AllFreeNovel
Share Us
1
It was right below me.
Crouched carefully on a thick branch, I tracked the moving plant with squinted eyes, slowly licking my lips. My mouth watered, taste buds tingling at the phantom sourness that flooded my tongue.
Delicious creatures, they were. Sour when eaten raw and sweet when tenderly cooked. I gulped, carefully releasing a shaky breath as the kalai crept closer and closer, waving its luscious green leaves while bouncing on its little roots. The way the little green plant moved always made me giggle, but this time I held it back.
Quiet as the air around me, I rose, counting to three before plunging from the branch. My claws extended, hands reaching for the creature that was still oblivious to my presence. Just as I prepared to sink my claws into its green, smooth flesh, vines shot from the ground and curled around it like snakes suffocating their prey.
I gasped when my hands collided with them, and then my chin and the rest of my body followed as I tumbled a few spaces away. A whiny hiss left my lips as my body throbbed, but luckily no skin was scraped or bones broken.
I whirled on the approaching feet. “That was mine!”
The corners of his mouth tilted upwards, a victorious grin splitting his face. “But did you catch it first?”
I bared my teeth at him in mild irritation before glancing back to the kalai, which was no longer shrieking.
The vines unfolded and sank back into the earth as Ayen lowered to his knees. With gentle hands, he lifted the still kalai to his lips and murmured a prayer. I pursed my lips and puffed my cheeks, glaring when he sank his teeth into the plant with that taunting grin. My mouth watered, and I hurriedly swallowed, almost tasting what he was enjoying.
Another set of footsteps approached us. I didn’t need to look to know who they belonged to.
“So, you just let him have it in the end.”
“He is a plant child.” I crossed my arms and tilted my chin up with a pout. “He will always have more advantage than me.”
My brother chuckled and gently patted my head. “The river is right there. You could have formed a water shield to stop him.”
“I did not even sense him, Faelyn.”
“Because you are a child,” Ayen chirped, biting unnecessarily loud.
I glowered at him, and he laughed, his vivid green eyes sparkling.
I took the hand Faelyn stretched out for me and stood on my feet again, smoothing down my yellow floral dress—strapless and tailored to my body, reaching just above my knees.
Lyn, a male scarlet macaw with bright feathers and sharp eyes, announced his approach with a loud squawk before he carefully settled on my brother’s shoulder. The ground thumped softly, and I knew it was Yen without looking.
Keia, my own companion, fluttered around me in a blur of green and yellow and red before she rested on my head.
My brother gave me an unimpressed look, one that made my shoulders hunch. “I was just seeking.”
“Too close to the portals,” he said, his dark blue eyes fixing me in place.
“But I did not go through them, did I?”
Faelyn narrowed his eyes. I smiled nervously, fiddling with my fingers.
Ayen took another unnecessarily loud bite of what should have been mine. I pursed my lips, and he did it again.
My brother sighed, his shoulders slumping and his gaze softening. “You know I worry.”
“For no reason. You and Ayen are always monitoring my every move.” And going places I wasn’t allowed to even think about.
“Because you are a child,” Ayen repeated.
I scoffed. “You are only a few decades older than me, so I wouldn’t be talking.”
“Enough, you two.” Faelyn sighed, briefly giving Ayen a warning look that made the other male focus on finishing what should have beenmine. “Go home, Kenia. I heard mother was looking for you.”
