Chapter 29: Lurking in the Shadows

Moonlight illuminated the mountains. The humidity had cooled tremendously, a bit of snow falling from above. The water house had frozen over during the night, and the heat inside was kept together from Takabi's flames. He and Kairas still sat around the fire, eyes shut and legs criss crossed. Their minds were elsewhere, but focused on the same subject.

Too exhausted to train their bodies, they trained their minds instead. This way, they could recover as well as build up their mana. Meditation, while not preferred, was always an option for them to reign in their repressed urges of negativity. The evil that danced in their souls would always exist, so they would take steps to keep it in check.

While Takabi had a strong grasp of this, it was where Kairas struggled more. He couldn't let go of his anger towards Girston, but it had waned faintly. Both boys tried not to think about it, but it would always pop into their heads one way or another. At one point, he saved Kairas.

He didn't have to step into the battle and divert Takabi's attack, but he did.

Quite easily, which is one of the more frustrating revelations. They were still nowhere near powerful enough to battle him, and now they had four God Gems on the enemy side they also had to deal with. Between Girston and the Gems, things were not looking so positive.

Something Hailey told Takabi resonated in his mind. Girston was feeling regret before she left the Kult. He talked to her, confined to her his feelings, before Carlos made a move and turned him in. Hailey had come running with the hope of saving her child and Girston.

It put the two in a rough spot.

Satisfy Kairas' thirst for vengeance, or appease Hailey's feelings and rescue those she called a family?

Ultimately, the choice was more on Kairas than Takabi.

The sun crept up in the north hours later. Pink pushed away the green, and the house of water quickly evaporated into gas, leaving them exposed to the outside air.

Takabi stood, stretching wide and yawning loudly. He was rejuvenated. Nana, Jewel and Kairas all stirred next, yet no one questioned Aqua's disappearance until Jewel spoke up.

"Anyone seen the little one," She asked.

They glanced around, Takabi being the first to call for the girl. His words echoed and bounced off the trees, yet nothing met their hopes. Kairas shut his eyes, trying to feel out her magic signal. To his surprise, he turned around, pointing further upwards. "I think she went ahead."

"Odd," Nana commented, standing up.

Her skin had regained its previous color, and she looked relatively fresh compared to the night before. She tied her hair up in a high ponytail, before using the air to cut the length off her dress, exposing more of her legs. She kicked off her heels, willing a duffle bag from empty space forth, and running through its contents until she pulled a pair of black flats.

"Did anyone hear her come back last night?"

They shook their heads, hearts filling with a faint trace of worry. "Let's get moving. Maybe she found something while we were sleeping."

-------------------------------------------------

Time seemed to drag on.

Their hike upwards seemed to yield no result. The further they went, the further away Aqua's signal would travel, as if she was purposely trying to avoid them. Takabi hopped up a small cliff, reaching down and pulling Nana up by her hand. Jewel crawled on her own, reaching the top and looking past the two. She craned her head aside, eyes falling a black mist dancing amongst the trees.

"What's that?"

Kairas, who had been the last to come up, followed her gaze. Pulling himself up, he craned his head aside and took a step forward.

"Is someone there?"

His question met no response. The mist, however, twisted and turnt at their sound. Closer and closer they approached, still unsure of what to make out what the darkness was. Nana placed her hand on a fallen tree, hopping over it and landed on her feet with a gentle thud. Jewel came after her, landing and raising her gaze quickly. The mist stopped moving.

Frozen as if it hadn't been disturbed.

"What is going on?" Jewel's question was something they all wondered.

Pain ripped through Kairas' side. Looking down, his eyes went wide at the black arrow hurting out of his body. Blood stained his shirt, and he held his wound in annoyance more than pain. Takabi watched his brother for a moment, looking over the arrow and the direction it came from. His eyes went wide, and he snapped his gaze over his shoulder.

"Behind us!"

The girls lowered their heads, but the boys weren't so lucky. Arrow after arrow ripped through them, purposely missing vital and fatel areas. Blood splatter on the log, the two falling over and landing on their backs hard.

Torn clothes, and holes riddled their bodies. Nana reached for them both, but didn't feel herself move. Jewel looked at her hands, blackness wrapped around her palms and ankles.

"What the fuck," She screamed, the two struggling against the black ooze under their feet.

They slowly began to sink into the ground, a laughter echoing around the trees.

"Takabi! Help," Nana cried.

Jewel ripped a hand free, reaching for Kairas. She opened her mouth to call his name, but both were quickly swallowed whole, and the shadows danced away in a rising mist. The laughter that taunted the two ceased.

Silence gripped them, greeted them, despite the sizzling steam rising from their wounds. Once healed, they sat up, speechless.

"Someone's… Following us," Kairas said through a strained breath.

Takabi stood and helped his twin up. He wasn't speaking, and just touching his hand would tell why. Someone took Nana from him, and the idea of her getting hurt didn't sit well in the boy's mind.

"We'll get them back, alright?"

"Yeah," He said dryly. "From what though?"

"Based on what we just saw," He paused, looking around. "I can make the guess it was a Shadow Dragon."

"Who'd want to hunt us down like animals though? What for?"

"No clue," Kairas admitted. "We need to keep on our toes though. Follow me. I'm sure you can feel where their magic signals are heading."

Takabi nodded, turning around towards the gathering mana. "At least he has the courtesy to keep them together. Should be easy to get them back if he needs to rely on stealth to get us apart from one another." Despite speaking it, they knew that wasn't the case.

Whoever their opponent was was a powerful Dragon. If Julius was anything to go by, it was going to take everything they had to walk away alive.