Eclipsis: Water

Chapter 6

The ice-fairy, Kōri, looked too calm for Alara's liking. Her eyes kept flicking down to make sure he wasn't about to mess with the rope.

"What if I don't want to take you to Lune." He said, with a smirk.

This made her skin bristle. There was nothing to be smirking about.

She kept her voice stern, but made sure not to sound annoyed. She didn't want him to think he had the upper-hand. "Then you are of no use to us and we will kill you right here."

I'll do it, Cetus volunteered.

"Cetus says he'll be more than happy to be the one to do it." Alara spoke to Kōri.

"But you need me to take you to Lune." He replied.

"Taking you will make the journey quicker, yes, but you are not needed. We can dispose of you if you will not be of any use to us."

Alara hoped that Kōri wouldn't pick death, as his help would lessen the journey's time significantly. Not to mention that he knew the ins and outs of Lune, and Alara and Cetus did not. They did need him, though she would never admit it out loud of course.

Kōri didn't say anything for a moment, as if weighing up his options. If any Moon discovered that he had led two Suns into Lune, he would be tortured and murdered. On the other hand, he did like being able to breathe, and didn't particularly want to give that up.

"Alright." He said.

"Alright?" Alara repeated.

"I don't really fancy the idea of being killed by a Sun."

"Good," She walked the couple of paces forward until she was in front of the ice-fairy, and then crouched, holding her sword in front of her so its tip was positioned at his throat. She saw him swallow ever so slightly. Alara tried to ignore how white his eyes were, how the light from the mushrooms showed that they were flecked with silver. "If I don't kill you, Cetus definitely will, so no sudden movements, okay?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Alara stopped an eye-roll, bringing her sword down in one swift motion to cut the rope, and then pulled both ends up with her so that Kōri was hoisted up, too. He staggered slightly on his injured leg. She had made sure to bind his wings with chains where they started to protrude from his back, so he wouldn't be able to fly away. She didn't think he'd be able to anyway - she reckoned they'd been injured somewhat in the fall.

She sheathed her sword momentarily to swiftly tie both ends of the rope around his wrists, pulling the knot tightly so that his restriction was as limited as possible. She felt a rush of satisfaction when one of his hands twitched slightly. That means that it hurt.

Now that he was standing up, Alara could see just how tall he was. Alara was tall herself (5'11), like all fairies, but Kōri was well above 6 foot. She didn't like how he was looking down at her like that, with his stupid silvery-white eyes. It made her feel as though she was lesser than him.

She focused her attention on the ends of the rope, wrapping them quickly around her free hand, then took out her sword again. However, the ice-fairy tugged on the rope to stop her, and she looked up with a scowl, fixing her grip on the sword-hilt. Was he really going to stop them from going? He was weaponless, and would certainly be dead by the time he attempted to use his powers.

"Are you really going to lead me like an animal?" He asked.

"You can either walk like this, or Cetus can carry you in his mouth like a piece of meat. I don't think he'd make any promises about not chipping your skin like I did. And I think "crunching" is the better word in relevance to him."