Wild Jewel [Enter a world of Faerie Romance]

Wild Jewel - Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Leodáin's POV

How could she have just disappeared? I'd had her practically within my grasp, and then she was gone. And good God was she fast! I daresay that she had every right to be afraid of me. I definitely shocked her by provoking her with my weapons, and how could she have thought I looked the same comforting man I was when I looked hauntingly scrubby, and rather dirty in the likes of her. But still.

I'd found her! I'd actually found her! Everyone had told me that she was dead, and that there was no use in finding her, but I proved them all wrong! She was alive, healthy even, but definitely alive. Of course she'd looked different to what I'd remembered, somehow tougher in the way she saw things, her eyes harsher yet still bold.

I'd gone back to camp, explaining to Phillip that I'd seen Daniella, and that she was definitely alive, and then quickly telling him that I was off to find her again. Phillip offered to help, but I told him that I needed to do this on my own.

I was walking deep in the forest when I saw her again. She was running after what seemed to be a deer, but she slowed down quickly, stopping with reluctance. Seeing her again made my heart skip a beat, but I tried plucking up the courage to actually approach her again.

At first, she looks shocked, or confused, to see me. When I ask her if she remembers me she replies in a foreign tongue, which stuns me to the core, but I do a good impression of looking unconcerned, though even though I could not understand what she said, the warning was clear.

Until she speaks in her normal language, I finally feel relieved.

"That's not what I meant." I say.

Then, replacing the relief, a cold, chilling terror trickles into my system slowly. My heart races, and my skin prickles, not knowing where this feeling had come from, but by the look on Daniella's face, I can understand that her feelings mirror mine, and I immediately feel my body shift to protective mode.

I take a step toward her. "What is it?" I ask in a low voice.

She shakes her head, as if in disbelief. "We have to go, now!"

 [Music I pictured for this scene - 'Tapir Hunt' from the movie 'Apocalypto' by James Horner]

She grabs my wrist without any warning, and with a striking speed, she begins to tug me along in a run in the direction from where she'd come. The warm feeling of her hand on my skin burns into my mind, knowing that this was the first contact we'd had in almost four months.

From the sides of my vision, streaks of black flash around us, but as I look around, there seems to be nothing. The chilling feeling continues to heighten my protectiveness, readying myself to throw my body in front of her in the case of an attacker. For a bleak moment, I fear for the possibility of the vampyres finding me at last, and wanting to take Daniella along as well.

At long last the black figure steps into view in front of our pursuit, and a brief moment of relief passes through me as I recognize the figure as not being the vampyres I'd seen a few nights ago. But by the way Daniella quickly veered off to the side, I realized that what we were facing was just as horrifying.

"Lye aphadar aen!" Daniella yells to me, the foreign words confuse me, but once again the translation need not be necessary. We are being followed, and we need to run faster.

I comply, willing my legs to move faster. Though I realize after many training sessions in the mornings, after all the running practice I used to do, I still was struggling to keep up with the swiftness of her stride, despite the fact that I knew I was a fast runner.