Rank 2 - Mel and Eulalia

Mel carelessly ran across a rock path. The rocks were just large enough for one of his paws, and they were suspended in the air like many of the rocks in this part of the magical continent, Vitalus. He was nimble but didn’t plan ahead as he barreled down the path. He was testing his luck, and he knew it, but a dare was a dare. 

Llyr stood at the place where Mel started watching his friend complete the dare. He knew it was stupid, Mel knew it was stupid, yet they both got excited at the idea of one of them completing this treacherous path. Llyr heard a couple of elderly vayrons joking about this path and how dangerous it was. The elders joked about their younger years, but Llyr took it to heart. He knew Mel would love to try something like this. 

“What’s he doing?” A gentle but concerned voice broke Llyr’s thoughts. 

Llyr turned to see Eulalia approaching. Her long hair piled on her head and tied with a pink ribbon, and her long tail was tied in a similar fashion. Llyr rolled his eyes. Mel and Eulalia were childhood friends but it didn’t make any sense to Llyr; they were complete opposites. Eulalia was gentle and cautious while Mel was an act first ask questions later sort. 

“Llyr,” Eulalia’s voice grew hard, “What is he doing?”

“Don’t worry, Eulalia,” Llyr rolled his eyes, “He’ll be fine.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.” Eulalia hissed, all gentleness melted from her tone. 

Llyr sighed, “I dared him to run across this path.” 

Eulalia’s eyes hadn’t left Mel while they talked. She watched as he raced across the path of floating rocks. Mel’s steps, like always, were confident and sure-footed. She took a minute to pull her gaze away from her friend to take in the open air around him. If he fell, there was nothing there to catch him. He would drop straight down to who knows where; Eulalia couldn’t see where the bottom was. 

“This is insanity, what if he falls?” Eulalia quietly hissed, afraid her voice would break whatever concentration Mel had. 

“Quit being a worry wart, he’ll be fine.” Llyr rolled his eyes, but to his and Eulalia’s horror, Mel stumbled. 

Llyr, while he was the one who issued the dare, didn’t move a muscle to help his friend. Eulalia, on the other hand, with her mountain of hair and fur, darted across the path. Llyr was shocked at her speed and the ease at which she covered the distance to get to Mel. He had never seen her move like that.

Mel had both of his paws clinging to one rock. One small rock. He didn’t look to Llyr, though they were friends, it was an odd friendship that wasn’t about helping each other. He figured he was on his own until he saw the streak of pink fly down the path. Eulalia effortlessly stopped in front of him, balancing on the paw-sized rocks with ease. 

“You. Are. An idiot.” Eulalia bit out as her eyes wildly looked around for a solution that didn’t rely on her small amount of magic. She couldn’t find one, so she slowly conjured her magic. 

Mel, despite himself, laughed. Maybe Eulalia’s ability to always appear when he needed her was part of the reason he did idiotic things, but now wasn’t the time to contemplate that thought. In the next moment, magic curled around Mel and lifted him to the path. The magic didn’t last long enough for Mel to gather his balance, so he rushed to find his center. 

“When did you learn that trick?” Mel questioned. 

“Now isn’t the time…” Eulalia mumbled as she looked around. They clearly couldn’t turn around, so their only option was to walk forward. They had to ‘complete the dare.’ Eulalia wanted to roll her eyes when the thought passed in her mind. 

“Now what?”

“Now, we walk to the end.” Eulalia answered before quickly adding, “Carefully.” 

Mel and Eulalia stepped along the path. It was a tedious adventure. They went step by step without a word. The height of this path was dizzying, and Eulalia couldn’t fathom why either of the two idiots would think this was a good idea. She almost laughed because, of course, neither of them thought of the consequences. She shook her head while she continued to think about what would have happened had she not appeared. She hoped Mel would have managed, but the darker ending implanted in her mind. 

“You could have died,” Eulalia said as they carefully walked down the seemingly endless path. 

“I didn’t think I would,” Mel said simply over his shoulder. 

Eulalia scoffed, “I won’t always be around to help you.”

Mel was surprised at the remark, it was like she could read his mind because that thought had already passed in his mind many times during this walk. However, whenever one of the small rocks under his paws shook he paused all thoughts and focused on remaining balanced. Mel felt the muscles along his body tighten as he tried to find his balance. Eulalia almost lost her balance when she saw Mel tip. She held her breath until he righted himself. 

“Maybe we should run,” Mel suggested. 

“No.”

“We would get to the other side faster.”

“Or we could meet our end faster.”

“Lia.”

“Mel.”

The pair fell into silence as they continued down the path. However, now there was a little bright spot in this daring situation. They could see the end come into view. Eulalia could see Mel relax and his steps become less careful. She was happy to see the end, too, but she knew if they relaxed now, it would be dangerous. 

“Don’t get distracted,” Eulalia insisted. 

Mel smiled to himself, and he was confident he could make it to the end without an issue. So, without a word of warning to Eulalia, Mel took off in a sprint that was as surefooted as it would be on solid ground. Eulalia couldn’t move. Fear froze her in place until Mel made it to the other side, and then anger took over. Livid was too light of a word to describe what she was feeling. Though, later, when she had a minute to process this moment, she would realize it was worry more than anger, but for now, all she experienced was only rage. 

When Mel reached the end, he turned to see Eulalia charging across the path toward him. It was like she was galloping on air. Her thick hair and tail whipped in the wind as her red eyes pinned him in place. It would be one of the only times in her life that she resorted to violence, but when her paws hit the end, she slammed into Mel without pause. The arrogant vayron went flying through the air with the force Eulalia hit him with. She glared at him before she turned and walked away, leaving him coughing in the dirt. 

Mel wheezed as he tried to stand, but it took a minute to collect himself enough to stand. 

“What was that about?” Llyr asked when he appeared next to Mel. 

Mel laughed but winced at the pain, “Oh, you know, the usual pushing boundaries and such.”

[1215]