Ash (The Underground Series Book 2)

by Melody Robinette

  “I don’t think that’s it,” Autumn said. “They just aren’t used to us. They don’t know what to think. So far everything they thought they knew about us has been proved wrong.”

  “Funny,” Ember said in a mocking tone. “Everything I thought about them has been proved right. And then some.”

  “Funny,” Autumn shot back. “No one asked you.”

  “Can we go one day without a cat fight please?” Lucian said in a tired voice.

  Ember shrugged and went back to setting a trail of ants on fire. Kyndel frowned at her.

  “I’m hungry,” Luke grumbled.

  “You’re always hungry,” Crystal said with a lopsided grin. Edric shot the two of them a bitter look. Ever since his heartless comment about the centaurs, Crystal had been ignoring his existence.

  “I saw a couple of fruit trees over there,” Willow said, pointing off into the thick foliage.

  “I’ll go pick some,” Ember said. “I’m sick of sitting here listening to the perfect little princess talk about how awesome warlocks are.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Kyndel said, jumping up. Autumn and Avery exchanged an amused glance as the two girls trudged off into the woods with a pair of empty baskets. None of the others seemed to suspect anything, though.

  “Hi,” a bright voice said. They turned to see Tara Remington and a few other young warlocks approaching. Autumn looked past them at the sporadic groups of adult warlocks sitting outside of their tents, watching Tara and the others with protective eyes.

  “Hey, Tara,” Autumn said when no one else answered.

  “Um, we were wondering if you guys could teach us how to fight again,” she said.

  “Of course we can,” Autumn answered. She caught a few of the others exchanging tired glances. They obviously didn’t see the importance of winning the trust of the younger generations, or they just didn’t care.

  “We were wondering if you could use your Powers on us too,” Tara added. “You know, so we know how it feels. In case we get attacked by an Atrum.”

  “I don’t think you need to be worrying about Atrums,” Forrest blurted out. “More like every other creature in the Underground—” He broke off when he saw Autumn glaring at him.

  “We’ll show you our Powers if your parents are all right with it,” Autumn said.

  “We already asked,” Tara said brightly. “They said it was okay.”

  The Warriors reluctantly paired off with the young warlocks. Autumn and Avery worked with Tara and a warlock boy named Brad. Judging by the way the two of them looked at each other with star-struck expressions, Autumn would say Tara and Brad were more than just friends.

  “Now,” Avery said. “You have to remember that Atrums generally have much darker Powers than us. See that Warrior over there with the curly blond hair?” He pointed across the camp at Jastin who was teaching a small, frail-looking boy how to properly hold a fighting knife. “That’s Jastin. His Power is probably the closest to what an Atrum might have.” Brad and Tara nodded with large eyes.

  “Thanks, Ave,” Jastin called over his shoulder.

  Brad shot a glance at Tara, pulling his shoulders back and raising his chin in an attempt to look brave. “I can handle them.”

  “You’re right. You can,” Avery said. “What kinds of spells have you mastered?”

  “Tons,” Brad boasted. “I know the levitation spell, the cutting spell, the silencing spell, the—”

  “That’s great,” Avery said. “Use those on me. Whichever one you think of that will keep me from attacking you.”

  Brad was taken aback by this. “Any of them?”

  “Avery—” Autumn cut in. “Some of those spells could really hurt you.”

  He shrugged. “Then Brad will heal me.”

  “Have you mastered the healing spell?” Autumn asked the young warlock.

  “Uh…kind of,” Brad said, not looking all that confident.

  “I have,” Tara said. “I healed your pegasus, remember?”

  Autumn nodded. “Well, you’ll be in charge of the healing, then.”

  Tara beamed proudly at this.

  “Ready to get started?” Avery asked. Brad and Tara nodded, looking nervous.

  Autumn and Avery crouched into their fighting stance and Brad and Tara mimicked them. Autumn was tempted to hold back a little because of their lack of experience and training, but she knew the Atrums and Shadows wouldn’t care about these things. As Tara moved her hand towards them to cast a spell, Autumn sent a jet of Song at her, immediately hypnotizing the young warlock. Brad slowed to look back at her and was pummeled by Avery.

  Autumn stopped Singing and Tara shook her head to clear it.

  “That’s not fair,” she said in a slightly whiny voice.

  Autumn hiked her hands on her hips. “Do you think the Shadows and Atrums are concerned with fairness?”

  Tara’s face turned defiant. “Let’s go again.”

  This time around, Brad and Tara were much swifter. Autumn sent her Song at Tara, who immediately cast a silencing spell, but was unprepared when Autumn pounced on her, pinning her to the ground.

  “Hey! I thought you were only using Powers,” she protested, rolling out from under Autumn.

  “Atrums don’t just use Powers, Tara. And Shadows don’t even have Powers. They’ll just attack you.” Tara sighed as she climbed to her feet. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to—” Autumn began.

  “No. I want to,” Tara stated stubbornly.

  The Warriors and young warlocks worked relentlessly until the sky was the dark blue of twilight. Autumn wiped sweat from her forehead as she watched Tara heal Avery’s shallow cuts made by Brad’s spells.

  “Sorry, dude,” Brad said. “I guess I got a little carried away.”

  “You did what I asked,” Avery assured him. “You did well.”

  The other Warriors and warlocks were wrapping up their training as well. Jastin was kneeling in front of the small boy he had been working with, murmuring words of encouragement, Forrest was making jokes with his warlock partner, and Crystal was talking to Tara’s friend Desireé about warlock fashions. Then Autumn saw Charlotte. She was frowning with her hands on her hips and staring off into the trees. Autumn followed the direction of her eyes and realized that she was staring at the spot where Kyndel and Ember had left hours ago to pick fruit.

  Charlotte glanced over at Autumn, as if she could feel her eyes on her. She mouthed something that looked like, Where are they?

  Autumn opened her mouth to respond when Forrest spoke loudly. “Hey, where are Ember and Kyndel? Shouldn’t they be back by now?”

  The other Warriors looked up from their conversations with their warlocks and glanced around the campsite.

  “They left hours ago,” Jack said.

  Willow looked worried now.“The fruit trees I saw are only a ten-minute walk away.”

  “Something could’ve happened,” Eden said. “We need to look for them.”

  The Warriors loaded up their bows and sheaths of arrows. Worry and regret filled Autumn’s stomach like a heavy stone as she thought of how she had left things with Kyndel the last time they’d spoke. Surely they would have heard something if they were in trouble.

  The twelve Warriors left camp in search of Kyndel and Ember with Willow in the lead, moving towards the fruit trees.

  Charlotte came to walk beside Autumn, looking worried.

  “I’m sure Kyndel is okay, Char,” Autumn said in a comforting tone.

  “Yeah. It’s just—”

  “That’s what I’m thinking,” Avery said, exchanging a glance with Charlotte.

  “What?” Autumn said looking back and forth between them. “What are you thinking?”

  “Well, that Kyndel and Ember aren’t in trouble at all. That maybe they’re just—”

  Suddenly the Warriors came to an abrupt stop and a collective gasp traveled through the group followed by a high-pitched squeal. Uh oh. Autumn knew that squeal. Charlotte, Av
ery, and Autumn pushed to the front of the group. Her mouth dropped, along with her stomach.

  Before them was Kyndel and Ember sprawled out, half undressed, on the forest floor surrounded by fruit that had spilled out of the overturned baskets, both wearing looks of horror and surprise. Kyndel’s face was as red as the abandoned apples.

  “Yeah,” Avery muttered. “That’s what I was thinking.”

  Who Spilled the Fruit?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  “Were you two just…?” Forrest began then trailed off.

  Luke shook his head in awe. “Holy petalsies.”

  Kyndel and Ember still hadn’t moved, sitting in apparent stunned silence, their hands still clasped together.

  Autumn bent to pick up Kyndel’s discarded shirt and tossed it to her. This seemed to snap her out of her trance and she fumbled to pull it on with shaking fingers, her face turning an even more brilliant shade of red.

  “We—we were just—” Kyndel stammered.

  Edric chuckled. “Oh, I think it’s pretty clear what you were just doing.”

  Eden repressed a laugh and Kyndel’s eyes sparkled with tears. Ember glared up at the Warriors in front of her, sparks sizzling from her fingertips.

  Autumn stepped in front of them and turned to face the Warriors. “That’s enough,” she said heatedly. “They aren’t animals in a zoo that you can gawk at. They’re your friends.”

  “They aren’t my friends,” Eden said, glaring down at Kyndel and Ember. “Last I checked, they weren’t yours either.”

  “Yeah,” Jack agreed. “They treat you like dirt, Autumn. Why are you defending them?”

  “Did you ever think there might be a reason they act the way they do?” Autumn said.

  “Because they’re both spoiled brats?” Eden offered.

  Charlotte came to stand beside Autumn now, shooting Eden a mutinous look. “You shouldn’t assume you know someone when all you can see is on the surface.”

  “I’ve spent weeks in the presence of those girls,” Eden said, nodding at Kyndel and Ember. “I haven’t seen any sense of empathy or anything genuine whatsoever from them. Just because they’re different doesn’t mean that it’s okay for them to treat everyone else like we’re beneath them.”

  “I never said the way they treat us is okay,” Autumn said. “I’m just saying there’s a reason they act the way they do—it’s a defense mechanism, a way for them to protect themselves.”

  “What they’re doing isn’t right. It’s not natural,” Jack stated, surprising Autumn.

  A small gasp emitted from Kyndel and caught in her throat as if she was choking on what he’d just said.

  “You’re awfully closed minded for a young Warrior,” Autumn said, folding her arms across her chest.

  “It’s not about being closed or open minded,” Jack said, shrugging. “It’s about respecting the laws of nature.”

  “I see. And does anyone else feel like this?” Autumn said, clenching her teeth.

  Autumn noticed a few people looking at the ground: Willow, Forrest, even Crystal.

  “I don’t think it’s anyone’s business how another elf chooses to live,” Lucian stated, clearly over all the drama.

  “Chooses?” Kyndel exclaimed, her voice shaking. Autumn turned to see that she was now standing with her hands clenched by her sides. “You think I chose this? You think I want to be different and judged and ridiculed by all of you?”

  Ember stood and moved to face Kyndel. “Kyn, you don’t have to—”

  “Yes I do!” she snarled, stepping around Ember. “If any of you think that I chose to feel this way you’re sadly mistaken. If I could choose to be normal, I would. If I could choose to be bound to a man, have children, do you not think I would? My father is one of the most powerful elves in the Underground. How do you think he’s going to feel when he finds out that his only child is different? I’ll be disowned. He won’t ever speak to me again.”

  Tears streamed down her face now. Ember watched her with an expression full of sorrow, as if she was taking on Kyndel’s pain as her own. The purest form of empathy.

  Autumn turned to look at the other Warriors. Willow and Forrest exchanged uncertain looks and Crystal frowned at the ground in thought. Jack still looked unconvinced.

  “Listen,” Autumn said. “I know you were all raised to believe a certain way and I know elves are very conservative in their beliefs about relationships and love and all that. But no matter what your feelings are towards Kyndel and Ember, they’re still our fellow Warriors, and right now they need our support. You don’t have to be their friends. You don’t even have to like them. But you should learn to accept them. Like you once said, Forrest, just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”

  Jack frowned at this.

  Charlotte jumped in. “Autumn’s right. As Warriors, we should all trust each other, and how can they trust us if we don’t even accept them?”

  “Intolerance is one of the reasons this second Underground War is starting in the first place,” Avery added. “It’s one of the reasons it was so hard to get the other creatures to trust us. Haven’t we learned that the things we grew up learning may not be what’s right or even true?”

  The others were silent before Eden spoke, her gaze on Kyndel and Ember. “Well, of course we’re going to support you two. That’s what Warriors do.”

  Autumn let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

  “But that doesn’t mean I like either of you any more than I did before,” Eden added, turning around and walking back towards camp.

  They watched her go in silence.

  “So,” Luke said cheerfully, “should we pick up all this fruit?”

  When they arrived back at the campsite it was pitch dark and there was nothing left for them to do but go to bed.

  As Autumn was about to enter the tent she felt a tug at her elbow and turned to see Kyndel standing behind her.

  “Hey,” Kyndel said, looking uncomfortable.

  “Hey.”

  “Thanks.”

  “For what?” Autumn asked.

  “For standing up for me back there. Even though, you know, you’ve got other things to worry about.”

  “When I said that, I didn’t mean—”

  Chuckling, Kyndel said, “I know.”

  “How do you feel? Are you glad everyone knows?”

  Kyndel contemplated this for a moment before smiling slightly. “Yeah, I think I am. I sort of feel, I don’t know, lighter somehow.”

  Autumn nodded. “I know how you feel. Secrets can really weigh a person down.”

  I would know, she thought. But now this was one less secret she had to worry about.

  “Are you okay?” Kyndel asked. “You seem tired lately.”

  “You know that’s just a nice way of saying I look like crap,” Autumn muttered, kicking at a rock on the ground.

  Kyndel laughed at this. “Well you’ll never look as radiant as me, but you know.”

  “Glad to see your cockiness is still intact.”

  “No reason it shouldn’t be. I’m still just as stunningly beautiful as ever.”

  “I’m going to bed,” Autumn said, shaking her head in mock exasperation.

  “Yeah, you need a lot of sleep to get rid of those bags under your eyes,” Kyndel said, walking in front of her and disappearing into the Warriors’ tent.

  Autumn was about to call out a witty retort when she heard movement coming from the trees behind her.

  “You flirting with my girlfriend, Princess?” a quiet voice said. Autumn stopped her progress and turned to see Ember leaning back against a nearby tree, worrying a leaf between her fingers.

  “She’s not really my type.”

  “Yes, well, lucky for me or I may have some competition on my hands,” she said dropping the singed leaf.

  “What do you want, Ember?”

  She looked up at Autumn with those burning-coal eyes. “I want you to know that I c
an take care of myself. I don’t need you sticking up for me every time someone questions me or my actions.”

  Autumn looked at her through narrowed eyes. “I wasn’t sticking up for you. I was sticking up for Kyndel.”

  “I can take care of her too.”

  “Is that why you didn’t say one word in her defense out there?”

  “I know you think of Kyndel as another one of your projects that you need to protect, but I’m telling you that she is mine.”

  “You don’t own her, Ember. And she isn’t my project. She’s my friend. We may not have gotten off to the best start, but we’ve gone through too much together to hate each other anymore, though I’m sure that’s what you want.”

  “You’re right,” Ember said in a low voice. “It is.”

  “If you love her so much, shouldn’t you want her to be happy? Shouldn’t you want her to have more friends than just you and Charlotte?”

  Ember’s eyes narrowed to slits.

  “Oh,” Autumn said. “I see. You want to be the only one that she depends on, the only one who has her back. You want to feel needed because you’ve never felt like that in your life.”

  “Don’t try to psychoanalyze me,” Ember warned, her eyes blazing and her fingers sparking.

  “I’m not. Just stating the obvious facts. Look, I don’t have time for this. I’m going to go to sleep now and you should do the same. I don’t know if you’ve realized, but this is the beginning of the second Underground War. Trivial things need to be put aside as long as the elves and warlocks’ existence is in danger. Goodnight, Ember.”

  With this Autumn turned and trudged back into the tent with Ember’s eyes burning into her back as she went.

  As the pegasi neared Arbor Falls Autumn felt her spirits lift slightly. She hadn’t realized how homesick she’d been. Then she smiled to herself. You can only feel homesick when you have a home. Before she came to Arbor Falls it had been a long time since she’d felt like she belonged anywhere. Now she did.

  The tension emanating from the warlocks flying around the Warriors was palpable as they all began their descent into the elf kingdom. Lucian guided the pegasi and warlocks down to land on the smooth grass of the Warrior training grounds where Gregorius Dodge, Atticus, and Olympus were waiting for them. This surprised Autumn. She didn’t think she’d ever seen Olympus outside of Arbor Castle, other than during special celebrations in City Circle.