Darko

xii - Elise Nihili

The sky was a dark magenta. The cold stone that he felt underneath his feet was way too familiar. His hands gripped the bars a bit tighter as he yelled. "What do you want from me?" Once again, the fire haired woman ignored his voice and walked away. In the distance, he could see Ophelia flying above him. Her wings covered so much sky, it seemed unreal.

He woke up. He was sweating fiercely and his vision was hazy. "W-What do you want from me?" He said out loud, breathlessly.

Darken noticed that Justin's bag was gone, which could only mean one thing.

He was late to his first lesson with Elizabeth and Avalon.

Today, they were pairing riders with their horses. It wasn't just any training day. Today was the most important of all days.

Darken sat up and wiped his face down with his hand. Why did he have to be late today of all days?

It didn't take Darken long before he was dressed and running out the door. He scurried up the hill to where he caught sight of a large arena, where the team had their first meeting. He entered the arena carefully, trying not to interrupt whatever Elizabeth was lecturing about.

"Mr. Sands."

Too late.

"Nice of you to join us." Elizabeth stated, keeping her eyes on the students in front of her.

He swallowed hard. This was much more embarrassing than he thought. "Sorry, slept in."

"Bad dreams?"           

His heart rate skyrocketed.

How would she know about his dreams?

"I'm joking." She winked.

He swallowed hard, placing himself in line next to Elise.

Elise chuckled. "Nice first impression, sleeping beauty."

Darken bit his lip. There were so many things he could say to her at this moment.

Elise studied him. "Oh wow, the emo kid has nothing to say. Big surprise."

He clenched his fists. He tried to tune Elise out the best he could, but Elizabeth's voice was incredibly soft.             

"Why are you here?" He said behind gritted teeth.

"Same reason as you." I'm sorry I'm such a bother." She added in a mocking tone.

Darken rolled his eyes and tried to listen to Elizabeth.

"Now, for those of who, who had been here last year.." Avalon handed Elizabeth multiple colored lead ropes. "Your horses are in their stalls." She began to pass out the ropes.

"As for Darken and Elise, come with me."

Elise shot him a nasty glare and followed Elizabeth, Darken trailing behind.

"Now, I've picked out two horses that I believe you guys will get along with quite nicely." She smiled.

Darken gulped. Every second he stayed on this island, his experience seemed to be getting worse. Elise wasn't much of help either.

"How much longer are we going to have to walk?"

Darken scoffed in annoyance. He already knew Elise was going to be a useless ball and chain for the team.

"Already tired Elise?" Elizabeth questioned, still keeping her sweet tone of voice.

"A little."  She responded dryly.