Love through time and Dimentions

Chapter 2

The world was dark and cold where pain should not exist. It was peaceful. If this was death, Liliana was willing to take it but the sound of a steady heartbeat was saying otherwise. There was also the steady growing pain coming from somewhere, but it was more to the right and not the center. It also felt wet and sticky where the pain was coming from.

Liliana tried to move but the pain only intensified. She slowly opened her eyes and tried to figure out where she was, but everything was so blurry. She sat up only to feel the pain again. As her vision started to clear, she looked to where the pain was coming from and saw blood seeping through her light blue blouse on her right shoulder. When her vision fully cleared she began to look around. She was not in California anymore. She was sitting in a forest. The forest looked small, clear, and lush. Its canopy was reigned by Buxus, dogwood, and spruce, and occasional openings in their crowns allowed plenty of light through, for a plethora of plants to control the thick layer of leaves below. Thick vines embraced the occasional tree, and an array of flowers, which grew in abundance, protruded from the otherwise beige backdrop. A medley of animal sounds, predominantly those of birds, resonated through the air, and were accompanied by the sound of the wind blowing gently through the forest.

Liliana tried to stand up but only to collapse to the ground. It took her several attempts to get up but finally she was able to get her footing. With her hand on her shoulder to try and stop the bleeding she slowly moved through the forest staggering every so often.

Liliana had been walking for what felt like hours, beads of sweat were trickling down her brow when she heard a sound that almost sounded like sword fighting. She entered a clearing and saw two people clad in armor fighting with swords. She got closer but had to use a tree to keep her upright. She watched as the taller of the two’s sword made impact with the other man’s arm. The man staggered back before smiling. Suddenly Liliana is forcefully grabbed by her bad arm, and she let out a cry. While Liliana was distracted, a big burly man came up behind her and grabbed her. He began to yell at the other man, but it was in a language that she did not recognize. The smaller man removed his helmet and smiled. The best way to describe him was that of a rat, with beady eyes, buck teeth and mustache that looked like he had whiskers. “Let her go.” The man spoke his voice deep and it reminded her of the man that was on the bus. The man’s grip got tighter around her arm, and he just laughed.

Liliana was in a lot of pain but if she did not do something this instant, she was not sure what would happen to her. She picked up her foot and jammed her heel into the big man’s foot. He howls as he lets go and backs up. Liliana collapses to the ground holding her shoulder. The man cursed as he came after Liliana again this time reaching for her hair. Before he could even make it to her the man let out a gurgling sound blood trickling from his mouth and an arrow pierced his neck from the back. The man collapsed to the ground not moving.

The smaller man saw this and fled. A group of people came from the trees as the other man removed his helmet. Liliana just stared. It was like looking at a God. His skin looked as if it had been kissed by the sun, his messy shoulder length hair was auburn and he had piercing sea green eyes that when he looks at you it was almost as if he was looking not at you but into your soul. “Your late Ælfnoð.” A man with long blond hair, pale skin and blue eyes steps out of the crowd holding a bow and an arrow was notched. “I am sorry my Lord we were delayed.”

Liliana groans as she begins see dark spots in her vision. Who were these people why were they dressed in medieval style clothes and why could she understand them when the other men she could not. Ælfnoð looked at the girl in front of him. “What do we have here? Girl who are you and where do you come from? Are you from the Izelan Empire?”

Liliana was confused “Izelan Empire? What? I don’t even know where I am let alone what you are…..” Liliana’s face had grown pale and she winced at the pain in her shoulder though it was not as bad due to the numbness from the loss of blood. The Auburn-haired man walks over and kneels gently by her and takes her hand away from her injured shoulder. Seeing the blood he gently picks her up in his arms. “This is not the time to ask her questions she is injured and needs treatment.” He turns his attention to Liliana. “Please Miss can you at least tell me your name?” Liliana’s eyes began to flutter as her vision starts to go dark. All she gets out is a low weak whisper. “Liliana.” Soon her world was engulfed in darkness once more.

“Liliana.” The man smiled at her. “Prince Eirik we should be leaving now we don’t want Aldric returning with more men. Eirik agreed and then whistled and a white stallion galloped towards him. He handed Liliana to one of his men before climbing on his horse. Liliana was then handed up to him. As soon as they got somewhere safe he would make sure her wound was treated. The rest of the men got on their horses and they rode west.

By the time they reached the edge of the forest, it was close to dark. Eirik’s men got off their horses to make camp. One man came and Eirik gently passed Liliana down to him before he got off his own horse. He then took her and took her to his tent. He laid her down on his cot and proceeded to cut open her sleeve where the blood was. Ælfnoð cleared his throat as he entered. “Ah, good timing Ælfnoð I would like you to check out Liliana for me. Her right sleeve was drenched in blood and it looked like she recieved some kind of injury but I can’t tell by what.” Ælfnoð nods before going out to get some fresh water and some rags.

Ælfnoð came back quickly and proceeded to clean the wound. “What ever it is looks like it went all the way through, but by what is a mystery” He said as he flipped her on to her side to take a look. “I can’t do much here but we also can’t move her until we get the bleeding to stop.” He dipped the rag in the water to get it cleaned and proceeded to wipe more blood away.

A few minutes later and Ælfnoð had finished cleaning Liliana’s wound and was now bandaging it up. “What are we going to do about what she is wearing?” They had removed the top but out of respect kept all but her shoulder covered. Eirik who had been watching the whole time went to his trunk and pulled out one of his shirts. “Lets give her some space and when she wakes up she can put this on.” He placed the shirt near the cot and both men proceeded to walk outside.

Several hours passed before Eirik sneaked back into his tent to make sure the girl was okay. She was really pretty with her blond hair and she had olive eyes, which was unusual because most of the people in his kingdom had either brown or blue eyes, sometimes even gray. His eye color, too, was really rare. He used to be made fun of when he was a child. He pushed back a strand of her hair only to feel heat radiating off of her. He grabbed a cold wet cloth and began to gently dab at her burning brow. Suddenly, without warning, she opened her eyes and looked around.

“Where am I.” Liliana tries to sit up but Eirik places a hand on her other shoulder to keep her laying down. “You are in my tent, Liliana, right?” Liliana nodded her head. “We are on the edge of Emerwood Forest, a three days ride away from the kingdom of Thealia.” Liliana’s eyes widen. “Wait what? This is not happening, this is not real. I am going to close my eyes and I when I open them again I will be back in California most likely on the ground or back home.” Liliana closes her eyes tight. Eirik watched her closely what was she talking about there was no California here or what ever that place is.

Liliana opened her eyes once more only to find that she was still in the tent. She groaned. “My Lady are you all right? You are spewing nonsense about California is that where you are from?” Liliana did not know what to say how was she going to explain that she was from somewhere that does not even exist here. “I….I….you know what forget I even said it. I am probably just rambling on and I should stop talking now ”

Eirik just smiled for a bit before he sighed. “Well for now let us just get you better and get that fever down. We will be staying here for a few days until you are feeling better then we will make our way back to the kingdom. I have a shirt here for you to put on for when you feel more rested. I don’t think you would want to wear something that is damaged.” Liliana just gave a nod before closing her eyes. “What’s your name?” Eirik placed wet rag on her forehead, “It’s Eirik.” He said as he walked out.

The next morning Liliana woke up. She sat up and looked around and noticed that Eirik had come in some time in the night and fell asleep sitting in a chair near by. She smiled at him and got up. Her shoulder still hurt, and it was stiff, but for the most part she felt better. She picked up the shirt that Eirik had left her turning around just in case he woke up and took off her old ruined blouse. With some difficulty she managed to get the other shirt on. It was big on her petite frame hanging to just above her knees She took the blanket off the cot and draped it over Eirik before leaving the tent.

As she left the tent she had this funny feeling that someone was watching her but the camp was quiet except for the few men that were waking up to start getting ready for breakfast or whatever it was that they called it. She walked over to them. “Good morning, is there anything I can do to help?” The men froze hearing her voice, but when they saw her smile they smiled back. One man came forward. “If you would stir the pot for the morning spread.” Liliana nodded before going to the pot that was starting to steam and with her good hand she took a spoon and started to stir. As she stirred what looked like mush or oatmeal in the pot, she began to hum.

Some of the men who were working on the morning spread stopped to listen. The humming soon gave way to words. More men began to wake up to her singing and they just listened.

Eirik by now had woken up and did not see Liliana any where we was worried that something had happened to her. He had noticed the blanket was covering him as he got up from where he was sitting and stretched. That was when he heard the singing. It sounded nothing like his men. Yes, some of them did have nice singing voices, but this one was angelic-like and he was drawn to it. He walked out of the tent and saw a group of men just standing there looking at someone by the fire stirring a big pot of mush, made with oats and barely in water. He walked closer only to realize that it was Liliana and she was the one singing.

Eirik stood there mesmerized by her voice. He shook his head as he came out of the trance like state he was in, if he was in one at all and made his way over to the girl. Liliana wanted to use both hands, due to the porridge becoming thicker, but a hand was placed on her good shoulder, making her stop singing. “Here let me. You need to rest.” Liliana just shook her head. “I want to help out with whatever it is that needs to be done. I have always been like that, even as a child, regardless if I am feeling well or not.” Eirik sighed. “Well, let me take over stirring now, the porridge is getting too thick to stir and your shoulder is still injured.” Reluctantly Liliana handed the spoon over and Eirik continued to stir for another few minutes before it was finally done. He ladled the porridge into bowls before they took them over to the table, which was really a rock, where the rest of the food had been placed.

Soon, the morning spread was all set up and about thirty men gathered around grabbing food and bowls and then going to sit somewhere else, like over by the fire or by the trees that surrounded them. Eirik grabbed two bowls and some bread before looking at Liliana. "Is there anything else you want to eat?" Liliana looked at the food that lay on the plates. There was mostly meat, cheese, and fish. There was some fruit and wild vegetables and something that looked like a red mound sitting in a red liquid. "What is that sitting on that plate?" She pointed to the last dish. "That is what we call Sop in wine. It's basically bread in wine." Liliana shivered, that did not sound too appealing. "I guess I will have some of the fruit but that is it." Eirik nodded and placed some fruit on a plate. He handed it to her. They made their way over to a nearby tree and sat down.

Eirik passed Liliana a bowl and a piece of bread and they begin to eat. "So tell me how you came by this wound of yours and did you receive it when you were in this place called California?" Liliana looked down and just nodded. She played with her food a little bit. "It's hard to explain. You may not understand because I am still confused about what is going on." Liliana popped a berry in her mouth and chewed. "Tell me, maybe I can." Lilianna sighed and nodded. "I am a nanny. I worked for this family in California, which is in the United States of America. The father of the three boys I work with was abusing his kids and so I reported him. That was two years ago. I ended up leaving my work in fear of the boys and their mother getting hurt. Then yesterday I......."

Liliana took a shaky breath. "Then yesterday Mr. Anderson came to the soup kitchen that I volunteered at and followed me when I left. He had a gun and accused me of ruining his life. Then I heard someone saying something but it was not Mr. Anderson. Light suddenly appeared out of no where and as Mr. Anderson shot the gun the bullet must of hit me in the shoulder before I was engulffed in the light and fell. When I woke up I was here."

Liliana looked over at Eirik and he looked at her with wide eyes but then his expression became that of confusion. "See, I should not have told you. You don't believe me..... you know what, nevermind I am going to go for a walk." She puts down her untouched breakfast and walks off into the forest. She makes it a quarter of the way away from camp when she see's a hooded figure standing by a tree watching the men in the camp but at the same time looking around as if looking for someone. Liliana takes a step towards the person only to start feeling light-headed. She continued to make her way forward. "Excuse me what are....." The hodded figure turned to her but Liliana could not see the persons face.

Liliana reaches out but the hooded figure runs off in the other direction. She begins to run after them only to stop as her vision began to blur. She places a hand on a nearby tree. "Liliana!!!" She quickly turns around to see who called her name. That was when everything went dark. Strong arms caught her before her body hit the ground. "Liliana stay with me. Ælfnoð I need help here." That was the last thing she heard before everything fell silent.