Lily

16

"We've been walking for too long." Virgil groaned as he leaned against a tree as he winced over his hurting feet. "It took us a day and half to get there by carriage." Roman frowned as he saw Virgil chew on his lip as his face scrunched in pain. "And that was without all this growth."

"That..."

"Say I'm lying again and I'll leave you here." Roman sighed as Virgil glared at him. "You are right though. There's no way a carriage can get through this now. A horse alone would have some trouble."

"It clears up the farther we go. It's just highly concentrated around here." Virgil narrowed his eyes as Roman pulled his bag out and started to dig through it. "Here let me show you." Roman pulled out a map and Virgil's eyes went wide as Roman rolled it out flat against a large rock. "Right here is about where we are." Virgil's eyes scowered the map with awe as Roman pointed things out. He moved his finger in a small circle before gesturing around them. "That's this place. Nobody really ever goes in here because it's to dense to maneuver should we get attacked."

"You did." Roman laughed as he nodded.

"I never said I was smart." Roman smiled as he moved his finger over to the dark area of the map. His eyes darkened as Virgil frowned. "That's where we're going."

"That's... a lot of black."Roman frowned as he nodded. "Yeah. A lot of it is so overrun by the... the..."

"Darkli..."Roman slammed his hand over Virgil's mouth with this look of total fear stunning Virgil at the intense reaction.

"Don't say it. Trust me... Nothing good comes from it." Roman slowly pulled away as Virgil laughed.

"What..." Roman paled as Virgil frowned. "Darklings?"

"Shit." Virgil shot the other a look before rolling his eyes as Roman quickly put the map back in such a frantic way. "We got to go..."

"All I said was Darklings."

"STOP SAYING IT!" Roman jumped up grabbing Virgil's arm forcing him up to his feet as he tensed. "We can't fight here. There's no room we have to..." There was a screech that echoed around them making Roman flinch. Virgil just looked up with narrowed eyes as he frowned. "It's just a thunderbird."

"It's not the bird I'm scared of." Virgil's eyes fell as he turned around to see the red eyes. "It's the gremlins."

"Not again..." Roman froze in confusion, taken completely out of the moment as Virgil spun around looking for an escape plan. "Honestly, these assholes should FUCKING VANISH!" Virgil bit his lip as he pulled his knife out and frowned. "Let's go."

"WAIT WHAT?!" Virgil took off using his knife cut away any thin branches and loose vines in there path. Roman couldn't even think. For one... that knife was made out of bramble. There's no way it was sharp enough or strong enough to handle a freaking branch... But then there was the fact that they were being chased. Virgil's eyes scowered the place looking for a good plan of exit. The map fill his mind, or at least what he remembered of it, as he looked for anything of notice just to determine there location. His eyes went wide at the smell of mist-filled his sense. He immediately turned right. "Virgil, where are we..."

"Trust me." Virgil quickly pulled Roman ahead of him as he spun around.

"VIRGIL?!"

"JUST KEEP RUNNING!" Roman frowned as he listened. Virgil came to a halt as his eyes began to glow. The sound of thundering feet caused Virgil to cave slightly into himself as he shook. "I don't know why everything is so different. But one thing hasn't changed..." Virgil let his power surge spiking his hair back as he crossed his wrists with a rageful glare. "...YOU NOTHING BUT PESTS!" Virgil whipped his hands before forcing a clap so powerful energy tore through the trees sending them all flying. Virgil stood there breathless as he shook his head seeing all the damage he had done to the area around him. "Honestly... just stay away!" 

Roman came to a skittering halt the moment he reached the edge... well, he didn't have a choice. There was a cliff that led to some rapids. Roman groaned as he struggled to catch his breath. He spun around expecting Virgil to be there but... He wasn't. His blood went cold as he went to go back only to freeze at the explosion that tore through. There was this intense gust of wind causing Roman to have to hug a tree to keep him from falling over the edge. 

"VIRGIL!" Roman shook with nerves as he struggled just to figure out what to. He was so frazzled he couldn't think. Next thing he knew Virgil had him by the arm with a beaming smile.

"Jump."

"What?" Virgil laughed as he literally jumped off the cliff dragging Roman over with him. "VIRGIL?!" He hit the crashing water knocking the air right out of him. He pushed himself up to breathe only to hit a rock making everything go black.

"Moron." A man stood there staring at the aftermath of Virgil's magic with a bored expression. "Being stuck up there did nothing to lessen his strength." He sighed as he pulled his hat off letting his red hair fall curled over his one eye. "You're far to strong. I wonder if I made the right choice." He shook his head as stuffed his hands into his black trench coat with pierced lips. Wings shot out from his back sending him skyrocketing up into the air. "Guess we'll just have to see."

Roman rolled over coughing and sputtering as he groaned in pain. His head was spinning and he felt nauseous. A soft chuckle sounded beside him making his frown as he looked over to see Virgil wringing his shirt. Roman's eyes wet wide as he quickly averted his eyes making Virgil laugh even more. 

"You ok over there?" Roman nodded as he peeked over to see Virgil sitting with his one knee up and arm resting limply over as he smirked. "You're all flushed."

"Shut up." Roman shook his head ignoring how the place tilted as he collapsed into the grass. "What happened?"

"We got chased. I helped us escape." Virgil looked around with a soft smirk before pushing himself up and stretching. "Good news, we are closer to our destination. Bad news... We're in bandit territory." Roman paled as Virgil laughed. "That is if that hasn't changed."

"I can promise...It hasn't."