Convulsion

✿ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜɪʀᴛᴇᴇɴ ✿

Lily

"What?" I scream. The Gloaming. The monsters. They're coming. "No, no, no," I mutter, clutching my head. I don't know why I'm freaking out, but it's not like I'm used to murdering monsters chasing after me. Amaryllis looks like she's half dead, and I can't begin to fathom about how she made it here alive and what those monsters did to her.

"Lily, calm down," Steve whispers, grabbing my shoulders. For a split second I welcome his touch, but then the reality of the threat comes back to me, snarling and biting at me like a rabid dog.

"Don't tell me to calm down." I shake away from Steve. "If everything that's going on here is true, and I think it is, then the Gloaming are the people that killed my real parents. They're the monsters that are trying to get this Gem around my neck, and they're the people that want to kill me! So I'm not going to calm down! Don't tell me what to do." I try to get away from him, but somehow his hands still end up grasping my shoulders.

With the simple pressure against my skin I stop struggling, but it doesn't stop my clammy hands from clutching the necklace around my neck. I lean my head back against Steve's chest and close my eyes, trying to relax. I bet it's still early in the morning, and yet this day already isn't going the way I expected it to. This day could be my last. Amaryllis clears her throat, and I open my eyes so I can look at her. She pinches the bridge of her nose and holds up a hand as she tries to think.

"Wait a sec here, you... ugh, how do I put this? That's the Terra Firma Gem, correct?" She asks, her voice on the verge of cracking. She's speaking pretty loudly and now she's pointing at my necklace, her eyes wide. I step away from Steve- this time he lets me go- and I let go of my necklace.

"Yep," I answer, planting my hands on my hips and squeezing myself as tight as I can. My insides aren't feeling too well right now, but I need to keep myself contained. Any second the Gloaming could arrive, so I do need to calm myself down if I want to keep myself alive. Amaryllis looks scared, and for a moment all she can do is stare before she speaks again.

"We need to get you to the Praesidium now, if any of us want a chance of living," she says frantically, pacing back and forth despite all her injuries.

"We can take on the Gloaming," Steve proclaims. At his words, I feel a slight breeze weave through my hair, and I do my best to ignore it. The wind must be connected to his feelings, because it keeps acting up like this. Well, if the earth really is connected to me, I'm surprised this building hasn't already tumbled down the cliff it's on.

"What are you talking about? We can't take them on, Steve," Amaryllis counters. "What do you have, a death wish? This is a full on attack! You think that, what? The five of us can take them on? Hundreds of monsters, all of them informed that the Ebengate has been breached, on their way here to kill us all, and you think we can take them on with the Terra Firma Gem vulnerable while we fight? We can't do that Steve. Absolutely not." No one responds to her, a nervous energy buzzing around the hallway as we all think to ourselves.

"Head Guardian, we need to get Lily to the Praesidium. Otherwise, we're all going to die." Amaryllis meets Gwen's eye, and everything becomes quiet.

"What's the Praesidium?" I ask. I hate to distract them from the Gloaming and our situation, but I want to know where they're taking me. If it's a place where we'll be safe, then I think we should go.

"It's the school that trains all the teenagers in the Realm of Ni'ilxus," Gwen responds. "One of the safest places in this Realm, besides here and Valon's Palace." So the Praesidium is a school for teens, like high school I guess. No wonder I didn't see any teenagers in Avalon when we went. They all must've been at the Praesidium. And now I have to go there too. Because... The Gloaming. They're coming. And I have no idea what to do.