A bright flash of light appeared on the edge of a grass-and-snow-covered rocky cliff. Amneris and Colt dropped from the light. The former landed better than the latter. Amneris laughed as Colt slipped on a pile of snow and fell. After regaining her breath, she hiked the last leg to the very edge of the cliff and looked out, observing the view.

Aylesbury looked practically identical to the last time she had been there, six hundred years ago. The orange sun was just beginning to rise, casting everything in a bronze light. She knew how this place looked once the sun was fully above the horizon: flowers of every colour in patches throughout the emerald grass and the patches of snow blinding the eyes. That was not the most amazing thing about the planet, she had discovered so long ago.

Amneris pointed at a large frozen lake. It looked like fire in the light. “See that?” she asked Colt who had just come up beside her. “It’s permanently frozen over, even in the warmest season.” She lowered her arm, resting her weight casually on her staff. “They say it was the ancient Water-Weavers of this world who did it to show their power. Nothing has been able to melt nor break the ice.”

Colt placed his hands on his knees, bending over to catch his breath. “I thought Water-Weavers were healers.”

“Oh, they are.” He turned to her. “I have a friend who’s one,” she explained. “Brilliant healer.” She swept a hand across the landscape. “This is considered neutral territory for Lyriumians and Terpolites. Some peace treaty thing.” Maybe I should have paid attention when being told that. Oh well. “Tara would only attack here if she is an idiot.” She heard Colt take in a sharp breath and gave him a look of disbelief. “You’re kidding?”

“It sounds like something she would do,” he confirmed, shaking his head helplessly.

Amneris raised her hand to her head. “Where did I got wrong with that girl?” She began down the hill, sparking as she fumed with annoyance. “‘Become a teacher,’ they said. ‘It’ll be great!’ they said.” She blew a few loose strands of hair from her face. “Bullshit, I say.”

Colt caught up to her, keeping pace at her side. “You were Tara’s teacher?”

She snorted. “Probably a mistake. I mean, I must’ve done something wrong to make her turn out the way she did.” She jumped in a pile of snow, spraying it everywhere. “The things I do for people.”

The pair slowly made their way down the cliff, Amneris stopping at almost every snow pile to jump in or slide through it, somehow not slipping over in the process. She also stopped at some of the flower patches, picking one or two and placing them into a small pouch hanging from her waist. She did not bother explaining why to Colt. I’m sure he’s not interested she thought with a shrug. Their first and only stop was at the frozen lake. Amneris summoned lightning to strike it and threw fire at the ice, but nothing happened. Colt tried to cut through it, slamming down on the ice with a dagger. The blade snapped, not even leaving a scratch. All he had said was, “Wow.”

After fixing his dagger with her power and laughing at the fact it broke, Amneris hummed the rest of the way down, trying to annoy her companion. She knew she had succeeded when he finally calling her out for it, complaining that she should at least hum something good. That ended with Amneris throwing a snowball at his face. Unfortunately, this made Colt try to get revenge on her for the rest of the walk. Each time, she would bat the snowball away with her staff. It still did not stop him from trying.

Amneris hopped stones to get across a lilac stream that started further up the mountain. She shielded her eyes from the sun, seeing a lake of the same colour further ahead. “We’re almost there,” she called over her shoulder to Colt, who had stopped in the middle of the river on one of the stones.

She backtracked, stopped at the edge. “It’s purple,” he said, sounding amazed.

“Yes, it is,” she agreed impatiently. Has he never seen these things?

“Earth and Terpola do not have rivers of this colour,” he murmured, continuing to watch the water.

Those are the only places he’s been? A flick of her wrist had a gust of wind lift Colt off his feet and put him down beside her. “You can have the tour later,” she said, continuing on the path. “Hey, help me look for something. It’s a giant blue stone with pearls in the shape of a wave on it.”

“And why are we to look for this stone?”

“Humour me.” She stopped suddenly, Colt running into her back. “Something is following us.” She spun on her heal, facing the mountain they had come down. Amneris smirked. “Got you.” The presence vanished. She morphed her staff into a bow, already loaded, and pulled back the string. “Like I’m gonna let you get away.” She fired. The one arrow turned into hundreds, raining down on where she had sensed the presence. Amneris placed a finger under Colt’s chin and closed his mouth as he watched.

The bow became her staff again as several red beams of energy rushed towards them. Colt gave her an accusing glare. She pulled him to the ground. The beams barely missed them. He grabbed her hand, pulling her back up. “I believe we should run.”

“Why?”

“Why?” he repeated. “Unlike you, Amneris dear, I am not immortal.”

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She rolled her eyes, morphing the bow back into her staff. “Well, you may have to use some self defence in a few moments.”

Several humanoid shapes appeared from where the beams had fired from. Colt unsheathed his dagger, ruby mist swirling around it and both his hands. “Why must you provoke everyone?”

“It’s not like I do it on purpose!”

They spit in different directions with most of the figured following Amneris. She groaned. Why me? Why not go after him? You can have him. She spun on the spot once they were in range, raising her hand. A second cyan staff appeared in her other hand. Most of the group stopped with a few still coming towards her. She grinned. “Let’s dance, kids.”

She swung her first staff as a decoy, sweeping the second behind her to take out those why had circled around. It vanished, leaving her with only one. Only one hand gripped it as she raised a hand. A flash of light and those closest to her were on the ground. Amneris rolled her shoulder with a groan. “Crap, I’m getting too old for this.” A second wave of solders came towards her. She winked at them. “Just kidding.” She pushed out her palm and they went flying. Once again, she spun on her heel, using her staff to knock the others back a little further. They did not look impressed and, to be fair, she was holding back quite a bit.

She risked a look towards Colt. He was holding his own, using a similar method to her own. Attacking those with the dagger who got too close and pushing the rest further back with his power. She could sense its strength. How much does he have? Clearly it was quite a bit. Nowhere near as much as her own, of course.

Amneris turned back to her own battle as more humanoids ran at her. Her eyes widened as she was suddenly struck with a sword. It went straight through her. She gave her attacked an annoyed look. “Do you people have any idea how much that hurts?” she snarled, pulling the sword from her body and pushing it into there’s. Her attack cried out as they fell. “Yeah, it hurts. A lot.” Her body healed almost immediately, causing the others to back away. “Oh, no you don’t,” she muttered.

Amneris dropped her staff, holding her arms close to her. A cyan circle of symbols surrounded her, glowing brighter, brighter, brighter, brighter. She flared. With a roar, a wave of power was released from her, causing all those attacking both her and Colt to fall to the dirt. They did not get back up.

She dropped to her knees, Colt catching her. “I’m fine,” she panted, pushing him off her. “I’m just a little out of practice, that’s all.” He looked hurt that she had pushed him away. More hurt than he should have been.

He brushed a finger just below her throat. For some reason, she felt her face flush. “What is that?”

She looked down, seeing a faint silver line on her skin. She zipped her jacked up the whole way, Colt retracting his hand fast enough to not be caught in the zipper. “It’s nothing.”

The thudding of footsteps made them both look up. More figures surrounded them. “Can you do that again?” Colt asked, raising his dagger as she shook her head.

Is he going to defend me? She was offended but, at the same time, thought the gesture was sweet. Even so, she managed to get to her feet, holding herself up with her staff. A loud roar made everyone look up to where a golden eagle was soaring above them, a dark figure riding on its back. Amneris felt a smile tug at her lips. “Took you two long enough!” she called.

The eagle swooped down, collecting some their attackers in its claws and tossing them as far as she could. The figure – Leo – jumped down beside Amneris, sending her a grin before running towards the attackers and slashing them with his twin gladii. Colt followed shortly after, keeping up with Leo easily. The few that got past, Amneris whacked away with her staff, giving them the occasional kick to keep them away. Not once did she reach for her dagger, though she could not help but think it would help. Amneris slammed her staff into the ground with a roar. A cyan wave was sent out from the ground, sending their attackers flying.

Leo caught her by her shoulders as she fell, having become light-headed from the sudden surge of power. I really shouldn’t do that. Her friend gave her a concerned look, Colt covering the two of them for in case anyone had been missed. “I’m okay. I’m okay,” she panted. The eagle landed and shifted into Fae form. Nikki took Amneris’ hand. “Just out of practice,” Amneris assured them, managing to stand on her own.

“Take the jacket off,” Leo told her with a glare, picking up his swords which he had dropped so he could catch her. They were sheathed in a smooth movement as Amneris took off her jacked. Her friend shook his head as he saw the many silver lines covering her arms and throat. He poked her shoulder. “This is what happens when you use too much power.”

“Yeah,” Nikki agreed, pushing her short purple-streaked onyx hair behind an ear. “You know you’re not supposed to do that.”

Amneris pulled her jacked back on. “Options were rather limited. We may be immortal, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy dying.”

The three stood there, all glaring at each other. Slowly, grins appeared on their faces and they laughed. Nikki pulled Amneris into a tight hug before letting her go, allowing for Leo to do the same thing. Amneris kissed his cheek. “How have you guys been?” she asked them.

“Alright,” Leo said, Nikki nodding her head in agreement. “How about you?”

Amneris snorted. “Human, so horrible.” Under Leo’s glare, she and Nikki laughed. “I’m good as well.”

Leo’s arm snaked around her waist as Colt came over to them, seeming worried about her. Amneris have him an apologetic smile as Nikki and Leo glared. Nikki seemed to accept that Colt was there, quickly turning her attention back to Amneris. Leo, on the other hand, did not. He only pulled Amneris closer against him.

Nikki broke the tension. “Well, I had no idea that Tara was idiotic enough to attack on the Water-Weaver’s planet. Does she not know about the treaty?”

Amneris laughed nervously. “Been through that.”

“Why is she even here?”

“Oh, I left one of the items here a while back. Moved it not long after for, um, safety reasons.”

“Okay.”

Leo interrupted their conversation. “The rest of the Court are waiting for us at Bleakburn. Short fly away.” He looked down at Amneris. “Nikki is taking us so no magic.”

“Heka,” she corrected.

“Whatever.” He glared at Colt once again. Amneris was tempted to chide him over being too protective of her. Then again, he always had been. “If you’re coming with us, I hope you’re good with dragons.”

“Dragons?” Colt asked, giving Amneris a questioning look.

Nikki stepped forward, stretching. “Guess you get to see more of my power,” she told Colt with a wink.

Her body glowed, growing larger and slowly changed shape until she was a massive silver and sapphire dragon. She roared, putting her head to the ground. Leo helped Amneris onto Nikki’s back. Amneris held her hand out to Colt who was staring, mouth agape, at the dragon. He took her hand and she hauled him up. “Might want to hold onto something.” He grasped her waist and she yelped. His grip loosened. Amneris pet Nikki’s neck. “Let’s go, girl.”