Of Wilders and Willows

Chapter Two: Alek of the Wilder Tribe

When everything finally stopped spinning and the desperate need to vomit had passed, I rolled over from my flat-on-my-back position to slowly push myself up onto less than stable legs. Finn lay at my feet, groaning slightly, arm covering his eyes; Brook on the other hand was perched lazily against the armrest of an enticingly comfy-looking chair inspecting her black painted nails which definitely weren't as interesting as she was implying. The room we were now in was decorated a deep burgundy that had faded over the years, it wasn't like you could see much of it anyway though as in every free space was a bookcase or shelf or random artefact? Who knows, one thing was for sure, Brook liked to collect bizarre junk. In the centre of the room were two massive - also red - sofas with an ornate coffee table separating them. What really caught my, however, was the spiral staircase seemingly disappearing into the ceiling, the bars woven into flowers and branches of various sizes and shapes creating a masterpiece of metalwork, and in the middle was the most intricate part of it all. It was a symbol I'd never seen before, somewhere between an eye and a rose and from the heart of my mind, a word surfaced saluran. It was Finn who finally broke the silence and just as quickly as it arrived, the connection vanished. "Look enough is enough, who are you, where are we and what was that?" His voice cracked on the last question and his eyes darted about crazily seemingly in the hope to find answers in the peeling paint or crusting carpet. They weren't there though, Brook was the only one who could give Finn the answers he needed. And with a deep breath in, she started "Please just be quiet during this otherwise we'll be here all day, okay? Good" There was no chance for contradiction before she went into her long-awaited monologue. "I am Brook Sparsholt, leader of the Wilders Tribe, I brought you here through an inter-dimensional portal that I created. We are warlocks - as are you Ash - and we claim you for ourselves over the enemy of the Willows. Although you do have a right to leave, we cannot protect you outside of the tribe. You have the right to a name change if you so wish. You have the right to accommodation within tribe means. As Dae Warlock, I am responsible for my people, I speak for my people and hence any problems shall be sent directly to me... do you accept?" There was a long pause as I struggled to comprehend everything that had just been thrust at me, I mean, she is insane! Warlocks, come on, what next werewolves and vampires? Honestly. Not even to mention the way she delivered it, I thought I was being arrested. In the middle of all these mad revelations, a question surfaced: Brook never mentioned Finn. So what happens to him if I accept? With tender apprehension, I spoke "What happens to him? Is he a 'Warlock', as you say, too?" She didn't reply straight away, leaving a moment or two to think over her response before simply uttering a single word "No", another beat passed and then she carried on "His mind will be cleared of this evening and that will be that". Finn cut in before I even had a chance to defend him blurting out hurriedly as he stumbled back "No one is going near my mind!" I glanced back at him and saw the fear in his eyes, I've known Finnlay Cross since I was six years old and the only other time I've seen him this afraid was when we were nine years old and had gone exploring near a berry bush his parents had specifically forbidden. We ended up with a rash of sorts and had made a pact never to mention it because of the consequences we'd face. I have to say, wasn't the wisest choice I've ever made, yet we survived so I'm sure it was fine. That feeling I'd had in the club was slowly forcing its way back up my spine and down to my fingers, again and again, a warmth followed by an extraordinary chill that made everything more focused, more concentrated, more real. Like a switch, something flipped and all I felt was power. I didn't need to glimpse at my fingers to know they were glowing a magnificent azure, I could feel it like a sixth sense telling me what to do and then it was done. An intense blaze left me in a screech of energy that hit like a flashbang.

At some point, I must have closed my eyes because when I opened them again, it was over. I expected devastation but there wasn't any. "Every single time" Brook commented indicating towards the sofa on her left as if another person was sitting there. She saw the confusion in my eyes before misunderstanding and answering the wrong question "Oh, for fae sake, stop hiding Alek... you're such a wimp". Within the space of a blink, a lanky man not much older than me appeared, he had a perfectly pointed nose he clearly used to look down on people with and his sapphire blue hair roughly spiked out in odd directions to create a bedhead idea, whether it was deliberate or not, I couldn't tell. A book rested limply on his chest, titled 'Cinders of the fire' by Gregoravich Lester, I didn't have much of a chance to really examine it however, as with a flick of his wrist, it vanished. Alek's taste in fashion was surprisingly similar to that of his sister - or at least who I assume is his sister, maybe they all have blue hair - only clearly he put much less effort into looking presentable. He wore a plain slate t-shirt with various leather bracelets accompanying it and run-of-the-mill black jeans, it didn't take a genius to work out that his classic vans had seen better days. I decided that it probably wasn't the worst idea to try and get off on the right foot with these lunatics so whilst reaching out a hand, I attempted a disarming smile. It went wrong somewhere along the way though since he just glanced in my direction scoffed and left with the basic remark of "you better be right B" before elegantly swanning away. All for a good first impression.

---------

Chapter two is done! I actually continued it, there was a big part of me that genuinely thought I'd chicken out, but here we are :D As last time, any feedback is welcome, just be constructive, see you in the next chapter :)

-Alex