Creative Corner

Oh okay, thanks SallyJane :)

There will be a ping as I add you to the list. Not a problem, I'm glad you're interested :)

I’m loving the story so far! I’d really appreciate being added to the pinglist too please.

@Vexorianite Okay! there will be a ping as I add you to the list :) I'm glad you like my story!

---

Cassandra watched the girls from the window of the library across the road from the park. A normal human would need binoculars for that. But she was neither normal nor human.

The auburn haired girl and the red haired, pale freckled boy were unexpected.

There was something about them, which she couldn’t quite place. Perhaps they were your average mage or sorcerer. Or just very very weak-powered. Whatever the case, she didn’t think they’d give her much trouble.

She sniffed. She would probably claim them as her subjects, and take them back with her. Not today, no. Perhaps in a few years, when Lazuli came of age. She would just have to make sure they didn’t disappear.

With a yawn and a stretch, she stepped through the closed window as though it wasn’t even there, into thin air. This part of the library was one story from the ground, and she strolled leisurely down to ground level, as though there was an invisible staircase.

It was after 5PM, local time, and several people had already headed home. It probably wasn’t much longer until the rest went.

Nuru had already bundled everyone into the van over half an hour ago, saying they had a long drive ahead of them and an early bedtime.

Sure enough, several minutes later, everyone trickled down the path to the car park, ready to leave.

Cassandra smiled to herself, from where she stood in the car park, invisible and intangible to those around her. Lazuli hadn’t had a good day, it would seem. Lovely.

Lazuli sat in the car with her eyes closed, ignoring her throbbing hip, pretending to be asleep, mind racing.

She had actually been looking forward to coming, and seeing Aura again. Yes, she hadn’t expected to be able to play anything with them, but it was still a disappointment. And depressing.

Everything was depressing, really.

And now there was those two, Isis and Glifieu. She didn’t know who they were, but they had magic. And Isis had seemed to almost understand what she had said earlier.

Lazuli hoped she hadn’t given anything away. She had said too much to the girl. And that was probably going to come back to haunt her, one of these days. Lucky her.

She should probably mention them to Dreyr. He’d want to know, anyway. And, for their safety (and hers) it was probably a good idea.

And the weather was too cool. Four months before her 15th birthday in September. What did that make it now? Bloody May.

She mentally frowned to herself. Jae’s birthday was in May. Shame she hadn’t mentioned it. Maybe next time.

The car stopped suddenly, and she made a noise between a whimper and a groan as her hip jarred. She bit her lip, tears threatening to spill.

“Sorry,” her mother said apologetically.

She wasn’t her actual mother. For safety reasons, Lazuli had been placed with a foster family on Earth. She and her parents were the only ones who knew that. Well, the only people on Earth who knew that. Dreyr did, Ben did, Poppy did, Verda did. Cassie did…

She took a deep breath. Life was nothing but torture. Honestly, she half felt that she would have been better off being left to die.

A touch of guilt assailed her. Those were exactly the thoughts Dreyr wanted to know about.

And if I don’t have any, he can’t. So I won’t. She shut out as much of the negativity as she could, which was pretty much like trying to hold a planet on her shoulders. And she knew exactly what that was like, having done that before. Well, a dwarf planet. Or moon, depending on how you looked at it.

Not that it matters anymore, she sighed to herself. Three good thoughts for each bad thought… No matter how small it may be.

Because she had recovered sufficiently to walk (albeit painfully, slowly and not for long), she was now back on Earth, meaning she was “on her own”.
Not by choice, of course. The others wanted to help her, but they couldn’t, no matter how much they wanted to.

The reason the others couldn’t help, was because their race was too powerful. Sometimes, they had to leave things as they were.

Some millions and billions of years ago, several very powerful Antiqua had cast a spell, which would stop others from interfering.

Take Avengers: Infinity War. Somewhere, quite likely in another universe, everything that had happened in the movie, had happened there.

Now, if Lazuli (back when she had the power to) had decided she wanted to slip into that dimension to help, she would have had trouble.

She could get there, but she couldn’t change anything, the old magic holding her back.

That was what Dreyr, Poppy, Ben, Verda and many others would have the problem of.

It was very annoying, and Lazuli could think of several people who would still be alive, if it weren’t for that magic. Then again, she could think of several people, who were alive who could be dead if it weren’t for that magic.

She sighed heavily. Life could be very complicated at times.

She was still pondering what had happened at the park, what with Isis and Glifieu's magic.

Because she no longer possessed magic of her own, she couldn’t pinpoint others so easily, but if it was obvious, she knew what to look for.

She couldn’t gauge how powerful they were, whether they were mages or Antiqui.

Pretty much every living thing (except perhaps some plants and animals) was descended from the Antiqui. Mages were just that tiny bit closer, and could use magic, although nowhere near the scale of their ancestors.

“You’d think I’d notice if they were Antiqui,” she muttered to herself. “Unless they’re hiding it. But why let me know that they are magical?”

She was lying on her sister’s bed, as climbing the rungs and over the side of her top bunk bed was difficult and painful.

She tapped her fingers on the covers. She had almost stabbed Isis earlier. She didn’t think it would have gone down well if she had.

She yawned heavily, and placed a forearm over her eyes. It was after 10 PM, and, as per usual, she couldn’t sleep.

She wracked her brain. It had been three whole nights since she slept.

For your average human being, this could be quite problematic. However, Lazuli was quite delighted that three nights of no sleep hadn’t tired her overly much.

“Tomorrow night, maybe,” she murmured to herself, a slight smile actually making its way to her lips.

She lay there on her back, five or six hours as she waited for everyone else to get to bed.

It was about quarter to four when her father got into bed, and only took a couple of minutes for him to get properly to sleep.

She carefully slipped out of bed. With the covers pulled up to her shoulders, the others hadn’t noticed that she was wearing her daytime clothes. She’d get into trouble if they found out.

It was cold outside, something she detested, so over the two long tops and a t-shirt went another top – a jumper, followed by a cardigan and a jacket.

She was already wearing leggings under her jeans, so she was all good there as she pulled some thicker socks onto her feet with her gloved hands.

She took a beanie, and a scarf. She wouldn’t usually bother with a scarf during the daytime, but it was a good bit colder at night.

Before leaving the house, she had a drink of water, not bothering to take a bottle because she knew she wouldn’t need to drink for several hours yet.

She opened the front door, pulling the keys from it as she did, and stepped outside into the cold.

Her breath misted in front of her as she pulled on her sneakers and went through the gate, turning left.

She didn’t have anything much in mind, she was just heading to the park, which was about two minutes away. When you could actually walk properly. It took closer to ten.

She saw a fox, who stared at her suspiciously, before deciding she wasn’t a threat.

That was true. The fox could outrun her almost before she thought about it. If she tried to chase it, that was.

The lights at the park were annoying, but it wasn’t like she could just take a quick stroll to the countryside. Not anymore.

She sat on a bench, eyes closed, relaxing as best she could. Although she didn’t like the cold, every now and then it was quite nice. Refreshing.

She sat there until the sun came up, and several early(ish) morning joggers came by.

Her parents wouldn’t be up yet, so they would likely never know that she had gone to the park, which would have earned her a good yelling at.

She quietly let herself into the house, taking off her shoes, scarf and jacket, but left the rest on.

Her father had popped into the library for her yesterday, and gotten her some books, despite her saying she didn’t feel like reading.

You always enjoyed to read when things weren’t going well, she pointed out to herself. Why should now necessarily be any different? Now is even worse, surely a book would be welcome?

She walked through the lounge and kitchen and opened the back door, stepping over the dog, who was sleeping, and pulled out one of the books at random and opened it.
She had nearly finished the book when her parents got up about three hours later.

Sighing, she set the book down and went inside for breakfast. Shame it was over.

After breakfast, she went back to read the other books, knowing she could probably finish them in a day or two.

And, sure enough, a couple of days later, they were all read and done.

Bored, she drummed her fingers on her legs, trying to think of something to do. She ought to write, she supposed, but she didn’t feel like it.

A wave of guilt washed over her. No, she would write. Carefully, else it would go awry.

She started off writing in her writing book, and ended up on the mini computer, writing a completely different story.

Her sister had lunch, and she continued to write. Dinner came and went, and she eventually stopped writing to go to bed. She was tired tonight.

I’ll probably wake up in a few hours nice and refreshed, she thought optimistically.

It took her about half an hour to drift off, which was normal for her. As predicted, she woke up at about ten to five in the morning.

Now what? She wondered. It’s only Monday. There’s nothing to do, really.

There probably was something to do, she just couldn’t be bothered.

She lay in bed, thinking forward to when she had her magic back. What she would do.

Well, first of all, she would fly up to the others, and do some proper flying there, because flying on Earth could be problematic.

Then, when she was ready to land, she would do some sparring and brawling.

The question was when her magic would come back. Would it be soon, or would it take several years?

---

@WolfLionHeart @LeaDurnane @Vexorianite

Sorry that took so long. And it's shorter. Oh well...

---

Isis sighed as she pulled into the car park and found a spot. As per usual, her siblings were bickering as though this was the last chance they would get. Or it was what kept them alive. Or something.

“Guys!” she said, killing the engine and twisting in her seat to give them her best Mum Glare.

They quieted.

“Can you please stop it? I feel like my head is either going to fall off or explode.”

“Well, if your head explodes, the exploded bits will fall off,” Elki pointed out helpfully.

“An excellent point, my Dear Sir. Now, out you hop, all of you. Otherwise I’ll pull you out upside down!”

There were squeals of laughter, and several complaints as they crawled over each other in an attempt to make it out first.

Isis rolled her eyes, getting out of the car. It was just her, the three boys, Zahar and Raven today.

“Alright,” Isis said. “Is this everyone? Yes, it is, but it doesn’t feel like it. Next time, we’re bringing more people!”

“Only if daddy doesn’t need the van,” Elki said helpfully. They had all barely fitted into the car.

“If he needs it, he can have it. When we get back!” Isis teased. “Now come on. That’s all of us, but do we have all our water bottles and anything else we need?”

There was a chorus of yeses.

“Good. Now, forward march!”

It was just after one, and they were the first ones there.

“Looks like Jae and Jamyn aren’t early this time,” Zahar said, looking around. “I shall have to inform them of their lapse,” she said in a posh voice, sniffing.

“That means you can go to the library,” Isis pointed out, half hoping that Jamyn wouldn’t turn up.

“Ohhh, yes!” Raven said, jumping up excitedly. “I need to see if that book’s there.”

“Anyone else going?” Isis asked.

Zahar raised her hand, barely looking up from her current book. “Yeah, I have some books a need to return, and I want to take a look. One moment.”

Raven rolled her eyes impatiently. “Zahar, you’re old enough to cross the road on your own. I’m not waiting for you.”

“Okay, okay! No need to be so snappy,” Zahar glared at her, closing her finger in the book so that she didn’t lose her spot and picking up two other books.

“Hey,” Isis said in a warning tone. “Be nice, please. Half killing each other is an at home activity only.”

“Yes mum,” the two girls chorused, rolling their eyes, then giggled at having done that at the same time.

“It’s not that funny,” Isis said, barely containing her laughter, watching where the triplets were going.

They hooked arms and strolled down to the library, suddenly on good terms with each other.

Isis shook her head. “I’ll never understand how they can be ready to practically kill each other one moment, then be cheerfully hugging each other the next.”

“Well,” said a voice behind her, “from my observations, I’d say it’s a sibling thing.”

Isis looked round. It was Jamyn. “Hi Jamyn,” she said, trying to keep all suspicion out of her voice.

“Hi,” he said with a friendly smile. “No-one else here yet?”

“No. Just me, Elki, Fudo, Lachlan, Raven and Zahar.”

He nodded. “Alright then. I guess I’ll head down to the library, see what’s there.”

Isis felt a surge of alarm. There was something suspicious about Jamyn, and she didn’t want her two sisters with him on their own.

“One moment, we’ll come as well, I need to return something.” She didn’t actually, but it was an excuse.

“Okay, I’ll wait,” he said patiently, with another friendly smile.

Isis called her brothers over. “I need to return something, and you’re not staying here.”

They grumbled and picked up their water bottles, trailing behind.

She was watching him closely, trying to tell if he was annoyed that she was also coming to the library. He didn’t seem to be.

“Isis.”

“What?” she asked, blinking.

“You said you had something to return.”

“Oh, yes, right.” She had been about to walk right past the chute. “Good point,” she muttered, pulling a book out of her bag.

She hadn’t finished it, but she hadn’t liked it either, so it was no great loss.

Jamyn sort of looked at her, one eyebrow raised in a questioning way.

Uncomfortably, Isis shrugged. “I was wondering where exactly Raven and Zahar were.”

“Okay,” he said, raising his hands, almost defensively.

Isis realised that her tone had been somewhat hostile. “Oh, sorry.”

He shrugged a shoulder, but didn’t reply, continuing onward.

They spent close to twenty minutes in the library, and ended up with more than twenty books.

“You’re all carrying your own,” Isis said, her own two books under her chin as she pulled out her library card.

On the way out of the library, they bumped into Rose, Jae and Mahala.

“Oh, hey!” Isis said, swinging her bag of books onto her shoulder.

“So there are people here,” Rose said.

“Yes, we got here almost half an hour ago, and there was no-one here, so we thought we’d pop into the library,” Isis said.

“That was what we thought we’d do – go to the library,” Jae said.

“Well, we’ll see you at the park in a bit, then?” Jamyn asked, smiling.

“I guess so,” Jae replied.

“Holding hands,” Isis said to Elki, Fudo and Lachlan at the road. “Thank you.”

It was close to two when Aura, Remus, Kay, Lazuli and Mimili turned up together.

Lazuli seemed much happier than she had been the first time Isis had seen her, and she also seemed even stranger.

Kay sort of waved half-heartedly, and the others said hello.

“Foursquare?” Lazuli and Mimili asked at the same time, then laughed at each other, each pretending to push the other away from herself.

“Okay,” Aura said.

“I bags King square!” Isis yelled, running past Kay before he could react.

There were shrieks of laughter, and the others followed.

Lazuli and Remus were the last to arrive at an unhurried pace, talking about books.

“Come on slow pokes, get into line,” Isis grinned from where she stood in King square. Kay was next to her in Prince, then Raven in Knight and Mimili in Dungeons.

Lazuli stuck her tongue out at her good-naturedly. “Why, of course, M’Lady.”

She’s come a long way from the quiet girl who just about loathed me, Isis thought. That, or she’s just really good at hiding it. Which I think I would have noticed.

“Well, I am a goddess, after all,” she said aloud, waving her hand about aimlessly.

Lazuli rolled her eyes. “Mmm, yes, totally,” she said, coughing.

“Get on with the game,” Raven grumbled. “Kill someone. Get it over and done with.”

“Ah, Raven, you’ve got the ball…” Aura said.

“So I do. I hope everyone’s ready.” She went for Isis in the square next to her, skipping the ball low.

“I should have had that square,” Isis complained after missing the ball and slouching off in a mock-offended manner.

They played for a while, then everyone got bored. Or, almost everyone.

There was a suggestion of capture the flag, which received mixed answers.

“I’m not fussed,” Lazuli said. “But this isn’t really the best place to play it. However, we haven’t played it for a while.”

There was also a suggestion of cops and robbers, which Isis hated, Lazuli disliked and everyone else was largely neutral.

“Survival tag, then?” Shane asked.

This got more yesses, and two rounds were played – both of which Kay won.

Today seemed to be a day of everything being boring. In the end, they did a round of capture the flag.

On the pond side with Kay’s cardigan was Kay (leader), Aura, Lazuli, Raven, Elki, Fudo and Lachlan.

On the foursquare side with Lazuli’s jacket, Isis, Zahar, Jamyn (leader), Remus, Mahala, Shane and Jae.

They all retreated to their sides, and began a loud countdown from ten.

“… Eight … Seven…” drifted from the foursquare “court” over to the pond, where they were already down to three.

There was a bit of a confused start, but they managed to sort it out.

“Alright,” Jamyn said, “Shane, Remus, you’re guarding, the rest of you come with me.”

On the way to the pond, they ran into Aura, Raven and Kay. They all toed the boundary line, trying to find a way to get across.
They spent a couple of minutes darting back and forth, until Lachlan, Elki and Fudo came over.


You might think it’s easy to out-run a seven year old, and generally it is. But not when they’re almost small enough to be a four year old and they’ve managed to get close.

There was a bit of shrieking and running backward from those who had taken a step into enemy territory.

Lachlan forgot to stop at the line, and continued running to be tagged by Jae.

Lazuli had been quite enjoying her day. Until the explosion, that was.

At least Aura, Remus, Jae and Mahala had already left, meaning fewer people were injured in the blast.

Unfortunately, almost everyone else was caught in the explosion.

Those of them who had yet to leave had just gone up to the table to say goodbye to Aura and Remus. Lazuli wasn’t sure why everyone had gone - she couldn't think of a single time that had ever happened. Not with this many of them. The parents, as per usual, were all sitting at the table.

Lazuli, Isis and Jamyn had just returned to the foursquare court when the table exploded. Everyone else had yet to make it out of the blast radius.

Lazuli had already turned and begun to run back to the table before Isis even reacted. Jamyn was in front of her, seeming impossibly fast. How had he done that?

There was a huge crater where the table had been - everyone was burnt beyond recognition. However, there was still a window of a precious few minutes in which they could be saved. If Lazuli had her magic. Which she did not.

She jumped into the crater, barely noticing Jamyn, and placed her hands on one of the mangled bodies. “Please, please, please, please,” she whispered, tears threatening to spill. Nothing happened. She felt a wave of anger and despair, threatening to overcome her.

There was a wordless cry of anguish from Isis up on the crater edge, frozen in shock. She began to step forward, and a piece of rock fell from the sky, with other debris, striking her in the head. She crumpled, unconscious, to the ground.

Lazuli was still frantically trying to heal the person, despite knowing she couldn’t, refusing to give up. Jamyn pushed her roughly aside.

She grunted, catching herself on her elbows and jarring her hip. She was about to yell at Jamyn when her voice caught in her throat. She watched as he placed his hands on the body, which began to heal.

Questions raced through her head, too fast for her to fully contemplate, and she made sure her mind was fully blocked from his.

The other two people who he had just been crouching by were healed, although still unconscious. Presumably he didn’t want them waking up and panicking - among other things.

He quickly healed everyone, then jumped out of the crater to check on Isis. He healed the gash on the side of her head, and nodded to himself, before turning to face Lazuli.

She had climbed out of the crater, and was giving him a level stare, arms crossed.

He gave her a sheepish grin, gesturing vaguely to the unconscious people he had healed. “Um… Yeah. No-one’s dead. Not from the explosion, anyway.”

“From shock, perhaps,” Lazuli said stiffly, “if they find out what you can do. Except your mother, of course. She’s not really your mother, is she?”

Jamyn’s eyes widened a fraction. Then they narrowed. “I’d hoped I wouldn’t have to do this,” he muttered, reaching for her.

Her left hand batted his arm down, while her right punched him on the jaw. She might not be as strong as she once was, but she was still strong enough to break his jaw.

He stumbled back with a muffled curse, and drew a blade, seemingly out of thin air. “Damnit,” he spat.

“No,” Lazuli said firmly, crossing her arms again. He was not particularly skilled with the blade, she could see, and even in her current state she could possibly beat him. Or he might kill her.

“Why not?” he growled, circling her slowly, trying to hide his nerves.

“I asked Dreyr where that dagger went,” she said patiently, turning in time with him. “He said to a friend. And now I finally know which friend.” She was no longer speaking in English, the truth of what she said strong in her words.

He stopped, staring at her. His fingers clenched on the hilt of his blade, and he studied her carefully.

She met his searching gaze with her calm one. “Be a shame if we were to try and kill each other,” she said, her tone a mixture of warning wand teasing.

“Right…” he mumbled. “Okay.” He warily scanned their surroundings, unable to deny the truth of her words.

Lazuli did the same. Whoever had caused the explosion… She was certain they were still there. She drew her sword, which had been concealed by its magic. How it still managed to conceal itself like that, she wasn’t sure. But it did, and for that she was thankful.

“They’re probably in more danger while we’re here,” Jamyn said. “We should move.”

“Mm…” Lazuli agreed. “Also, I’m sick and tired of talking to the police. They absolutely drive me up the wall.”

Jamyn glanced at her. “Yeah. I think we should-” he broke off as someone appeared, standing under the trees at the top of the slope that lead down to the creek.

“Escaping, are we?” the mystery figure asked. “Without even saying hello? My, how children’s manners have worsened over the years.”

“It’s not manners to blow people up,” Lazuli growled, baring her teeth out of habit.

They chuckled. “I suppose not. Now, does this have to get violent? Only, the police are twenty-six seconds away, and I’d hate to be in the middle of a fight when they get here.” They shifted slightly, showing the sword in their hands.

“Not if you go,” Lazuli said. Jamyn was looking at the road, where the sirens could be heard.

“I’m not doing that.” They chuckled, then became serious. “Violence it is,” they snarled, and moved toward Lazuli and Jamyn.

Lazuli blocked a lightning fast blow from his sword with hers. She wouldn’t be able to fight him for long, not while he had the advantage of his magic.

Jamyn was too inexperienced, something even his magic couldn’t make up for. He was trying to edge round, looking for an opening. Their (or, perhaps more accurately, Lazuli’s) attacker didn’t give him one.

The police had arrived, and were ordering them to drop their weapons.

Neither Lazuli or her opponent paid them any attention. Him because he had no need to, she because she could not afford to. Giving in to distraction would be fatal.

The blade came within a millimetre of her face. At this rate he would defeat her before another minute passed.

Behind her, the police officers fired their guns. She flinched habitually, giving her opponent the opening they needed to land a light blow on her sword arm - a shallow scratch.

She could feel the burn of the poison, something she had long since become familiar with.

Across from her, her assailant grinned. The poison would son slow her down, enabling him to finish her more quickly. Although, he might manage to kill her before it affected her, which didn’t seem unlikely, the way things were going.

Curses ran through her head. She fought desperately, her blade seeming to respond to her plight, appearing to move faster than it had before.

The man’s eyes narrowed. That should not have happened, the loss of her magic should have rendered it an inanimate object. Unless… No, he must finish her, quickly.

Lazuli noticed it too, feeling somewhat surprised. She knew her slight advantage would not last long, a few minutes at best. She hacked at him, as frantically as she dared. In a few minutes the fight would be over, and she was damned if she was going to let him win.

She feinted for his head, changing direction at the last second, before their blades could lock, aiming for and striking him in the chest.

He staggered back, blood spattering the ground. He looked surprised, and she knew he was not the only one. She was astounded she had managed to land a blow on him.

The wound did not seem to be healing. It would appear he had not taken any precautions. Maybe she could win this after all.

The poison was beginning to affect her co-ordination and speed. She could feel the poison seeping into each and every part of her body, slowing her down. The rate of her heartbeat, which, up until now, had been a little fast but even, was gradually picking up, growing more and more uneven.

But, no matter how badly the poison was affecting her, her opponent was deteriorating faster.

Lazuli was pretty good with the sword, and it was one of the few things she had been able to practice when her hip had healed sufficiently, meaning the odds were now in her favour.

His attacks were becoming more and more frantic, and there was a desperate look on his face. He was stressing. Good.

Panicking in this case would only make the poisoning worse. It sought (among other things) to elevate the victim’s heart rate, and being stressed did just that. With the poison in his system, he had no way to slow his heart. The only thing to do in this situation was stay calm until you could get the antidote.

In a flurry of blows, she managed to get past his guard, and buried her sword almost halfway through his head. It probably would have gone farther, except he sword was in the way. The jewels in its pommel went dark, and it reverted to dagger form, waiting to be reclaimed.

She relaxed slightly, and was about to turn around to see what was going on with the police, when someone shot at her.

The projectile went through the left side of her chest, just below her heart. She seemed to fall in slow motion, mind racing.

She was certain whatever it wasn’t a bog standard lead bullet. Jamyn had a force-field up, specifically to keep out the Police’s bullets, and lead wouldn’t get through that. Nothing found on Earth would, for that matter. There was only one thing that could get through a force-field, and that was a Hathiyaar - the weapon of the Antiqui. The Hathiyaar could overcome the barrier due to its unique magical makeup. Meaning there was another Antiqua or someone closely descended from them. They had to be able to see her, and that was it, so, due to their abilities, it was safe to assume they were either mere metres away, or several hundred kilometres.

Jamyn caught her before she hit the ground and lowered her down carefully, an extremely alarmed and anxious look on his face. Because of the poison in her bloodstream, both from the hole in her chest and the scratch she got earlier, he couldn’t heal her.

The projectile (presumably an arrow) had punctured her lung, causing it to flood with blood, which she was coughing up, feeling as though her chest was going to split in half.

Dimly, she sensed his futile efforts to heal the wound. As her magic wasn’t “locked”, but rather gone, if it wasn’t healed within the next few minutes, it would kill her.

The world seemed to tip around her, and a moment later they were somewhere else.

She could vaguely hear someone yelling in the background, and sensed movement. Someone was leaning over her. More faces appeared, and several seconds later, the world came back into focus.

Lazuli groaned at a brief flash of nausea as the poison was well and truly flushed from her system. Four concerned faces stared down at her - Ben, Poppy, Dreyr and Jamyn. Who looked as though he was on the verge of well and truly freaking out.

“Are you alright?” Dreyr asked.

She pushed herself upright, shaking her body like a wet dog. “Not sure. Been a while since someone put a good hole in me. Imminent death averted, anyway.” She took a deep breath, which ended in a yawn. “On the upside, my hip isn’t quite so achy.”

Poppy contemplated the accuracy of her statement, and Jamyn looked as though he wanted to shake her by the shoulders. “Upside?!” he burst out. “UPSIDE?! You could have died!”

“I could have,” she replied calmly. “I have you to thank that I did not.” She stood, fully recovered from her brush with death. “Well, I suppose we’d better go sort the others out,” she said reluctantly.

“An excellent idea,” Dreyr said. “Try not to accumulate any more holes while you’re at it, will you? The body is not made to function full of additional holes.”

“Well, excuse me, but I’m going to stick to being permanently worried,” Ben said, lips pursed and arms crossed.

“If you insist,” Lazuli said, beckoning to Jamyn as she walked off. “Could you take me down, please?”

---

@LeaDurnane @WolfLionHeart @Vexorianite

Sorry this keeps taking longer than expected. While I quite enjoy writing the story on paper, I'm not quite so motivated to type it up. Life's been a bit busy lately, too - mum and dad got a fever/flu, and I just got my ears pierced.

But I hope you enjoy this chapter :) It might be my longest one so far O.o Which isn't really saying much, considering how few I have written so far xD

(@SallyJane ooooh can't wait to find out what happens next! Also its fine, dont stress about trying to get it up quickly. Im happy to wait and would much rather you take your time to make a good story than rush and ruin it)

@WolfLionHeart @LeaDurnane @Vexorianite
I thought I would just let you know - if there's any questions you would like to ask about the story, please, ask! I just thought I'd double check if any of you have questions about something - you're free to ask any time, and I thought I'd just ask you to ask me, in case anyone felt uncomfortable about asking me. (Seriously, I don't bite. Unless you're food.)

And feel extremely welcome to tell me that my sense of humour is terrible. I got it from dad, so it may have a lot of dadness to it. If you came here to escape dad jokes... Sorry, but you're in the wrong place hehehehehe. (See? I'm evil!)

@WolfLionHeart @Vexorianite @LeaDurnane I apologise in advance, but I may take time to get much writing done. We recently lost a dear and beloved family member. [img]https://i.postimg.cc/8Cs2g1b2/Watu.jpg[/img]