V; Down by the River

  The sun rose quickly, nestling itself on the cusp of Sigel’s great walls as the world turned from grey to orange. At the very moment a beam of light hit my window, I was off. Through the upper floor, down the balcony and on the cobblestone road that seems to encompass the entire academy.

  I didn’t get much sleep last night. I tried, mind you, but the fear of the dark kept me awake. Kept me waiting. Waiting for its maleficent peace to capture me—but thankfully, it never did.

  There was joy in that—in not having to sleep again. But I knew it came at a cost. I had no doubt—when my body finally gives out and my mind falls—that the dark should return … but for now, let us fish.

  In the very same bush I had a rather arduous nap in yesterday, I fastened a paltry spear from a stray branch and approached the great stream that cut through the woods. I didn’t have a knife, regrettably, but the spear was sharp enough with where it had snapped off its mother. Sharp enough to kill, I’d wager.

  I moved to take off my sandals—then realised I never put them on. Has this punishment inflicted by my cruel professor fucked my mind? Why would I not notice walking that treacherous fucking road - which, mind you, is utterly horrid work considering these foolish wizards probably have mud magi that can build a proper road—yet I digress.

  Taking a few steps into the stream and letting my feet adjust to the freezing cold water, I took a deep breath and shivered. Bloody hell.

  “You’re aware these are magical fish, right?” a young, roguish voice resounded behind me.

  I turned to see… Fedwin. That’s right, his name was Fedwin. One of the aforementioned mud magi. “Let me ask you something, my peer: if you—and presumably some others—have magic of mud and dirt and whatnot, why can’t you build a proper road?”

  “It’s Earth Magic,” he corrected me, leaning against a tree. His hair, such a dark brown, was short and cropped, barely reaching the midpoint of his forehead. “And I can’t tell you, but I do agree it's pretty bad.”

  “Hmm.” Nodding, I turned back to the stream, looking for fish. Earth Magic, aye? “So why should I care if these fish are magical? They won’t be for long.”

  Behind me, he scoffed in confoundment. “They swim through a river that is next to the Heart of Magic, they’re not something to be slain—”

  Water splashed on me, wetting my tunic and making my chest feel quite cold. Sadly, I missed this fish I saw—I don’t even think it was a fish, truly. More like a shadow.

  Reaching my hand into the water— and by the Gods was it cold, I should’ve waited for the sun—I took hold of my spear and tilted my head towards Fedwin. “Is there such a thing as a fish made of shadows?”

  He shook his head, trying to hold back his smirk. “I imagine you just don’t have the best eyesight.”

  “You’re probably…” As I was rising from the stream my eyes caught sight of a river nymph—two river nymphs—by the Gods… three river nymphs. One with white hair, down to her neck, the other with even shorter black hair, dark as the night, and the last with long, luscious strands of gold.

  Down by the river, far enough that they wouldn’t see us, they were bathing—laughing, chuckling—although it was more so the other two. The blonde girl with fire in her eyes wasn’t laughing much.

  I turned to Fedwin, a curious look on my face. “I came here to fish—what’re you here for?”

  “Have they started…” Ran’s voice sounded out as he appeared from the shrub, yet his face fell when he saw me. “Yet.”

  “I tried to get him to go,” Fedwin whimpered.

  “You sick fucks,” I giggled, trying to keep it in. “Oh Gods be good.”

  Ran’s face moved in quick succession from me to Fedwin to me to Fedwin again. “What the fuck is he doing here!?” he whispered, hitting Fedwin on the shoulder.

  “What the what?” Gett asked, his face dropping when he saw me. “What the fuck is he doing here?”

  Fedwin hit Ran back, pointing to Gett. “What the fuck is he doing here!? His sister’s one of the chicks!”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “Yeah… but,” Gett began—with a rather stupid face, “I just imagine she’s not there and it… usually works.”

  “Wait,” Ran turned to Gett. “What do you mean usually works? You knew about this and you didn’t tell me?”

  Gett scrunched his face. “Why would I tell you about my sister bathing?”

  Ran held both his hands out, his face strained. “I could’ve imagined she wasn’t there!”

  Wait, wait, wait. “Your sister’s Isla? And you watch her bathe?”

  “I do not watch her bathe!” Gett stated, as if the very accusation was a filthy impossibility. “I barely register that she’s there!”

  Looking back to the river nymphs, I saw Alice sitting on a rock washing her leg. I could get used to… now she’s staring at us. Directly at me. I waved.

  Ran ran into the river and smacked my hand. “What the fuck are you doing!? Why’re you trying to get their attention?”

  “I think—”

  “—it doesn’t matter!” Gett roared as quietly as he could, killing my voice. “What matters is this: there’s four of us here and, frankly, that’s three more than I’d like looking at my sister—”

  “—you are a sick fuck,” Fedwin cut him off, sneering. “We’re young men, we’ve got a reason to be here—but you? Have some dignity!”

  Ran took a face cold as stone. “I think dignity went out the window when we decided to spy on girls bathing.”

  “Dignity?” Gett questioned, getting up in Fedwin’s face. “Ran told me you discovered this. You probably followed the girls here you fucking creature—”

  Bam, a hit straight into Gett’s face. Touching up his jaw, Gett laughed and took Fedwin by the shoulders, pulling him into the river right by my feet. Fedwin kept trying to headbutt Gett, making too many splashes to count, but I think it was just to get air—as the madman was trying to drown him.

  I looked to Ran, standing beside me in the stream, and past his shoulder, where the river nymphs were. Were, I say, for they were gone now. Well that’s not good.

  “Hey!” I roared, pulling Gett off Fedwin. “We’ve gotta go now, they’ve seen us!”

  “W-wha—” Fedwin gagged on water, rising from the stream.

  “Who saw us?” Gett questioned, his lower body soaked.

  Grabbing his hand, I lifted him from the water. “Just Alice—and if we get out of here, we can chalk it up to some female condition!”

  “Plausible deniability,” Ran raised a finger, smirking. “Let’s go then!”

  “Yeah, if we don’t,” Fedwin spat, taking Ran’s hand as we moved out of the stream and onto the bank. “If we don’t, we’re fucked—”

  “—you’re already fucked!” a very angry voice roared as Medlyn, wearing a soaked tunic, came flying from the bushes, throwing a kick straight into Fedwin’s face and sending him pummeling back into the stream.

  Readying the spear and pointing it towards Medlyn, I backed off into the river whilst Ran cowered behind me. Noticeably, Gett was gone—like the break of dawn.

  Once again gagging on swallowed water, Medlyn put a foot on Fedwin’s chest—keeping him submerged—as Alice and Isla appeared from the shrubs.

  “I just want to stress,” I stuttered, eyeing the three of them. “That the three of us came here to fish.”

  “What happened to my female condition?” Alice smirked.

  “Alright,” I conceded, lowering the spear a bit as I looked at her soaked body under her tunic. Very curvy. “Me and Ran came here to fish, Fedwin was the only creature in this situation.”

  “Fuck you!” it sounded like Fedwin gurgled through the water as his arms flailed about.

  Medlyn scoffed. “Where’s Ran’s spear, then?”

  Nodding in defeat, I turned to Ran’s ear and whispered: “Go get a spear.” As Ran ran across the stream into the bushes behind us, I addressed the girls. “He’s just grabbing his spear he threw earlier, don’t worry about him.”

  “You’re spearfishing,” Alice chuckled, pointing at my spear. “Why would it be in the woods?”

  Batting my eyelashes, I looked to the sky. “I can’t expect a woman to know the inner-cracies of—”

  “—it’s intricacies,” she laughed through my words.

  “What happened to my brother?” Isla asked, rather timidly. “I heard his voice.”

  Shit. I’ll try, Gett, but I think you’re pretty fucked. “That was Fedwin doing a re-enactment of yesterday’s fight.”

  “It didn’t sound like Fedwin,” Medlyn puffed her mouth out, shaking her head. With a light foot, she let him up for air, which he eagerly, and painstakingly, gasped for. “This sounds like Fedwin.”

  From the bush behind us, Ran appeared. “I found a—my spear!” Turning back to see him, I saw, in his hands, a curved stick with a leaf on the end. What the fuck…

  “It’s a new technique, yet unmastered.” I told the girls. “And frankly, I don’t feel like being interrogated anymore. Ran, come on!”

  Walking up the stream away from the scene, which was remarkably hard to do, I eyed the girls down as Ran joined me by my side. “What about Fedwin?” he asked me.

  “He’s lost to us,” I told him, waving to Alice as we left.