Writer's Block: Revolutionary Thought

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Elemental, Chapter 5

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Phillipe sighed as he rode on, trailing the silly girl that had left them all.

‘She’s still got a few hours on me… thank goodness she’s not that wonderful at covering her trail…’ Phillipe smiled to himself as he galloped along the ocean’s white-sanded beach, trailing the footprints.

Phillipe rode for many hours until he was stopped dead in his tracks by a shadowy black figure on the edge of the cliff.

Ari looked at the ocean that cried out for her and listened to the wind that whispered her name.

‘Now where?’ she thought as she stood on the edge of the cliff.

The wind whipped around her; pulling the black ribbon, that had been holding her hair back, out of her hair. Her hair spilled all around her while it danced with the gentle wind that blew softly around her. Her cloak flew about her and the ocean spray reached up to barely kiss the tips of her bare feet.

She listened carefully and swore she heard a voice calling out to her.

“Come with me…” the wind whispered as it swirled around her, “be with me…”

As if by trance Ariana took off her cloak and let it fall to her feet and the wind began to take joy in this as it frantically spun around her. She turned away from the edge and walked away from it for a moment then stopped and turned back to face it.

Phillipe watched in horror as his new object of desire ran towards the edge at full speed and leapt into the air, off the cliff. The drop must have been over a hundred feet and Philip uttered a cry and turned his head, unable to watch what was surely to come to pass.

* * *

Issy dropped her spoon that she had been eating with for her lunch and shook violently.

“Issy, are you alright?”

Issy looked over at Aric unsure of what just happened, “Y…yes... I just felt…strange for a moment….”

“Strange?”

“I can’t explain it… it’s like something big happened, but not to me…”

Aric sat down next to her and felt her forehead with the back of his hand then shook his head slowly.

“Well, you’re not ill… and if you are you do not show any signs of it.”

“Of course I am not ill!”

Aric chuckled softly, “No, of course not.”

* * *

Phillipe felt hot tears pour down his face; he couldn’t make himself look at her as she fell. He couldn’t even make himself look over to where she probably would have landed.

‘I failed… Gods, of all the things to fail at… how could I have failed?’ Phillipe’s mind panicked.

A minute or so passed before he dismounted and slowly walked over to where she would have landed.

‘Gods, what have I done? Why didn’t I stop her? What will Aric and Issy do?’

He slowed his pace then finally stopped as a scrap of material washed up on shore. He bent down and picked it up and saw that it was, indeed, Ariana’s.

‘Why her? She was so young? Why her? I might have actually loved her…’

* * *

“Aric? May I excuse myself? I feel really sick.”

“Of course you may. Do you want me to escort you to your room?”

“No, I’m fine, thank you though.”

Aric rose to his feet and helped her out of her chair, then walked her to the doors of the dining room.

“Feel better Isold.”

Issy nodded to him, “I will just lay down, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“Alright.”

Once Issy was gone Aric sat down at the dinning table and sighed, picking up a book and attempting to read it, but failing miserably.

‘Why can’t I concentrate? Something must be up with Philip… his emotions are crazy and they’re starting to affect me.’

* * *

Phillipe knelt by the ocean and prayed, for that’s all he could do. He prayed and prayed for a long time until a noise in the distance caught his attention and forced him to stop.

He lifted his head and looked out to see dolphins jumping around in the waves.

‘How can you be so happy when I have suffered such a loss?’ Phillipe thought bitterly until not too much farther off a there was a flash of something.

Curiously, Phillipe took out a miniature telescope and pointed it to where he saw the bright flash. Nothing but more dolphins until…

Philip dropped his telescope and blinked, then rubbed his eyes and picked it back up. Making sure he pointed it in the same area where he was sure he saw it. Sure enough, on the back of one of the dolphins what a child with enormous angel-like wings and a fish’s fin.

‘I’m delusional…’ Phillipe swore to himself but kept watching as this creature played with the dolphins that, seemingly, played back, ‘This can’t be… what is that?!’

Phillipe adjusted his small telescope so he could see better but as he did the child disappeared under the waves.

‘It has to be the sun playing tricks on my already half-crazed with death, mind.’

Phillipe put away his telescope and started to come up with ways to bring about the subject of Ariana’s death when he turned and saw Ariana climb out of the ocean, completely unharmed.

‘What is she?!’ Phillipe’s mind screamed as he hid himself and his horse behind a large boulder.

He waited quietly then looked back around to see that she was a few yards down the beach, picking up her cloak that had been thrown down by the wind.

Phillipe pulled out a silent whistle and blew it until a hawk swooped down and landed on one of his leather gloves.

“That’s a good boy…” Phillipe spoke to the bird softly as he wrote a small note and a tiny sheet of paper then put it in a small bottle that was tied to the hawk’s ankle.

Once he was done the trusted his arm into the air, letting the bird take off and fly back home with the message that was addressed to Aric. After that was all done he climbed back onto his horse and slowly looked around the corner to see that Ariana was really far off now.

‘Well… I might was well follow her for a little while… one adventure is as good as the next.’ Phillipe smiled mischievously.

* * *

Aric was sitting by his window when the hawk arrived.

“And what is it you have for me, my little friend?” Aric smiled as he took the note from the bottle and read it out-loud, “Dearest Aric, you’ll never guess whom?” Aric frowned then chuckled to himself.

“I found her but I’m going to follow her for a while… things just took a more drastic turn of events and I think I like it. Tell Miss Issy she has no worries, I will bring Miss Ariana home in due time… take care.

Love always, Phillipe Raven Knight.”

It took Aric a moment to process the letter before he cursed Phillipe under his breath and started a letter back.

The letter read:

“Dear Phillipe,

You pompous arrogant little twit! How could you leave me behind in a great adventure with only a simple note to tell me so? When you get back, by Gods you will have a beating. But until then, I will expect you to look after Issy’s precious one and make sure NO HARM COMES TO HER! That includes ANY harm you can inflict on her. Unless, of course, she is of sound mind and knows what she is asking for… if you know what I mean… but moving on, IF something should happen between you two… I suggest you keep it a secret for a while… but not from me. I want to know all the…. Aww crap. I am out of room.

Take care,

Aric.”

Aric rolled it up and put it in the bottle then sent the bird on its way.

“Take flight, little friend, and safe journey to all of you.”

Elsewhere in the house, Issy lay on the floor in her room asleep with nothing more to cover her than ivy leaves and vines that wrapped around her body and decorated her face and hair while flames burned in the air in a circle around her. She slept like this for an hour until it all faded and she turned back into her normal clothing and woke up, then moved into the bed.

‘This is going to be a long wait,’ Issy thought right before she drifted off to sleep again,

* * *

Aric sat at the desk, filing through paper work, bored as humanly possible. Since Issy had been sleeping for the last couple of hours, he was left to find ways to keep himself busy. If it had been a normal day he would have been in a lively discussion with Phillipe, but the French youth wasn’t there. He sat up and cracked his neck and stretched. “I am so bored,” he muttered.

Then there was a gentle tapping at the door and he welcomed the distraction. “Aric, I’ve brought you some tea.”

He smiled at Issy, who seemed to fit into the setting perfectly in her blue dress that set of her blue eyes perfectly. “Please, come in and distract me!”

“Pardon!” Issy exclaimed, wide eyed in horror.

“I don’t mean like that,” Aric said, blushing suddenly, “I simply meant that I’m so bored I need something else to occupy my mind.”

“That one wasn’t much better,” Issy said, placing the tray with the teapot, cups and saucers on a nearby table.

“I know. But Issy, I’m so sick of paper work I would give anything for a little human companionship,” Aric said, standing up and walking over to the girl. “And I do believe that you are just what the doctor ordered.”

Issy flushed. “Oh, I, uh, Aric . . .”

“What is it, love?” He now had his arms around her waist, his nose nuzzling her neck and his breath dancing on her skin.

She shivered and moaned softly, not quite sure what to expect. He continued on with his amorous pursuit, as she stood motionless, neither denying him nor encouraging him on. It continued on until she finally pushed him away. “No, stop!”

Aric looked at her, his eyes burning like emeralds of desire. “Why? What is it?”

“You’re going to hurt me, aren’t you? I know you are. You’re being nice right now, they always are at first, but you’re probably just like the rest of them! You’re going to become sick of me and you follow your instincts to a prettier girl who’s pure and not a mutt like me. I know how all of you men work! You’re all the same! And if you’re going to take advantage of me, and hurt me, then I’m going to leave. Maybe Ari had the right idea!” She dropped to the floor as the tears she had bravely kept hidden found their way to the surface.

Never before had Aric felt his heart been so moved. Her small, fragile frame was a sobbing heap on the floor, leaving her open and vulnerable. He couldn’t stand to see her in such a state so he slowly inched over to her and then in a heartbeat, took her into his arms.

“I’m sorry that other men have taken advantage of a sweet, innocent little girl like you. And I’m sorry that you don’t trust anyone because of that. But I swear to you Issy, I swear upon the moon and the stars and the heaven above, I am not like them. I will never hurt a girl, no, a lady like you. And do you know why?”

Issy looked up into his eyes, and she noted small tears in the corners.

“Because . . . because . . . I love you Issy. You are the most important person to me and I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.”

Issy’s face remained unchanged, the hot, salty tears still streaming down her cheeks. “But I could hurt you. I’m sorry Aric, I’m so sorry!” she choked out in a hoarse whisper.

She stood up and ran out of the office, leaving Aric with tea for two. But she had to get out. In her moment of distress, she could feel her form slipping, and her true form starting to show. And she knew that if Aric knew what she really was, that he would cast her aside, the way that all of the others before him had done. And she refused to let that happen.