*POV* Clay Sparks
I sharpened the ax for the girl who sat at my feet fiddling with a leaf as she waited, Maricela was one of the few people in our group who used an ax, being as she was human without an element power but for some reason, she still did not know how to sharpen the darn thing.
Sliding the wet stone over the blade expertly I finished it up, when I sighed and moved the ax to admire my handy work she got to her feet and all but yanked it from my hands.
"Thanks, Clay!" She exclaimed and turned only to bump into Sander, the patrol captain. "Whoa Maricela, remember to take it steady." He said as he steadied her, she clapped the man's shoulder as she ran off.
I chuckled at her youthful spirit and met Sander's perplexed face. "What's up?" I asked standing.
Sander held up the white silver bag he had been holding. "The guys just found this by the broken carts, thought you might want to get a look at it first." I nodded as he handed it over.
As I fiddled with the silver string the bag moved flopping like a fish, and a soft whine escaped it.
My curiosity spiked as I fumbled with the tie, it took a second before I had it untied and I moved the lit silver fabric to peer inside.
The water rushed at me before I had a second to identify why water was in the bag.
My instincts kicked in and I summoned a fireball ready to evaporate the gelatinous water that was now a puddle on the pine needle-covered ground before the flames could leave my hand, I heard a shriek behind me before I was tripping over the two black haired girls from before.
I all but fell on my face, my fireball hitting a tree not far off, which sent a shout of "FIRE!" Through camp.
I regained my footing and looked at the two girls who were standing between me and the puddle, their faces were dark.
"Don't you dare try to hurt Seal?" They glared at me, one turned to pick up the puddle as it took form into a small blue pup it bared its teeth before snuggling into the girl's dress. They stared at me accusingly.
"She's just a pup, why would you hurt her?" I sputtered, unable to explain to the girls why I was about to kill their puppy.
Sander came to my rescue. "He was under the impression that it was a threat, no need to be vexed." He then changed the subject to help calm the girls down, sometimes I forgot that Sander was a father.
"So how did you come by a water hound anyway?" He asked the twins. They looked at each other and then the bolder one spoke. "She's a waterhound?" Sander looked perplexed.
"You didn't know... I have only seen one other waterhound. And that was in the dungeons in Hilldren. They are rare."
The girl looked down at Seal with newfound respect, rubbing her head. I finally regained my dignity and asked a question that I wanted to know. "If water hounds are that rare, why do you guys have one?"
They looked down at the pup. "She's not ours, she is Cassy's," she scratched her head, "By the way we were coming to ask when you were going to remove these?" She said handing the pup over to her twin and holding her wrists out to show off the silver cuffs.
Oh yeah the cuffs, I was a little hesitant to take them off, I could not lie. But if I refused then that would make things worse, it's best to be friends even with children. Powerful children at that. I sighed.
"I should do all of them at once, we should go see if your friend is awake." They nodded, falling into step behind me followed by their brother.
We reached the infirmary tent, Doc as we all called, the young earth mage, with a hell of a gift for healing. Stood outside, fanning himself with a thick book that he was always reading. "Is she up?" I asked, not waiting for a reply. Entered.
She was sitting propped up with pillows, a cloth in her hands. Her intense eyes met mine, curiosity filled her violet eyes, and then she glanced down at the girls who had followed me in, she looked at them hesitantly. The girl holding Seal, moved forward to set the puppy down on the bed.
The puppy was everywhere all of a sudden, on the bed, on the floor, in the girl's face, and on her lap.
Her face turned joyous but she did not speak, my attention turned to the girls in front of me as they held up their wrists. I nodded and got to work pressing two fingers to the silver for a couple of seconds before the cuff fell to the floor.
When I was done with the twin's cuffs their brother entered, I got his off in no time. The joy that filled their faces when their magic returned made me glad I could help.
I could almost see the magic shimmering in their marks. I turned back to the girl in the bed, which I guessed was Cassy, because of the water puppy's reaction to her. She was looking at me, her face unreadable.
Behind me, the tent flap opened. "Clay! We need you out here." Doc said as he came in. I turned to meet his eyes.
The Urgency in his face made me bolt out of the tent, and look around, stopping short when I saw Mink standing holding her shoulder.
Her clothes were torn and covered in blood. "Clay.. we. I-" She stammered as she stumbled, Doc caught her before she hit the ground and finished her words.
"They were attacked a few miles down the road, it was some royal soldiers. No one was killed but I have my work cut out and so do you. We got to move camp."
I stood for only a moment before moving off towards Destiny's tent, my mind in a state of mild panic.
I barged into Destiny's tent. More panic taking over my mind. She was sitting with a book lying open on her lap but she was sound asleep with her head tilted back on her bed. She awoke with a start as I kicked her boot. "Destiny! We have to move camp." She stared at me like I had lost my mind.
'Maybe I had. Every time I thought we were safe.' "Clay, what's going on?" She questioned, as she straightened up.
I make myself take a couple of deep breaths, so I don't end up passing out. "Mink and her group got attacked a couple miles down the road, they all have some sort of injury. But they are all alive.."
She looked at me stunned, and then scrambled to her feet, setting a hand on my shoulder she sighed. "Remember to breathe Clay. I will go talk to Mink."
Then she walked out of the tent, I followed her as she made her way to Mink's tent she shared with her sister, though her sister had gone with Dixie and Pip.
She lay on her bedroll as Doc bandaged her shoulder, Destiny watched until he was done and had left before she knelt beside her and gave her a small smile.
"Can you tell me what happened?" The older girl nodded. "We were on our way back when the soldiers spotted us. But because we were hauling the supply we didn't see them before the first arrows hit. We only got away because we used magic on them.
I know you told us not to… but we had no choice."
Destiny nodded, smoothing her hair back. And replacing the cloth on Minks's forehead.
"It's ok. You know I only said not to use it because it can draw more attention to us and then he will know who all have element abilities. We have to keep that advantage." Mink closed her eyes as tears fell.
"Will we have to move camp?" She asked. "I didn't mean to show them where we were, I was just thinking about getting everyone back alive." Destiny sighed.
"We probably will, but for now you rest and we will send scouts out." Mink shifted, as her eyes closed once again. Destiny got up and we left the tent to let her sleep.
"This can't-" I began.
Shouting caught our attention coming from the edge of the camp, I walked towards it with Destiny at my heels. I stopped short to see two men dressed up as Hilldren royal soldiers, floating in a bubble made from water about 3 feet off the ground.
The others crowded around. I stared at Benson, the little water mage who was standing proudly with his chest puffed out as he held the bubble up with both hands.
Sander was standing behind him, I met his eyes and he looked bewildered. "What's going on?" Destiny asked as she stepped in front of me. Sander stood straighter and scratched his head.
"We- Benson here found these guys spying on us." She looked down, only just seeing the boy, 'I had told her about the 4 in the crushed cart the next morning after returning, it had been 3 days now since I brought them here.'
She then looked at the men glaring as she motioned at the bubble. "Can you put them down?" She asked, the bubble popped and the soldiers fell to the ground soaked with water.
Sander and a couple of others moved to restrain them. "Good eye." She said to the boy. He smiled wide as a scarlet blush filled his tanned cheeks.
"Take them away, I will be there in a minute. Sander a word." The others moved to take over for Sander and move away followed by Benson, as Destiny looked at Sander accusingly.
"Wanna tell me why a child was on patrol with you." Sander looked apologetic. "He was just trailing along, but he found those guys all on his own. We found him with them in the bubble." She sighed.
"It's different when you have kids around. We got to talk about moving and quickly they know our location and it will be hard to keep us safe now."
"Maybe we should head towards the border," I suggested. She shook her head. "No good it would take longer to get to the castle when needed. Plus Dixie and Pip are still away." She said, Sander, motioned around.
"Maybe we just stay here, we can defend it if we put up walls and make our small fort." Destiny shook her head.
"We are still in Hilldren, remember here the king can just send half of his army at us if he wants. Hilldren is not like Elesor where people can just make settlements anywhere they want. We would have to get permission from him. And if you have forgotten, we are running from him."
Sander scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, bad idea." Silence fell for only a moment before the place that would be best hit me. "We could move to the other side of the great river to the dreaded cliffs of souls." Destiny stared at me, then nodded.
"That might just work though it will be a week's travel there. Will we be able to move with all the injured?"
I nodded. "We can have the air mages carry them on the winds."
Sander nodded in agreement. "We will leave in two days, so spread the word," Destiny instructed before walking off.