She’s going to be the death of me.
Rex was about done with this adventure/quest/thing. Too many close calls with death had dulled his sense of exploration and sharpened his common sense.
Rayna, on the other hand, was… the reason they had almost died seven times and were now in the graveyard. They weren’t dead but rather looking for an artifact.
“Rex! I got it!” Rayna poked her head up from the freshly redug grave and held up a rock.
Her shout grabbed his attention and the night watchman’s as well. The light of the lantern shifted and started moving towards them at a fast pace.
Rex grabbed his sister’s hands and pulled her out of the grave, shoving the artifact in one of his many pockets. Together the siblings ran towards the exit, leaving behind a hole and a frightening watchman.
After they had run a safe distance from the graveyard, Rayna pulled Rex to a stop and plopped herself on the ground.
“Well,” she said, “That was fun.”
“Fun isn’t the word I would use. How about careless, dangerous, and just maybe, foolish?” Rex pulled the artifact out of his pocket and shone his flashlight on it. “And we did all this for a rock.” He sighed. “Next time, I’m waiting with Nexus. You can get the artifact all by yourself.”
Rayna took the rock and placed it in her satchel. “This is a geode. And we’re getting paid well for this.”
“You are maybe. All I get is thanks and the next destination.” Rex sat next to his sister. “For twins, we sure aren’t very much alike.”
They were physically identical with lean bodies, blonde hair, and grey eyes. It was impossible not to see the resemblance. But their personalities could not be more different.
Rex was an introvert, comfortable in a small select group. Rayna was outgoing with spunk that often got them both into trouble.
“I’m sorry Rex. But come on, you have to admit that you enjoyed the adrenaline rush.” Rayna smiled.
“I can only imagine what the nightwatchman will be telling the villagers tomorrow. I swear Rayna if this evolves into another tale, I will leave you to C.O.S.T. myself. They are already suspicious of us about the vampire one.”
“It’s not my fault you got bitten by a venomous snake and a villager walked by as I was sucking the venom from your arm.”
“You weren’t exactly being cautious either.”
Rayna glanced at the moon. “We should head back.”
Rex stood and extended a hand to her. They walked together to a small clearing in the woods. There, a small white cylinder glowed in the moonlight.
“Nexus, wakey wakey.” Rayna tapped the top of the cylinder and stepped back.
The cylinder shook and expanded to roughly the size of an elevator. A door opened, welcoming them in. They stepped forward and entered a large room, much larger than the outside would suggest. Rex hadn’t figured out if they shrunk when they entered or if it was a time physics thing.
Either way, it was cool.
Rayna went to the center console and placed the rock on the teli pad. She typed in an address and the rock shimmered, disappearing, leaving behind no trace of its presence.
“We’ll get the payment for that as soon as they check their inbox.” Rayna glanced over the screens. “We have a couple more requests. Circ wants a dragon killed. It toasted an ancestral home."
“No.” Rex interrupted. “I don’t want any more dragons. The last one ended with me getting blowtorched when he sneezed. Not. Happening. Again.”
Rayna swiped her finger and the message disappeared. “I’ll send our condolences later.” She perused the other messages. “Ohh! Lance wants a tribe of giants removed.”
“One question. What do they eat? I am not inspiring another Beanstalk story.” Rex collapsed in a chair. “Are there any none monster ones?”
“Umm.” Rayna swiped down and a new batch of messages appeared. “Draya wants an ancestor rescued from a magical sleep.”
“Sounds okay so far…”
Rayna kept reading then laughed. “We would have to find her true love. No thanks.”
Rex pulled his rolly chair closer to the console. “We could just go home for a bit.”
“But that’s boring. Besides, here’s an interesting one about trolls.” Rayna turned and put on her puppy dog eyes. “Please Rex, I haven’t had a good fight in ages!”
Sighing, Rex rolled over to another section of the console. It was useless to go against the puppy eyes.
“Where to?”
Rayna squealed and sent the coordinates to his computer. She ran over and gave him a hug from behind.
“You’re the best brother ever!”
“I’m your only brother.” Rex flipped some switches and pressed buttons before turning to Rayna.
“I’ll let you have the honors.” He smiled as she skipped over to the center console and flipped the massive switch.
“Trolls, knights, and maidens, here we come!”
Nexus whirred and began pulsing.
“While she’s doing that, blue, pink, or black?” Rayna pivoted on her heels and aimed the question at Rex.
“Blue, why?”
Rayna smirked. “That’s the color I’m wearing on this adventure. I’m gonna try the princess approach this time.” She turned and disappeared into her room.
“Rayna, we are not color coordinating again!” Rex’s protest went unheard as his twin prepped for their next job.
“Well,” Rex muttered to himself, “If we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna do it well.” He went to his room and began putting on armor. After all, what was a princess without her guard?
Rex looked at the heavy iron helmet with disdain. “She’s gonna owe me for this.”
The Nexus landed with a whump, signaling their arrival. The twins emerged from their rooms, surveying the other’s costume.
“Very handsome, sir knight.” Rayna curtsied, the poof of her dress surrounding her like a cloud.
Rex bowed, the metal clanking as it shifted. “I am nothing compared to your radiance, princess.” His voice echoed in the helmet and finally exited sounding weak from all the reverberations it made.
Rex straightened and held his arm out. “Come on, let's get this adventure over with.”
This marks one year of posting!! I'm so happy to have made it this long and I can't thank my readers enough! Thank you for sticking with me!
Comments