Dawn
Midair, she watched Jayden's shape take another form, the same one she'd seen in the storm. His body dispersed, growing larger and darker, until it was nothing but dark smoke, claws, and red eyes.
Alya's eyes widened. She tried to conjure whatever she'd done in the carriage, but nothing answered. She kept falling, straight toward the darkness below.
A breath before impact, her eyes flew open, and she sprang upright, gasping for air.
The morning sun seeped into the cave, making her wince. Somewhere outside, birds were already chirping.
She looked to the side. Kellan, Nyla, and Bram were still asleep.
Her dreams were getting darker by the night. Was it the doom pressing in on all of them? And what was Jayden's connection to any of it?
She had no answer, only the same tight feeling in her chest that had followed her out of the dream. She ran her hand over her face, exasperated and exhausted, then stood, looked back at her cousins and Bram, and walked out of the cave.
The sunlight outside made her blink a few times before her eyes adjusted, and when they finally cleared, she gasped.
Tall trees surrounded her on every side, their branches thick with colorful blossoms she hadn't noticed the night before, when the storm had darkened everywhere. In daylight, the place was beautiful, almost unrecognizable from the mountain that had nearly killed them hours earlier.
She climbed the rocks above the cave and stood looking out over more trees and flowers. Birds of every color and shape flew around, some perching in the branches, most of them chirping happily.
She glanced back to make sure she hadn't wandered too far, then closed her eyes and breathed in the morning air, letting the sun warm her exhausted body.
That was when she heard the sound of a waterfall, somewhere deeper in the trees.
She followed it, weaving between huge trunks and low branches, the thought of cool water against her feet pulling her forward faster. By the time the sound grew loud, she was running, a smile spreading across her face.
The trees cleared ahead of her, and there it was, a waterfall pouring down into a pool ringed with white sand. The cool spray hit her immediately, making her sigh with contentment.
She walked the last few steps to the water and dipped in the tip of her toe, then her whole foot, then the other. A squeal slipped out, and she clapped a hand over her mouth, glancing around to see if anyone had heard.
No one had. She closed her eyes, raised her arms, and turned in a slow circle, letting the spray caress her skin.
A shape on a nearby rock made her stop mid-turn. She looked again. Nothing was there.
She waited a bit, listening, but nothing. Rethinking her decision to wander off alone, she started making her way out of the water, only to find someone standing right in front of her.
She yelped and fell backward into the pool.
"What is wrong with you?!" she scrambled up, pushing wet hair out of her face.
"What did I do?" Kaelith said with a shrug.
"You don't sneak up on people like that," she fumed, wringing water out of her hair.
"It's not as though you'd have heard me over all this noise."
Alya sighed. "You know what? Fine." She moved to step past him. That was when someone shouted from the top of the cliff, sprinted the length of it, and leapt, hitting the water with a huge splash.
Kaelith flicked his fingers, throwing up a shield around himself alone.
Alya threw her arms up as the water came down over her.
Kellan surfaced, spitting out water, already laughing.
"Sorry, Alya."
"Incoming!" Nyla screamed, and jumped after him, landing with another splash. Kaelith shielded himself a second time, and Alya took the hit again.
"Alya, you came out here without inviting us!" Nyla said.
"You were all still asleep."
"It's so nice out here," Nyla said, tipping her head back into the water.
"And soothing," Kellan added, flipping backward through the water while Nyla swam a lazy circle beside him, her dress ballooning and flapping with the movement.
"Come on, Alya!" Nyla called, and Kellan started flicking water her way until she gave in, laughing, and swam over to join them.
They stayed there for a while, splashing and ducking each other under. It was the first time since the fortress that Alya's shoulders had felt loose.
"Alya, we've all been so busy with the world ending, you haven't even seen our powers yet," Nyla said.
Alya's eyes widened. Nyla gestured to Kellan.
"Step back, everyone."
He looked up at the waterfall, then jumped, sailing into the sky before landing on a rock at its edge.
Alya gasped, one hand flying to her mouth.
"He's a Vaulter. Super strength, and he can jump insanely high. He might be the only one of us who could've survived that fall last night," Nyla explained.
Alya nodded, waving at Kellan, who waved back before somersaulting straight into the water. She turned back to Nyla, waiting.
"For me, I can do this." Nyla raised her hand, and green vines rose from under the water in slow spirals, climbing toward the sky.
Alya stared, astonished. "That's beautiful."
"Why, thank you. It's called Thornweave," Nyla said. "I'm still learning how to use it as a weapon, though."
"You guys," Kaelith called from the cliff.
"Apparently you can shoot vine darts with it. The poisonous ones are more lethal, but my dear sister's too scared to learn that part," Kellan said, earning himself a glare from his sister.
"We need to move!" Kaelith yelled. "It's still a long way."
"When did you become such a bore?" Nyla yelled back.
"Since he got assigned to babysit the Pure Tide and decided that made him the boss of everyone." Kellan said, and the two of them snickered.
Kaelith jumped down, landing smoothly on his glide. He raised a hand over the water, and cracking sounds erupted under them. A thick mist rose off the surface of the water, surrounding them.
"Kaelith?!" Kellan shouted, looking around.
"What's happening?" Alya asked, grabbing for Nyla's hand as they both mirrored Kellan's movements.
Solid ground pushed up under their legs, lifting them straight out of the water and onto flat ice.
The whole stream had frozen.
"Kaelith!" Nyla yelled.
He glided over and stopped in front of them. "In case you've forgotten, the world is in danger. The people we love are counting on all of us. And this is what you want to waste time on?"
"Kaelith…" Kellan started.
"We just survived an unnatural storm. We all know who's behind it. Why am I the only one who sees how bad this is?"
No one said anything.
Kaelith exhaled. "Dry off and get back in the carriage. We're leaving." He turned and glided off, and the ice melted behind him, dropping the three of them straight back into the water.