Welcome to the Lost Cities

( Part Six of Andra’s story. Please don’t read if haven’t read other posts and especially don’t read if you haven’t read Legacy. Thank you, now enjoy Part Six: The Discovery….)

The Discovery

Andra emerged from the woods, dirty and filthy as she hauled a heavy bucket of water filled with paint brushes, trudging slowly up a grassy hill towards her little spot. She heaved the bucket as twigs stuck out of her hair and mud stained her Level Three uniform from the many times she’s walked along the muddy path to the creek, giving not a moment’s rest until she had reached the top.

For two weeks she had been hiding, keeping herself as far away from the Lost Cities as possible. Living off of Brenik’s secret stash of snacks hidden within the void, she was pretty well off for a while, until Brenik figured out what was going on and changed the password, rendering her little Polyglot trick learned from her aunt useless. Still, she saved her supply as much as she could. Andra knew she would never return to the Lost Cities, even if starvation raved in her. She needed to keep everyone safe from the growing darkness that was within her.

When she went home right after leaping, she immediately took off her registry pendant then hastily packed all her belongings, including her sleeping bag, her precious paint kit, and most of all, Gem, stuffing them into a large pillow case, and leaving a note for her mother, leaping to the one place she knew she would be safe: her father’s mountain. It wasn’t his mountain really, but in a sense, it would always be his. It was where he had first trained as a Flasher, and where he used to paint his masterpieces. She couldn’t recall how many of his paintings were inspired by this beautiful, quiet place. And now it was her sanctuary… for the rest of her life.

When Andra finally set down the heavy bucket at the top of the hill, she breathed a heavy sigh as she gazed up at the mountain looming overhead, standing calmly and majestically against a blue sky. Andra breathed in a deep sigh of satisfactionas a soft breeze gently billowed through her hair, sending a quiet peace through her soul. Andra wrung her hands of the dirt that covered her palms and set herself down on the rock where she did most of her work, her easel ready and waiting. All of Andra’s paintings were scattered across the ground, bearing various depictions of soft and delicate scenes. Some were of the autumn forest, others were of the mountain and the valley before her. One in particular was of a halycon sitting prettily upon it’s nest, singing beautifully in the branch of a tree. All day she would paint, letting her mind wander free from one painting to the next, whisking herself away from reality until the sun would set, and then she would take her sedative and fall fast asleep in a little cave at the foot of the mountain.

She made sure that she would not be awake when the darkness crept along the edges of the wood, nor when the mountain’s shadow would stretch across the floor of the valley, consuming everything in darkness and shadow. Her sense of the shadows and shadowflux grew stronger every day, and with that the yearning pull towards the darkness grew more terrifying as the night closed in. Andra tried hard to resist it, sparing as much of the sedatives as she could, but soon she would run out and have to face the darkness… alone.

Andra tried hard not to think about that as she focused hard on her next and last painting on her last white canvas. This one was going to be her best one yet. She always knew that someday she would make her masterpiece, and this was the day she had been waiting for.

Andra stared hard at her canvas, contemplating what she was going to do. She had everything ready, from the brushes to the pastel watercolors, even the sky and the air seemed ready, holding their breath as a gentle breeze rustled through the trees with the light of the afternoon sun shining brightly down from a clear blue sky. It was a perfect day to paint. She took her time, merely holding the brush in her colorful, paint stained hand while she mused long over the canvas. She wanted her painting to be the most beautiful thing she had ever done. She wanted it to be perfect and like nothing she had ever seen before. As Andra sat there, staring at her blank, white canvas, she started to feel like she had nothing, no inspiration to cover that shade of white, no thought that could transcend the empty feeling she had inside.

Soon, Andra began to feel discouraged when suddenly a glimpse of inspiration fluttered in her mind. A picture of something so brilliant and colorful it burst into her head as clear as day. Soon, Andra was ready and she slowly dipped the burly brush in the thin, blue paint, and began. She started by smoothly weaving into the painting a watery, aqua background, perfectly rendering the color of the blue sky. Andra then washed her brush and took a smaller tipped brush and dipped it carefully into the white paint. Then after a close examining of the painting’s center, she smoothed a stroke of gleaming white paint, letting the tips of the brush sway gracefully down to the left. Andra waited patiently for drying before mixing a creamy white mixture into her brown then added highlights to create the image of her flowing white hair. Andra used one of her favorite colors, pastel purple, and supported the floating white head over a flowing purple dress. She added silver and blue flecks to the gown with little white butterflies at the bottom, making it resemble the one she had at home, and then stretched the little pale arms from her body, perfectly portraying a mini version of herself standing against a blue world.

Andra stopped and observed the painting, satisfied, then got a little more excited and eagerly started to add trees. Soon the entire canvas was alive with color. Depicting a scene with tall, blossoming trees with different flowers and delicate leaves, the painting flourished as the artist skillfully weaved a gorgeous masterpiece, the forest coming alive with luscious ecstasy. The artist set a small bridge at the foot of her little figure, stretching it far into the blue yonder, just waiting to be crossed. When she finished painting the bridge, she started to wonder what could lay on the other side of that bridge, and then she started to wonder what it would be like to be back home.

Andra began to feel lonely and the image of her house popped inside of her head. She thought of Brenik and her mom, wondering if they even missed her. She shoved the images of their faces out of her head and sat there alone, paralyzed on the rock. She pondered whether or not she would ever be able to go home again, and started to feel that same, terrible loneliness that preyed on her every day. Andra hated not knowing what would happen next, not knowing what would happen once her sedatives ran out. Not knowing if anyone even cared.

If only I wasn’t a monster.

As she thought, the painting started to turn grey and dark splotches of paint started to fill the blank spaces on the canvas. When Andra realized what was happening, she panicked and started frantically wiping off the dark splotches, shooing away the dark shadows as they started taking over her precious painting.

“ Get off! You don’t belong here! Get out! Leave me alone!”

As soon as the shadows retreated, Andra sat there shocked, staring at her marred painting. Her hands were covered in pastel paints as her picture was was smeared with hand prints. The frustrated Shade yelled, throwing her hands up in frustration, and started crying in defeat.

As she sat there, hopeless, she heard a sudden high pitched chirping sound, and she stopped, startled, and turned around spotting a blue halcyon perched on the branch of a tree. Surprised, Andra stood up, and for a moment admired the strange, little bird, wondering where it had came from. The halcyon looked her curiously and stared at Andra with it’s cute, little black eyes, cocking it’s head questioningly. Andra smiled and wiping her tear stained eyes, she said,

“ Well hello.”

The little bird chirped a friendly melody in reply and fluttered it’s shimmering black and blue wings. Andra laughed, thinking how funny the bird was, and said,

“ Where did you come from?”

The bird tweeted excitedly, and then made a strange calling sound like it would whenever a storm was coming. But when Andra looked up, there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. She stood there, puzzled, as the little bird kept calling and calling, flapping excitedly at her as if trying warn her about something. And then, Andra heard the unmistakable sound of someone coughing in the distance, and that’s when Andra quickly turned towards the mountain, suddenly alert. She wondered if she imagined it, and she listened closely for the sound and this time she heard it loud and clear coming directly from her cave.

Someone else is here

Andra tensed and started to panic. She had thought about the possibility of someone coming after her, but she didn’t know who would think to even look for her there. She came up with a plan and shakily grabbed her painting knife, then with determination she carefully made her way across the field, edging towards the foot of the mountain. When she reached the mountain, she plastered herself against the stone then quietly creeped along the edge, holding her breath as she inched closer towards the entrance of the cave. Andra stopped and braced herself, gripping her knife and sweating violently. Her hand was shaking as her mind spun with all the possibilities of who it could be.

Is it the Council ? Did they decide to come after me?

Or is it my mother, and she’s in need of my help?

Or is it Brenik….. here to get revenge for his snacks??

Andra’s mind was a blur as it raced through all the possible scenarios, and she braced herself for the reveal. Gripping her knife firmly in her sweaty hand, she summed up all her courage and then with one big step, she burst out of her hiding spot and stood before the entrance, yelling and waving her knife at the intruder. The pale, scarred face of a man appeared before her slouching against the wall of the cave, cloaked in black and shrouded in darkness. He seemed surprised to see her when he spoke in a hoarse, gritty voice, saying,

“ Foster? I thought we had a deal!”

“ Who are you and what are you doing here?!” Andra demanded, trying to keep the squeak out of her voice. The man looked at the knife then at her and said,

“ You’re not Foster. Who are you?!”

“ I asked you first! Now, I’m warning you to leave or… I’m going to have to use this!” Andra stated, gesturing towards her dull knife.

“ That’s a pretty empty threat, considering that’s a paint knife,” the man irritatingly pointed out.

Andra looked briefly at her lame knife, then shook her head and stood her ground, sweating beads down her forehead.

“ That doesn’t matter! This is my cave, and … that’s my food?! You can’t have that!”

Staring at the crumby remains of her last custardburst, Andra protectively stepped forward when she looked at her intruder more closely, and suddenly she recognized the horrible, scarred face before her, and in her bewilderment she said in a breathless voice,

“ You’re….you’re Alvar Vacker.”

“ And so it would seem,” the man replied.

“ But you’re… you were… you were dead! You were killed, I heard the Vackers…”

“ Left me for dead, yeah thanks for the reminder!” The traitor spat. Andra stood there shocked, not knowing what to do, when suddenly Alvar pulled out from under his ragged cloak a silver weapon, which Andra immediately recognized as a melder. Instinctively, Andra extended a shadowy arm towards the weapon, curling the shadows around it’s hilt then slinging it back towards her hand in a second, training the melder at Alvar.

“ Woah! A Shade? I’ve never seen any Shade do that before,” Alvar exclaimed.

“ You killed my father!” Andra said, suddenly filled with rage.

“ You’re father?”

“ Ruderick Wolfstod, he was a Regent at Lumenaria. You dropped a castle on him! He didn’t have a chance!” Andra explained, shaking her melder at the murderer.

“ I had nothing to do with that.”

“ Yes you did! You were apart of the Neverseen, so you must’ve been apart of it!” Andra cried.

“ I swear to you, I did no such thing, now can you just point that thing somewhere else?”

“ You ruined my LIFE!”

Andra’s rage filled her mind with hatred. Her eyes were dark and all around her the shadows were closing in. Her heart pounded and her mind raced with all the memories of her father’s death, fueling her rage with grief and pain. Her hand automatically flipped the switch that set the melder to the highest level, and then positioning her finger on the trigger, she shook violently as she trained her aim right at Alvar.

Alvar looked at her and looked terrified, but then he submitted and braced for the attack, saying,

“ If you’re going to do it, just do it. Might as well get it over with sooner rather than later.”

Andra readied herself to destroy her sworn enemy once and for all, but something inside her wouldn’t allow her to do it. Her mind spun as her heart w was wrenched with a sense of guilt that wouldn’t let go. She started hearing her mother’s voice inside her head, saying,

‘ Don’t let this darken who you are’

Hot tears streamed down her face as she braced herself to fire, then after one terrible moment, Andra relented and with a cry she threw the dangerous weapon half way across the field, thumping in the grass. Andra stood there staring after it, breathing heavily and sighing in relief. She doubled over, sucking in a shuddering breath, her eyes slowly turning back to blue, and turned back to Alvar and said in a quiet, strained voice,

“ Just go. I don’t care where you go, just leave me alone.”

“ Uh, I can’t exactly go anywhere,” Alvar carefully explained.

“ What do you mean?!” Andra asked, aggravated.

“ My last leap wasn’t exactly… perfect, and the pathfinder broke my fall when I got here. So… I can’t go anywhere.”

Alvar pulled out the pathfinder from under his cloak and showed it to Andra, it’s wand broken in half with pieces of crystal shedding across his cloak.

“ Well you could just use one of the crystals, and leap out of here then!” Andra suggested.

Alvar stared at the crystal, then said in a critical voice,

“ It still won’t work. Whether you like it or not, I can’t move anymore.” “ I don’t believe you.”

Alvar started hacking loudly, shuddering from every heave, then replied in a raspy voice, “ Believe it. I’ve been to every hiding place you can possibly (cough) imagine, and with that my life is been slowly drained from me, so whether you like it or not, this is the place where I’m going to spend the last of my days, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Andra looked at the pale, bedraggled figure before her, bewildered, and wondered if he was really faking it. But when she saw the blood that was speckled across the dirt floor and the sweat tricking down Alvar’s temples, she realized that it was the truth. For a brief moment, Andra’s heart softened for the sick, dying man before her, but then she resisted and clenched her fists, yelling in frustration, kicking a stone across the prairie. She went outside and paced back and forth, trying to figure out another way to get rid of Alvar. She knew that she couldn’t go back to the Lost Cities, but she also knew that if Alvar stayed, nothing good would come out of it. Even if he was dying, he could still be dangerous and she couldn’t trust him for a minute. She knew she had to tell someone, but she if she did then she’d be discovered, and Andra wasn’t quite ready to give up her whereabouts just to imprison a member of the Neverseen.

Finally, after a few minutes of fighting back and forth with herself, she came to a conclusion and headed back up towards the cave entrance, and in a very firm tone she said,

“ Fine, if you can’t leave, you stay here. I’ll go camp somewhere else!”

And with that, Andra quickly packed up her purple sleeping bag and her stuffed animal from her corner, then stomped off across the field to get her painting supplies. She picked up the melder and tucked it safely within the pocket of her vest, and quickly packed all of her painting supplies. Alvar sat alone from his perch, observing everything with curiosity, when he heard the halcyon crying from a distance, and he looked up to see gray and black clouds forming in the east. With an amused smile, he called out to the sulking Shade and said,

“ It’s going to rain.”

Andra looked up from her packing and saw the coming storm, then yelled back in a defiant tone,

“ Well, it’s probably not going where I’m going!”

“ You sure?” Alvar asked, arrogantly.

“ Of course I’m sure! It’s not going to rain!” And with that, Andra slung her hefty bag over her shoulders and trekked towards the other side of the mountain. Alvar smiled to himself as the stubborn Shade set off with her heavy bag of belongings.

Later, the rain poured down hard across the valley as Andra raced back towards the entrance of cave, soaking wet as she set her heavy bag down onto the dry, dirt floor. Heaving and panting, Andra shivered, and sat down against the cold stone wall, when Alvar said with an obnoxious tone,

“ I told you so.”

“ Shut up!” Andra snapped as she wrapped herself tightly within her wet brown cape, wishing she had set a fire. Alvar coughed and wheezed as he huddled opposite her in his little corner, bundled up in his bedraggled cloak, trying to get warm. Andra tried hard not to notice him, and she leaned up against the side of the cave, watching dismally as the rain poured down at the mouth of the cave. Clutching the melder by her side, she was ready for anything, in case Alvar ever decided to get up and make a move. But all he was doing was just sitting there, looking pathetic and sickly. Disgusted, Andra pulled her cape closer around her and gritted her teeth, trying hard not to chatter. She pulled out her painting from earlier from her damp pillow case, and realized that it was all wet. Frustrated, she tossed down the ruined painting on the floor and said,

“ Great,” and grabbed a slightly damp Gem out of her bag, cuddling her close to her chest, letting her warm light emanate through the cave. Staring bitterly out into the rain, Andra brooded about her day, and how she ended up stuck with a member of the Neverseen. Of all the people to be stuck with, it had to be Alvar Vacker. Even Brenik seemed a slightly better option than him.

Could this day get any better??

She reminisced about her rage against Alvar, and the horrible realization that she had almost killed him. Staring down at her pale white hands, she realized she was becoming more of a monster every day. Soon, she would be succumbed to the darkness, it was only a matter of time. She dismally started to think about how it all came to this. Andra thought about how her life was ruined. All of her dreams, all of her plans, all of her perfect, normal life… was gone. All that was left was her future of becoming a monstrous Shade, serving whatever bidding the darkness held for her fate. Andra shuddered at this and blocked out the very thought. Resisting the urge to take a sedative (knowing too well that Alvar might strangle her in her sleep) she stayed awake and tried hard not to think about all of the darkness that was surrounding her. She closed her eyes tight, shutting everything out, as the familiar tug beaconed at her heart, screaming at her to yield. Squeezing Gem, Andra tried her best to think hard of something else, when Alvar suddenly broke the silence by saying,

“ Why are you out here?”

Gasping, Andra out snapped of her panic and briefly turned towards Alvar, saying,

“ Why are you asking? That’s none of your business.”

“ I just assumed you were running away from something, because it’s not every day you find a Shade wearing a Level Three uniform out in the middle of no where, unless she’s ditching school,” Alvar articulated.

“ Just don’t talk to me!” Andra said as she faced her body away from Alvar, pulling her cape tightly over her shoulders. Alvar stayed silent for a few moments before he started again, saying,

“ I bet it’s because of your ability, isn’t it?”

When Andra didn’t answer, Alvar took it as conformation and said,

“ I bet that’s what it is. I bet that they didn’t appreciate what you had to offer and so they threw you out of elvin society forever. Is that right, Shade?”

“ First off, don’t call me Shade! And second, I thought I told you not to talk to me?!” Andra snapped, clutching Gem angrily.

“ Well, I thought that since we’re here, that we might as well make conversation. It’s not like we have anything else to do,” Alvar said, arrogantly.

“ Look, you stick to your side of the cave and I’ll do the same! And we both stay quiet for the rest of night. Okay?! That’s the end of it!” Andra stated as she firmly gripped her stuffed animal, squeezing out her warm, delicate light glowing faintly into the shadows of the cave. Alvar gave up and stayed silent, groaning softly in the growing cold. Then after a few minutes, Alvar pulled out a silver flute, which was no bigger than his hand, and he started to play. Andra turned on him and said, exasperated,

“ Do you have to play that?!”

Alvar stopped and said,“ Listen, I don’t like this situation any more than you do, but I’ve only got a few days left, so I think I could at least have the liberty of playing my own flute. Okay?!”

When Andra didn’t respond to that, Alvar continued on with his playing as she gazed back into the darkness. As Alvar’s song played wistfully into the night, the darkness started turning into memories as the soft sweetness of sleep started to take her. Her eyes threatened to shut, but she remained strong, not standing the thought of sleeping while a murderer was with her, so she stayed wide awake for as long as she could.

Before long, she could hear a familiar, faint voice echoing warmly within the confines of her mind, saying,

‘Come, I want to show you something.’

And with that, she drifted off into the memory, as the day her father left replayed in her mind…

——————————————————————————————————————————

“ It’s beautiful,” her past self said.

“ Yes, it is. Quite a masterpiece I would say.”

Her father, Ruderick Wolfstod, remarked as he stood proudly before his newest creation, a framed picture of a moonlark flying gracefully into an ocean sunset.

“ I wish I could paint like that,” Andra said as she toyed with one of her stray white locks.

“ You will, someday, but you have a lot to learn to be proficient in the art,” Ruderick said as he turned to his daughter from the masterpiece on the wall.

“ I wish you didn’t have to go, then you could teach me all your tips and tricks to painting!” Andra expressed, longingly.

“ Then I would have to abandon Councillor Norland, and I certainly don’t want to do that, would I? Especially since I’m a Regent now.”

“ Yes I know,” Andra said, sadly, “ How long do you have to be gone?”

“ Maybe a few weeks, maybe more. It depends on how long this peace summit will last. It’s important that we do it the proper way, or peace may never be achieved.”

“ I just wish we had more time.”

Seeing his daughter’s disappointment, Ruderick smiled and tentatively suggested,

“ Maybe… maybe I can show you something now.”

“ Really?”

“ Yes, in fact, I’ve been waiting for a chance to show you this, and I can’t see a better opportunity than right now,” Ruderick stated enthusiastically.

“ Cool! Oh wait, what about Mom? We can’t just leave her here. What if you don’t have time to say goodbye?”

“ Oh we’ve still got plenty of time! Besides, I want this to be our secret,” Ruderick said with a wink, and pulled out a pale yellow crystal from his pocket. Andra stared at it curiously as Ruderick shined the crystal into the light, and taking his daughter’s hand, they braced for the leap and were swept away to a beautiful, bright valley filled with flowers and color. Andra gasped as the scene materialized into view. A giant, majestic mountain stood high overhead, glistening with white at it’s peak with a lush forest to her left, stretching far along the valley edge. Ruderick laughed at her shock and gesturing broadly, he said,

“ Welcome to my sanctuary.”

“ This… this is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” she breathed, taking in all the colors and beauty.

“ Yes, it really is. This is the place where I first came to study as a Flasher, as well as where I first started to learn to wield the colors and shadows of life.”

Andra knelt down to admire a beautiful butterfly that daintily set itself on a flower, sitting prettily as it flashed it’s black and blue wings.

“ Here is where I did most of my work. Here is where I got most of my inspiration for my art pieces. And today… I’m giving it to you,” Ruderick stated.

Andra stood up in surprise and stared at him, saying,

“ Really? This is all for me?”

“ Yes, I was planning on giving it to you much sooner, but time passed so quickly and I hadn’t had the chance,” Ruderick explained, “ I wanted you to have this place so you could one day make your own masterpieces, and I know that they’ll be far better ones than I could ever do myself.”

“ Oh Dad, really? I could never get as good as you!” Andra argued, embarrassed.

“ No really! You have talent. I have seen what you can do. You definitely have the Wolfstod spark for artistry, and I’m sure that you’ll do great things with those watercolors of yours, given time and practice.”

Staring at her beloved father, Andra smiled happily accepting the crystal with joyful tears brimming in her eyes, and with a tender sweetness, she wrapped her arms gladly around her dad, and in a quiet, grateful voice, she said,

“ Thank you, Dad!”

“ You’re welcome, my darling,” her father whispered as he hugged his daughter close. They held each other for a few more moments before they released each other and Ruderick said in a lighter tone,

“ Well, would you like to see my art studio, or sorry, I mean your art studio?”

“ Yes, if you please, dear sir,” Andra replied, assuming a playfully prim manner.

“ Well then, my lady, let us be off!” Ruderick answered back in his gentlemanly fashion, and he offered her an arm and they were off, talking happily as they headed towards his favorite spot.

The “ art studio” was in fact a boulder sticking out of the ground with a wooden easel standing patiently in the sun. Andra stared at the place in wonder and looked at the current project her father was working on, and gasped in embarrassment, saying,

“ Oh really Dad ?! I’m too ugly to be painted!”

“ That is far from true. You are anything but ugly!” Ruderick protested as Andra stared at herself in the painting standing in front of their willow tree at Wolfstod, smiling happily with her pale complexion and pastel purple dress.

“ Could you at least just make me look a little less pale? And… maybe change my hair to.. I don’t know.. brown?

“ And why would I do a thing like that?”

“Who would know the difference? Maybe I’ll finally look like I’m related to mother, or anyone in our family?”

“ Andra, you are beautiful just the way you are, and that’s not just your looks.”

Andra smiled shyly, turning her blushing face away from her father. Her father came closer to her and their eyes met with same shade of blue, and her father, taking her slim hands into his big, comforting ones, and said in a warm, sincere tone,

“ You are more beautiful than you know.”

Andra smiled at him, shyly smoothing her strands of pale hair in front of her face. Ruderick smiled and let her go, when Andra spotted another painting of her brother, standing proudly at their fire place in his new Level Eight jerkin. She looked at it with annoyance and asked mischievously,

“ Well, if I can’t change my portrait, could we at least change Brenik’s? I’m sure he’ll look dashing in a mustache or two.”

“ Ha! As much as I would like to see Brenik’s face when he sees that, I don’t think it would be a very funny joke to him,” Ruderick admonished.

“ Oh come on! Brenik does practical jokes to me all the time, and who says I can’t do it while you’re gone?” Andra threatened, crossing her arms.

“ If you do that, I’ll have to tell your mother, though I suspect you might get a chuckle out of her or two.”

“ See? You know that Mom always needs a good laugh, and I know that Brenik needs to be taught a good lesson. Why can’t I do both? How many times am I gonna take his jokes when I can’t even get him back?” Andra said, starting to turn upset. Reading her expressions, Ruderick groaned knowingly and asked his daughter, saying,

“ What is it this time?”

“ He keeps making fun of me because I don’t have an ability. Everyone at school is starting to talk like I’m going to be Talentless.”

“ And you know that’s not true.”

“ But I’m almost fourteen, Dad, and I don’t know, I guess that’s what I’m afraid of. I mean, what if I do end up Talentless?” Andra uttered, revealing her darkest fear. Ruderick looked into his daughter’s eyes seriously and asked,

“ What if you do?”

Unsure of an answer, Andra nervously petted the soft bristles of a brush and said,

“ I … I don’t know. I guess I’d be useless the rest of my life. Or shame the Wolfstod family.”

“ Hey, you know you’re not useless. And you would not be a shame to the rest of your family. You are very talented, and I know that you will do great things someday. I’ve heard of kids manifesting at seventeen. The point is, don’t let others define who you are just because of an ability. There is more to you than just powers and skills.”

Andra looked doubtful, staring down at the grass as she fiddled with the brush.

Ruderick sighed and putting his hands on his daughter’s shoulders, he said,

“ Look, I promise you’ll get you’re ability someday. It may not be soon, but you just have to be patient. I manifested late as well, but no matter what, I remembered that the most important thing was to be myself, no matter what anyone else says. So you keep smiling, keep painting, and keep searching for that opportunity to make someone else’s day. I know you can do that. It is a gift you have, Andra. You shine brightly with your love and kindness for others. That alone is more beautiful than any ability.”

Andra looked at her father and smiled, then she spoke up proudly, saying,“ When I become a Flasher like you, I’ll show Brenik just how bright I am!”

“ Well, whatever ability you get, I will always be proud of you. Just don’t forget who you are and you can conquer anything. Promise me you won’t forget?”

“ I promise,” Andra replied.

“ Good girl, and I promise I’ll will try to make it to where Brenik will stop teasing you like that, okay? And don’t do any practical jokes while I’m gone, understand?”

Rolling her eyes, Andra begrudgingly said, “ Agreed. But just while you’re gone, then that’s the end of our contract.”

“ Ha! Fair enough.”

Looking up at the sun, Ruderick turned serious again and said, “ Well, I guess it’s time for me to go.”

Saddened, Andra pulled her father into another hug, and they held each other for one last time before they had to leap back to the house.

“ I love you, Andra,” Ruderick whispered in her ear.

“ I love you too, Dad,” Andra whispered back as she embraced her father.

—————————————————————————————————————————-

Andra woke up with a start, clutching Gem, wondering where she was. She blinked her tired eyes and realized she was back in the cave. Rubbing her eyes, she slowly got herself up, her muscles cramped and aching from sleeping against the hard, dirt floor.

“ You’re father used to paint here.”

Startled, Andra looked over to Alvar where he was still sitting and asked,

“ How did you know that? Are you a Telepath as well?”

Alvar yawned, stretching his arms and casually said, “ Nope, I just happened to be awake when I saw these floating shadow figures on the wall and I figured that’s what you were dreaming about, and so I put the pieces together. It was very freaky, I have to say.”

Andra sat up, unsettled by this revelation.

Shades can have dreams in shadows too? Great, what will my ability come up with next??

She stretched her aching muscles then stood on wobbly legs as she stepped out into the fresh morning sun. She scanned the woods and noticed that the golden and red leaves were about ready to fall. It would be Finals soon back at Foxfire, and winter would soon be moving in. Andra tried not to think about home and turned back to the cave and put Gem safely into the pillow case. She rummaged through the bag and salvaged the last three custardbursts from Brenik’s stash. Taking a sidelook at Alvar, Andra was tempted to not share any of it, but knew that she couldn’t do that to him and rationed it to where each of them had one and a half custardbursts each. Andra’s stomach growled at the sight of food, but decided she would save it for later, putting off the time when she would have to figure out how to find more food.

After putting her bag back against the wall, Andra stepped outside and spotted the halcyon in the distance, fluttering and screeching wildly in the tree. Andra looked around and saw not a cloud in the sky, when suddenly a noise like a whirring thunder sounded from the northern woods below. Andra squinted towards the woods as the sound came closer, and Alvar straightened up, immediately recognizing what it was.

“ Shade, get back in the cave, now!”

Ignoring him, Andra kept watching as the sound grew louder.

“ Shade, I’m not kidding. Get back in the cave now or they’ll spot you! Shade!”

Andra started to come to her senses when rectangular vehicles with four wheels came charging out of the woods and started climbing towards the top of the hill. Andra panicked and rushed back into the cave. Hiding against the wall, Andra said,

“ What are they??”

“ Humans.”

“ Humans ?! What are humans doing in the Neutral Territories?! They shouldn’t even be here!”

“ Humans come closer everyday. I need you to listen to me, you need to take my hand.”

“ What?!”

“ Just trust me! Take my hand!”

“ No! I don’t trust you!”

“ You want them to see you?”

Andra stared back at the field, where the roaring vehicles were almost upon them. Finally, Andra agreed and took Alvar’s sweating hand and he pulled her down next to him against the wall of the cave as the vehicles stopped, both of them turning absolutely silent. They could hear the slamming of doors and voices as the approach of footsteps came nearer. Andra didn’t dare to move when she spotted a group of men all in hats and bright orange and white vests, scanning the area along with another man in a dark blue suit and glasses. They huddled together, talking about something important. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but when they started gesturing towards the cave, she pressed herself harder against the hard wall of the cave, when two men in vests came inside to investigate. They studied her pillow case of belongings and started investigating the back of the cave. When they looked at the wall, Andra froze as a man in the orange vest stared directly at her. Andra held her breath as the worker stared at her in surprise.

They were found.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Surprise! Another cliffhanger! Also, surprise! Alvar’s still alive! I hope you enjoyed this twist as much as I loved writing it. So, there you have it, part six of Andra’s story. Will hopefully have part seven out in a week or two to start wrapping up Andra’s story. I’m so excited for what happens next, and I’m so excited to give you the end to this little KOTLC adventure. Please let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions or tips on how to make Part Six any better as well as what you liked about it. And please subscribe!( Lol, just kidding). Anyway, my next KOTLC fun fact for this week is right here:

Since I brought Alvar back into the scene, might as well know a little bit about his name. The name Alvar literally means “ elf” as well “ warrior”.

Hope you enjoyed and I will see you all next time for Part Seven!

Todaloo!