Crossed

Chapter 5:

"I feel like something is about to happen," Morris says," something big-" Just then the energy cracks, as if it's a wall, and breaks. A smell of rotting and smoke enters our realm from whatever realm it comes from. "Finally," we hear," I'm out." A dark shadow forms inside the break and then a man steps out, wearing a cloak covering his face. "Watch out!," before I knew it Morris folded me inside his wing and pulled me aside. "Morris, what's happening?!"

"You locked him in... what is that?," I look at the magic he had pulled up around the man, keeping him in place right in the spot I was just standing. The man was aggressively trying to get out from his prison but to no avail. "I'm specialised in imprisonment, which has been one of the reasons Queen Mirialla assigned me as one of her Head Guards in this territory. This is a cage made out my core magic, it's supposed to keep him in place for a few days, that should be enough for the Queen to return to the territory," Morris explains, eyeing the man.

"What do you think he comes from?," I ask. "Not sure," he hadn't looked away from the man since he imprisoned him," is he dead?" "What do you mean? He moves," I say. "You said the energy felt as much dead as life," he says," what is he giving off?" I take a few steps closer and look at the man, I try to feel his presence as much as possible through the cage. "I can't feel anything," I say," I think your magic keeps me from feeling his presence as much as I need to." "Okay," he says," then we'll have to wait for the Queen." I nod.

"I'm going to Iliana's place," I say after another hour of watching him," something must have changed on her side." "Okay, be careful," Morris says before giving me a nod and I leave. I focus my energy on the spot she died and focus. "Please come to me," I Whisper. "Wren?," I open my eyes and see her standing in front of me. I smile and hug her," I know it's not night and this will take more energy but I need you right now," I say. "I'm here," she says and we sit down on the ruins," what happened?" "The energy, the one that has death and life?," she nods," it burst open and a man came out of it, Guard Morris imprisoned him and he can possibly hold him until the Queen comes back but we don't know what he is."

"You couldn't feel his energy?," Iliana asks. "No, I could not get through Morris' cage, his magic comes from his inner core, it's how he will be able to keep the cage stable until the Queen returns," I say," has anything changed on your side?" "I don't know," she says," a few hours ago we felt our reality shake for a bit? I'm not sure that has anything to do with what happened in yours?" "It could be linked to the man appearing from the energy," I say," when you go back, could you warn someone who's in charge?" "I'll try to," she nods.

"Here, lay down," she says," you're tense, you need to relax." I do as she says and she starts braiding a small part of my hair. "It's a habit of yours, isn't it?," I say quietly. She laughs silently and nods," yes, I'm guessing so," she says. "You did it the first time in the Daisy Fields up north," I say," we were still friends back then... we knew each other for just a year." She smiles," my favourite memory," she says, her eyes almost cloudy as if she's far away in her mind, then she snaps back again," I remember you never doing anything with your hair, it always being in your face," she grins.

"You couldn't stand it," I say, letting a laugh slip. "I really couldn't," she says and sighs," remember our first Dance?," she then asks, I nod," you let me do your mask and make-up... You had never done it before and didn't know how to even apply one. You were very selfconsious at the beginning of that Dance but near the end you seemed to have so much more fun than the previous one's I had seen you at." "I did have more fun," I say," you were an amazing dance partner at the Queen's Dance." "Why thank you," she giggles.

"Do you remember making flower crowns?," I ask. "I do, yours kept dying the first few times we went out to do it," she stops the braiding for a bit," I don't remember why that was..." "I wasn't used to my powers yet back then," I say," and they took over a little... damaging the pretty flowers you picked out, I remember being mad about it." "Oh right!," she laughs quietly," I'm a little hazy today, kind of like when we were at the Summerfest, in the heat." "That was absolutely terrible, don't remind me," I say and laugh," we passed out dancing on the Town's Square."

"You're right, it was terrible, the summer was so hot back then," she sights," glad we don't have much difference in temperature here. It's pretty nice all the time." "Like the springtime?," I ask her, it was her favourite season, not too warm for her and lots of colour, which she loves. "Kind of, yeah," she smiles and I sit back up again, crossing my legs under me," are you feeling better?," she then asks. I smile at her and nod," yes, thank you." "Of course," she says," I have to go now though... I feel something pulling me back again." "Oh, yeah right," I say and we both get up from the ruins.

"Take your time," she says," and please take care of yourself and come visit me again soon, okay?" I nod and hold her before she disappears again. I could feel her cold leave slowly until the soft breeze of the autumn gets through again. Oh how I wished she was still here on the earth.

"Morris?," the Dragon Guard didn't budge from his position, I knew he already sensed me approaching him again. "Wren? What is it? Did something change?," he asks. "They all felt Death shaking for a while," I say," it seemed to have aligned with when he came through." "Hm...," his brows furrowed," I hope the Queen returns soon," he then says. "Hmhm," I look at the man, he seemed to have calmed down and was now just sitting with his head resting on his hands," I'm going out to get some food, anything I can take back with me for you?," I offer.

"Would there-," I was cut off by a loud noise that was sadly all too familiar. "What in the name of...," Morris trailed off before looking around. "They're back," I say," the dead and life creatures, it's the same energy...," I notice the man getting back to banging against the cage, he tries to say something to us," Morris, I know it's a big risk but let the man out," I say. "What? Are you crazy?," he says but then one of the beings from that night appeared and attacked him. "Morris!!," I scream and then quickly grab one of the broken stones and throw it towards the creature. Just hitting it in the head.