Things Lost and Found (a Waglington and Mianite fanfiction)

Chapter 54

*Huge sigh of relief* The gigantic project for my online class—the same project that I failed last semester—is turned in. To celebrate (and distract myself from the terrifying prospect of failure) here's a chapter early! A throwback to the days of 2-3 updates per week. I miss those days. Alea iacta est. The die is cast. Now I must wait for the grade to post. If y'all want to see what exactly I've been working with, I can try to attach it to the next chapter. Just let me know.

This was originally going to be part of the last chapter, but it started running too long, and I was having trouble figuring out how I wanted it to end. I think I'm finally happy with it. The song for this chapter is "Out of the Woods" by For King and Country (they did a cover of this song by Taylor Swift—I kinda like their version better). Oh my goodness, this song has been stuck in my head all week. XD 

Fluff is all fine and dandy, but who's ready for a little action? ;)

*Killertom's POV*

We had been walking a few hours now, and I was beginning to recognize some of the landscape from the times my brothers and I had been out exploring. The sun had risen enough that it cast ample light through the towering evergreens to light our path. Everyone seemed to move with more of a spring in their step the closer we got—much like Plattypi did knowing a warm stall and cool water awaited him after a long ride. I amused myself with that analogy while Phil rambled on about some tech he had been tinkering with over the past few weeks. I was sure it was interesting, but all I needed to know was that I should stay out of his workshop at the top of our tower. The few times I had ventured up there, I had nearly been killed by some hulking machine or other.

When he asked me a question about fuel processing, he discovered he'd lost me. We laughed for a few minutes before Phil asked, "Okay, so what were you thinking about that whole time? I know you weren't listening to me."

I told him about my comparison of the apprentices to my horse. After the expected laughter had died down I asked, "Do you think Matt's been taking care of them? I didn't think to ask him before we left."

Phil thought before answering, "I'm sure he wouldn't have left them in the stable this whole time, even if he is upset with us. He loves animals, and Dovabutt would have been raising hell if he was ten minutes late letting him out to pasture." I snorted at that. Phil's horse could be a bit of a prima donna. Now it was Phil's turn to ask a question. "What do you think Matt's been doing while we were gone?"

"Probably messing with that spell again," I said while narrowing my eyes, mood souring. I swear that spell is going to be the death...

"Incoming!" one of the apprentices screamed, breaking my train of thought. I cast a quick glance skyward, seeing a large, white hot object hurtling down towards us and noting the whine of it cutting through the air.

I used nearly half of my magic reserves to push everyone else out of harm's way, shouting, "Down!" The boulder ripped through a stand of spruce trees to our right, knocking me off my feet with the ground-shaking impact. I shielded my head with my arms as debris rained down on me. I realized my ears were ringing and quite painful as Echo ran up to me. I could see her lips moving, but I couldn't hear her. I shook my head slowly and held up one finger to tell her to wait as I sat up. She gave me a panicked look and yanked hard on the black and blue sleeve of my robes, looking between me and the sky, still talking. I finally followed her gaze and saw why she was in such a hurry. More of the projectiles were streaking across the sky from the north, leaving trails of smoke and sparks behind them. Meteor shower. Huh, I thought absently. I was brought back to reality when a rock the size of a pig plowed soundlessly into the ground 50 feet from us, throwing a spray of dirt and spruce needles high into the air. I wondered just how hard I'd hit the ground as I stumbled to my feet and raced after Echo.