Sudden as a sneeze

Finally the day Aella had been dreading was here, and she couldn't halt the evening ebbing its gradual way into dawn. Everything hinged on what she did at midnight, and nothing could reverse what would happen.

She hadn't been able to think straight this morning; she'd hid her emergency bag under a bathroom sink of the party house and then panicked when she couldn't find it. It turned out someone had thought it had been misplaced and had moved it over to the lost-and-found section. She couldn't blame whoever it was, they were just being considerate.

Aella's hand spread like pale starfish around her cup of water, and they were cold too, resisting the warmth that struggled to seep into them. There weren't many seats in the party venue, so the best she could do was prop herself up against a pillar, letting her eyes scan over the bodies moving along to the rhythm of pumping electronic music. She ran her free hand over the fabric of her dress for the tenth time that night, making sure the titanium knife was still there and within grasp.

She had been watching over Maya Underwood, her childhood friend of nine years. Maya was dancing in the middle of the party with everyone else. Her hair was a soft brown, like the bark of an oak tree, not dark but simply gentle in any light. Without red or golden hues it reminded Aella of a childhood teddy bear, and it was the perfect contrast to her teal top.

There was a steadiness to Maya as she moved, as if all the storms in the world were a whispering breeze if she was there. Hers was the loudest voice in the room wherever she was. Her conversations were buoyant and intended to be heard. Perhaps that's what drew people to her. It was as if she knew she was born to be the queen of the earth.

Little did she know.

Maya was a candidate of one of the four Pillars of Argaia, Argaia being the universe of two worlds that they lived in. The four Pillars were children blessed with the core elemental powers and destined to serve the Old World empire along the emperor's side.

'Avatar: The Last Airbender' wasn't too far from the truth, in fact it was reality for the people from the Old World. But this wasn't the Old World, this was the New World, and no one but a select few knew of the original world's existence. Aella believed that apart from herself, no one in South Brevard High School knew.

Of course, that included the unknowing Earth Child of the Argaia; eighteen-year-old Maya. Nine years ago when Aella had been given the mission of being a Pillar's escort, she had just been told to "play with her until it's time". She was never given the history of Maya's birth, why Maya was even sent to the New World in the first place, and why they didn't want to raise her in the Old World. Aella knew nothing then, and nothing now. How was she to explain things to Maya when they inevitably had to move back to the Old World?

"Hey, Aella!" Vinson Underwood, Maya's younger brother, called out from a doorway a few meters away from her, pulling her away from her thoughts. "Someone's looking for you."

Aella unlatched herself from the wall and nodded her head at him, asking who.

"Some guy named Archer!"

Archer? Why would he give away his name so easily? It must just be an alias, but names were forbidden in any sort of communication. Why was he being so careless this time?

Archer was a skilled warrior of noble background, and that was all Aella knew of him. He had been sent here a year ago, when they received threats of attacks from other races intending to get their hands on the new blood of one of the four Pillars.

Aella had been told that the scent of a human from the Old World could cover the scent of a Pillar in the New World, but it seemed that Maya's days as a Pillar of the Earth were getting closer. The enemy had gotten desperate, risking theur lives to travel into another world and scouring the globe in search of her. Archer had told Aella that much, and she hadn't pressed him for more. She wasn't interested in the fight for blood or politics or even who the enemy was. It was enough that she covered for Maya, at least until her job was done.

Sighing, Aella squeezed through the crowd of dancing bodies to an empty kitchen. Archer stood against the refrigerator with his arms folded.

"What do you need?" she asked him in a whisper, looking out the kitchen window. She knew he could hear her from the kitchen sink. They were at least three meters apart, but Archer was a skilled air mage who could hear whispers from a distance away if he listened hard enough.

He straightened his back and started walking towards her.

"What are you doing? We're not eveb supposed to be in the same room," again she whispered urgently.

He did not respond and continued approaching her until they were less than a meter apart.

Aella watched him warily.

This was the first time she had seen him for more than a few minutes. All the other times he'd come and left in a matter of seconds. She took in the sight of his flaxen curls and his eyes... his eyes were a mesmerising deep ocean blue glinting in the light off a leaf of green emerald, framed by graceful brows. A prominent jaw curved gracefully around and the strength of his neck showed in the twining cords of muscle that shaped his entire body; strong arms, bold thighs and calves, a firm chest and abdomen.

"I don't think this is how this works." Aella gulped. "This might jeopardise our last chance. They could be anywhere."

Archer tilted his head to one side, blinking once with wide eyes.

Was he... acting cute?

"A-Arch–"

Before she could ask him any more questions, a body flew in from the window, sending glass fragments everywhere onto the tiled kitchen floor. She immediately took a few steps back, grabbing a kitchen knife from a knife block on the countertop.

Adrenaline flooded Aella's system like it was on an intravenous drip - right into her blood at full pelt. Her eyes went wide, letting in every ounce of the fading light. Her body wanted to either run fast for Maya and out of here or challenge the intruder but instead she stayed right where she was. Her senses were on high alert. Every colour was brighter, every noise louder, every person in the kitchen a cause to make her heart beat more fiercely still.

Her heart was pounding in her chest but she tried to ignore it and slowed her breathing. Her eyes darted to the two people with her.

Archer and... Archer.

Her brain stuttered for a moment and her eyes took in the two Archers in front of her, every part of her went on pause as her thoughts caught up. An impersonator.

The one who had flown in like a Tarzan was the real Archer.

The impostor knew he couldn't outsmart the true Archer, a skilled warrior deserving of his nickname, so he whipped out one of the few weaknesses an advanced mage would have, a Sabetier.

The blade was a single piece of high carbon stainless steel, hand honed and about four inches long. If Aella didn't look closely and hadn't studied the battlefield for years, she'd think it was a normal knife one could find anywhere. But these weapons were coated with choriem, a rare metal from the Old World used for many decades in battles against mages. The choriem flickered a blue as the knife wielder twisted it to readjust his position.

It was a weapon built to kill mages. A weapon invented by humans.