✧The Earthe of the Elves✧

12

Mia's POV

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The water splashes below me, dark and deep. One of my feet slips off the edge of the bank, but I manage to pull it back, pushing against the five arms on me as best as I can. Fear slithers its way inside me as I realize they really are going to push me in. I can't fight them all.

At that exact moment, I feel the pressure on my arms and back release. My feet stumble over each other as I feel a strong, warm grip on my arm, pulling me away from the bank and all but shoving me back. I trip and fall on my butt in the snow, jarring myself. I hear a grunt and snap my head back up to the action. What just happened?

The girls are running out of the forest, laughing. Two of the boys are hanging back, waiting for their buddy, Broadshoulders. He is currently under the withering glare of Knox, one that would have me shrinking back if it were directed at me. Knox is close enough to Broadshoulders that he has a knife pressed up against his throat. Not enough to do any damage, but a message. I quickly stand up, reaching back and placing my hand on the tree behind me for balance. Knox flicks his eyes towards me for a second before returning to the boy who was the first to attack me.

"Fin," Knox says, his voice low. So Broadshoulder's name is Fin. "I don't think I need to tell you what will happen if I ever catch you and your buddies doing something like that again..." He trails off, but the warning is clear. Fin looks down for a second, a flicker of fear crossing his face, then back up as Knox swiftly slides his knife back into the leather holster on his leg. Fin and his other two friends go racing after the girls. 

I would think they would be scared, yet I can hear a few of them talking, almost laughing. The assholes. But, to be honest, I don't care right now. My heart is beating so wildly I wonder what kind of jig it's doing in my chest. But I force myself to calm down, to stop my shaking hands as best I can by pressing them to my thighs.

I was that close to drowning. If I didn't die of hypothermia first.

News flash! halfbloods are not immune to cold. But why would some random elves pull a bullshit logic just so they could try to kill me? For fun? That's a sick way to have a good time. I close my eyes for a second, but open them a second later when I hear Knox striding over.

"Are you okay?" He asks, stopping in front of me and looking me up and down, presumably to check for injuries. Besides some bruises I can feel forming, I'm fine.

"I'm fine," I breathe, now acutely aware of my breath billowing out of my mouth from the cold. It is cold.

With a nod, Knox grabs my upper arm and turns me around, but his touch is much gentler then those maniacs that just tried to kill me.

"What are you doing down here?" Knox strides fast, forcing me to almost jog to catch up with him. He's only a few inches taller than me, but his full-blooded elf genes give him speed I don't have. Not right now at least.

"I-" I stop, not sure how to answer. I don't know why I came here. I also have no idea how Knox just came around when he did. I mean, thank god he did, but he's been gone for a whole week. Why did he come down here? 

"I don't know. It just felt... Right? If that makes sense." I look down at my feet as they glide over the snow, almost laughing at how ridiculous I sound. I just felt like it? It just felt right? Seriously?

"That does, it's just... Interesting." Knox looks forward in concentration. He's being vague, which annoys me, but I let it go.

"How did you find me? And where were you this past week?"

Knox's gaze meets mine for a second, his bright amber eyes colliding with my green ones. But then he looks forward again, his expression unreadable.

"I was walking back to the palace and I heard Fin or one of his friends say something about halfbloods. I figured they were talking about you, and that they probably wouldn't be saying that kind of stuff if they weren't near you."