This Time

Chapter 2

I stomped through the jungle, pushing vines and branches out my way with such force that they snapped. It wasn’t until I heard a grunt behind me that I stopped. 

Turning around, I looked down to see a blonde haired figure. Niall’s foot was caught on a root and he had face planted straight into the ground.

I giggled slightly as I helped him into a sitting position. His face has smudges on it and he looked weary.

‘You okay?’ I asked gently, feeling worried.

He frowned and shook his head. ‘I’ve had way too many injuries for the day.’

Quick as anything I jumped onto the nearest tree. Taking long leaps, I made my way to a high branch and plucked a flower from it. It was filled with rainwater, so I was careful not to spill it on my way down.

I hit the ground lightly and handed it to Niall, encouraging him to drink. He looked at me with a shocked expression, but brought the flower to his lips and drank.

‘How do you do that?’ He asked after swallowing.

For a second I was confused, until I realised how strange that must have seemed to a him.

‘Oh, it’s one of our powers’. I told him ‘Atars more agile than humans.’

He looked at me in awe. ‘What other powers do you have?’ 

I thought for a moment ‘Well, we can shift shape; we’re faster, stronger and have better reflexes.’ I paused for a moment, still thinking. ‘We can create force fields to block but also to move things. Like when I ripped open the gate.’

‘My personal favourite is this though.’ I grabbed a stone and held it in my hand for a few seconds, before holding it out for Niall. 

He extended a finger to the stone, but withdrew it with a defeated ‘Ow!’

He looked up at me as he clutched his finger, burnt from the hot stone.

‘That’s your favourite? Heating things?’ He said, annoyed.

I dropped the stone, hearing it sizzle as it hit the moist rainforest floor.

‘No, this is.’ I reached out and grabbed Niall’s finger, stroking it with my own. The angry red mark began to fade and soon it was gone.

He looked up at me with a small smile. ‘Healing?’

I nodded slightly before saying ‘But not our own race.’

He looked down at the healed finger for a second before looking back up and asking. 

‘And the Elicks? Do they have these powers too?’

I bit my lip, wondering how to respond. 

‘The Elicks have similar powers yes, but they use them differently to us.’

I turned away before Niall could ask anything else.

‘I need to gather food.’ I told him firmly, making it clear that conversation was over. He picked up on the tone but started talking again anyway.

‘So, how do you know how to kill them if you’ve been hiding your whole life?’

I sighed and thought of a simple way to answer. There wasn’t one.

‘We train our whole lives to fight, to protect humans. My entire existence is based on keeping the world the way it is. Well, the way it was.’

For once, Niall was silent, so we kept on walking deeper into the trees, looking for something to eat.