Written April 25th 2021 9:00 PM

If she was being honest, Ailith was having a pretty rough day. The First and Last had finally made it to Rayne, a small town in the middle of the desert and she had expected the rest of their time in the town to go fairly smoothly. All she had to do was find Amos, who was apparently hiding out up here and not down in Gaal Alari as she originally thought. A quick get in, maybe slap Amos around a bit for abandoning her, and get out job. But now she was reeling with the information that the Golden Fence, the organization she had grown up around and had aspired to join, trafficked children. They kidnapped children from their homes and families, and shipped them around Halophell to the highest bidder. The very idea of it churned her stomach.

To make matters worse, Amos was apparently working for Elijah, the head honcho of the Golden Fence outpost here in Rayne, making him a direct accomplice to the whole thing. Ailith’s blood ran cold when Elijah told her the truth about how she came to be live with Amos. That she had been one of the kidnapped children, but Amos took a liking to her and kept her, raising her among the organization that stole her from her parents. Ailith refused to cry in front of Elijah, to let him see that he had rattled her. She kept her gaze on him, avoiding looking at Amos where he stood just behind Elijah. Damn him. Damn him to all the hells. She had trusted Amos, had looked up to him even when he got so drunk he couldn’t stand, when he left her behind in the tavern as a child, when he pushed her to train until she threw up. He had been the closest thing she had to a family, and it tore her apart that he was the reason she didn’t have a real family, the reason she didn’t get to have the one thing she had always wanted.

“I have a proposition for y’all,” Elijah drawled, breaking through Ailith’s thoughts. “I want to see just how tough you are. Y’all fight each other, one on one, and I’ll see if we can come to an arrangement.” Ailith looked back at the group, gauging how they all felt about the proposal.

“We fight each other, and you’ll consider working with us? Is that really necessary?” Ailith didn’t want to fight her friends, she had seen them in action and did not want to be on the receiving end of their weapons or magic.

“How else am I to know if you’re a worthy investment, girl?” Elijah sneered, drumming his fingers against the diamond atop his cane. Ailith needed this, she needed to infiltrate the Golden Fence to take it down from the inside, but she didn’t want to force her friends to fight each other for her cause.

“Ailith,” Feyra whispered next to her, leaning in close so no one else heard, “is this something you need?”

“I think so,” Ailith replied, turning to look at Feyra and seeing nothing but trust in her gaze.. “We’ll do it,” Ailith told Elijah, not taking her eyes off her friend.

“Excellent!” Elijah clapped his hands. “Well, let’s not break up the parties. You versus the redhead, then the two big ones versus the little girl. Sounds fair, doesn’t it?” The question was obviously rhetorical; it didn’t sound fair, it sounded barbaric, but what other choice did they have?

Ailith climbed into the ring in the middle of the room, Feyra following close behind. Ailith paced to the far side of the ring, shaking out her arms and rolling her neck in preparation. Was she really about to fight Feyra? Feyra, who had no practice in hand to hand combat? When this is over, I want Elijah’s head on a platter. Ailith turned back to face Feyra, dropping into combat stance as she did so. Feyra was watching her with a slight smile on her face, her brow furrowed the tiniest bit. Ailith felt numb, trying to replace the image of Feyra with someone else, anyone else in her mind.

Elijah gave the order and Feyra ran at Ailith, swiping at her with her sword. The hit was weak, weaker than it should have been, and Ailith knew Feyra was pulling her attacks. It still stung where it hit her, and Ailith felt a trickle of blood run down her side as she retaliated, smacking Feyra’s sword away with her cane. She used the momentum to swing her cane up into Feyra’s jaw, the other woman’s head snapping back. Ailith darted around, targeting Feyra’s kidneys with two sharp punches, ducking when Feyra twisted and swung her sword at Ailith’s head. There’s my girl. The two sparred viciously, neither holding back, each bloodied and bruised. It didn’t take long before Feyra started to falter, her swings coming in slow and sluggish. Ailith needed to finish this.

Feyra brought her sword up towards Ailith’s chest, slicing into her ribs before Ailith danced out of the way, hitting Feyra in the back of her knees with her cane. When Feyra stumbled, Ailith barely hesitated before hitting her in the back, sending her to her knees. Throwing her staff away, Ailith gritted her teeth and punched Feyra in the jaw, watching the other woman’s eyes roll back in her head at the impact. Feyra remained silent throughout the onslaught, never uttering even a groan of pain. She looked up at Ailith, her green eyes shining, and gave a small nod. Closing her eyes tightly, Ailith delivered another punch to the side of Feyra’s head, opening her eyes in time to see Feyra’s head jerk with the force of the punch. Feyra fell sideways, unconscious; she still had a faint smile on her bloodied face.

Ailith heard nothing over the rushing in her ears. She couldn’t catch her breath as she stood over Feyra, hands shaking, knuckles red and raw. She held her hands up and saw that there were flecks of Feyra’s blood on them, staining them. Staring at her hands, standing over Feyra’s prone form, Ailith let a tear fall.

Written April 25th 2021 6:47 PM

The crowd was roaring, cheering so loudly it made Ailith’s ears ring. It was an infectious energy and she found herself grinning despite the beating she had taken so far. The newly named First and Last had taken out a bulette, two manticores, and a massive cyclops with no casualties. Honestly, Ailith was damn impressed with all of them and how well they worked together. As the group walked back out into the arena, which was now submerged in water with only four walkways leading to a central platform, Ailith tried to think of what they could possibly be fighting next. Maybe it would be a shark, or a giant… squid? Octopus? Either way, she wasn’t sure how much use she was going to be in this round, she had never been swimming before and couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t just sink like a stone.

As the group spread out on the walkways to avoid a targeted attack on all five of them, Ailith noticed ripples in the water to her right. Before she could shout a warning, a black blur burst into the air. That definitely isn’t a shark, Ailith thought to herself, mouth agape. A black dragon hovered above them and the crowd fell silent as the creature roared, “I am Vydaleoss, Matron of the Swamp! I will destroy you and then bring ruin to this forsaken city!” Ailith threw herself to the side as Vydaleoss screamed, “Death!” and unleashed a cloud of green mist from its maw, engulfing Xiv and Talus. She heard coughing and hacking from inside the cloud, which obscured her view of Ace and Feyra. Ailith could only hope they were far enough away to avoid it. The cloud slowly dissipated, revealing a still standing Talus and Xiv, the latter of whom was crouched behind their shield, a hastily drawn sigil drawn on the front. Talus was covered in what Ailith recognized as acid burns, and he gave a bellow of rage as he looked up at the dragon. Feyra and Ace looked on with wide eyes, Feyra gripping her bow and Ace prepping a spell in retaliation. It’s go time.

---

Vydaleoss was burning through their resources; Ailith wasn’t sure how much longer they would be able to last. She could barely feel her Ki running through her, and both Ace and Xiv were using their weakest magic. The dragon kept darting back into the air, rendering Talus and Ailith useless and frustrated. Ailith wiped her face, sweat and blood smearing the dirt accumulated there. Across the platform, Feyra was nocking another arrow, a look of sheer determination on her face. She aimed up at the dragon, who was snarling at them with a look of what Ailith could only describe as disgust. Ailith watched as Feyra loosed the arrow and kept her bow raised, waiting for the arrow to hit its mark.

Vydaleoss screamed as the arrow lodged itself in her chest, leaving a gaping wound that smoked a bit at the edges. She dove at the First and Last, swiping at Ace who dodged out of the way and swung with her rondel, a last ditch attempt to bring the dragon down. Ailith’s heart was in her throat as Ace carved into the side of Vydaleoss’s throat, blood spraying across the front of the young girl’s dress. A swirl of shadows engulfed her and she vanished, reappearing ten feet in the air, wings fully expanded. The dragon collapsed, body lying half in the water, slowly staining it black with blood. Ailith felt the tension in the air as the party and the crowd waited for another attack.

No attack came. Instead the sound of the crowd grew louder once more and Ace flew down to the platform as the First and Last converged on her, yelling and cheering along with the crowd. She was beaming, her teeth white against the blood splattered on her small face. The crowd kept yelling as medics rushed into the arena, a chorus of “First and Last, First and Last!” that echoed in Ailith’s ears long after the doors to the arena closed.

Written April 14th 2021 9:48 PM

A sharp pain in her side woke Ailith from her sleep. “Wh- What?” She peered blearily at Xiv’s form standing above her, silently cursing them – more for waking her from a rare good dream than kicking her to do so.

“Feyra’s gone.”

Any lingering sleep was washed away as cold fear spread through Ailith’s body. “What?” She threw her blankets off, ignoring Talus’s sleep grumbles, pushing past Xiv and out the tent door. Her eyes darted around, taking in Ashrin sitting at the fire alone and the wall of fog surrounding the camp. Feyra was nowhere to be seen. She’s gone. Oh gods, she’s gone.

“Ashrin, where is she?” Ailith recognized that her voice was coming out loud and shrill as she stalked over to Ashrin. Ashrin blinked up at her, clutching a scrap piece of paper in her hand. “Where is she?!” Ailith was shouting now, quickly losing any semblance of control she had on her emotions. This is exactly what she had been afraid of since Feyra had started seeing shadows during her watches. Now she was gone, probably snatched by some demon or devil or other dark creature, and Ailith would never see her again.

Ashrin said nothing, only continued to look up at Ailith with her mouth open, like she was searching for something to say, for some explanation that could make this situation better. Ailith was shaking, her breaths coming hard and fast as her mind created visions of Feyra’s broken body lying in a cavern somewhere, her soul gone forever. She was only half aware of Xiv coming up to her, hand outstretched like they were going to try comfort her, a completely out of character movement that would have worried her in any other scenario.

A stirring in the fog behind Ashrin caught Ailith’s attention, focusing her thoughts. A figure emerged, shrouded in shadow, and Ailith dropped into a crouch, fists clenched and ready. Firelight flickered off red hair and Ailith immediately relaxed, taking a step forward almost unconsciously.

“Feyra.” The name came out on a sigh, Ailith’s nerves tingling with the aftershock of all her imagined scenarios. Feyra avoided Ailith and Xiv’s eyes, instead walking over to Ashrin and taking the piece of paper out of her hand. She tossed it in the fire without a second glance, glancing sheepishly at Ailith as she did. “Where did you go? What happened?” Ailith struggled to keep her voice steady, not wanting to be angry at Feyra for disappearing when really all she wanted to do was grab her and prevent her from going anywhere ever again.

“There were shadows and… and I went to them.” Feyra sat at the fire, looking into it as she spoke. Ailith glanced at Xiv before sitting as well, keeping a safe distance away from Feyra. “They led me to a door,” Feyra looked to Ailith now, probably remembering the promise she made to Ailith only a couple of night ago. Don’t go through any shadow doors without me. Promise me. “They led me to a door and I went through it,” Feyra continued. “There was a man named Jack who knew me, knew all of us, but I have never seen him before. Oh!” Feyra reached into her bag and pulled out a sphere with four metal rods coming out of it. “Xiv, he said you would need this. He said ‘you’ll need this in the coming fight. Ace must bless the vial before extraction for it to work.'” Feyra shrugged then, handing the device over to Xiv.

Xiv inspected it for a moment, holding it up to one of their eyes before muttering, “Huh. Interesting,” and sitting down on the log next to Ailith, engrossed in the device. Ashrin cleared her throat, mumbling something about relieving herself as she stood and walked to the edge of the camp, leaving Ailith and Feyra in relative privacy with only Xiv’s mutterings filling the silence. Ailith kept her gaze on Feyra, waiting for the other woman to explain herself, knowing she would when she was ready.

Feyra sighed. “I’m sorry. I know I promised I wouldn’t go anywhere alone, but I felt like they were calling for me and only me and I just… I needed to know I wasn’t going crazy. I didn’t mean to scare you. Can you forgive me?” The redhead looked beseechingly at Ailith and any remaining anger dissolved the minute Feyra looked into Ailith’s eyes.

“There’s nothing to forgive, I would’ve done the same thing.” Feyra smiled at the words, nodding her head. “But,” Ailith continued, tone stern, “just because this shadow door wasn’t dangerous, doesn’t mean other ones won’t be. Please be careful.” Ailith put her hand out towards Feyra, setting it on the log in between them. Feyra did the same and for a moment Ailith could pretend that the warm wood beneath her palm was Feyra’s hand. They sat in silence for a long moment before Ashrin wandered back.

“Feyra’s watch is basically over and Xiv is already out here, why don’t you two just head to bed?” Ailith had never had a mom, but in that moment Ashrin’s tone sounded like what she imagined a mother trying to give her daughter and her daughter’s girlfriend some privacy might sound like. Ailith flushed and got to her feet, muttering goodnights to Ashrin and Xiv, the latter of whom promptly ignored her. Feyra followed close behind, and removed her armour before the two of them climbed into their adjacent sleeping bags, careful not to disturb Ace and Talus who were snoring peacefully across the tent.

Ailith pressed her index and middle fingers to her lips, smiling when Feyra returned the gesture. “Goodnight,” Ailith murmured.

“Goodnight,” came the soft reply.

Ailith’s dreams that night were pleasantly peaceful, no shadows lingering at the peripheries for the first time in weeks.