CHRONICLES OF AADYA

Episode Thirty-four

ALISDAIR

After being left alone, I finally achieved the engraving before coating the overall surface with several layers of black-gold oil and then leaving it to dry. The cycle had stood for more time than I had reckoned, though I am elated with its final face, the embodiment on the riser.

The sun will be down in a short time and the evening will soon come upon us. I will likely proceed with the attachment of the string another day.

I left the rear and brought myself to the front dome of the house only to see Gunnar walking his way to the house. By the look on his face, something probably didn't go the way he wanted. "Young warrior" I call and he lifted his head in my direction seeming to be again pissed off by the title I had called him.

"I am no warrior" He returns with much irritation. Well, I now see the direction his bitterness had swept from.

"Where have you been?"

"That doesn't matter anymore" He mumbles about to walk past me.

I attempt to hold him back but rather he shoved my hand away and wandered right into the house without looking back. I hiss and switch on, earning my path in the direction he had come from though not certain of what I'm searching for.

Bellamy's sister waved at me as I stroll through their front dome, a delightful smile on her face and when I raised a question of Bellamy's whereabouts, she assembled a gesture of him being slain. I chuckled at the thought, how ridiculous I won't be ambushed hearing he was killed by her hands, but I know that will never come to pass.

"Is the human okay?" She asks tilting her head in the direction of my home.

"The human?" My forehead creased and then I arch a brow.

"The boy. He was in combat with the boys.

"He lost" I finalize, that must have been the cause of his mood. He has painfully witnessed the difference between his species and ours, I hope he won't give up in battle because of this.

"I won't say he lost, he was just not winning. There's a difference"

I walk in on him curled by the corner of the bed, his knees digging into his chest. "Let me be" He let out.

"You might want to be alone but I promise you, that is not the solution," I say though he left no response "You could win one day, you just need someone to guild you. Teach you the ways to combat and I found you the right person"

"It doesn't make any difference. They will still be stronger" he says.

"Yes. If you draw back and refuse to learn" I move closer to him. "If you learn, the difference might reduce to a thread. And you can prove yourself to any man" I stay silent for a moment "And someone did say you were good"

His head reluctantly lifted "Not good"

"All right. Not pretty, but we can do better. However confident they look now, tomorrow is different. Do what I've told you, and you will succeed"

I was glad he came to terms with my offer. He is a brave kid and I believe he will do much better than anyone may have thought. I vacated the room and furthermore came forth to be embraced by the sunset, I was about to make a stir to the woods when I was called from behind.

"Where are you off to?" I turn to see Aadya.

"To take a walk" I reply gazing at her, my attention wholesomely remaining on her face.

"May I join you?"

The verity that she wished to join me on a walk drove my heart to slightly hasten joyously. Usually, taking a walk is what I do to keep my head off, and that always propels me to be alone. Her wishing to join me on a stroll brought in the feeling that I'd been gifted with the real gold this universe has to offer.

My gaze remained on her "It's my pleasure" I offered only to be rewarded with a faint charming smile and then she begin to walk toward me.

"You were out with Rudina," I say taking on to start up a chatter as we earn our way through the woods. I observe her from the corner of my eyes and then turn to glance at her when she lifts her head to the sky.

"Yes. We went to fetch a few herbs from the woods" She tells fiddling with the tiny flower stem in her hands.

"Oh," My eyes return to our path "Which was fetched?"

"She called it Sinapis alba. To be used as a condiment and also for cold, she would probably be adding it to mine and Gunnar's soup"

"You still feel cold"

"Not as much as the morning" She confirmed, throwing the tiny stem, her eyes rose to mine. "You must genuinely relish the woods. Callen mentioned you were in the woods when I was about to take off with Rudina and now... What brings you to the woods?"

"It just better peaceful here, only the heart of the forest could be heard, while back home... It's just more. And to talk of the view in the forest, I enjoy watching the sun go down"

Her smile flickers across her face like a twinkle and she looks away, training her eyes on the tall trees. Slowly we made our way to the rocky area of the river. She was the first to chance upon the view, though I had listened to the heavy burbling of the waterfall from afar. She darted to a distance, having glimpsed something that had captured her concentration. She commences, moving in its direction. I have indeed missed the sound of the waterfall, this very one. Most times it gradually turns into music if I listen just well.

Chords of soft light speared down from above, bathing its surface in silvery gold. It was glinting with little sparkles, like a thousand diamonds blessed with an inner fire. A galaxy of dragonflies fizzed through the beams of light, wings a-glitter in the evening sun.

"Is this edible?" Aadya asks turning my attention to her.

"I nod "It's quite medicinal," I tell her and begin to the tree. The hedgerows were pregnant with fresh mangosteen, I plugged one and helped remove some segments before passing it to her. "You just have to suck the nectar out and you might want to eat the Hala right after it's open"

"Why is that?"

"Well, it's promising that way"

She tasted a few of them, and I might say she was energized by their pleasant waft.

I leaned my back against a rock and closed my eyes, enjoying the sun's warmth. The sweet aroma of the forest drifted to my nostrils as I reflected on the beauty of nature.

I had only raised my head to see her going closer to the water. "It's perhaps chilly," I tell her, though she responded not as she continues her route further to the water. And then she stops by its near bank.

"A quick dive won't dare to kill me while you're here" She utters with an amused expression. I chuckle slightly at her words, sitting up on the rock.

"I feel like laying to rest in the water"

She informs, her fingers reaching to unhook the clip of her garment. I immediately ripped my eyes away from her, her action had been unexpected to me, though I am almost greedy enough to turn my gaze to her. I try to remain the way I am until I hear her walk into the walker, and gradually and reluctantly my eyes returned to the flowing water and then rested on her bare shoulders.

I could sense my eyes turning to molten gold and going heavy-lidded as I wrestle with the sensation that is attempting to consume me.

"It's just like that of the coven the first time I arrived there," She says turning to shift nearer to the waterfall, in that manner, gracing me with her bare back.

"Then my worries are over" I almost stood when she turned.

"What are you waiting for?" She asks with a slightly confused look "Come on in" She waved for me and I couldn't hold the low groan that erupt.

I almost accepted then.

I'm almost selfish enough, greedy enough for her, that I nearly rose from the rock. To go join her as my mate, so I might never have to say farewell to this. So that this magnificent, fierce witch might remain by my side for all my days.

The way she waits for me forced me to loathe myself for being in such a situation. "I'm afraid I can't"

"Why?" She pushed

I, at last, met her gaze "Because I don't think I will be able to control myself" I confess

"Al" Her voice come forth like a whisper, it was new hearing her call me that. Her eyes lingered on my face and she slightly parts her lips in silent surprise. Every moment her eyes remained on me is like an answer to some question she'd asked from the moment those words had left my lips.

She continues, saving me from having to come up with something to say "Perhaps you could try"

I stare at her for some moment before rising from my position. Swiftly I peeled off my blouse, lowering it on the stone, I begin to move to the water. Her eyes follow my every move, words did not do justice to the connection between mates. Not in any language, in any world. The only thing holding me back from pulling her to me and claiming her lips, her body, and she is the excuse of longing for her to truly accept me as her mate. Not because of the prophecy, though I'm not certain how long I would wait.

Her lashes flutter as she blinks up at me, and my attention is split between staring into her eyes and looking down at her lips. Being this close to her does something catastrophic to my self-restraint.