The Elixir

~Hunt

Vieva's senses shift into overdrive the minute she steps foot outside the dorms. The moon is hung high in the sky, a pendant in the unblemished sky. Tweets and hoots merge in a peaceful melody, and the night wind caresses her skin and her hair. In any normal circumstances she might've enjoyed this night, but tonight will be anything but normal.

They are going to catch the caladrius. They hadn't gotten to in class, and they had been one of the two groups that had returned empty-handed. Beledras had raised her angular eyebrow at them, a slight frown on her face. That look had made Vieva's blood roar in her ears.

She wouldn't be a failure. Bestels aren't failures.

Vieva perches her hands on her hips as Xara and Lysabel approach her from either side. The wind whips up almost affectionately around Xara, leaves fluttering like butterflies in the air. The three of them stand in the first year quad, which is really nothing but a measly patch of grass, waiting for the boys.

Vieva picks up their footfalls, rushed and uneven from behind her. Vieva sighs impatiently. Xara had offered that the three of them catch the caladrius, if Derald had been too afraid to go back. But Derald, being a normal 12 year old boy, had refused to be one-upped by three girls.

"We're in," he had said firmly. "Right Owain?"

Snagsnout, being the jumpy thing that he is, had just sighed and covered his face with his hands.

Derald pants lightly, eyes darting this way and that. In the moonlight, his dark blue eyes shimmer with silver tones.

"Finally," hisses Xara. "What were you doing? We've been waiting, for, like 10 minutes."

Derald hooks a thumb at Owain. "Snagsnout was getting cold feet."

"I was not!" he protests, his voice squeaky. "I was just wondering why we had to capture this bird in the middle of the night."

"I was wondering that too," pipes up Lysabel. "What about the Fenrirs?"

Vieva rolls her eyes. Leave it to Lysabel Axelane to be the debbie-downer.

Xara snaps her fingers. "I've got that covered. Follow me."

She pivots on her heels and takes off across the quad. Vieva breaks into a light jog to follow her. The other fall in behind her. Xara leads them to the edge of the quad, stopping. She inhales deep.

"The minute we step outside, we'll be out in the open. The Fenrirs may be blind but they have the most precise sense of smell out of all the magical creatures in Ruxnorth. So do exactly what I say."

"Right outside these walls there is a small tunnel, just large enough for us to squeeze through. It leads right to a small clearing in the Nyx Woods. It isn't far from the school either, so we should be able to locate the caladrius once we get there."

Vieva can't help but feel impressed. Not that she would ever voice it. Vieva watches as Xara lets her hair down, then ties it back up in a messy bun, black and dark as a raven's wing. Derald watches too, a slight glazed look in his eyes. All begrudging respect for Xara resubmerges. How is it that even with the dark rumors surrounding her, Xara Roffinnes still manages to captivate everyone she meets? Vieva has always desired one thing; respect. But her father's money only gets her so far. Xara oozes power and leadership from her pores.

Xara rolls her shoulders, bouncing lightly on her toes before darting through the entrance. Vieva's right at her heels, and with a grumble, Lysabel follows. Xara is a shadowy figure just a few feet ahead of her. She's pressed against the floor, and practically wiggles forward.

There is a thud where Derald trips over a rock and Vieva freezes. Because the Fenrirs are blind, their other senses will be heightened. The Nyx Woods isn't very far from her vantage point- would they have heard the noise?