainad would teach me!" Drev snapped, "And Naya's not really around for that anymore, is she!?"
"And I'm not going to teach you a thing if you keep talking to me like that!" Aire snapped back. "I don't care if you're older than me, if you want something, you can at least act respectful!"
"Fine." Drev sneered. "Please teach me."
"Well, you know... I'm not even that good yet." Aire said, looking embarrassed. "You should know that by now."
"Yeah, well it's more than I've got." Drev said, a hint of bitterness in his tone.
"And, if I'm going to teach you anything..." Aire interrupted, "You've got to promise me that you... you won't use it against my family. Not me, not my mom, not dad or Koj. You can't even use it against our pets... 'cept Hugs, I guess - I don't care what you do to him."
"Okay." Drev agreed quickly, "I won't use it against you."
"And...." Aire added thoughtfully, "I want you to teach me how to hunt."
"Hunt?" Drev asked, looking surprised.
"Well, we might as well make it a trade." Aire said, "And who better to learn hunting from than you?"
Drev looked very pleased with himself, "Yeah well... a lot of practice, you know."
"Which means," Aire added, "I want to know how to fight and kill the creatures on your island. And I want to know what makes them different from the creatures in my forest."
"Ah, that stuff's easy." Drev said. "Shouldn't take long to teach you that."
"Then I can teach you what I know." Aire said, "But no promises, I'm not sure how similar our magic would be and stuff."
"Yeah well, knowing something would be better than knowing nothing." Drev said. "You want to start tomorrow or something?"
"Okay..." Aire said cautiously.
"Then meet me on the beach of my island tomorrow afternoon. Don't go any farther into the woods or down the beach, do you understand?"
"Yeah, I understand." Aire snapped, "Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I'm stupid, you know."
"Yeah, whatever." Drev said, ignoring her as he untied her wrists, "Oh, and don't say anything about it to your mom." he added. "She'd probably come out and kill me or something."
"Yeah, after killing me first." Aire said, little visions of Ainad nagging her for being careless floated around in her head.
"Well... tomorrow, then." Drev said as he turned and left just as quickly as he had shown up.
Aire watched him go and felt nervous. Should she have agreed? What if it was some kind of trap? He sounded sincere but... you never really knew with him. Was it really a good idea to keep something like this from Ainad? What if she went over there tomorrow and never came back? Maybe she should tell someone...
She shook her head and started walking back towards the forest. No doubt Quilly was already home by now, wondering where she had gone. She'd think of something before she left tomorrow. She did really want to learn how to hunt... and Drev wasn't that dangerous if she could defend herself with magic... right?
"Shhhhhh..." Drev hissed as he and Aire crouched behind a silver bush. Aire carefully moved to where she could see. She and Drev had been meeting in secret to tutor each other for the past several months whenever they could get a chance. They had to be sure Ainad wouldn't find out, as she probably wouldn't agree with them meeting each other.
While they had grown more tolerable of each other, they still left much to be desired in the family "love" department. They had an unsung agreement that they would never act like a normal niece and uncle would but, for now, maybe they could act as partners working together to reach a common goal...
Aire had been sharing some of her mother's magic tips with Drev. He had confided in her about his disappointment in losing his magical abilities and they both had been working to try and figure out what went wrong and how they could bring his powers back.
So far, the only thing they had managed to do was create a green force of magic that was similar to the blue magic Aire and Ainad could conjure. Unfortunately, Drev couldn't hold it for longer than a few seconds before it would disappear again.
When they both got too frustrated with the magic teaching, she moved on to trying to teach him how to read. He was slow to admit that he had never learned at first - after all, he had been raised in the Citadel. The soldiers there were more concerned with whether or not he could fight rather than whether he could read. And, once he had admitted that particular weakness to her, they turned their focus to that.
This was even slower learning than the magic. Drev had long since made up his own language which, Aire noticed, he had written all over the insides of his caves. She often wondered what the encryptions meant, but was always too afraid to ask. They had at least gotten through the basics of the English language, though, and she had him sounding out simple words and letters.
Drev had taught her how to hunt on his island. It wasn't quite as easy as it would be anywhere else; his island was inhabited by strange spirits. These spirits couldn't be harvested for meat or fur like regular animals, but Drev had found a way to return them to a more life-like form. Strangely enough, his procedures only worked on the creatures on this particular island. And, even stranger the creatures seemed to be tied to the island, Drev mentioned that none of them seemed able to leave the island at all - and strange things happened when they did.
Aire was very intrigued by all of this when he told her and she was especially happy to find that he was actually doing something productive with all his alone time rather than just being a hermit. Drev had gone on to explain that he had freed all sorts of the smaller creatures, one of them being the Gargoyle that was constantly at his heels, but the one that he had most wanted to free was the largest, most majestic creature on the island: the Eldebeast Kro.
Aire had already seen this monster - it was not only her first encounter with the island spirits, but it was also one of her worst encounters with Drev; one she wouldn't soon forget.
Today, for the first time since she had seen the Eldebeast in many months; she, Drev, and Kuive were hunting it together. Kuive stood faithfully by Drev's side, fading in and out and standing perfectly still while Drev reached into his pocket, pulled something out, and handed it to Aire.
Aire knew exactly what it was without removing her eyes from their prey. She nodded slightly to let him know that she understood and they both watched as the Eldebeast turned its back on them and began grazing on the moss covering a nearby boulder.
As quietly as possible, Aire stood behind the bush leaving only it between her and the monster. Part of her was terrified, but she didn't feel as worried this time, knowing that Drev was on her side. She clutched the dart in her right hand and threw it as hard as she could. All of her practice in throwing had paid off and the dart hit the Eldebeast square in the shoulder.
"Well it's not the neck..." Drev said as he stood up, "but it'll do."
The Eldebeast whipped its head around and narrowed its eyes at them before letting out a terrible roar and charging towards them. Drev and Kuive both gracefully jumped into the air and allowed the Eldebeast to run right under them as Aire dove right out of its path.
"You idiot!" Drev said as she was barely missed. "Use your wings!! Your wings!!"
Aire grumbled and leapt into the air just before the Eldebeast passed through a second time. This time it stopped directly under them and pawed at the ground, snorting in fury.
"Give him something to chase, Kuive." Drev ordered as his Gargoyle dove back towards the ground and bolted off into the forest. "Let's follow him." he said to Aire, "It shouldn't take much longer."
Sure enough, by the time they reached Kuive, he was circling the Eldebeast and barking happily. "Good boy!" Drev said as he reached down and picked up his Gargoyle to rub its belly.
Aire kneeled down and withdrew the dart from the Eldebeast's shoulder. The poison had taken longer to work on this larger creature... but it looked as though it had done its job.
"I've finally got him..." Drev said as Kuive jumped out of his arms and they both bent in for a closer look.
"Now what?" Aire asked.
"Well... now we just have to take the spirit to its body."
"But it's right here, isn't it?" she asked.
"No, this is just his spirit... the two have been separated."
"How did you figure all of this out?" she asked, looking incredulous.
"I accidentally killed Kuive." he said. "But I found a way to bring his spirit back into his body. It didn't cure him completely, but it at least prevented him from just staying a ghost. See, he's more solid now... and it doesn't feel weird to touch him."
"Well where's the Eldebeast's body?"
"Oh, I found it months ago, I've been keeping it in a cave."
Aire was a little grossed out to think of what its body might look like if it had been sitting around for that long, but she tried not to think about it. "Err... I don't know..."
"You don't know what?" Drev asked.
"I don't know if I can watch that..." she said, her face had lost a little color, "It sounds really gross... maybe I should wait until you're working on a smaller animal."
Drev just smirked, "Yeah, I didn't think you'd be able to handle it."
Aire frowned, "I can handle it. Just... not right now."
"Yeah, yeah..." Drev said. He knew he shouldn't expect the daughter of Ainad to be into this sort of thing. "Well I think that's enough for today. Kuive and I will take care of the Eldebeast, you should go home."
"Yeah..." Aire said. "Thanks for taking me hunting today..."
Drev focused on the Eldebeast so that he wouldn't have to look at her. "Good aim on your shot... keep practicing and I'll teach you how to hunt for real."
Aire knew he didn't feel like saying anything more, so she turned to leave. The last thing Drev would ever do would be to admit that he liked her in any way... so she knew to take compliments like that for more than were said. Without a further look back, she jogged out onto the beach and took flight, heading for home.