The Prodigies: The Return of Equinox

Chapter Forty-Eight: Ordered - Crown and Throne

Celesta had no more tears to shed when Ellondra came back to the wagon. Ellondra had just gotten within ten feet when she heard the queen's voice.

"What is it?" Celesta was in no mood to be disturbed. Her voice was heavy, angry, and malicious.

"Can you make it to The Six?"

"I can do whatever I please."

"Yes or no?" Ellondra was still beyond done with Celesta's attitude. What gave her the right to treat people like this? Especially her. Celesta hadn't responded for a while. Ellondra moved closer and Celesta broke her silence.

"I cannot." She whimpered. Whether or not Ellondra liked Celesta, it saddened her to hear the weakness in her voice. The air and presence of authority that Celesta owned had been lost, and it didn't feel right.

"I found us an inn to stay at for a day or two. I figured you would need it." No answer came from Celesta. Even after Ellondra had begun her approach again there came no answer. She lead the wagon to a spot close to the inn. Ellondra waited for a moment to see Celesta to their room. As she waited she wondered why Celesta would keep her identity a secret. What was there to gain in her being unaware of who she was? Was it a danger? To her? To Celesta?

"I don't trust the Huven. That's why." Hearing Celesta respond to her thoughts had reminded her that she could hear them were she not careful. "Your kind presents a danger to me and my people that we cannot outright deal with."

"How so?"

"Your people's resistance to magic, and the capability to still use it is beyond anything my people can handle. All they know is magic."

"I doubt it."

"Maybe my knights would be able to fight against it, but I don't think they'll get far without Nano being directly involved. He'd be the sort to figure it out quickly."

"Does he know? About me?"

"No. Not who you really are, but he knows what you are. I'm sure he's already tried experimenting when he was near you."

"Are you afraid of me?" Silence. And then a bit of creaking sounded as Celesta made her way out of the wagon. She opened the back flap and, rather ungracefully, stepped down to meet Ellondra eye to eye. The Queen wore a focused expression that almost hid the swirling emotions that mixed and boiled within her. It almost hid her irritated eyes, the red around them, the pink tip of her nose and the weakness in her posture.

"I am not, and never will be, afraid of you." Celesta stood tall and looked down to Ellondra. Ellondra couldn't help but feel a little intimidated considering Celesta was four inches taller than her, even though Ellondra had more muscle and mass compared to the thin Queen.

"Should I be afraid of you?" asked Ellondra. Her voice unwavering as she felt a pang of fear drop her stomach. Her palms began to sweat and an uneasy feeling ran down her spine. Without a word, or moments of hesitation, Celesta swung at Ellondra.

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Seilana was getting comfortable in her bed when she heard some sort of a scuffle break loose. She sighed and got up. She had learned her lesson from a few mornings before and bought a large gown of sorts that would fit either of her shapes. She quickly slipped some sandals on and went to investigate what was happening.

She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw that Celesta and Ellondra were fighting. She had seen Rangers fight before, particularly Jasper and Ellondra, but Celesta had shown no sort of martial prowess until now. The style of fighting was unfamiliar. It was ferocious, focused, and suffocating. Rangers, as far as Seilana knew, were taught a fighting style that focused on counters and grapples but Ellondra showed nothing like that. Ellondra was wholly defensive in her actions with nothing but blocks and parries to answer Celesta's fast and fierce blows.

Seilan started to head to the fight but Celesta quickly threw a barrier around her and Ellondra. There would be no interfering. As the fight progressed Celesta's movements grew faster and stronger and her limbs began to give off a soft glow. It was the telltale sign that she was using magic on her body to make it stronger. Seilan realized that Ellondra only had so long before Celesta would eventually overpower Ellondra and tried whatever he could to break down the barrier that kept him away from the fight. 

As Seilan pounded at the barrier, he heard a snap. A snap that he was far too familiar with. It was the sound of bone breaking. When he looked up he saw Ellondra, sweating and with some bruises on her face, holding Celesta's wrist with one hand and the other pushing Celesta's elbow up. Celesta wore a look of shock on her face, and before long, a look of intense pain. Tears instantly welled up in Celesta's eyes. She was paralyzed from the pain and could do nothing as Ellondra pulled Celesta closer by her elbow. Celesta could only watch as Ellondra raised an elbow of her own and slammed it down on the upper part of her chest, snapping her collarbone.

Celesta fell to the floor from the force of the blow and gasped for air as the pain she felt was so new to her that she couldn't comprehend it. The barrier fell and Seilan rushed to Celesta's side. Ellondra walked away as Seilan tended to Celesta.

"Why did she do that?" It took Celesta a few moments of gasping, moaning, and whimpering to regain the ability to talk.

"I swung first."

"Why?"

"To answer her question."

"And what question would that be!"

"If she should be afraid of me."

"Well?"

"I think she found her answer."

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As Ellondra wandered the streets she felt its presence. Voleria. After a while she could hear the mass buzzing in a very satisfied manner, if that feeling could ever describe the sound of over a thousand insects.

She finally found Voleria, but instead of a whole human shape like she usually sees it, it was sprawled out taking up a large amount of space in a back alley. When she got close the buzzing fell to a dead silence. The bugs retreated to one spot and started to crawl over each other in a very disorganized manner while she saw hundreds of small and large spiders spin their silk around the mass.

"Ah." buzzed Voleria. "You found me."

"I fought Celesta and defeated her."

"So?" 

"Was it wrong of me? I don't know if what I did was the right, or even the ok choice."

"I don't understand your culture or its intricacies, but now you know that you can fight her again and win. In the wild, if you win you eat them. While you didn't eat her, I think you've sent the message that you might be able to. And I think she needs that. The animal that thinks it can't die deserves to die by the claws of those that it saw as weaker than it."

"Do you believe that?"

"Wholly."