JAXTON

There was a gust of wind. It hit him so hard that he felt his ears ring. It knocked him out, he didn't feel himself connect with the floor.

The sleep was short. He knew there was a reason his sleep was short. There was that nagging feeling at the back of his head, probing his skull, forcing him to wake. And he did. Eyes opening, wincing, and opening to the light.

The woods were not quiet. Everything seemed normal. But there was a small part of him that forced him to move, to find out what was abnormal.

He shifted his shoulders. It hurt him. He could feel the blood pumping down his arms, his veins jumping under his skin.

Move.

He clenched his back teeth and flipped to the side. There was a girl, with hair the colour of wood, her eyes were closed, and her face was the colour of a ghost. His glance flitted to the broken pieces of the blade on the ground and his eyes began to widen.

He remembered everything.



***



He needed to be quick.

Jaxton was running through the forest. Silently. His figure passing between trees and branches. His footsteps were as light as a feline, but there was a shuffle of urgency in them. By the human eye, perhaps they could only see a flit of a shadow. Jaxton was used to this type of running, it was common among all the agile shadow users.

He could hear her mumbling as he carried her. Was she in pain? Was he holding her too tight? Or not tight enough? Were his footsteps too heavy for her comfort? Except, he knew he couldn't slow down. He tried to run in a steadier gait but he knew it was impossible. He had to navigate these woods and trees, he had to be fast, he couldn't afford to stumble.

He had woken up and realised to his horror what she had done. He was mortified. Panicking. He had no idea what to do for the first few seconds. Check her pulse! He yelled in his mind. He was so stressed that he didn't feel her pulse the first time. It sent his temples throbbing. He felt for it again, around her neck. Once, twice, thrice... it was there, but it was weak.

He patted her down. Remembering the vial she had shown him earlier on.

Jaxton had always disliked Marty, for a reason he was unable to explain. The first time Robin introduced Marty to him when he was still a first-year, he didn't like him. But, of course, he didn't tell Robin that. Marty was Robin's friend and he should trust in Robin's judgement. Robin might think he was being ridiculous if he told. In fact, Jaxton even found himself to be a bit ridiculous.

Marty was nice. He took an interest in what Jaxton did and even listened to Jaxton when he told him about his nerdy chemistry obsession. Jaxton would've forgiven him if Marty decided to break eye contact. Most people would've done it by then, but Marty's dark gaze did not falter out of disinterest, not even once.

But he still remained wary about Marty. Marty was too smooth. Too careful. Up to the point where Jaxton found that he couldn't read him. Everything he did was impeccable, even his gaze, regardless of whether he was angry, sad or happy, they held a gentleness. A gentleness that instantly made you put your guard down.

His dislike increased when he realised Cass seemed to know Marty quite well. And for Marty to give Cass such a rare gift (that healing potion) meant that Cass was somehow... special to him. He didn't like it. And again, he didn't know why. Cass could hang out with anyone she wanted. She could talk to them, even go out on a date with them... so why? At first, the question was irritating. It turned in his head and regurgitated itself when he couldn't digest it. It didn't take long before he found out why and it took him a while to accept it.

Despite his negative feelings toward Marty, when he found the vial in Cass' pocket, he felt like singing hallelujah. He had never liked Marty as much as he did when he found the vial.

He felt his footsteps grow louder, quicker when he saw the medic station at a cliff. There were ashes in the air, a lingering, suffocating heat from the fire, but the flames were gone; either extinguished or gone elsewhere. Far away from here.

He stormed into the station, sweat drenching his forehead. His throat was dry and his breathing was in short pants.

"She..." He spoke, his voice cracking from thirst. "Internal bleeding... from blood wielder... she took a healing potion."

There were not many healers there. They simply took Cass out of his arms and asked him to sit down while they tried to figure something out. They looked like they knew what they were doing, but Jaxton was still worried.

"Hey..." There was a man, a few years older than him, that walked towards him. Jaxton recognised him. He was Cass' troop leader but he didn't know his name. His blonde hair reminded him of Yoan. "I'm Julian. Are you injured? Do you need medical attention?"

Jaxton shook his head, still breathless and too exhausted to speak.

"Grab him some water."

When the water came, Jaxton thanked a girl with curly ponytails and gulped down the whole cup, wiping a trailing water drop from his chin with his sleeve.

"What happened?"

Before he could reply, someone entered his vision with a look of concern. Jaxton noticed his tallness. He had seen him before.

Ah... it was Willie.

"Have you seen Ted? Ted was with Cass!" Willie grabbed his shoulder and forced Jaxton's weary glance to land on him. Jaxton pursed his lips, unsure how to reply.

"He-"

"Jaxton!" Vel's face and purple eyes calmed Jaxton down instantly. He felt some heaviness evaporate from his chest but he never forgot Cass' stark white face and the blood that seeped from the corner of her lips.

Jaxton opened his arms and caught Vel in his embrace. She was shaking but she didn't cry. "Jaxton! I'm so happy to see you! You had no idea! We had a forest fire! It was horrible! Cass and Ted separated from us as we ran! How come you're here?!"

Jaxton let out a breath, attempting the best smile possible, "It's a long story but Cass is here."

Vel drew herself away, a worried look.

"Is she hurt?"

"Yes."

"Will she be okay?"

A swallow. "I hope so."

Vel closed her eyes briefly, their sibling moment was interrupted by Willie. "Ted? Where's Ted?"

"He had Cassandra hostage," Jaxton decided to be blunt. He could feel the atmosphere tense. Everyone in the room spoke quieter, a few mutters here and there. Julian walked a step closer.

"Jaxton, is it?" Julian said with a furrow in his brows. "Ted's in my troop. What's happened to him?"

"He had Cassandra hostage. We all fell over a cliff."

There was a small gasp in the room, somewhere, but Jaxton's gaze was on Julian's. Julian released his cough into his elbow. "You're saying... Ted is... a bad guy?"

"Since he tried to kill Cassandra, yes."

"But why?"

The girl with curly ponytail, her cheeks brushed with black soot, cut in, "Julian, there was something weird about Ted."

"Wilfred," Julian called and Willie looked up, his eyes were blank. "Have you noticed anything strange about Ted?"

Willie didn't reply. He simply glared at Jaxton, his eyes narrowing. "Wait... you're the guy who came to our troop one night and took Cassie away. How do we know you're not lying?"

"He's my brother!" Vel shouted, standing in front of Jaxton in a defensive stance. "He would never lie about this!"

Jaxton held Vel by a shoulder. "Look, I mean no harm to Cass. Otherwise, I wouldn't have helped her."

"Then, explain why you're here," Will's eyes flamed and he did his best to control the volume of his voice. "From what I've heard from Velvet, it sounds like you shouldn't be here."

"Don't change the subject. I saw Ted threaten Cass with a knife and he tried to pull her off the cliff with him."

"But why would Ted ever do that?"

Crap.

Jaxton forgot the part about Iridescent. The real reason was that Ted needed to kidnap Cass for some purpose regarding Iridescent. Obviously, he couldn't admit it here.

Slowly, calmly, Jaxton spoke, "I don't know. Maybe Cass found out something about Ted. Ted had to do something about it. Tough luck he met me."

Willie wanted to continue but Vel's glare was enough to silence him. "My brother's exhausted. Give him a break, will you?"

Willie's anger dissipated as he gazed at Vel soft, muttering a quiet "sorry" before he retreated to a corner.

Everyone had shuffled to a more comfortable spot, minded their own business, headed back to their own tired murmurs.

Vel turned to look at Jaxton. "Get some rest. They've contacted the rescue and we'll be out here soon."

"Not without Cass."







***



A/N

Chapter updates might be slowing down as I've met a major writer's block on 1-2 chapters.

Hopefully it'll get better soon!

Thanks for the support, my friends!

L