The Honor of Light #2 (Waverly Stump and The 7 Realms)

Chapter Twelve

Waverly tried to hold on to Judson's hand through the next phase of their journey but it proved a bit difficult. They made it halfway to the bridge of Bridge a day after at sunrise and surprisingly, Judson was able to walk on his own. In fact, he seemed much better than he had been the last few days.

He had walked up front with Brijjet who still remained as a girl. They tossed stones at each other and Briggs, who was faster, would always dodge them. Judson taught Briggs how to juggle acorns and she taught him how to walk on his hands (which did not turn out so great as the weight of his wings kept pulling him down). They held a swimming competition with Waverly as the moderator. Nobody won. Briggs turned out to be a lousy swimmer. She explained to them how she had pulled off her trick on the Outcasts.

"My mother is gender fluid." She said whilst hopping on one leg with a stick balanced on the other.

"What does that mean?" Judson inquired. His wings were still wet even after he managed to shake the water off (which left Waverly half soaked as a result of standing near him).

"It means that she can switch between being male and female. I can do it too. It's complicated but it's who i am."

"It is Plecteri, is it not?" Waverly asked.

"Yeah." Briggs nodded. "At least you get it. I sort of inherited the ability."

"What is Plecteri?" Judson inquired.

Waverly rolled her eyes. "For once i know something that you do not."

"And when i'm a girl, you have to say her and she whenever you're referring to me. You should know what to say when i'm a boy as well." Briggs added.

After that, nobody spoke about Brijjet's mind boggling ability. It was still amazing and frightening to Waverly whereas Judson accepted it as a fact. He seemed to like Briggs more than Brijjet which also made Waverly jealous. They got along so well that Waverly began to feel left out and angry.

Briggs spent so much time teaching Judson to climb. They got so noisy about it that they accidentally unleashed a Florkion - an underground scorpion. It was as large as a cow and yet incredibly lightweight. It climbed atop Waverly's back and she screamed until her throat burned. Briggs casually grabbed the scorpion and crushed its head with her bare hands like a simple bug. This left a disgusting pool of fluid smeared about her arms and Waverly's face.

"You could have squashed it farther away, you know." Waverly pointed out trying to blink the disgusting goop out of her eyes.

"Uh, sorry. Maybe next time." Briggs replied. Judson came to stand next to her then held her goo covered arm up, his face contorting in an amused kind of irritation. He muttered "eww."

"Next time?" Waverly yelled. "There will not be a next time. I have had enough with the two of you."

Waverly stormed toward the lake ahead of them to wash off the goo. The water stretched across the entire length of Dakriton and acted as a division between their territory and the bridge of Bridge. Daks hardly crossed the border so they treated it as more of an alien interference than a part of their realm.

Waverly plunged into the lake and did not surface for a long time. She was a better swimmer than her friends but she did not brag about this.

Briggs and Judson stared at the lake then at each other in complete bewilderment.

"What's wrong with her?" Briggs asked.

"I think she is vexed that we have wasted much time lagging behind instead of trying to. . . ."

"I get it." Briggs cut in. "We're just trying to have fun. I mean, a war's coming right? Who knows, this might be our last chance to have any type of fun. I don't wanna live a boring life knowing the world's gonna end anytime s. . . ."