Wild Jewel [Enter a world of Faerie Romance]

Wild Jewel - Chapter 40

Greetings everyone!

Here is another chapter for you all!

Please comment and vote! I will love you for it! xx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter Forty

Daniella Charusheela

A light breeze brushed through the trees, leaves fall delicately to the grassy floor. A small flock of white birds glide past me in a pattern of flight like a dance. I sit down in a quaint field, watching as two faerie children sing and dance in a circle. The grass rolls out over small hills, with sparse trees creating little shadows under the perfectly sunny blue sky. A small creek trickles through off to the side of the glade, the sound of water splashing against the rocks settles my mind. The colors are so bright and lively that I can barely believe the amazing garden-like meadow I am in. It seems so surreal. From the corner of my eye, I spot a beautiful butterfly, its wings bright blue edged in black. The winged insect deftly flutters close to me, undeterred by me at all, and lands softly on my hand. I smile. I sit in perfect silence, my body without pain, my mind at peace.

A hand lightly touches my shoulder and I look up to see Arielle's kind face peering down at me.

"Arielle," I say smiling. I am so pleased to see her again.

She beckons with her hand. "Come, there is someone who wants to see you."

"Who?" I ask curiously.

She doesn't reply, but the blue butterfly begins to flutter into the air, and I rise to my feet. I follow Arielle and the butterfly as they lead me towards a beautiful white castle. The spires are golden and the windows sparkle in the sunlight. It somewhat reminded me of Brotànïa except that it seemed cleaner, and the sparse amount of people look happy and peaceful instead of downtrodden and working to make a living. She leads me up a flight of stairs along the outside of the castle, leading me up to a large balcony overlooking the small glade I had just been admiring. When I arrive to the last step, I see a man in his prime, turned away from me. He is staring out into the beautiful glade surrounding the castle, paying no attention to our arrival. He wears a tunic made from fine green velvets with gold ribbon along the hemline. His boots a rich black leather, shined to perfection. The butterfly flutters over gently to the man, landing on his shoulder, but Arielle remains at my side. I look between Arielle and the man curiously.

"I'll leave you for a moment." Arielle turns on her heel, and makes her way down the stairs again.

I look expectantly to the man, as the butterfly lands on his shoulder. He turns.

I stare at the man. "Father?"

The man smiles. "My Daniella."

I stand still for a moment, acutely taking in Lord Marcus and my surroundings. He did not look like my father as I remembered him. He lacked the grey peppering his hair, the lines on his face of years of stress and laughter are nonexistent. Even the castle and the flora surrounding us suddenly seems utterly too beautiful and without any signs of having a long life. Everything seems surreal, and yet I don't feel like I am in a dream. I frown in confusion.

"Is this real? Or is this just part of my imagination?" I feel certain that I am in another one of Safira's hallucinations again.

"You have arrived at a crossing. Your body is deteriorating away in the real world, and your spirit is trying to pass into the afterlife. And we don't have much time."

I breathe through my momentary shock. I shake my head, looking around me in uncertainty. Maybe I had failed to free Safira from my mind. Maybe she only wants me to be dead so that I will give up the fight. I look at him in suspicion.