Finally tearing my eyes from the bewitching sight, I focused my gaze on Drey. He was on the verge of collapsing. It was clearly visible from his colourless face, with no hint of a blush or anything. Even his lips were greyish. He batted his long eyelashes, trying to stay focused. Finally, his knees gave way and his scythe slipped from his trembling grip. Bain, who had been eyeing him for a while, immediately reached out to grab him when he toppled over. His hazel hair shook when he fell, which made me wonder if they felt like silk, or perhaps something close to an angel’s feather.
Daik trotted over noiselessly, leaving a trail of glittery substance as its wings fluttered.
“What happened to him?” Its alluring, feminine voice sounded.
“He’s…sick.” I offered.
“Real helpful, Aria.” Bain grunted. Daik cast him an amused look, like the two had an unspoken relationship with each other.
“Okay smarty pants.” Bain didn’t respond to that. Instead, he lowered Drey to the ground as Daik closed in. Daik looked over at Drey, touching his forehead very delicately. It was as if Drey was fragile china that would instantly shatter at a touch.
“I’m not sure…but I think I can some herbs that will help. It’s just exhaustion of some sort. It’s like all his energy was drained from him.”
“He did say he was travelling…”
“Possibly.”
“I can help.” Janice immediately followed Daik into the cave, in her ‘healer’ mode.
The cave was like any cave you would expect. It did, however, had a full set of healing equipment (which Janice was ogling at), a small garden of glowing mushrooms and a small pond. Daik lit up a candle which illuminated the cave after he closed the ‘door’ (which was in actual fact, a rock.) Daik made a fire with his dragon flames and started to make some herbal concoction. Janice helped by watching the fire and monitoring the heat. Faerie dust, as Daik explained, was the glittery substance that was naturally produced by her wings. It had many magical properties, which reminded me of my fire crystal, made from a phoenix.
I looked at Daik again. I wondered faintly if Aaron knew her, considering he knew almost everything that happened.
Drey was still unconscious. He was lying on the floor, deep in sleep.
“So what are you here for, Aria Lyore?” Daik addressed me personally. I didn’t question how she knew my name. Daik had a gaze that showed intelligence.
“And please be straightforward. I can’t stand long stories and stupid tales that go round and round.” Her voice was sharp. I gulped involuntarily.
“Why is Faris after me?”
“You are not the first person to ask me this, but I’ll just recite whatever I had told him before. He might want it to extend his life, but I do not believe that is his main purpose. I did some research on him before, in various libraries and hidden texts, scriptures. Faris has lived on this earth for quite long but there are hardly any records about him. I had to go down to the library at the capital, disguising myself as a mere human being and look for books there. That spell wasn’t very easy, trust me.”
“Why the long story? I thought you liked people being straightforward.” Bain asked. Daik’s eyes flickered to him. Bain, himself was very comfortable on a stone ledge, where he leaned back, resting his head on his arms. Daik had a questioning expression, as though she was raising an eyebrow.
“I just wanted you to know how hard it was. In any case, have you ever noticed the ring he wears?” Daik responded rather curtly, nodding her head at Bain. He shrugged in response, looking uninterested.
“Funny you would think that I could actually notice that when he is trying to slice me into pieces.” Sarcasm was evident in my voice.
“He wears a ring?” Ren repeated the question.
“Yes, a black jewelled ring. Surely you must have seen it? It is very prominent. He wears it all the time.”
“No.”
“Well, then you have to trust my word when I say he wears one. I have reason to believe that this ring is no ordinary ring indeed. It’s black. How many rings have you seen that are black?”
“It does match his fashion sense though. Black clothes, black hair, hey even his nails are black. All he’s missing is some black lipstick to top it off.” Nobody laughed at Ren’s comment.
“And a black cage to put him in.” I added very dully.
“The jewel does not look normal at all. It looks as though something was encased in glass to look like a jewel. I’m sure all of you know Caden Diablo, the hellbringer, demonic prince, son, or spawn of Lucifer…whatever you want to call him. He’s still alive, no matter how hard everyone tries to deny it.”
“What actually happened?” I was almost scared to ask. Bain sniggered at my question. I lived in a village! Why would I know anything? I was tempted to add, but decided against it.
“Let’s start from the beginning, Aria.” Bain had hissed mockingly, like he was talking to a child.
“The Northerners were famed of their strong bonds with their weapons, fighting with brute strength and force. Southerners, with strong friendships with their familiar, were able to use magic to assist their battles. Westerners were all about knowledge. They could think up the most brilliant strategies, traps and machines. Easterners were the villagers, known for their amazing chicken stew.”
Bain’s lips had twitched upwards at the last part. I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Basically, Easterners were useless, living primitive lives in huts. I see they still do that now.” He finished. I ignored him, trying not to let him see that the comment had hurt me.
Daik continued.
“Well, Caden was part of two wars which destroyed almost all the Westerners and Northerners, making their art and knowledge lost. The Southerners and Easterners were more scattered, so they were able to pass on their skills. He was rumoured to be very ruthless and cruel. He had no heart or sympathy for the people he killed. It was said he did…unspeakable…things to people. Things too horrifying to even think about.”
“He’s looking for a way to gather back all his powers ever since he blasted himself apart a hundred years ago. He’s been doing that through manipulating people. His powers have a piece of his consciousness inside…All that power is probably trapped inside random objects around the world. He’ll be able to control anyone who even touches those things, which includes rings and jewels. He is still alive. He’s just waiting for the right time to come back and send the world to hell.”
A long pause followed, the only sound being the flapping when Janice fanned the pot of brewing medicine. Just the thought of a fearful person like him coming back…terrified me.
“What does it have to do with me? Or my soul?”
“I don’t know.” Daik truthfully said. What did his comeback have to do with my soul? I didn’t understand at all. I continued thinking, hoping I would find out how he intended to do this revival thing. I only snapped out from my thoughts when I saw Drey wake up.
He had woken up so suddenly, even Bain was startled. He looked around, confused and frightened for a moment.
“Wh-what? Where am I?”
“This is Daik.” Bain monotonously introduced, oblivious to Drey’s distress.
“What? Huh? Uh….oh…Okay.” Drey’s eyes fell on the majestic creature and accepted the herbal drink that had been brewing for a while. I saw his nose scrunch up in absolute disgust at the smell. Reluctantly, he drank a mouthful.
“This is actually not as bad as it smelt like.” Drey commented, smiling slightly.
“What does it smell like?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“Would you like to take a whiff? My guess would be a cross between ginseng and funnily, cough syrup.”
“Ginseng?”
“It’s a…rare herb. I don’t think you can find it here.”
Drey’s eyes seemed to spark back to life and he grinned, looking more energetic.
“Where’s my scythe?”
“It’s here.” Bain threw over the heavy weapon, which Drey caught with ease. He ran a slender finger across the sharp metal edge, drawing a drop of blood.
“Oh, it’s sharp.” He wiped off the blood absentmindedly. I gave him a strange look. Which part of ‘scythe’ and ‘big metal blade thingy’ ever not screamed to him that it was sharp?
I raised an eyebrow and Drey shrugged his shoulders. He drank the rest of the herbal drink, cringing at the taste.
“Medicine always tastes horrible.” Janice said.
“Unless it’s a raspberry chewy tablet.” Ren’s tail flicked and I felt his fur brush against my lower arm. It was prickly and coarse in a way. Weird, his fur was never like this.
I turned to Drey and his eyes fell on me again. He brightened up and smiled at me, his hazel hair looking perfectly combed on his head. Some colour was returning to his pale complexion and a thought flit across my mind so quickly: he’s attractive. On closer look, I could see a faint scar from his eyebrow to his left cheekbone. Luckily, it was mostly hidden by his hair. I immediately looked away, embarrassed to be caught staring.
I was confused at the feeling of guilt that sprouted in my heart. Why was I feeling like this?
Olyrir crossed my mind. Sure, he wasn’t here with me, but he was the one I loved. I couldn’t leave him and cling to somebody else just because I didn’t wish to wait for him. That would be unfair for him.
Then again, he may have well adapted to a life of adventures and excitement without soul eaters or Caden-Diablo-Revival-Plan or the fact that one of my friends here could possibly also be possessed by another of those creepy jewellery and betraying me at the same time. Phew, what a long sentence.
I visualised his face in my head, but was disappointed to realise that the details that used to be etched in my brain were fading away. Crestfallen, I looked down. What if he had given up on finding me ever again? I did leave the village without saying anything…How would we ever see each other again?
“We should really get going.” Bain said in a gruff tone, getting up instantly. He seemed so eager to get away, probably to avoid the dark.
Daik shot him a knowing look, a look with wisdom and amusement. Bain shifted his gaze away effortlessly and exited the cave.
“What will happen to Drey?” I asked, to no one in particular.
“I’m feeling better already, so I should probably go.” He said, standing up. His scythe looked very deadly in his hands. He was sure to be very practiced in the art of scything. I felt newfound respect for him when I recalled what Daik said about most of the Northerners being wiped out. He was one of the few remaining ones that could pass down the skills and art.
“Where will you go?” Ren questioned.
“I don’t know…I don’t have any money with me.” So he couldn’t get a room at the inn.
“You could come back with us!” Janice excitedly said. My ears twisted up at that sentence.
“That wouldn’t be necessary…It would be inconvenient as well…” Drey seemed uncomfortable.
“Nonsense. I’m sure we would all be interested to see a real Northerner’s skills and abilities!”
“I don’t think they will mind. They have many spare rooms after all.” I added quickly.
“You won’t mind? Really…?” Drey’s voice was hopeful. A nod from me and Janice confirmed it.
“That would be great! Thank you!”
He locked eyes with me again and smiled. It was one of those smiles that didn’t quite reach the eyes. One that hid away a past of suffering and sadness. I was curious about him, but it was rude to pry. I kept quiet and returned the smile. My heart fluttered at the thought of his soft hair and gentle eyes. Bain’s angular face came into my view and my eyes darted away instantly.
Why was I acting like this?
I thanked Daik and left the cave with Bain, Drey and Janice.
Raphael was still mad at me. I still had yet to find the traitor. Ren was acting weird and I have a psychotic bastard that chases me around with the enthusiasm of a dog chasing its tail. Drey’s past or Bain’s romantic problems shouldn’t even be bothering me. I had more important things to worry about!
I sighed, looking at the vast meadow. It was going to be a long walk.
Bain led the way and I followed. There were too many things to think about, I didn’t even know where to start. I just needed to get back and organise my thoughts. I needed to formulate a plan and I couldn’t trust anyone except Ren.
Just the two of us. I smiled at the thought. I liked that. It was like always, just the two of us fighting for a bit of control in this unpredictable journey.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I actually had to re-write this chapter a few times because I couldn't decide what the plot should be like. :P I just keep changing what I want for this story... Ah well.