short stories, sketches, and rants

Secrets In The Dark

   I wrap my wrists tightly with the worn material before grabbing the small dagger off the table. I sheath it at my leg and slip on my bag over one shoulder. "Come on, time to move!" I yell out to my crew before I exit the small building that houses all five of us. Along this whole trip, I managed to somehow make it to the leader role in the group. 

   "Hey, what's with the early wake-up call?" I hear from behind me. I spin around to see Jacob still in his sleepwear. I sigh and say "Change, I'll tell you later." He nods and re-enters the housing unit. I walk out onto the crisp grass strewn with early morning dew from the cool night. My hard amber eyes scan the landscape and even though nothing shows, I feel uneasy.

   I turn and march to the meeting building to meet with fellow crew leaders. I shove open the heavy doors and hear commotion. "-ey are coming too close to breaking their loyalties Xander!" I hear. I decide to not enter and tune my hearing to the conversation. "Yes, but they haven't got to our best commander yet my dear. She still is loyal to a fault."

   It then clicks that they are talking about me and the other side. I almost scoff and think you wish, I was loyal to them before I ever met you doofuses. I smile and head back to my housing unit to round up my group. I come in and see them all at attention inside. "Relax my friends, we have a mission today." I say, a proud smile on my lips.

   One of my crew members, a lovely younger girl with reddish hair and a lively spirit named Malory, gapes at me. "I have never seen commander Aura smile before Nexus, have you?" Yespha asks the blond boy next to her. Nexus shakes his head and I say "Oh, it's not that surprising. Come on, we are leaving for the mission before anyone knows we are gone." 

   For the next half hour, we travel through the forest by foot on uncharted pathways in absolute silence. I stop them as we near the base and say "So who here doesn't believe a single word our employers say? Be honest." The group each raises their hands reluctantly and I smile. "Well, then welcome to my home side team!" I say, walking out into the hidden clearing.

   They step out behind me and look at the base with awe. I walk up to the main building and step inside the headquarter's main room. "Little Sis!! You're back!!" I'm tackled into a hug and stumble back a bit before returning the hug. "Good to see you too Knight." She breaks away and gives me a grin. I laugh and say "How's it been going?"

   "Oh, you know, just the usual runs. Worrying about you. Trying to keep Shard off my tail about you." She says, smirking. I scoff, ignoring the blush coating my cheeks. "Why would he care? Especially now?" I say, crossing my arms. She shrugs, a mischevious glint in her eyes. "I don't know, maybe he didn't want to lose his competition for the best agent at the company."

   Jason comes up behind me and slings an arm around my shoulders. "Doesn't surprise me, she's the best commander back at the other base." He says. I roll my eyes at him and say "Jason, stop. Knight, this is Jason. He basically is like an annoying older brother. Jason, this is Knight, my sister by choice." Jason sends me a playful glare before sticking out his other hand and shaking Knight's.

   I then motion for the rest of the group to come forward and say "And the other three of my crew are Nexus, Yespha, and Malory. We are kind of like family much like me and you." She nods and says "Nice, glad you found people who can look after you while I'm not there." I smile and shake my head at her.

   She then takes notice of my reddened hair and amber eyes. "When was the last time you shifted back?" She asks me with concern. I bite my lip and mumble "Before I left for the mission..." "Blaze! It's been over four months! Do they know?" I shake my head and say "As far as they know, this is my natural hair and eye color."

   Jason drops his arm and says "You mean your eyes don't normally look like a burning flame?" I nod and say "Only two people have seen my actual look and know my real name. That would be my head officer here that recruited me and Knight." My team all looks at me and Mallory says "So your name isn't Aura or Blaze then?"

   "No it's not, but we never get to know anything besides 'Blaze' of course." I turn around and glare at him. "Glad you could join us Shard." I say, sarcasm dripping from the words like venom. His face shows a cocky smile and he says "I'm glad to be here too my little flame." Before I can spill a retort from my mouth, Jason moves in front of me and says "Don't mock her." 

   "What, you got yourself a protector when you were gone?" Shard mocks, his icy blue eyes looking at Jason with hatred. "Jason, please. I deal with this all the time, it's not a big deal." I say, placing a hand on his arm lightly. He relaxes and turns away from Shard, placing a guiding hand on my back.

   "Jason, no." I state before turning away. I look to Knight and she nods before leading the group away from me. I sigh and sprint outside. I press my back to the side of the building and let my flames faze over me. The heat fades away and I'm left in a purple swirling casual dress, gladiator sandals, and a small gold crown. I walk into the woods and watch the greenery around me with soft eyes.

   "You know, it's not quite safe for a princess to be out in the woods alone." I spin around sharply and am met with the sight of Shard. I compose myself slightly and say with my homeland accent "And who might you be?" He looks at me differently, almost...sadly. "Someone you knew about four years ago." He says softly. I look at him quizzically and say "What do you mean?"

   "Oh, you forgot the day. The day you left me, the day you left your kingdom, promising to return and fix the mistakes of your father, promising to come back to me." My hand flies to my mouth as I look at him with disbelief. "N-no, no, you must be messing with me. When I came back...h-he told me he killed you...no." I mutter as I look at him.

   He moves forward and catches my hands in his. "He left me for dead, but someone found me and took me to the place I am in now. Please, please don't leave me again." He says, almost begging me. A swirl of icy wind surrounds him and I'm met with warm chocolate brown eyes. Tears spring to my eyes as I hug him close, afraid it is just a dream. "Shh, it's okay love." He whispers into my hair. 

   "I thought I lost you." I say quietly, a couple drops escaping my eyes. He hugs me closer and says "And I thought you forgot me." I pull back and look at him. "How would I forget you? How could I forget you? You are the only man I have ever loved." I say quietly. He looks at me for a long while, silent but lovingly. 

   My breath hitches as his hand then moves to tuck away a stray hair. "May I?" He says. Too lost for words, I just nod. He leans down and captures my lips in a kiss, one hand resting at the small of my back while the other cups my cheek. I slide my hands up to the back of his head and tangle my fingers in his hair. He tilts his head enough to deepen the kiss and my knees go weak, my only support the strong hand pressed to my back.

   We break for air and he leans his forehead on mine, his breath fanning across my face. "I missed you." He whispers, his brown eyes swriling hues of emotions. I let a single tear escape and I say "Me too." He brushes away the tear with the pad of his thumb and smiles at me. I smile back and we just stand there for a bit, finding comfort in our love being reunited. 

A/N:Hello my lovely readers! So I hope you enjoyed this and tell me in the comments which character was who if you think you know. I did introduce four new characters into the story so tell me if I should make this into a book! This is a more classic book style writing so no POV little blips would be in the story, it would just be text like this one. Anyway, let me know what you think and have  wonderful day!

-Dragora Midnight