The lost gem

Chapter 16

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Charlotte gasped and breathed heavily but her heart stopped when she saw what had happened to Alex. His hands were completely red and terribly burnt. Charlotte now fully understood what the man meant by, 'handle its power.'
Glued to the ground, Charlotte whispered,  "What have I done?" After a few seconds, Lúthien had come running and was bewildered by what he saw. Tightly squeezing his hands, Alex sprinted towards a nearby river and plunged his hands in the water. Sighing, his body relaxed but he still felt mixed emotions. He was infuriated that Charlotte could have been so careless. He was worried that his hands wouldn't heal. But, even in these circumstances, above all else, he was terrified about what Charlotte was thinking. He knew that he forgave her but he had known her all his life and knew that she would not forgive herself easily. She was a person that did not forget anything and would punish herself for probably a very long time.
Silently and gently, Lúthien lowered himself onto the ground, beside Alex and eyed the water for several minutes, before he said, "do you want me to try to heal your hands? Back in Blackforest, it was essential that everyone knew how to treat cuts or burns." Alex closed his eyes and winced, his burns did really sting, even with the aid of the cooling water, "would you? That would be great...thanks." Carefully, Alex removed his hands from the water and allowed Lúthien to examine the damage. "You're lucky, you know. The burns may hurt now but they will have healed completely within a couple of weeks...when I was younger, someone set my house on fire and I didn't know what to do and soon fell unconscious... When my people found me, my whole body was burned and they told me that some of my scars might never heal." Lúthien rolled up his sleeve to reveal a long, red, ugly looking scar. "And guess what? They were right." Alex stared at Lúthien's scar until Lúthien asked him to close his eyes for a few seconds. Closing his eyes, Alex thought about how, despite all that had happened, a strange calm feeling, entered his mind and he welcomed it without thinking.

Not long after, Lúthien said, "all done!" Curious, Alex opened his eyes and looked at his hands. There was no sign of any injuring. "What? How?" Alex replied, shocked but elated that Lúthien had been able to heal his burns. Lúthien smiled in response and swiftly jumped up from where he was sitting. Just as Lúthien headed away from the river, Alex called, "thanks!" Turning around, Lúthien nodded but suddenly a look of concern crossed his face, "do you think Charlotte will ever use magic again? And...do you think we'll ever find the gem? I mean it's been quite a while, since we started the quest and yet we've found nothing..."
"To be entirely honest, I've been thinking the exact same thing...and I know that Charlotte won't be using magic for quite a while...as for the gem...I guess we'll just have to wait and see..." Suddenly, Alex heard a twig snap from behind Lúthien, who stepped aside to reveal Charlotte. Nervously playing with her fingers and staring at the ground, she whispered," Alex? Are you okay? I'm really sorry. Really. I shouldn't have been so stupid and..." Charlotte gulped, "I think I might abandon the quest...it's too much pressure and I think they may have mistaken me for someone else. I can't be the one the prophecy is about. So, I'm going to leave...and go back to Chillian...I just came to say bye..."
She turned around and was about to leave when Alex shouted, "Charlotte! Wait! I'm okay! I'm healed! Lúthien healed me!" Rapidly Charlotte spun round, "what? That's practically impossible. Show me!" Pushing his hands forward so that Charlotte could see, Alex was horrified by what Charlotte had said. Charlotte's eyes thoroughly examined Alex's hands. "That's good! It's definitely a relief...but I still need to go...at least be alone for a while...maybe I won't go all the way back to Chillian. I should just keep my distance. I don't want to harm either of you and don't think you can say anything to change my mind. This is my final decision. I will meet you both 1000km North. You know, at the border between the sea and Aragonas, at the circle of time. The 5 stones. I will meet you there on summer solstice. But for now... I guess it's goodbye."

Alex stood and his heart fell, not knowing what to say he threw his arms around her neck and pulled her into a hug. "I can't let you do this it's too dangerous."
"Please. I need to do this! I'm begging you, both of you. I'll see you again soon."
Alex stepped away from Charlotte and knew that he could say nothing to persuade her otherwise. Lúthien, who had been silent, also stepped towards Charlotte and bowed. Charlotte smiled and pulled him into a hug as well. "Goodbye, you two. Good luck! Be careful and I'll see you on summer solstice." With that, Charlotte spun round so that the boys could not see the tears that formed in her eyes. She jumped onto her horse and turned to look at the boys one last time, before she vanished into the woods.

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