Shine

“We need to move.” Zane woke me up with a gruff shake of my arm. I sat up slowly and rubbed my eyes. The hut was brightly lit from the morning sun and it sank into me. I felt rejuvenated and lively.

The sun refreshed me. I got up and gathered some of the items in the hut that we could use on our travel. My dress was muddied and dirty, but I had nothing else to wear. I would have to wash it at some point. I combed through my blonde hair with my fingers and followed Zane and Aiden out of the hut and towards the trail.

I watched Zane move out of the way of loose roots and holes gracefully. He was light on his feet, and I could barely keep up with them. I was only carrying a small satchel and Aiden and Zane had much more. But they walked with it like it was nothing. I grumbled at my klutziness and carried on.

“Can we stop?” I whined. The sun was hidden in the rain clouds, it drained my energy quickly as we walked through the day. “I’m hungry, and tired.”

Zane looked back at me with weary eyes. “We can’t.” He said, “They’re on our trail. I heard their voices not too long ago.”

“How did you hear them?” I asked picking up my skirts to keep up. “I haven’t heard anything.”

“Zane has a gift for hearing things far away.” Aiden huffed tiredly.

“Like a dog?” I smirked. Zane looked back at me and growled.

“Yeah, compare my gift to a dog. Leave it to a light fairy who thinks they’re above everyone.” He rolled his eyes.

“See, this is what I don’t understand,” I quickened my pace so that I was right next to Zane. “You keep coming up with all these remarks about me, yet I have no clue what you’re talking about. I deserve some explanations.”

Zane grinned at me, and then looked towards the trail, and then back at me again. “The less you know, the more entertaining it is for me.” He chuckled. I frowned.

“Fine, but when I’m at the palace, my first decree will be to banish you from Avalon.” I mused.

“You’re the princess, Elora. Not the Queen. You don’t make that decision.” Zane said pulling back a few branches.

“And another thing, if we can fly? Why aren’t we? It would sure be a hell of a lot faster.”

“Such language! Do all human’s use your vulgarity?” He smirked.

“Oh so now I’m a human again?”

“You were raised by one weren’t you?”

“Yes but-“

“Then until you come to terms with your full heritage, I get to call you one.” He laughed, and so did Aiden.

“You’re not funny. You’re arrogant, and rude, and self-centered.” I retorted.

“Not the first time you’ve mentioned it.” He growled, picking up his pace again.

“I shouldn’t have even been friends with you when I was little! You grew up to be such an asshole.” I yelled.

Zane suddenly flinched. His jaw clenched. Suddenly he was off into the trees. “Zane wait!” I gasped.

“Now you’ve done it.” Aiden sighed sharpening a dagger with a piece of metal was we walked. “Combat fairies have the fuse of a match.”

“I thought you said he was a healing fairy?”

“He’s both. Lucky, I’m only a combat fairy.” He said looking at me and then back at his daggar. I nodded and then ran off to catch Zane.

“Hey! Wait!” Aiden called from behind. “Oh fine! I’ll be back here if you need me!” He grumbled and then plopped onto a rock.

I ignored Aiden, and ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I wasn’t sure where he was headed, but I knew I had to find him. He was our guide for Pete’s sake. I was walking at a brisk speed when I noticed his green shirt. He was sitting on the edge of a beautiful pond. It was covered with all sorts of plants. Little frogs sprang up from the waters. They were all sorts of colors, I had never seen such frogs. I walked towards Zane. His elbows were against his knees and he looked almost comatose.

“Zane I-“ I began.

“You want answers? Okay, so you were five, I was eight.” He sighed, messing with the dirt on his fingers. “You were wearing a blue dress your mother made, and we were playing Knights.” He chuckled.

“You insisted on being a Knight. I got mad because you were supposed to be the Princess, not the knight. You tripped over a box and scraped your knee. You were crying.” He refused to look at me in the eye. I sat next to him on the rock. His body heat filled my body and helped restore my energy in the cloudy day.

“That’s when I realized I could heal. I fixed your knee, and then your mother took you away. I didn’t know why. My mother told me, “She had spent long enough with a common fairy.” But then you ran back and wanted to play some more. So we went outside into the garden. It was sunny, and you started to glow. You were happy." He looked at my eyes for a second, and then blushed and looked away. He laughed, "You forced me to be the dragon.” I smiled. “You kept insisting on hearing a voice. And you moved the loose bricks away from the castle wall. And climbed through. I heard you scream, and then I never saw you again.” He finished.

“Wow.” I was all I could manage. Zane threw a stone into the water and we watched it ripple. “I didn’t mean those things I said back there.” I tried.

He scoffed. “I know you did. You’re right though. I don’t know what’s gotten into me. You haven’t done anything to me.”

“Can you explain why the warlocks want to kill me?”

He nodded. “Your uncle, Odin, wants to take over the thrown. He kidnapped you so and took you to the human world to get rid of you. So that he could inherit the thrown, or so that his son could.”

“If you knew, then why didn’t you tell someone!?”

“I was eight, Elora.” He laughed.

“Oh yeah…”

“No one would have believed me. I figured it out myself. It was the only logical explanation, when Odin never visited the palace again. I told my mom about it, but she always said, “You keep your mouth shut Zane, I need this job. Do not get us kicked out of the palace.”

“What was her job?”

“She was the Queen’s assistant. We lived there.”

“So why don’t you still?” I pressed for details. Zane swallowed.

“She died.” His voice cracked and he tossed another stone into the pond.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered. “I shouldn’t have-“

“It’s okay. I was 14. A warlock kidnapped her. Morgan took me in.”

I nodded. “Then what happened?”

“I trained for combat. The “fairy army” I guess you could call it. It didn’t take long. I battled a couple warlocks. I helped the injured.” He shrugged.

“So, are all fairies stereotyped from birth?”

He smiled. “I wouldn’t call it a “stereotype”.” He laughed. His laugh was happy, and nice to hear. I smiled back at him. “You’re born that way. I was born for combat and luckily I was gifted with another trait, healing. It helped get me through training quicker. You on the other hand, you’re a light fairy. Those are the rarest. They are the purebloods, they have the most power, which is why they are Royalty.”

“Seems like a big responsibility.” I sighed. I didn’t want to be Queen. Up until three days ago, I just wanted to graduate High School.