Discord Isles: Black Ice Island

Ch 3. The Storm

          The storm had gotten worse. With each passing minute the winds blew harder and the soft, thick snow had turned to tiny, sharp crystals: small enough to cut skin.

Lily pulled her dark purple hood up over her green hair which blew across her face. She leaned against the wind and peered into the whiteness of the storm ahead of her. The looming, faded shadows of trees guided her path as she trekked through the storm.

The wind forced the girl to close her eyes, and when she opened them, a tree was tilting towards her. It's branches were snapping and crackling under the weight of the wind.

A flash of red proved her safe as she teleported away. The tree crashed in a puff of white and dead limbs exploded off in the snow. Lily peered at it for a moment, muttering "Shit.." under her breath.

If the storm was strong enough to knock a tree down in a forest, she couldn't begin to imagine the horrors of a storm like this in the chaos of Pure Towers.

'Pure Towers will suffer tremendously in this storm while under attack.' Lily thought, then a dangerous thought entered her mind and she peered her eyes more, leaning into the wind and forcing her way onward, 'This can't be a coincidence.'

         Taube slurped on his stew. Steam puffed up in his face and a vegetable went down his throat, causing him to choke for a moment until he chugged Maya's water dramatically.

To his luck and surprise, nobody saw.

Max was busy with her soup, Oliver was pacing the floor, and Maya was attempting to calm him down.

The wind whipped dangerously, a soft whistle rocked the house as the group awaited for Lily's return and news.

A small chirp caught the attention of Oliver, stopping him in the midst of his pacing. He cocked an eyebrow and his lime green eyes glanced over his shoulder to see a small black beetle sitting on his jacket sleeve.

The group all seemed to notice the beetle simultaneously.

"Hey Oliver.""Can bug elementals talk to bugs?" "there's a beetle over there. Maybe it can help us?"

Max flinched at the sudden memory that flooded into her mind.

It wasn't hers.

"Hi there." Oliver said, allowing the beetle to climb on his hand. "Trying to escape the storm, Huh?"

The beetle lowered its body and antennae, as if curling up from the cold.

The group watched in awe as Oliver made his way to the fireplace and sat the beetle down on the carpet. It chirped it's thanks and rested itself gently against the flowers next to the crackling fire.

It wasn't often they got to see Oliver communicating with a bug. Over the last month, they'd seen the boy save a bird from a forest fire and a fish that jumped out of a pond. Not to mention, a strange cat-looking creature from drowning in the same pond. Yet, Oliver never had many chances to save bugs.

"Oli, is that-?" Taube asked, eyes lighting up.

"Yeah." Oliver responded shortly.

"What?" Maya asked, exchanging glances with Max who shrugged. "What is it?"

"That's the little beetle that helped us escape from Varick! Didn't he lead you guys to us?" Taube exclaimed, fluttering over to the beetle and placing a cooked herb next to it.

Maya thought for a moment, then her eyes widened as she remembered. "Oh yeah! Uh-...can...can you tell the beetle I said...thanks?"

Oliver turned to the beetle, then smiled sweetly while making a small chirping noise. The beetle seemed to bow, then curl back up in his rose by the fire.