Aurora

15

Arrabella.

fourteen

"There are only so many places that she could be!" I yelled, slamming my fists onto the ionak table in front of me.

"You all are running on a very thin line," Darmarie growled, looking over at me.

"You don't think we're trying our best?" Chrys snapped, crossing her arms. I tensed a bit as she walked forward until she was right in front of Darmarie, glaring up at her from behind her shades.

"Yeah? Well it isn't enough." She said, narrowing her eyes at Chrys. "Maybe if your useless father would actually do something, she'd already be back."

"He's a bum. You already know he won't do anything, Darmarie." Claire whispered, sliding between the two before pushing Chrys back a bit. "Stand down." She said, looking down at our sister.

"Well, the only people we haven't heard back from are Shaelyn and Acira's two friends. They've been gone for almost two months, surely they must have something by now." Slone said, pulling one of her wings in front of herself and running her fingers through her feathers.

"King Torrent was supposed to be here. Perhaps they've had a breakthrough?" Isola Yoven, the High Ruler of Ibissi, and Claire's mother, spoke hopefully.

"Yes, mother, but that would warrant them to send word." Claire rolled her eyes, causing Isola to glare at her.

A loud crash at the entrance to the room we were in caused everyone to tense up, ready for an attack. Looking over, I watched someone stumble in, rubbing their head, causing me to freeze.

"Shaelyn? Why are you back? Where is Acira?" I asked as I rushed over to her. She looked up at me before looking at everyone else in the room.

"I'm interrupting, aren't I?" She asked.

"Just get on with it." Claire snapped and I glared at her before both Shaelyn and I walked over to the large table in the middle of the room.

"We found Acira-" she started but was cut off by all the collective sighs of relief.

"Is she alright?" Darmarie asked.

"I was getting to that." Shaelyn said, wringing her hands. "She's okay... kind of." She pressed her lips together, frowning, before continuing. "She was poisoned, but not with a poison that anyone recognizes."

I frowned as she explained what was wrong with Acira, how it was affecting her, and how long she had left. "My brother found her in a ship that was cloaked, flying around in the sky. The only reason why he was able to find her was because Acira had blown a hole in the side of it, trying to escape, thus deactivating its cloak."

She continued on, explaining how Acira wasn't able to use her magic, but that honestly wasn't too big of a concern. "Now I'm sorry to cut this conversation short, but we need to go. Now." Shaelyn said urgently.

"Yes, of course." I nodded, watching Darmarie and Gomer speak to each other out of the corner of my eye. Pausing, I looked over at them when they turned back to us. They both walked over to Shaelyn and I.

"Take us with you." Darmarie said, crouching down to my height level. I raised my eyebrows in surprise before shaking my head.

"If something happens, we won't be able to send you back. Especially if you're a country away from the portal." I said and she glared at me.

"You speak as if we are weak." She said, raising her eyebrow. "Do you think we're weak?"

"Of course not." I said, shaking my head. "I'm just concerned-"