THE ground did not stop shaking for another two days. Zaza was stuck with Amana and Aren while waiting for the land to be stabilized. But as the day went on, Aren's mana was depleting, and so was the barrier he created.
"I can't hold it anymore. Find a way to protect yourself. We must survive this!" Aren was sweating hard.
"Yes, brother. We will. We have been through the worst!" Amana was determined, and she looked at Zaza. "I know you are powerful, Zaza. Please help us! We only have each other. Our parents died fighting the war."
Zaza only looked at Yiyi, still didn't know what to do. He was thankful for the past few days that these siblings had helped them eat. They still have plenty of food from the meat of the elk, and yet he couldn't do anything to help them.
"I…I'm sorry. What should I do?" Zaza looked around. He could feel the ground movement, and the nearby glaciers were cracking nonstop.
Aren had reached his limit. The protection barrier broke, and they lost their balance. Only Amana had managed to levitate and hold his brother's weak body.
"Yiyi, how can we help them?" Zaza asked the cat while it kept its balance on his head.
"Brother, can you fly?" Yiyi answered in his mind.
"I can't—" Zaza could not finish his sentence when the icy ground split into two. It was so swift that he instantly fell into the crevice along with Yiyi.
"No!" Amana screamed, trying to save Zaza and his cat, but the weight of Aren forbade her to move. Her mana was draining fast. And wherever she looked, there was no stable ground to land.
Zaza was horrified and continued to fall. But before his body could land, small hands had clasped his body. An innocent female faerie was smiling. Her long white hair seemed to dance on the blast of the air. She had golden eyes, and he could not miss a white dragon's wings flapping on his back.
"Brother…" whispered a familiar voice.
"Yiyi?"
The faerie nodded. "Let's go up. You have to concentrate. Perhaps this is my true form, but I couldn't stay in this form any longer. Think, brother. You can stabilize the ground."
Amana eyes lit up when she saw the winged faerie carrying Aza. "Brother, look! I have never seen a fae as ethereal as her."
However, Aren was too tired to move. His sight was already blurry, and he might lose consciousness sooner.
Zaza closed his eyes. He didn't know exactly what to do but tried to think of the massive energy on the ground. He opened his arms widely, gathered all the mana, and formed a huge red ball.
"You can do it…." Yiyi was hopeful.
The ground movement went slow until the shaking stopped. But the ball became massive. Zaza had thrown it to the horizon, and it exploded as it touched the wall barrier.
However, Zaza's small body slowly fell unconscious, and Yiyi quickly returned to her cat form.
Amana put her brother down and ran towards Zaza. She levitated to catch him, and she was glad that she did. She knew she had found a priceless treasure. These two could be useful for her survival in this harsh world.
"Zaza, are you all right?" She landed beside Aren and gently placed him beside her brother.
Amana put her ear on Zaza's chest. And she was glad it was beating, albeit slow. She knew he'd recover. Being full-blooded fae, he had the power to heal themselves depending on the amount of blood loss. He must have consumed his energy all at once to stop the chaos. She hinted that Zaza might be an offspring of a royal. But she kept it to herself.
She then tended to her brother. Her healing magic was imperfect, but it was enough to share her energy with Aren. Enough to carry himself.
Aren coughed several times. The color of his face was slowly getting back to normal. "What happened? I thought the world was going to end."
"Zaza had stopped it. Perhaps we could let them join in our journey." Amana did not conceal her excitement.
Aren looked at his sister. "Sure, why not? But right now, we need to see what's left in our village.
"Can you make it?" Amana was worried.
"Bring the remaining meat. We'll need it. I'll carry Zaza."
Amana nodded and hoisted the meat. While Aren carried the unconscious Zaza on his back, the white cat rested on his shoulder.
They sauntered, but the path was a mess. The usual thick ice had melted, creating a massive lake stretching to the other side where the village was located.
"These faeries are so selfish. They created a world of their own. Leaving us struggling like this. We are supposed to be part of the new world, but instead, they created a wall barrier to forbid us from entering!" Aren's jaw clenched in frustration.
"Save your wrath, brother. We are stuck here. How can we cross the water?" Amana looked around. They were standing at a high altitude, and this newly formed lake was so deep that it because a source of massive waterfalls going down.
"Can you still use your levitation magic? You can go back and forth and get us one by one, so we can cross," Aren suggested.
Amana shook her head. "I'm nearly drained. I can't even carry myself in my current state. But…" she looked at the white cat. "How about you, winged faerie?"
"Meow…" Yiyi said.
"What? Come on, show us your true form. You're the only one capable of saving all of us." Amana urged. Only Yiyi had just purred, and they could not understand her.
"Great! You're talking with a cat." Aren managed to joke.
Amana rolled her eyes. "You haven't seen her, do you? She saved Zaza. She is equally powerful as him. Only he is stuck in that form. I'm getting curious about their origin."
"We have plenty of time to be with them. But we need to cross before sundown, little sister. You better find ways, or we'll swim until our bodies freeze."
"Yeah, let's do it!" Amana was determined.
Aren's eyes narrowed. "I can't believe how stupid you are. I doubt we are blood-related if we don't share the same feature."
"Shut up!"
The siblings stopped bickering when the cat growled. It seemed restless that Aren and Amana looked at each other.
"Yiyi, something wrong?" Amana asked.
The cat looked at the icy lake. And soon enough, a massive water serpent came to view. It sprung and dived as if enjoying the water.
"Damn, forget swimming," Aren said. He walked back away from the water.
"Isn't the legendary ice serpent according to our parent's story? It's frozen for the longest time as punishment for rebellion." Amana couldn't break his eyes on the serpent. Its scaled were turquoise-colored with gold accent fins and shining under the light of the sun. She even gasped when the creature flapped its small translucent wings.
"Get out there, Amana! That creature could kill us." Aren started to panic. But Amana was drawn to the water serpent as if she was hypnotized.
"Help us cross the river, please…." Amana murmured.
The serpent seemed to hear Amana. It glanced in their direction and swam toward them. Just as Aren tried to run, his sister was calm and faced the massive creature.
"Amana! Are you out of your mind?!" Aren shouted.
But Amana even raised her right hand, trying to reach out to the serpent. "Will you help us?"
The water serpent was suddenly covered with a bright blue light, and small water particles broke. A blue-haired faerie with unusually long pointed ears materialized. She wore a white robe adorned with scales. She was smiling and effortlessly floating in the water.
"I never thought the very first creature who would believe in me after a long slumber is a demifae." Her voice was soothing, like a lullaby.
Amana's eyes sparkled. "Your story is my favorite, Lawa. I know you were punished because of love."
Lawa softly laughed. And she fixed her attention on the unconscious young fae on Aren's back, then on the white cat.
"The prophesied twins…." Lawa whispered.
"Will you help us cross, Lawa?" Amana was confident.
Lawa clicked her fingers, and suddenly they were transported to the other side. Amana jumped up in joy and smiled ear to ear.
"When I grow up, I want to love like you, Lawa." Amana blurted out.
Lawa laughed. "You'll only know the weight of love once you are in it. I betrayed Yerie for the one I love. I hope you will make a wise decision when the time comes." The blue-haired faerie looked at Aza again, "you must protect the twins. They'll protect the realms for thousands of years. And when they find the path to their origin, they will be the key to attain peace in the never-ending war."
"Thank you, Lawa. We are forever in your debt."
"Someday, you will pay the price of my help…." Lawa vanished before Amana could utter another word.
The lake stirred again, and the water serpent dived. Amana's young heart would never forget this that the infamous water Princess of Zurga chose to join the downfall of Luxus—her only beloved who now ruled Elduri, the realm of fire. And they don't have a physical body.
"How did you do that?" Aren was amazed.
"Did you hear what she said? We must protect Zaza and Yiyi."
Aren nodded. "We'll make the best team as we continue our journey, Amana."