Neera waved a timid hand. “Hello!”
Rufus came over to give her a bear hug. Nearly a foot taller than her, he crouched and lifted her off the ground. “It’s nice to see you, Nyr,” he grinned.
“You too, Rufus,” she said honestly. “Now... put me down please.” He did as she asked and went to take a seat by Andrea, who had sat next to Neera’s spot.
Melissa greeted her next, with a polite, “Hello, Neera,” and a smile. Neera smiled back and Melissa went to sit next to Theo’s vacant spot.
Only Eliza stood there now, with her arms crossed, a mixture of pride and distrust written all over her face.
“Hi, Eliza, long time no...” Neera stared hesitantly, but was cut off.
“Show me what you can do,” she said brusquely.
“Um...” Neera looked at Theo, who smiled back at her encouragingly.
Neera looked around the room and picked a target. Rufus was very conveniently unscrewing the lid of his water bottle. Just before he could take a sip, Neera wielded the water so that it escaped the bottle in one elegant flow and snaked in the air above the table. Then she let it fall down rapidly and poured in an empty glass nearby without spilling a drop.
She then turned to Eliza again, who was trying to mask a mildly impressed expression with a grimace. “You will need more than a few cheap tricks to fight in my Order, newbie,” she sneered, and, without another word, took a seat at the table between Melissa and Rufus.
Neera felt her cheeks flush, but went to sit down, followed by Theo. He found her hand under the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She gave him a quick grateful glance.
“Well, then, if we can all focus, we won’t need to waste any more time before starting this meeting.” Eliza looked pointedly at Neera, who averted her eyes. “Members of the Order of Light, there is a rumour going around that the Dark King has sent his puppet to hunt down the Shader. Of course, we don’t know for sure if they know who the Shader is, but we have to assume they do and prepare for the scenario accordingly.”
“Um, excuse me,” Neera squeaked, surprised at her own voice. She had not planned to say anything during the meeting and, in fact, Andrea had recommended her not to. Eliza’s air of superiority, however, had struck a chord within her and the words had escaped her mouth before she could stop them. “Could someone let me know who or what this Shader is?”
Eliza looked annoyed at the interruption, but did not reply to her question. There was a moment of silence, during which everyone seemed to find great interest in picking loose threads or scraping invisible somethings from the table.
Confusion growing into annoyance, Neera was about to repeat her question, when Theo spoke next to her. “I am the Shader, Nyr.”
Not quite understanding why, Neera felt a shiver up her spine. That word reminded of something, buried deep in her memory, but she could not place her finger on it.
“There is a prophecy,” Theo began, “that says that there is a Shader, who holds the power of light and darkness, and is destined to defeat the Shadow King.” He seemed to hesitate as if unsure whether to say more, than fell silent.
“...Okay. How exactly do you know you are this Shader person?”
Theo cocked his head to the side, looking at her slightly amused. “I’m the only fire wielder any of us has ever met,” he said. Then added, as if stating the obvious, “Fire can both be positive, as in useful to mankind, and destructive. Light and darkness.”
Neera’s brow knitted. “Surely you are not the only fire wielder in the universe...”
Theo interrupted her. “Fire wielders are very rare. Andrea researched the issue far and wide; apparently, before I found out I had powers, the previous known fire wielder is said to have died over two centuries ago,” he explained.
“Oh, okay...” She reflected for a second, still looking pretty doubtful. Deciding to drop it for the time being, she asked, “And how are you supposed to defeat the Dark King?”
Theo froze, then averted his gaze, while simultaneously Eliza said, “That’s why we’re here, newbie, we need a plan.” She scoffed, looking pointedly at Theo. He returned a... grateful look? Neera could not be sure.
Eliza resumed her authoritative tone. “Come on, guys, the Dark Bishop is in our world. What do we do?”
Comments (0)
See all