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Writer's pictureNia K

The Heart of Darkness— Chapter 7

A/N This is a Collab between me and Dreamstar (formerly known as Stargazer) Check out her blogs here: Pen Post & FandomClan


Aiden held out his hands and all the shadows in their little alleyway rushed towards him. Jaiden yelped as one of them merged into his skin, and the rest formed a swirling oval in front of him. Cora grabbed Jaidens wrist, jumping into the shadows. The last thing she saw was Aiden jumping in after them before they emerged from a puddle of darkness.


They were standing in a small clearing, surrounded by trees. She’d barely taken in her surroundings when she noticed Aiden looked like he’d ran 10 miles. He was gasping for breath and sweating like crazy as he sat down and leaned against a tree, closing his eyes and looking close to passing out.


Cora mumbled something as she pulled out what looked like an Epipen, but it was completely silver. She knelt down, and before anyone could even blink, she stabbed it into Aiden’s thigh. He sucked in a breath, but then his breathing calmed and he seemed much better than before.


“Thanks,” he told Cora, once he’d stood back up.


“What was that?” Jaiden whispered, still a bit scared.


Aiden bumped her shoulder playfully. “Nothing comes without a price.”


He looked at her and she noticed a tiny bit of black bleeding into his otherwise hazel. Jaiden shivered, wondering what other prices he was going to pay. Cora was looking pretty grim.


“I’m guessing Stone told you about his training, Princess?”


Great. New nickname. “And if he did?”


“Oh, don’t worry about it.”


But Cora and Aiden shared a look that was definitely worrying. Yet more secrets… But Jaiden decided to worry about that later. They had more pressing problems.


“Which Kingdom are we going to do?” she asked. “Just what we were going to discuss,” Cora replied, spreading out a battered piece of parchment on a rock. Jaiden and Aiden huddled around it. It was a map of the entire New York state, but here and there new cites and marks had been added, like Ignis, and Umbra.


“This is where we are,” Cora said, pointing to a drawn cluster of trees labeled Sundown Forest. “We’re going to try to convince the Terrarians to join us first, as we’re already on the outskirts of their village. You do know who the Terrarians are?”


She shot the last bit at Jaiden. Jaiden nodded. Aiden traced his finger from Terra to Araceli, then to Ignis.


“We should probably do Araceli after Terra, then Ignis.” Jaiden nodded again. Cora started to speak, but Aiden cut her off.

“I think we should do Umbra last because they’re very non-trusting and it’ll probably help us if they know we’ve convinced every other Kingdom.” Cora closed her mouth and looked over Aiden with approval in her eyes.


Suddenly Jaiden realized something. “Are we just going to walk into Terra and demand to see Queen Hazel?”


“Well, when you put it like that, it seems like a stupid idea,” Aiden said. Jaiden raised her eyebrows. “But it isn't!” he added hastily.


Jaiden smirked. Suddenly, something streaked past Jaiden’s ear, followed by something that whistled. Everyone jumped. Cora rolled up the map and stuffed it in her bag, unsheathing a sword that had been at her belt. Aiden’s eyes suddenly filled with darkness, and the shadows around them started to draw magnetically towards him. His eyes blurred a little, and Jaiden made a mental note to ask about it later. Three people stepped out of the trees. Two boys and one girl stared at them. The boys, who were completely identical, smiled at them politely. Jaiden was sure she saw Cora and Aiden both tense. The girl, who was tall, muscular, and looked more than capable of murder, spoke.


“Who are you? What are you doing here?” She fingered the large wooden bow that was strapped across her back. Guess not all Terrarians are friendly and welcoming.


Cora quickly sheathed her sword, one of the boys was eying it closely. “We are Cora and Aiden of the Oceodore Kingdom, and this is our-- er-- friend, Jaiden. We’ve come to speak with Queen Hazel.”


Jaiden felt a burst of outrage at being called friend in such a grudging manner. Aiden didn’t look too happy about it either, though neither of them commented. The girl with the bow narrowed her eyes. “How do I know you’re not here to attack us?”

One of the boys gasped in shock. “Kanara! Don’t be so bluntly mistrustful!”


Kanara glared at her companion, who glared right back in defiance. Cora looked like she was resisting rolling her eyes. She extracted a small scroll from her bag and handed it to Kanara, who opened it warily. Her companions read over her shoulder. Jaiden saw Kanara’s bright blue eyes zip across the paper before looking up to gaze, eyes narrowed, at Cora, who stared back unflinchingly.


“Fine,” she said finally, tucking the scroll in her pocket. “Cliff, go get that bird. Alder, make sure nobody wanders off. I’m going to go ahead and warn the queen they’re coming.”


Cliff gave Kanara a sour look, muttered something like, “Why do I have to get the bird,” and trudged off to retrieve the fallen bird. Alder sighed softly and leaned against a tree, watching them. Kanara strutted into the dark forest.


“What was on the scroll?” Jaiden asked out of the corner of her mouth to Cora.


“Just an explanation,” she deadpanned.


“Seeking Alliance?” Alder said suddenly.


“Yes,” Cora replied coldly.


Alder smiled slightly—though it looked more like a grimace. “You’re in for a treat: Terra’s main village is awesome.”


“I bet it is!” Jaiden answered. Alder’s smile grew wider. Suddenly Cliff reappeared, carrying a dead sparrow in his hand. Alder stood normally again, motioned for Jaiden, Aiden, and Cora to follow him, and started into the forest. Cora nodded mutely when Aiden shot her a questioning look.


Jaiden fell into step a bit behind Alder and noted that Cora and Aiden stayed a few feet behind her, having a muttered argument. She could only make out a few words since they were talking so quietly.


“It’ll be fine,” Aiden’s voice assured Cora.


“Who are you kidding?” she replied. “We both saw what happened yesterday.”


A few incoherent words.


“Does your petty little girlfriend even know?”


“Not my girlfriend. Not petty. And no she doesn’t,” Aiden shot back. “And if you tell her I swear I’ll kill you a thousand times in the name of Night.”


“Yeah yeah, we both know neither of those things are happening.”


Then they started arguing about something else and time limits, so Jaiden tuned them out.


Not three minutes later, they entered a huge clearing. The ring of trees circling the clearing each had a house in them, connected by walkways that crisscrossed over the clearing, like a giant spider-web. There were stalls and people hollering for others to try their products, so Jaiden assumed the spider web was also the main marketplace.


The whole scene left her gawking at the beauty of it. It was marvelous, with vines and flowers everywhere; on the houses, hanging from the walkways, on staffs people were using to walk around.


And the birds. Great hawks and falcons and kites were everywhere, perched regally on roofs and railing and even a few shoulders. Jaiden wanted to squeal, run around, touch everything and live here forever, not necessarily in that order.


“My Queen awaits,” Alder said, leading them on with a regal smile.


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