The Tale of Aeryn Glaze (Tag-Lish Version)

Chapter 19

⊱∘──AERYN──∘⊰

Imagine you're sitting and suddenly feel someone's eyes on you. You turn around and, sure enough, someone is staring right at you. It's as if you have invisible eyes behind your head that let you sense this without seeing it. It's a mysterious feeling because you can't quite explain how you knew.

It felt the same whenever I sensed the shadow demons nearby. It is as if I had a special sense that alerted me to their presence, even though I couldn't see them.

Nang sinubukan kong hanapin ang shadow demon na nakalaban ko noon, sinubukan ko na lang ang swerte ko at nagtiwala sa aking instincts. Nang matagpuan ko ang nilalang na iyon, hindi ko talaga siya nakita, o narinig. Basta...alam ko na nandoon siya. Alam ko na agad kung saan siya hahanapin.

Pero sa pagkakataong ito, hindi ko mahanap ang naglabas ng malakas na enerhiya sa buong lugar kahit anong pilit ko. I roamed my eyes around, foolishly thinking that I could find this person somewhere in the crowd. Or if this isn't a person, then, this must be the link that we were searching for.

"Don't leave," Grim said with a stern voice. "Remember that there are eyes around us so we can't do anything suspicious."

"But what if..."

I restrained myself from speaking more. I just kept a calm composure even if it took a long for the game to be over.

All 50 players who successfully passed the second game are shown on the screen floating above with their names, rank, and score. I was ranked 6th, Grim was fourth, and Jonah was ranked 11th. The rest of our members are shown in lower ranks with others.

It was then when it was over that I immediately left the area as I continued to feel his presence. I could still sense his energy around the place.

My intuition leads me to a path that leads to the mages' headquarters, where the people are crowding to get inside. But it was not easy for me to know whose magic I felt, or know if it was dark energy that I sensed. But I am sure it wasn't from Victoria.

Halos mabaliw ako kakahanap sa kaniya. Huminto ako sa gitna ng karamihan sa pag-aakalang makikilala ko kung kanino galing ang pressure na nararamdaman ko. Pumikit ako saglit at kinuyom ang mga kamay ko. Sa kasamaang palad, hindi ko mahanap ang pinagmumulan ng enerhiya kahit anong pilit ko.

But when I opened my eyes, that's when I saw someone from afar. I know that he was looking at me as he stood in the midst of the crowd and it's like he was the only one I could see as minutes passed by. He was wearing a long white cloak with its hood covering his face. I could tell he was a man from his tall height, broad shoulders, and the way he stood.

Kahit na gusto ko mang pumunta sa direksiyon, parang hindi ko magawang yumapak patungo sa kaniya. Para lang akong natuod sa kinatatayoan ko.

But it wasn't because I was magically frozen into place, or because I was too scared to move. It's because I felt like if I moved, he would disappear from my sight.

"Aeryn!"

Mabilis siyang nawala nang dumating si Grim sa tabi ko. Hindi ko na ulit naramdaman ang presensya niya.

"What happened? Did you find anything?"

Umiling lang ako at saglit na natulala. It was him. Although I failed to locate him, my heart recognized him. If I'm seeing him in reality, then that only means that he's real and that he's here. He sent a signal earlier to draw me into him because he probably knew I could sense energy.

The man in my dreams.

Bumalik kami sa mages' headquarters kung saan ang mga kasamahan namin ay naghihintay sa amin sa loob ng kwarto ng mga lalaki. Maraming pagkain ang nakahain sa hapag kainan habang sila ay nakaupo sa paligid ng mesa. Nang makarating naman kami sa kwarto ay tinawag agad nila kami at pinaupo.