Oceanum Collis

•Chapter 17• Darkness

Orlando sat next to Serena. "Hey." He said. Serena looked up at him. "Hey." She replied. She looked back at the flames of the small fire they had built. "How is he doing?" Orlando asked her. "They rubbed poisonous plants on his wounds, they might be infected, but he'll be okay. Elves heal quickly." Serena tells him. Orlando looked at her. "And how are you doing?" He asked. Serena's eyes traveled up to look at Misty standing on guard in the distance. "I don't like them being here," Serena said quietly, "I don't trust them. And neither should you." She added. Orlando carefully raised his hand and tucked a piece of Serena's hair behind her little pointy ear. "I trust you. That should be enough for now." He said. Serena's cheeks burned up slightly. "How's your head?" Orlando asked her. Serena shrugged a little but kept looking at him. "It feels a lot better now, thank you." She smiled. Asher joined the two by the fire. "What are you two, love birds chatting about?" He asked them. Orlando and Serena both rolled their eyes. The werewolf holds up his hands in defense. "Just trying to have a conversation," Asher said. Serena stood up, leaving the conversation. Orlando scratched the back of his neck. "What's up with her," Asher questioned. "She doesn't like you," Orlando answered simply. Asher let out a chuckle. "I'm not that fond of her either. But why is miss perfect so grumpy?" The werewolf asked again. "You rubbed poisonous plants on her brother's wounds. I guess she didn't appreciate that." He tells her. "He deserved it after attacking us." He replied. It was silent after that. The two young men just looked at the fire in front of them. Orlando then cleared his throat. He turned his head to look at Misty still standing on guard. "So, is she your sister or something?" Orlando asked. Asher glared at him. "No," He answered simply. "Girlfriend?" Orlando asked. "No," Asher repeated. There was another silence. "You don't need to know the story," Asher tells him, breaking the silence. "I'm just confused about what your relationship is with her," Orlando replies. "She's my best friend. She has been since she was a baby." Asher explained to him, "There, now you know." He added. Orlando holds up his hands in defense. "I was just curious." He replied.

Serena then returned with a white gemstone in her hands. She quickly puts it in the bag hanging on her belt. "He's sick, thanks to you." She said as she looked at Asher. "Can't you take that away with your magic?" Asher questioned. "My magic doesn't work that way." She snapped back at him. "Oh, right, your magic gift is to make flowers grow," Asher said. Serena rolls her eyes again. "I can do a lot more than that." She reminds him. "Oh, right, you can see the future," Asher said and wiggled with his fingers at her. Orlando looked at Serena. Her eyes started to darken...like actually darken. The bright green eyes started to lose their brightness as she kept looking at Asher. "You really don't want to go there." She tells him. A smug smile appeared on Asher's lips. "Oh, I do." He tells her. Orlando puts his hand on Serena's arm. "Are you alright?" He questioned. Serena started to breathe heavily as her eyes were focused on the werewolf in front of her. Orlando looked down at her hands resting on her lap. His eyes widened at the sight of her fingers. It was as if they were slowly fading away while also turning pitch black. As if she was a shadow. "Serena?" Orlando said. "Here it comes," Asher smirked. Orlando glared at him. "What's coming? What's happening to her?!" He exclaimed. Asher's eyes started to glow in the darkness of the night. He let out a growl. "Come on, princess." He said. "Serena, don't!" Hayes' voice called out from the tent behind them. Serena was slowly turning back to normal. Orlando looked at her eyes, they were bright green again. "Are you okay?" He asked her. Serena looked at the young man. "What happened?" She questioned him. 

Hayes came stumbling out of the tent. He looked at Asher. "You've gone too far this time." He said sternly. "I just wanted to see if the stories were true. Calm down. Nothing happened." Asher quickly replies. "Something really bad could have happened! I thought the one thing you pups learn is to not mess with these kinds of elves!" Hayes exclaimed. Serena stood up, leaving the boys to argue. She walked into the forest and climbed up into one of the trees. Orlando walked after her. He looked up at her from the ground. "Are you okay?" Orlando asked her. Serena glanced down at him but didn't respond. "Do you want me to come up there? Or do you have magic to get me there? I don't...I don't know how this works." He tells her. Serena didn't respond again. The young man took a deep breath before he started to climb up the tree himself. When he finally got to the branch Serena was sitting on he had a dorky smile on his face. "I didn't say you could come up here." She tells him. "Well, I didn't ask to be here in the first place either. And yet, here I am." He replies. Serena let out a quiet giggle. Orlando sat in front of her on the branch. "What happened out there?" He asked her. "I don't want to talk about it." She tells him. "I get that. From what I just saw, you have some serious issues. Especially with him, like what was that." Orlando said sarcastically, earning another giggle from Serena. He carefully took her hands in his. "I mean if you-" he started. Serena cut him off by pulling her hands from his grip again. Orlando let out a quiet sigh. "I'm sorry. I just thought you might want to talk to someone." He said sadly. The young man started to pull himself up from the branch to get out of the tree when Serena let out a deep sigh. "Shadow Mimicry." She answered simply. Orlando focused his eyes on her again. He sat back in front of her on the branch. He admired her. She was truly beautiful. Clear skin, bright eyes, soft hair. He tilted his head slightly as he listened to her. "It's the power to become a shadow. It's very hard and very dangerous." She continued. "Why did it happen?" Orlando asked her. "I let Asher get on my nerves." She answered honestly. Orlando nodded slightly. "I could see that. But what is this power? I don't understand, I thought you elves only had good magic." Orlando said.  Serena holds up her hand. "We do. Some of us also have other powers." She explained. A small flower started to grow in her hand. "Some of us have what we call Dark Magic. Like me, it's something dark. Something that can only destroy and cannot be stopped." She explained to him. Orlando looked at her. "Still think that those wolves are the only monsters in this world?" Serena asked him. Orlando took her hands in his again. Serena looked him in the eyes, not pulling her hands away this time. "You're not a monster. My mother always said everything has a dark side. Because there cannot be light if we don't have darkness." He tells her. Serena smiled at him. "She must have been a wise woman." She said. "She was. And beautiful." He agreed, "Just like you." He added, making Serena blush.