Prompt Fiction

A/N: Layta and Ellis belong to the Twilight Knights universe–featuring teens with elemental powers. Enjoy the short snippet of these two friends!

PROMPT : JUNGLE

Lush green leaves. Scorching, blistering heat. Thick, wavering shimmers—a testimony to the humidity present.

Layta wrinkled her nose, ducking under one of the branches than Ellis held up for her. She’d volunteered to accompany him on this unofficial mission of sorts. The hours were good for her rank and Ellis was always doing something interesting.

But since they’d arrived, he’d buckled down with a serious, single-minded focus, unusual for the cheerful Guardian that she knew him to be. “What are we looking for again?” She asked, wiping her forehead. “And why couldn’t we look for it—later?” She’d never ‘ported to this sector before, but it wasn’t somewhere she’d normally visit.

The heat alone was a pain, reminding her too much of old memories before she’d learned to actually use her wind properly. It didn’t help that they’d both turned out in full Twilight dress. She tugged at her jungle boots.

“You mean in another season?” Ellis teased, lightly. “Come on, it’s just up ahead. Curl a wind or two, if you want. I don’t mind.”

“You’re tracking the dirt,” Layta said, fanning herself with one hand. “That would disrupt the tracks, wouldn’t it?”

Ellis stifled a laugh. “I think you have better control of your element than that. Lift the leaves up over there, if you need a direction. Some natural light would make it easier to pull on the tracks.”

Layta brightened. “Rays of light—coming right up!” She reached out to the emptiness beside her and pulled a handful of air to life—rippling it ahead of their path.

The leaves parted overhead, thin streams of light trickling on down to bathe the jungle floor.

(c) S. Harricharan