Resurrection {NaNoWriMo}

Chapter 19

A heavy silence fell upon them, weighing down on Alias' shoulders, nearly crushing him, as Acacia's words rang through his head.

A war?

His people had barely survived the first trial, they had lost so many in the pits, and now those very monsters who had slain them were seeking them to finish the job, to annihilate them all. And how was he to warn them: the very people who he had turned his back on, and had extended the generosity towards him?

"Alias," her gentle voice called out. "Alias, what do you want to do?"

His head slowly lifted from the ground covered in glorious flowers dusted in snow, and he met her tender gaze. She watched him carefully, eyes trailing over the tense, concerned creases crossing his face. "It's your choice," she murmured.

"We will tell them. There's no other option." He replied gravely, eyes growing anxious.

"And if they won't listen?"

He stood up to his feet and lifted up his blade, twisting his wrist to watch the light reflect over its silver surface in her glowing presence. Entranced, he gazed at it.

"Then we will make them."

"Alias..."

He looked back up to her. "I will not harm anyone, but if it comes to a challenge or fight I cannot back down, and I will make sure they hear what we have to say. Their lives, our lives, depend on it."

She stood up and walked up to him, placing her hand gingerly on his arm. "They will listen, but to hear us will be another thing."

He fell silent once more, eyes lingering on where her hand rested on his skin.

Alias cleared his throat and stepped away, outside of the meadow, and looked to her, but not quite at her. "We must get moving. The sooner we arrive, the better."

She watched him begin to step back, putting distance between them, and she stepped forward, after him, out of the sweet circle, her enchanted meadow, and as her feet graced the ground, a hum shot through her, sparking the ground, and causing her to jolt and gasp, amazed at the intense power that thrummed through her.

Alias had felt the flash behind him, and he immediately spun around, eyes wild and aware as they gauged her, ending up falling to the ground where her feet touched the dead forest floor, but as her gaze followed his, she noted that where her feet touched was far from lifeless, but an effervescent puddle of green grass and blue clovers that sprouted around her.

She looked up to Alias, her astonishment mirroring his.

She took another leap forward, the same zing ringing through her as she came into contact with the ground, causing her feet and toes to tingle. She looked down at the green trail that pursued her, eager to blossom. She grinned at the flowers and the grass, so beautiful, so green, and so alive. She sprung to life and twirled through the trees, hands skimming their bare, charred trunks, and feet leaving a network of emerald footsteps across the ground, color shooting throughout the once barren woods. She glowed as she danced, face bright and shining, light igniting and stretching out to the trees. She tipped her head back and laughed as she spun, generating vibrant color as she went, purple and blue and green and brown, all rich and deep, an array of hues, dazzled all of the forest in their vicinity, and continued to seep through the woods as she continued.

Alias felt something swell in his chest, in his heart, as he watched her dance, as he desired to reach out and touch her, the twirling brilliant beauty. Her laugh echoed throughout the forest, filling it in bright sound for the first time in ages, an entrancing song all of its own. He felt his lips stretch in a way that caused his muscles to strain as he was so unaccustomed to the motion, as they twisted up into not just a smile, but a grin, a beam. A startling sound rumbled out from deep in his stomach, a rising laugh the shook the trees and harmonized with hers. His feet moved forward, detached from his head, as he sought to reach her, to aid her in her dance, and he did.