The Lost Soul

Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN 

They had been walking for about six hours and were exhausted. Zalea eventually gave up and asked Jack if they could take a break when she noticed the small river just up ahead. 

"Sorry, you should have said something sooner. I never even noticed how tired you look." 

"That's okay... I know you're eager to find this place." 

He smiled as they wandered over to the water's edge and knelt down to take a few gulps. Zalea followed suit and used her small hands to scoop up the water to her mouth. 

"The water's quite warm," he said. 

"Oh, that's better. I was starting to get so hot. Actually, I think I'm going to have a swim," she said as, without a seconds thought, she dived gracefully into the water, fully clothed. 

"It's wonderful," she giggled, swimming with the grace of a dolphin. 

"Come on in, it's quite refreshing," she said as she gently splashed him before he jumped in by her side. 

They swam quietly for a few minutes before Jack stopped to lean back on the riverbank and take in their surroundings. 

As they had walked from the forests that morning, the silvery colours had eventually given way and revealed trees of lush golden browns that twinkled beneath the orange sky. 

They were gradually getting closer to the mountains they had spotted from the distance the previous day but there was still a long way to go. It was there Jack believed he would find the caves where the Nephilim resided. He didn't know how we knew, he just had a feeling it was where he needed to be. 

As he lay back on the soft golden sands, Jack turned his attention to the beautiful faery that swam in the warm waters of the river. The water twinkled off the back of her lilac wings and she swam on her front before she turned over and began floating on her back, every now and again kicking the water with her strong long legs to help keep her afloat. 

When she noticed Jack was watching her, she turned to face him and smiled, "It's a beautiful spot, isn't it?" she sighed. 

"It certainly is. I wish we knew where we were though." 

"Sorry, but I only know of Moharth. I have never learned of any other place within Argentumalea. When I return home, I am going to tell my father the faery children should learn about this world. Had I known more about it, we would be at an advantage." 

"I agree you should all know more about where you live. The children of my world all learn about the world's geography in school." 

"Tell me about your world, Jack?" 

"Hmm, well, it's very different from this one." 

"How?" 

"Well, we have a blue sky for one. And a bright yellow sun that lights up the sky and warms us during the day and when it goes down in the evening, the moon appears. Sometimes it is a huge glowing white sphere in the sky and other times, it is barely visible. It is a sight to behold though." 

"A blue sky? It must be an amazing sight." 

"I guess we have always taken it for granted." 

"Tell me more. Your world sounds fascinating" 

"My world is a complicated one. At times it is truly magnificent, it has sights that are breathtaking, places of such beauty that they take your breath away. And yet we are destroying it," he said. 

"Destroying it? But that's terrible. Why would you do such a thing?" 

"Like I said, it's complicated. Suffice to say we are using up all of the earth's valuable resources at such an alarming rate and in the process we are polluting our world."