The Universe Rings (A Ringing Purpose)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Kenneth couldn't see how the wearing effects of the poison was bad. He wasn't so disoriented and he could understand Halo quite well. He only felt weak, which he didn't worry too much about.

    Darkness fell over the landscape and Kenneth reared his head back, looking at the sky. The dragon-creature swooped above; now that it was a clear day, its features were distinguishable. Black feathers spread over the large body and its elongated head bore a beak instead of a snout. The underbelly glowed bright orange through the feathers, and its two wings were as ginormous as its body.

    "You see that too, right?" Kenneth asked Halo just in case. He stopped running, feeling weak.

    Halo gaped at the dragon-bird, slowing to a stop too. "That's the one that saved us," she said.

    Kenneth furrowed his brow. "How do you know?" he asked, a slight feeling of marbles in his mouth. The dragon flew up into the clouds and back down, occasionally blowing fire onto the battle.

    Halo shrugged. "I just feel it is," she replied.

    Kenneth was trying to figure out what to do with this when a pushing spell hit him; everything flew past him and he rolled in the snow. Stumbling to his feet—feeling more lightheaded than he had felt before—he saw Halo's brother approaching Halo, who held a magic shield in front of her.

    Kenneth's eyes narrowed and despite the dizziness, he bolted to Sun. Before he had even reached five feet of him, Sun waved a hand and Kenneth lifted into the air and fell to the ground, snow cushioning his fall.

    In a low voice, Halo's brother asked her, "Really? Him?" He scowled deeply, eyes narrowed; he stood hunched as if in pain.

    Kenneth rose to his feet but by the wave of Sun's hand, a fire spell hit his chest—his armor protected him but he stumbled.

    Sun asked, "Out of everyone you could've made friends with, you chose a poisoned injured weak kid?" He shook his head as if he were disappointed. "Honestly, you'd be better off with a cat."

    Halo sneered, "I'd rather have a cat and a 'weak' kid than you." Kenneth would've laughed if the situation weren't so serious.

    Kenneth, Sun, and Halo stood planted in the snow, eyes on each other; Sun seemed to be taking his time like they had all the time in the world. Halo seemed stuck, and Kenneth couldn't figure out how to attack Sun without being injured.

    Kenneth's eyes scanned Halo's brother; he could see the sibling resemblance. They both had slim small faces, large eyes, the same determined frown, and unnatural hair—Halo's white and Sun's half yellow and half brown. However, Sun stood multiple inches taller than Halo—about the same height as Kenneth. That was when Kenneth noticed the arrow in Sun's shoulder. An idea popped into his head—it was out of pocket and violent but it could work.

He backed up, hands in front of him as if he were giving up. Sun's eyes narrowed for a moment and then he smirked at Halo, raising his eyebrows. Halo stared with a mix of suspicion and disbelief, her shield disappeared.

    Kenneth shrugged. "Whatever," he muttered. "Y'all are siblings." He turned away slightly, but kept Halo and Sun in sight.

    Sun approached Halo, pulling a universe ring out of his pocket. Halo's eyes wide but she didn't move. Sun clenched Halo's wrist and his guard slipped down.

    Kenneth bolted to Sun from behind; Halo's brother raised a hand to use defense magic, but Kenneth already had his arms around his neck. He grabbed the metal arrow and pushed it deeper into Sun's shoulder as hard as he could.