A Court of Fire and Night

Chapter 12

I'm really sorry for not updating in a while. I've had a bit of writer's block and I've been swamped with school work. Thank you for reading my story and sticking with me. Enjoy!

Callum

What the hell is happening? 

This morning, I walked into the kitchen, and the first thing my mom said to me was, "You should hang out with Lyria today. I know she wasn't happy about the decision we made last night. But your company might improve her mood."

Then, I bumped into Uncle Az when I was hiding from Camilla. He said, "Have you kept up your training? I haven't seen you do it recently. I'm sure it'd be a great way to blow off some steam. You should go down to the courtyard." It was good advice, so I stepped outside. But Lyria was already hacking away at a training dummy, so I turned right back around. I knew if she saw me, she'd knock me on my ass and tell me exactly what she thought of me at that moment.

Amren, in her usual terse fashion, just said, "You've been spending too much time with the Spring Court bitch. Hang out with the other girl."

"Lyria?"

She nodded.

"Why would I do that? She hates my guts."

"Do you think I care, boy? Just do it."

I sighed. It was obvious now what was going on. Everyone was trying to get me to mend my relationship (did I even have one?) with Lyria. There was nothing better to do. I guess it wouldn't hurt.  

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It hurt. 

I followed my gut and found her sitting on the rail of a gazebo over the river. I walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. Quicker than I could follow, she had turned and flipped me into the water. I spluttered and gasped like a fish. "What was that for?"

She leaned over the railing and scowled. "What do you want?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to look around some more. You've seen pretty much all of Velaris. We could go check out the cave where the portal appeared."

That seemed to interest her. I felt bad that nobody had really looked into how she got here. We were all so focused on our own problems we forgot to help Lyria. 

"Would you really be willing to look into it with me?" She asked.

I nodded. At her expression, I rolled my eyes. "You don't have to look so surprised."

She opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it. I waded to the edge of the river bank and hauled myself out. I shook my hair, flinging droplets of water everywhere. 

Lyria shrieked. "Hey! You're getting me wet! And you smell like a wet dog."

"And who's fault is that?"

"Definitely not mine." Even though I was taller than her, she managed to look down her nose at me. "Hurry up. Are we gonna go or not?"

In response, I snapped my wings out and launched into the air. I looked down and saw Lyria do the same. Her silver hair a stark contrast against the jet black of her feathered wings. 

In a few minutes, we reached the edge of the forest. I caught a gust of wind and flew up the cliff wall. Landing at the mouth of the cave, I waited patiently for Lyria to hurry up.

After a few minutes, I started to get worried. She hadn't appeared yet. I looked down; no sign of her. I looked up, still no sign of her. I cursed and spread my wings. Right as I was about to jump-