Tales of Aridia

The Island

The bodies collected in the sand, intertwined with arms and legs. The children disappeared from the cliff edge, stepping away from view. "Who did that?" I asked. Max stumbled forward to my side, he stuttered for a moment and then said simply, "I don't know." I turned away from the cliff, and faced the crashing waves that pounded onto the shore. A gust of wind swept under my hair, and then faded away. I walked closer to the sea, the sand becoming damp beneath my feet. In my back pocket I held the pocket watch, given to me by Jayden, It had been clamped over the picture inside, leaving a crease in the photo. Max approached, swinging his long legs deep into the sand. I flipped the watch back over and shoved it into my pocket.

 "I'm sorry," I said, avoiding the silence. "Jayden was your friend," I said, my voice shaking in disbelief of what had happened. "Why did he save me?" I asked, stroking the tips of my fingers with my thumb nervously. "Well..." Max murmured, unsure of what to say. "He loved you," He said, forcing the words out like they were painful to hear. I blushed and stared at the floor, squeezing out a brief smile. Max blushed too, as he scuffed his feet along the floor making the sand fly away with the wind. "And you are our Queen, we have a duty to protect you," He said, avoiding the subject of love.  

"Where do we go now?" I asked, gesturing Elliana to come closer. My eyes fell upon the island that lay not too far away, Max knew what I was thinking. "We could teleport there but..." Max paused, flooded with thoughts. "Well?" I asked, nudging him. "If we teleport our powers could be drained for a night or two," He explained, scratching his chin nervously. Elliana rubbed her eyes, which were red and swollen from the ordeal of that day. I knelt by her side, my knees slipping under the sand. "You're okay," I whispered, brushing rubble off her shirt. She nodded, overcome with silence.  I held Max's hand unexpectedly, "Let's do it," I said, swiping away one of my hands and using it to draw Elliana into the circle. We concentrated and soon our minds connected, soaring with magic. The sand parted beneath our feet, I could feel it sweeping away. 

The waves grew soft and gentle as they lapped onto the shore, as did the wind. The sand gathered again beneath our feet and when we opened our eyes we were somewhere else, far away from the cliff which we had come down. "It worked," I said, staring up at the trees and the grass that stretched as far as the eye could see. We were shaded by a canopy of leaves, sheltering us as the smooth patter of rain fell above. Every now and again the rain would creep through the cover and splash onto our skin, cooling us. Just ahead there was an opening, where a bush had been torn in two and its roots cast out. We walked through, stepping over the stones and thorns which struck us unexpectedly. Max carried Elliana on his shoulders, crouching down when a branch reached over the path we were taking. The vines crunched beneath my legs as we trampled over them, leaving deep marks in the ground where nobody had ever walked before. 

As the night crept closer the gentle glow of the moon could be seen hitting the canopy, crawling through gaps and breaks in the leaves. The light was spread around like lightening, striking any given area. We ducked under a tree, collapsed over the path before finding ourselves out in the open, not hidden by the shrubbery which grew wild. "We'll stay here for the night," I said, pointing at the ground. Max pulled Elliana off his back, who had fallen asleep around an hour earlier. Max patted the ground, searching for anything sharp before laying Elliana's body in the dirt.