I stood in the center of a field. The long grass waved in the cool salty wind. I stared up at the clear sky, basking in the warmth of the sun.
It was so peaceful.
I turned my head and saw Isaac sitting next to me, his smile brightening my world. "We did it! We closed the breach!" He murmured against my ear. A sense of happiness and pride overwhelmed me. The world was safe, and Lilith had been defeated. I knew this was a dream. It was a nice one, finally. Was this the goddess telling me all would be okay? I hoped so. I closed my eyes, taking in all the sounds around me.
Until the smell of smoke and burning flesh hit me in the face.
I opened my eyes and dread seized my heart. The portal was back, but it was bigger; it stretched across the entire sky and was golden. What is this? A pair of wide fiery eyes stared down at me through the breach. I could feel their intense anger, like the blazing fire of the sun. The vision had shifted, Isaac was no longer with me and everything around me was on fire.
A sudden shrill scream pulled my eyes away from the fire. A woman in a starry dress was trapped within a crystal cage, "Help me!" she pleaded. "You can not let this come to pass!" she yelled.
The earth shook as the giant man stepped through and fire spread further until it seemed that the entire continent was ablaze. He grabbed the woman and lit her on fire. It burned as hot as his anger towards her and the pain was unimaginable as it surged through me, like we were connected. My screams ripped from my throat and resonated with hers as the flames consumed us both.
I woke up drenched in sweat. My skin felt like it was on fire. I pulled the covers off and jumped out of bed, patting my reddened body. My heart pounded in my chest and I gasped for air. I couldn't breathe!
It burns!!
Isaac jumped up and reached for me, but as soon as he touched my skin, he yelped. I needed to get away, I needed to douse this fire!
I ran into the bathroom, turning on the cool water in the tub. I sat there splashing the water on me, soothing the burning pain. I barely noticed that Isaac had followed me and ran a towel under the water and draped it over me. My mind was in a panic at the burning even after the pain started to subside, though my skin was still an angry red.
"What happened?" his voice was soft and calm, he reached forward and brushed the hair out of my face, the sudden touch made me flinch.
My body trembled. The images from my dream flashed through my mind. The fear was so intense I could barely breathe as I soaked in the cool water.
"Elizabeth!" Isaac yelled firmly.
My frantic eyes locked onto him, his gentle eyes bringing me back.
"Hey..." he whispered soothingly, brushing his hand against my cheek. "Lizbeth, what happened? Did you have another vision?"
I closed my eyes, breathing deeply and slowly, trying to calm my erratic heart. The burning sensation gradually disappeared. "I'm not sure. It... hurt so much," I sobbed.
Ember and Isabella came running into the room. Isabella's eyes were bloodshot, and she was incredibly pale. "We heard screaming! Is everything alright? What happened?" Ember asked, her eyes wide, taking in the scene.
"She had another vision. Liz," Isabella asked, crouching down and carefully rested her hand on my shoulder. "What did you see?"
I glanced between these important people in my life, my heart constricted. I couldn't help but feel so lucky to have them. Before, I was always alone after my nightmares, not knowing what they were. Now I know, and I have people who love me and help me through them. I may not have known them for very long, but they had been there for me whenever I needed them. Even Isabella was there trying to guide me on the right path. However, I didn't listen to her at the time. The images of the fire flashed through my mind causing a sharp pain to pulse through my head.
"The portal had grown. It covered the entire sky and was a bright golden color. A being made of fire had come through it, setting all of Arvora ablaze. There was also another woman there... she was in a cage, she yelled at me to stop it," I gasped out. "She said she couldn't let it come to pass, then the monster lit her on fire! And I felt it. I felt everything."
The three shared concerned looks. "Wait... but if the breach is meant to pull a part of Earth, why would a being come through it? There's nothing like that on Earth, as far as I know," Isaac stated.
"I don't know. I just know we have to stop Lilith. Failure isn't an option." I sighed.
Isaac helped me out of the bath. I shivered from the chill. Ember grabbed some clothes and shooed Isaac and Isabella from the room. She helped me pull off the wet gown and handed me a towel.
"Don't worry. We will find a way to stop all this. I should have known something was wrong. Lilith's explanation of you going back to Earth just didn't make sense. I knew you wouldn't have left without saying goodbye or making sure Isaac was okay. I should have looked for you..." Ember hiccuped, holding back tears. "I'm so sorry all this happened."
"It's okay, Ember. I don't blame you or anyone else. Lilith played us all. I'm glad I was taken to Arvora. If I hadn't, I would still be at home oblivious to what was happening, who I am, and terrified of the portal in the sky." I pulled the dry clothes over me, thankful that the pain had stopped and I was back to normal.
We were going to fix this.
We have to.
I wondered if Thremael had gotten the message out. I was ready for some much-needed answers on how to close the breach. I wanted this to be over with; I was so tired of running around with my head cut off.
We left the room and came into the kitchen. Alice was sitting at the table trying to get two kids to sit still, but they seemed fascinated with Isaac.
"Are you a prince? What's it like living in the palace?" The little girl asked. Her blue eyes were as wide as saucers, and her blonde hair fell in waves around her small face.
"Do you know how to wield a sword? Can you teach me? Father won't teach me until I'm older." the older boy with black hair and grey sparkling eyes grumbled.
Isaac sat there smiling, trying to answer their questions but was continually interrupted by another. His eyes wandered to me, and his smile widened, making my heart skip a beat. He stood up and pulled me to him, his hand cupping my cheek. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"For now," I answered, giving him a quick kiss. The children made gagging noises and giggled.
"Are you guys married?!" the little girl squealed. My face turned bright red, and I looked back at Isaac who was in the same situation.
Isaac coughed into his fist. "Uh..."
"Children, that's enough questions. Eat your breakfast and get ready for school." Alice said sternly, then turned to face us. "I am so sorry, I know they're such a handful! Thremael is outside, sending a raven to his clan. We should hear back from them by the end of the day."
"What are we going to do while we wait?" I asked.
Alice shrugged. Ember was helping her get the kids dressed. Isabella had her nose in a book.
"There's nothing we can do at the moment. Not really." Isabella sighed.
Isaac sprang up and grabbed my hand. "I have an idea! Come with me, Lizbeth!"
"Woah!" Before I knew it, he had dragged me out of the house, and we were walking down the street of the small town, our hands intertwined. The light of the sun filtered through the thick clouds that covered the sky. The portal was swirling angrily in the sky. Fear gripped my heart as I realized it had gotten bigger. The dream came rushing back to me, and I could feel my pulse start to quicken.
Isaac turned my head towards him, giving me a small smile. "Hey, now don't look at that. Look at me." He gave me a quick kiss before pulling me further down the path towards the cliff.
"Where are we going?" I asked as he started down a ramp that led to the water. The ramp was made of wood and was built into the side of the cliff face. I stepped off into the cool sand, the smell of the sea hitting my nose, clear and earthy wet sand. The waves crashed against the shore, and far off into the distance, you could see the frozen islands that were scattered down the crystal sea.
Isaac walked me down to the water's edge, the sea lapping over my feet. It was surprisingly warm as opposed to the cold fall air. I wonder if the trees change colors in the Fall much as they do on Earth? Does Arvora get snow in the winter? The wind picked up, and thunder clapped in the distance behind us.
"Why did you bring me down here?"
He sat down in the sand and leaned back, his feet at the edge of the water. He reached up and pulled me down to sit next to him, resting an arm around my shoulders. "We needed a break from all the craziness that has happened the past couple of days. So I brought you down here where the portal wasn't just looming over us. There's nothing we can do about it right now except sit and wait, letting the anxiety and uncertainty eat away at us."
After that, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes to relax.
I turned around. He was right; the cliff was all you could see. There was no portal, just the sand, the sea, and the rocky cliff.
"Plus, I just wanted to spend some time with you without the others being around. I feel like it's been so long since Hopper Pond. I'm so sorry for all that happened. I shouldn't have let that stalker get the best of me. If I hadn't, maybe we would have figured out Lilith's plan and stopped it before this happened," he sighed. "I should have been there to protect you."
The way his voice broke at the last sentence made me reach out to cup his face and wipe away a stray tear that had escaped. "It's okay. Nobody is perfect. There were so many of them that I'm surprised we survived at all."
I hadn't seen him like this before. He always seemed so strong, but this was a lot even for him.
He smiled sadly, looked down, and ran his hand along my leg. "What happened here?"
"Ah, the stalkers got me, and then when I ran away to get that book, I used a bad batch of life's tulip. It infected my wound instead of healing it."
"You didn't even wait till you recovered to get it?"
"You were dying, Isaac! Lilith made it seem like it was the only way to save you. I couldn't just sit there and wait!" My voice cracked as the memory of him floating there, slowly dying from the poison. I felt his arm tighten around me. His hand came up and turned my head to face him, resting on my cheek, pulling me close.
"I'm right here. You saved me," he whispered before pulling my lips to his.
We sat on the beach for a while, stealing kisses, talking about anything but the impending doom in the sky. It felt like we were just a regular couple on a date, enjoying each other's company.
We walked to the tavern and had lunch, dancing along to the music. The town was so alive despite the scary portal. Maybe they all thought it was weird weather? Or that the capital was going to fix it soon. Every time we ran into someone talking about the breach, Isaac would pull me away and bring up something funny that happened to him during one of his trips to Earth.
We spent the whole day wandering the small town of Bellanshire and the fields around it. Until the sun had started to set and we had to return to Alice's house. Our laughter stopped when we reached the front door, and we prepared ourselves to focus back on the breach.
We walked into the house, surprised to see everyone was laughing around the dinner table.
"You should've seen her! At the top of the oak tree, arms outstretched, Ember thought she could use the spell to fly," Alice said between giggles.
Ember laughed, "It should have worked! I swear!"
"It took her weeks to recover from the fall, and it was all to impress this boy, Eric I think his name was." Alice took a long drink of water before coughing into a fit of laughter.
Ember jumped up when she saw us. "You guys are back! Just in time, dinner is almost ready." She walked into the kitchen to check on the food. We sat down next to Thremael, whose smile widened.
"We were just trading stories. We have so many of Ember and Alice. Do you or Isabella have any funny tales? Growing up with a twin must have been interesting." he asked.
My smile fell, and I glanced at Isabella. "We uh..."
"Liz once lit her dollhouse on fire. Our dad went into a panic and threw it out the window. Mom was furious." Isabella interrupted, chuckling as my face reddened.
Ember came back with the food, saving us from having to elaborate. I looked back at Isabella. She smiled at me warmly and shrugged. I guess there was no point in bringing up our complicated family. It would only dampen the mood.
By the time dinner was over, my stomach had hurt from laughing so much. I didn't know Ember had such a crazy side. Isaac was in the middle of talking about our date at Hopper Pond. How I almost drowned after the spell wore off. Alice had been curious about our first date. It wasn't technically our first date, but it was the best one.
"Where are the kids?" I asked. Curious as to why they weren't here with us for dinner.
"I told them they could stay at their friend's house. I needed a break from their craziness." Alice stood up to clear the table, holding onto her pregnant belly. Ember stopped her and took the plates from her.
"Sit back down. You're not allowed to lift a finger while I'm here, missy." Ember smiled, giving her sister a slight bump.
Alice sighed. "I'm not broken, Ember." there was amusement in her voice. Ember looked so happy. This had been the longest I've felt relaxed in a while. I wished that the world wasn't in trouble and we could just stay here and enjoy ourselves. But sadly, the screeching of a bird outside the door brought us all back to reality.
Thremael got up and left, but soon came back with a paper in hand. "They've accepted. I'm to bring you to Lelsera tomorrow."
We eyed one another. The fun was over; tomorrow, we had to find a way to close the breach in the sky and stop Lilith.
©2021 Jessica Powell. All Rights Reserved
****Thank you to my wonderful Editor Arco****