Eclipsis: Water

Chapter 16

Cetus stared at the remains of the water leaper for a moment longer, then turned his head to the surface above them. He reached it in three strong flaps of his wings, bursting into air once again, the sunlight glinting on his water-flecked ultramarine scales. He landed on the mossy bank of the river as gently as he could, conscious that Alara may be hurt.

Kōri stepped down off of Cetus' back carefully, lowering Alara to the ground. Her eyes were still closed, but he could see she was still breathing; the low rise and fall of her chest. He looked across at the dragon, who stooped down to nudge Alara's arm with his snout. Then, before Kōri could attempt to stop him, he lifted one paw and pushed down on her chest.

The immediate weight of it made the water-fairy's midnight eyes shoot wide open. She turned away from them, coughing up what little water she had inhaled in the last few moments in the river, then gasped fresh air desperately.

Are you okay, Alara? Cetus asked concernedly.

She turned to look at the dragon, nodding and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "I'm fine," She sniffed, focusing her attention on Kōri, who was stood watching her. "This was your doing?"

He had assumed she had meant it was his fault, and took half a step back, putting his arms in the air defensively with his gloved palms turned towards her. "Hey, he told me to."

"Cetus?" Alara questioned.

"Yes."

"I know he did. I was the one who told him to get you."

Kōri blinked a couple of times. "Oh. Right."

Cetus made a noise that sounded quite like a snort.

"As annoying as it is, I think I'd rather have a Moon's aid than be someone's prey," Alara said, standing up. "My despisal of you hasn't gone away because you helped me. Just so you know."

Kōri glared at her. "I know. I only helped because of my brother, remember? That's the only reason I'll ever help you."

Alara laughed, catching Kōri off-guard a little. "I know."

Cetus scooped the bag up with his teeth, swinging it at Alara so she could place it back around his neck. She did, as well as dropping in the wing ointment she had pocketed just before the incident with the water leaper. When both Kōri and her were back on Cetus' back, he took flight once more.

+

"I see your hands are untied." Alara said to Kōri as he passed her two fishes from the bag to eat as they flew.

He flexed his fingers. "Well I couldn't exactly rescue you with bound wrists."

"You didn't rescue me -"

"I most certainly did -"

"Rescue sounds like I'm a helpless maiden," Alara cut across him, scowling. "You helped me. There's a difference. Besides, it was a last resort."

"Help and rescue are synonymous," He answered, turning back to face the direction they were flying.

Alara glared at the back of his pale-blue hair.

"You want to stop to retie my hands, Sun? I'd like to say I've earned this tiny bit of freedom. It's not a lot. My wings are still chained, after all."

"Fine, your hands can stay untied," Alara replied. "But don't push your luck."

"As if I'd do that."

Alara didn't need to have x-ray vision to know that the ice-fairy was smirking.

You sure about this, Al? We need to be careful with trust Cetus said warningly.