Vidia

Rapids

Vidia silently stepped over brick from the wall.

She kept walking until she found a large house, the first house she saw that wasn't  actually ruined. It was next to a river that ran through the middle of the city. A waterfall was on one end making it a beautiful addition.

She walked over to the river, smiling at its beauty. The river flowed smoothly and some trees were around it.

Vidia bent down, picking up a red rose that was growing besides the water. It's petals were in perfect condition; not one was ripped or dirty.

A thorn cut into Vidia's finger making a drop of blood come down on the rose. She dropped the rose when suddenly, an arrow flew past her head and landed in the center of a tree.

Vidia turned around and quickly pointed her arrow at the source.

"You destroyed my home." The man who Vidia saw in the woods, then later saved, stood before her. His arrow was pointed back at her.

"I thought you were traveling. I believed you. But I was foolish to believe an elf." He said bitterly.

"You killed Iris. You must've seen it coming."

"We knew that you would come, just not soon. My armies were prepared, but not for this gas!"

"Wait, your armies? I should've known you were the king." Vidia said. Their arrows hadn't moved.

"And you must be the queen. What are you doing by yourself? I should shoot you now!" He yelled.

"And why shall I not shoot you?"

"You killed my kid. You gassed him! But why did you save me? To torture me?"

"I didn't know you had a kid! I didn't believe you in the woods. And to be honest, I don't know why I saved you." Vidia said truthfully.

"My armies are here." He said. Just then, she heard her army to the left whistle. Then the other two began to. They were under attack!

"I can't let you leave."

"I can't let you leave." The Nyx mimicked. "I'm winning. Again." He smiled.

Vidia swing her leg and knocked the Nyx over. She  kicked his bow away and held his arms and legs down.

"Now who's winning?" Vidia smiled at her comeback. "What's your name?"

"Dain. What's yours?" He asked.

"Vidia. I'm sorry but I have to take you back to my kingdom. We can figure out what to do there."

Vidia heard Oberons and looked up to see Elian, Shea, and six other elves that escaped.

"Vidia, who is this?" Elian jumped off his Oberon and picked the man off the ground.

"This is the Nyx king. King Dain. I told him that I will take him back to my kingdom. His punishment will be decided there."

Dain was put on a horse in the middle so everyone else was surrounding him. Vidia knew that going back to the camps would be a suicide mission, and Dian's armies would be returning. So the ten of them began to return to Elven.

During the middle of the night, Vidia halted everyone. In front of her was a large river that was flowing rapidly and crashing into rocks.

"Elian, when we destroyed that wall, the river flowed through. I found where it went."

"We can't cross that, Vidia." Elian said.

"Not on Oberons." Shea moaned but got off hers. They couldn't take their Oberons across the river, so they set them free. Now they had to walk.

Vidia went first, and Dain followed behind her. Elian and Shea went next. And then the rest of them stepped into the icy water.

Half way across the river, the water was up to Vidia's neck. Shivering, she took the next step and slipped on a rock. Shea lunges forward and grabbed Vidia's hand but their hands slipped apart.

Vidia fell underwater and was carried down the river. She popped her head back up only to be pushed back down again. She couldn't touch the bottom.

She swam above the water again and could hear Elian shouting for Vidia. She couldn't see him in the dark.

She shouted back, "Elian!" Elian heard her and began to run towards her but Shea stopped him.

"She's to far down! You won't catch up."

"We can't leave her."

"Elian, I don't want to lose her either. But we have to lead this army across the river!" Shea thought for a minute. "Make Dain go. He is the criminal."

The without hesitation, Dain dove into the water towards Vidia. He knew it was either diving or being pushed.

Vidia tried to swim to the edge, but the rapids were too strong. Soon, she could no longer see Elian, nor hear his screams.

She knew that they would have to meet back at the kingdom. And she knew that Elian would not wait to go to the kingdom to find her. Shea would no doubt lead the way. She is probably the strongest out of them all.

Dain caught up to Vidia but Vidia told him to stop.

"Don't come near me." But he ignored her and swam to her.

He grabbed Vidia's hand and pulled her roughly to he left side of the lake.

"There's a waterfall ahead! We need to get to shore!" Dain yelled.

"The rapid is too strong!" Vidia replies. Dain looked around and realized Vidia was right.

"We have to go down the waterfall! How big is it?" Vidia asked. Dain held onto Vidia's arms.

"Big."

Vidia felt around for her bow on her back but it was gone. It must have fallen off when she went under water.

Suddenly the water dipped and Vidia and Dain were ripped apart. She knew that they were falling down the water fall. He held her breath as she fell.

The fall felt long, too long. Finally, she hit the water below. Water rushed up her nose and she swam up, no longer feeling a rapid.

Vidia finally reached the surface and coughed out all the water. She looked around for Dain and he popped up facing away from her.

"I shouldn't have kicked away your bow." Vidia said. She knew that if she took it, she could've made a grappling hook.

"That's not our biggest problem right now." Dain replied. Vidia followed Dain and swam until she could finally touch the bottom. They both began trudging through the water until they found land.

Dain sat down on the grass and put his hands in his hair.

Vidia and Dain both had the same question and the both said it at the same time:

"Where are we?"