COF 6: The Last Oracle

9 | Sabotage (II)

You sure we're not looking at him now?

Xanthy was about to point out they weren't anywhere near the Dwanzeigian heir when something flashed at the corner of her eye. She dodged too late. A sword point cut a line across her cheek. Then, as she stumbled backwards, a figure stepped in front of her and parried another strike just in time.

"Get behind me," Jonadrin's tone was stern. Nothing like the gentle fairy Xanthy had met before. "We're retreating to Gandirk."

Gandirk? Why did that name sound familiar?

"Didn't you hear me? Go. Run. Straight through the hedges. At the end of this grove is a set of gates," Jonadrin shoved Xanthy further into the path. "I'll follow shortly after."

"Why are you being attacked?" Xanthy backed at the same time as the heir did. June tugged at her sleeve but didn't speak out loud. Stop talking and run, he seemed to be saying with the gesture.

Jonadrin faced her and Xanthy didn't see the fairy she knew. Jonadrin's long hair was gone; his deep green hair was now cropped short to the side of his head. Only a few locks were left to hang to his eyes which he pushed out of his face in a violent shove.

His eyes no longer held calm but instead flashed with unexplained tension and urgency. This time, he was decorated with the same green armor Xanthy saw in the battlefield, along with a sword belt which carried his now sheathed weapon. Gone were the heels and were instead replaced with a pair of simple, leather boots.

"I will explain later," Jonadrin jerked his chin towards somewhere behind Xanthy. "I didn't expect you to turn up especially at a hectic time like this. Run to Gandirk while my men and I round these heathens up."

Xanth's throat dried up. "Okay," she took a step back in preparation to run. "It's nice to see you, Grand Royal."

For a brief moment, the young heir smiled. It didn't quite reach his eyes. "Call me Jona."

Then, Xanthy ran.

Her legs pumped, taking her forward and into a haze of flat, cobbled road framed by a line of tall, thin trees boasting wide, light-blue leaves. Luminescent flowers grew in sporadic patches, their eerie light acting as a guide as Xanthy and June ran for what Jonadrin called Gandirk. What was that place?

The sounds of scuffling faded as they went deeper. As Jonadrin said, a set of grand gates appeared at the nearest horizon. The gates were old but still sturdy. Vines, trees, bushes, and all sorts of plants grew in abundance around the place, the vine-cracked walls shrouding something beyond those gates. Fairies dressed in a different uniform stood guard at the sides of the gates. Uh-oh.

"Halt!" the guard to Xanthy's right shouted. Xanthy obliged, screeching to a stop a few paces from the gates. Her heart pounded in her chest and in her ears.

"They're with me, Jar," Jonadrin said behind Xanthy. She flinched. Where had he come from?

The guard, Jar, gulped. "Of course, Grand Royal," he ducked his head and moved aside to attend to the gate.

"I told you, call me Jona," the heir said as Jar and the other guard began rolling the gates open just enough for the three of them to slip through.

"O-of course, Gr—Jona," Jar said.

Jonadrin bobbed his head at Xanthy. She swallowed the bitter taste growing in her mouth and followed the Grand Royal inside the gate's closure. June was a few paces behind.

"We managed to drive them a few paces from the main hedge," Jonadrin was saying to Jar and the other guards as he trudged past them. "Prepare for direct onslaught either tomorrow or the day after. I'm not sure how long we can last."