The Enchanting Rapture (#1)

Chapter 14

Annika

     The sky, for once, was plain, revealing a beautiful bruised blue overcast. A cool breeze swept around in gentle wisps, making their presence known every once in a while. Scents of grass, earthy soil, and healthy bark whisked together to make a pleasant surrounding aroma. 

     Small creatures created sounds for a variety of purposes, all combining to make an expected background music. 

     Towering trees went as far as Annika's eyes could reach. Nature was beginning to grow on her.

     Two days had passed. 

      As each second flew by, the two became closer, more at ease with each other, yet the tension tightened between them also. 

     Every little thing he did caught her attention. Every word he spoke surrounded her in a wanted embrace. Annika's desire for Soren reached to a painful point. 

     But ever since the tree incident, Soren has been a complete gentleman. 

     Annika disliked it with a passion. 

     "We should be reaching the Soul Summits by nightfall," Soren said as they sat at their resting area. With a sizable wooden branch in one hand and a blade in the other, he began to whittle the wood.

     Her body tensed with unease at the thought of going home.

     She met his alluring gaze of darkness. His hair was so light that it absorbed all possible glow. Soren was incredibly handsome. It brought Annika some comfort. 

     "You do not wish to go anymore?" He questioned. 

     "That's just it," Annika found herself answering, "I have this dreadful feeling of going home."

     She knew Soren was confused by her words and rightfully so. "If I am to be truthful with you, Siren, I do not recall much about my life before slavery. There are snippets of memories such as faces and surroundings, but past that is a blur." 

     Annika mindlessly toyed with the ground beneath her, twisting the luxuriant grass and soil as a sort of tension relief. "I can do things that require basic education, yet I could not tell you the name of the school I went to. I remember my name, I remember my home was the Soul Summits, so beautiful in it's natural state. I remember an older and wise man who told me of my parentage, yet I cannot remember my mother or father." 

     "Is that all?" 

     Annika thought deeply. She wanted to give Soren any information she could provide. It was seemed important that there wasn't anything kept between them. Besides, any of what she gave could be helpful to him. "The only other memory was of when the Snatchers took me." 

     She paused as a familiar awareness, no, a familiar fear came crawling up her spine. 

     The Snatchers were so terribly cruel, even towards Annika, who was no more than a child on the verge of embarking on young adulthood.

     She couldn't relive the moment where her life ended before it begun. Not yet.

     Annika sighed.

     "Siren?"

     "Hmm?" He had a dark look to him, most likely due to her mention of the Snatchers.

     "Would..." She paused in reluctance, "it be too much of a burden if I asked something of you?"

     Soren halted his whittling to give Annika a pointed look.