The Crown Of Fire - Book 1 of The Stormrider Chronicles
Alex II

“Take it easy!” he defended with his hands raised, showing that he had no weapons. “She’s just a kid, she’s not a threat. And I’m... I have no weapons.”

“You’re filthy little otherworlders, that’s threat enough.” the huntress snapped. Octavia looked between Alex and the huntress. He stared her in the eye. A bright blue meeting her cold grey eyes.

She was beautiful. Compared to the girls at school, she was... heavenly. It didn’t matter that she had a look in her eye that said she was going to kill him. He was still going to think that she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen.

“Stop!” Octavia shouted. “We’re not supposed to be here, we’re just trying to get home. Please, don’t shoot.”

She glanced at his sister and lowered her bow, though she did not make herself unthreatening. “Is Kid the name of her dwarven tribe?”

Octavia shot him a look of confusion. He would’ve laughed if he didn’t think she would kill him for it. “She’s not a dwarf.”

“What is she then?” the huntress asked. It was strange how she didn’t know what another person looked like.

“I’m a girl,” Octavia spoke up. “Aren’t you a girl too?”

The huntress let her ferocity fade. She put the arrow back in her quiver. “What else would I be? A man?”

“Definitely not.” Alex blurted out. The huntress’s gaze set upon him and he cleared his throat. He hadn’t meant for it to come out that way. Creepy. He never meant to say it out loud either. “Sorry.”

She rolled her eyes as Octavia approached her, holding her hand out toward the huntress. “I’m Octavia.”

The huntress looked down at Octavia’s hand, unsure of what to do with it. “Hello, eight.”

Octavia laughed. Alex wanted to chide her for laughing, after all, this was a stranger. A highly-trained warrior-lady stranger. “No, silly. It’s Octavia.”

“Yes, it means eight.” the huntress told her. “Did your mother have eight children? Is that why she named you eight?”

“I named her,” Alex told the huntress. “After Octavian’s sister, Octavia the younger.”

The statement puzzled the huntress. She couldn’t understand the otherworlder’s love of the number eight. Of course, they were otherworlders which in itself was strange. He noticed the puzzled expression on her face.

“What’s your name?” Octavia asked. The huntress looked down at her. Something mirroring a flicker of her past. He knew it because he himself had had it before.

“Aria.”

“Well, I think you’re incredible, Aria,” his sister told her. “I’ve never seen anything like that.” she paused and turned to her brother. “That’s Alex, he’s my brother.”

In retrospect, she could see that. Both were black-haired, though Alex, had darker eyes. He was taller than her, and she didn’t like that very much. Aria would’ve preferred it if he was a dwarf, like his sister.

“Hi,” he spoke, clearing his throat awkwardly. “Aria.”

“Do you throw rocks at all dogs?” she asked. Octavia stifled her laughter as he shook his head, a dry laugh escaping his lips.

“No. Not all dogs.”

Aria nodded, though she didn’t believe him. Her hair was as white as the snow, he found that strange. He’d never seen a young person with white hair. He’d heard of albinos, but he’d never seen one. But given that her eyes were as grey as the steel blades on her bow, he deduced that she wasn’t an albino. “You don’t want to be here when the queen returns with the dogs.”

“A Queen?” Octavia questioned. Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Yes, Eight.” the girl answered. “But she hates otherworlders. She’ll kill you.”

“Don’t you hate otherworlders?” Alex asked. He wanted to point out that she’d called them filthy little otherworlders. But he didn’t. Mostly because he didn’t want to be rude.

“No. I just don’t like strangers.” she shrugged. “You best be moving.” she paused. “I’d say that it was nice meeting you, but this... this is strange.”

She turned to leave, but Octavia grabbed her wrist. Aria’s head shot to the side, she eyed Octavia’s grip on her wrist and Octavia herself.

“Wait,” the little girl spoke. “Why don’t you help us? We don’t know where to go.”

“Go far,” Aria stated. “You have a brother to protect you.”

Alex took a step forward, putting his hand on Octavia’s shoulder. “Come on, Tavia.” he chose his words tentatively. “Aria’s got better things to do. We can replace our way.”

Octavia let go of Aria’s wrist. “Goodbye, Aria.”

Aria didn’t glance back at either of them. She continued to walk away for a few paces. But then she stopped. They heard her let out a sigh and she turned around again.

“I’ll help you and your brother, Eight,” Aria spoke. Octavia smiled. Aria turned to Alex. “What was your name again, Eight’s brother?”

“Alex.”

She gave a nod. “Alexander, it is then.”

“No, just Alex,” he told her. She tilted her head to the side in confusion.

“I don’t understand what it is,” she spoke as she walked ahead of them. “Humans and their shortenings of things.”

He shot Octavia a puzzled gaze. But she shrugged and jogged to catch up with Aria. This left Alex to only shake his head and go along as well.