The Beast Within

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Ceraun lost track of time while he meditated and the others had to come looking for him, the journey back to their usual spot was filled with Adrik cruelly teasing Ceraun for falling asleep and Ceraun vehemently denying it each time.

“Are they always this way?” Auris could not help but ask, she was walking behind a bickering Ceraun and Adrik with Haneul by her side.

Haneul shrugged, “Not really.” He was being truthful because Adrik usually kept to himself. “Adrik is more prickly and outspoken now.”

“I see.” Auris hummed, she was impressed with herself and all of the feats she had accomplished with the help of the sun and Adrik.

The wound up back at the familiar spot where they always came to, familiar rocks everywhere.

“We are racing back right?” Ceraun piped up, his eyes twinkling even as he eyed up Auris, eager to race her.

Adrik hesitated, the sun was still shining brightly as it was just mid afternoon but Auris had been training vigorously all day, it must start to tell on her that was not used to such activities before.

But naturally Ceraun jumped on his hesitation as a chance to tease him, he did that more often now with Auris’ presence because her presence made his jabs hit even harder, it was the sole reason he did it.

Adrik had not given a hoot about his antics when it was just the both of them, his apparent indifference worsened when Haneul joined their group but with Auris present, he could finally get a rise out of him and he planned to make the most of it.

“Worried that Auris would outrun you again?”

Adrik cuffed him hard over the upside of his head. “Stop being a nuisance, it is funny that you are worried about me, you should be wary of her too.” He added.

Ceraun scoffed, about to make a rebuttal when Haneul cut him off.

“Let’s just race, at this rate, we will be here till sundown.”

“Very well then.” Ceraun was quick to agree.

Adrik chose to countdown to the race because it was what he always did.

Auris just beamed, she did not care much for winning or losing, she was happy enough to be able to run at all.

The race began and while Auris had long decided that she was uninterested in competing, it would not hurt to try hard enough.

Her hair was proving a challenge to keep up, all through the day’s training, she had found herself constantly adjusting and arranging the heavy locks but now she would leave them loose and hanging free.

She felt as light as the wind and sunshine, her hair streaming behind her as she ran.

There was a certain delicacy to the way Auris ran but Haneul’s steps were still lighter, she ran with strength and grace, leaping and jumping over rocks.

The race started off close enough, they all kept close to each other and then Ceraun and Haneul started to take the lead, Adrik was also not entirely interested in the race.

He was partially worried about Auris and also eager to see if she would be able to keep up or perhaps surpass Haneul and Ceraun.

“I am quite fine.” Auris grinned to Adrik, she could tell from his worried expression and his frequent glances in her direction what occupied his thoughts.

He nodded to her, they had both fallen back a bit behind them.

Auris flipped her voluminous hair over a shoulder and leaned forward.

Adrik did not startle when she went past him, easily catching up to Ceraun and Haneul, he had been expecting it, he could tell from the twinkle in her blinding eyes.

Ceraun however had not been expecting Auris to come from behind and surpass them, he had started to relax when he noticed that his only competition was Haneul, he was even starting to think that perhaps Adrik had let Auris outrun him to make her feel better.

It was something exactly like what the stuck up Mage would do.

Then Auris had breezed past them, her hair nearly whipping his face and it took all of his balance to not trip from the shock.

Haneul was the only ecstatic one, waving her happily and making no move to increase his speed, although it was apparent that at the speed with which she had been going at and continued to run at, she would easily outrun the Wind Mage.

Ceraun gritted his teeth and pushed himself harder, going past Haneul with intentions to catch up to Auris and then surpass her.

Adrik caught up to Haneul with a satisfied chuckle. “This should be immensely entertaining to watch.” He said to the other who glanced at him in surprise.

“Why do you say that?”

“Just watch on.” He urged Haneul, the both of them easily keeping the other two Mages within their sights.

Ceraun was in a bit of a pinch, surpassing Auris before they got to the rocky incline was now seeming more and more unlikely as he could not even catch up to her.

She did not even seem like she was trying that hard, her happy laughter floating occasionally over to him.

A fire was lit up in his middle and his legs were starting to sting from how hard he kept pushing himself, how fast he tried to run.

It almost made him want to snag her voluminous waves of blinding white hair so he could drag her but he could not even get close enough to touch it.

Soon enough, with how fast they were all running, the rocky incline came into view and although Auris’s fear of heights was not conquered, she felt like she could run all the way up.

Perhaps it was all of the sun that she had gotten today that made her feel like she could do almost anything, if she just set her heart to it.

With a great surge, she flew up the rocky incline, faster than Ceraun could ever hope to run up it without the help of magic and she was very obviously not using Magic so it was a great blow to him.

When they all got to the top of the rocky incline, he had waited with Auris for Adrik and Haneul to join them.

Adrik hid a smile at the smitten expression on Ceraun’s face, he also sighed because he knew that the bastard would not rest till he bested Auris and then he would go back to being his usual annoying self.