Six Will Stand (First Draft)

Chapter 6

"Ugh!" Riv groaned and collapsed onto the ground.

"Come on, dear. The sooner you get the spell right, the sooner I'm rid of you."

Riv glared at Lycoris. After finding out that the sleeping thing only worked for Cade, she had since been trying nonstop to get out of his head. Lycoris was in more of a Bad mood now, so while she wasn't hunting Riv anymore, Riv was still uneasy around her.

Riv was in the darkest part of Cade's head, in Lycoris's cave, to be precise, trying to come up with a spell to undo the haywire spell. So far, it wasn't going so well.

"Try another one."

The voice was Bad's, but the words were Good's. It was just creepy. Nevertheless, Riv got up and tried another spell.

Penetrating through walls
Breaking free
The need to escape this dreamscape
So I can once again be me

Yet again, nothing happened. Riv yelled in irritation and threw her topaz amulet at the wall, shattering it into a million pieces.

"Now, now, dear. Don't make me destroy you." Good's voice, Bad's words. Riv was getting sick of this.

"It's no use," she complained. "I can't come up with any spell to get my stupid butt out of here. I'm hopeless, per usual."

Lycoris hovered over to where she had flopped down on the ground and looked directly over her. "That's not the host I know." Back to Good's words, Bad's voice. "I know the girl who will never give up until she's completed her mission."

"Yeah, when it's for someone else," Riv whined. "I can't do a single thing right if it's for myself, and no one else can do a single thing right for me. That's the way it's been my whole pathetic fourteen years."

Lycoris looked at Riv, her expression unreadable. "Riv, you are needed more than you know." The ground lurched again, and Riv was launched about three feet in the air. When gravity kicked in, she fell and hit her head on the rock. Hard.

"Ack! Cade, will you quit that?" she shouted at the sky. "As for you," she pointed a disapproving finger at Lycoris, "I'm not needed. I'm never noticed. For goodness' sake, no one really cares about my well being other than my brothers. Even my stupid charge." She wished that she could picture Fai, but since she had never seen him before, she had to make do with other means. "No matter how many times I save his life I never get so much as a thank you."

"Now, Riv," Lycoris's tone was disapproving, "you know that's not true. You've saved so many lives in your short years. Almost every day of your life since you became Fai's guardian you've saved someone's life."

Riv stared at the ceiling to the cave. "Yeah? And look where that got me."

"Riv, you have to get back out there."

Riv sat up and crossed her arms, glaring at the half-dragon. "Give me one good reason."

Lycoris met Riv's stare. "Your family needs you. And you know I'm not just talking about your brothers."

Riv's gaze faltered, and she looked at the ground. When she looked back at Lycoris, her blue eyes were sparking with fury. "I don't have a family," she spat. "Don't lie to me."

Lycoris looked directly into Riv's rage filled eyes. "Your brothers? Your charges? Your fellow guardians? All of the people you have saved over the years? Do they mean nothing to you?"

The anger faded from Riv's eyes. "I-I don't know. They don't care about me, so why should I care about them?"

Lycoris moved over to Riv and put a hand on her shoulder. "You know the answer to that question," she whispered. "What they think doesn't matter to you. You know that deep in your heart. You care about them, Riv. No matter how many times they kick you down, you get back up again and fight for them. I've seen you fight for people you've hated before. You need to do that now. Oh," she added, "and Fai doesn't hate you."