Lily - a TMF Fantasy AU

ii - Top over the mountains or valley low

flashback  . . . 

???'s POV 

- 

She grabbed my hand with her icy cold grasp, the others too repulsed or scared to come to my rescue. They held him back, his legs kicking in all directions to escape their grips. 

I always thought Conduits were a wive's tale. Parents would always tell stories of these beings to young kids to plant the fear of the forest in our minds. 

Turns out, they were right. 

- 

I was trying to learn how to fence with my best friend, Drew. Our weapons were long, bendy sticks that were perfect for jabbing. We wore thin, white jackets and masks that concealed pretty much our entire heads. After all, we didn't want a stick going up our noses. 

"So these are called foils, right?" I asked Drew, laughing at how funny the sword name was to me. 

I couldn't tell if he was smiling, but his voice sounded happy. "Yep." 

The sun was partially hidden by the clouds, and the rain kept threatening to pour down on us. But we didn't let that stop us from going outside. We got far away from each other, about 3 metres or 10 feet apart. 

He pointed his stick at me, waiting for me to follow suit. I did the same, and we both raised them to the sky, and then down to the floor at an angle. 

"A fencing salute," Drew announced to me, turning to his side and aiming the pole at my chest once again, in the en garde position. 

"Now prepare to be obliterated." 

- 

"AGHHH!" 

Drew hit me yet again, ending our bout. He ended up winning, 15 to my measly 2. We lifted our helmets, keeping them above our heads, the rain just beginning to drizzle. We saluted once more and met in the middle for a handshake. 

"Good bout, loser." 

"Yeah right, good bout for you." 

He gave a shrug, probably having expected this outcome anyway. 

"What did I say? You've been obliterated." 

"It's not my fault you get private lessons. And how was I supposed to know if I'm out of bounds?" 

"There's borders. Anyone who fences knows that. Now come on. You can stay for the night, it's gonna storm." 

"Yeah... be there in a minute." 

There was something piercing me from behind. It was getting stronger, as if I was bitten and venom was spreading through my back. I instinctively pushed my mask over my face in case it was something dangerous. I turned around to be met with a girl. 

But not just any ordinary girl. 

She had horns. 

And marks on her skin. 

Her eyes glowed like blue stars, and I didn't notice I was walking away from the castle until I realized her icy cold hand was gripping mine. I ripped my wrist out of her grasp, unable to fight back and run away. 

She started singing to me. I tried to block my ears, but the helmet was still on my head and I couldn't take it off. 

I wanted to scream, to yell for Drew's aid, but my throat went dry. I couldn't say anything in retaliation.