In Between

[Flamebird]

As they approached the mile-wide bridge, Felicity struggled to keep up. They had run for what felt like ages, but Gwenael showed zero signs of exhaustion. However, he did stop and turn around. As Felicity’s shaking hands grasped her knees, he watched her with caution as the wind ruffled his long, white locks.

“We are almost inside.”

“Almost!?” Felicity looked up at him with hot anger, hotter than the burning in her throat. “We’ve been running for, like, hours!”

Gwenael turned to one of the clocks in shock, as if unaware of the time passed “Hours?”

Her anger grew as the girl barely rasped, “You’re the Thayne of Time, how do you not know this!”

Gwenael scoffed, amused as he turned to Felicity with a smile. “Time runs differently in Phantaria than Althanas, Rhyolite.”

Felicity let out an exasperated sigh as she looked down at the ground again. Shorter grasses, under the shade of the multi-colored clouds rolling above. She panted as sweat coated her body. “I need to rest…” she whispered as loud as her agonized throat allowed.

Gwenael made some kind of bizarre noise, as if shocked that she was tired that “quickly,” and turned to lean against the first pillar of the bridge. “Alright.”

Felicity collapsed, finding herself lying on her back as she looked up. The shadowed landscape was completely different than the grassy hills where they just came from. It was as if the clock tower’s dominion was in its own little world. The clouds contained many colors, sparks almost like starlight, and bizarre shapes as the entire cloud slowly congregated around the very top of the tower in a heavy spiral. As Felicity breathed heavily, she could hear deep throated birds landing on the top of the bridge’s beams and overhangs. On the cool ground, Felicity felt her magical sense bounce and shake at the insane levels of magic surrounding her.

… Then, it screamed again.

Felicity sprung, sitting straight up as she turned to see a figure standing ahead of the clocktower, from the way they came. She was hooded, cloaked, and wore deep blues as she slowly stepped forth. Gwenael walked past Felicity, standing to face her as his wings twitched. “What are you doing here?”

The woman was insanely tall, and even compared to Gwenael her ethereal energy and power she boasted was off the charts. She was far from human, and far larger than either her or Gwenael. She carried a sense of authority, despite the light and gentle tone of her voice. “Gwenael, boy. I have come here to simply let you in on some things.”

This is another Thayne! Felicity was awe struck as Gwenael crossed his arms, his wings pulled back like a cat’s ears. Why the hostility? “The Great Ones tell me it is not my concern.”

The woman scoffed, “You will learn your potential someday, child. But for now,…” She lowered her arms as her shadowed face was lifted, “My Champion comes.”

Gwenael scoffed, his wings starting to rise above his head. “This will not end well for you, Am’aleh.”

Am’aleh shrugged, turning herself away from him. “Your predictions have been wrong before, this one will be wrong now. I shall succeed.”

Gwenael sharply turned his head to the side, “I have nothing to do with this boiling point, old friend. I respect you, but leave me and my mortal be.”

Am’aleh laughed lightly as she faced the edge of this territory, “You will hide?”

Gwenael scoffed, his wings stretching to the side and lowering, “I wish to remain on the outskirts, I have my own affairs.”

“As if!” Am’aleh chuckled, “You are Jomil’s little dog, errand boy! When will you learn you are so much mo-“

“-Get out of my realm.” Gwenael spat in a threatening tone.

Am’aleh turned to see that whatever face he had, which Felicity could not see, it was dead serious. Her shoulders sank as the light around her frame dimmed by the smallest percentage. “Very well, Gwenael.”

And just like that, she vanished.

Confusion and bewilderment slammed in Felicity’s mind as she looked p to Gwenael. His wings drooped and slapped the ground, sending up dirt clouds. His arms fell to his sides as he slouched. Felicity had just seen Am’aleh, the shepherd off the seas, with her own eyes. She could hardly believe any of this as Gwenael turned and trudged towards the bridge. The interaction was bizarre, and left her head spinning. Who or what was Am’aleh’s champion? Was this what Gwenael said they needed to rush to his tower about? Why was Gwenael so stubborn and hostile when all of his previous interactions with Felicity were kind, even if awkward? Gwenael was a Thayne, yes, but he was nothing compared to Am’aleh. Even then, Am’aleh was “Lesser” herself. Panic flooded her rapidly when she tried to imagine what the Great Thaynes were all like…

“Rhyolite,” Felicity looked up to see Gwenael eying were with a face of raw melancholy and fatigue, “Time to go.”