“This will be your tent for as long as you wish to live with us,” Chaiya said, pointing at the tent that was in front of them. “It should be well enough for you. We will have dinner in a couple of hours and you can join me during dinner. I hope you get a well rest, you look like you need some.”
Elora looked at Chaiya and nodded. After all that had happened in the past few hours, she definitely needed some rest. So she entered the tent and noticed that the entire floor of the tent was completely covered in soft hay, over which some more of the cloth was kept. She didn’t have any sleeping bags, but the hay should be enough, and there were blankets. Even if there weren’t, she had something to fit it. She had taken her towel in her bag just in case. Now it would come in handy.
But first, though, was actually nursing the squirrel.
What should I call you...? Elora thought as she looked at the little flying squirrel. Hmm...I think that Wizard should be a good name, yeah, you can fly, and even if not on a broom your tail really reminds me of a brook.
Smiling slightly, she quickly brought out her first-aid kit and got onto wrapping the little flying squirrels swollen and broken wing with a salve, or a simple paste that she had on her. The squirrel at first cried out in pain, not knowing what to do as the human slowly applied the paste on his wing. But then he sighed in pleasure as the paste seemed to work and soothe his pain. Elora quickly wrapped it up in a tight bandage, and looked as Wizard slowly purred, and curled up into himself to go to sleep.
Elora took the time to remove her own jacket and look at her wounds. The first thing she noticed was that she was bleeding through the side of her chest. She quickly opened her shirt to look at the bleeding and knew that she would have to quickly sanitize it and patch it up. She was in a different world, and she didn’t want to catch any, any injuries or infections from this world, not right now at the very least. She needed to be in full health so she could figure out how to get back home.
‘Yeah, I think this is the best time to say how bad I have messed it up.’ Elora chuckled. ‘Really speaking, though. I can’t believe it!’
Quickly dabbing a ball of cotton inside of some solution, she cleaned up her wound and hissed slightly at the sensation of it. But she didn’t cry out. She was not going to cry out. She didn’t need to cry out in an unknown environment. She quickly dressed her wound and packed it up. Looking over her body, she found various other scratches that she also patched up, leaving her with only half of the roll of wrapping that she had before. But she didn’t mind.
I need to take care of now. Until I can return to my world, I need to take care of myself Elora thought as she got up from the ground. She looked inside of her bag and found something else. A change of clothes. She had a long dress, a dress-top. It wasn’t to be worn without something to wear below, so she was going to wear a matching set of black leggings to go with the blue dress, and luckily, she had her ankle high exploring boots that she had gotten for the very occasion if she ever had to go exploring somewhere. Yup, these will do for now.
She quickly changed into the much comfortable clothes, and looked over herself, making sure she wasn’t bleeding anywhere else. Knowing that she needed to get out of the tent to get some answers, she looked at Wizard.
“You stay here, alright?” She whispered to the little squirrel. The squirrel purred and went off to sleep, while Elora stepped out of the flaps of the tent, and looked around. The first thing she saw was Kieran, and their eyes met, brown meeting darker, fiery brown.
For the first time, Elora noticed that Kieran, though having some serious attitude problems, was a real, real good looking fellow. He had long hair, going till his shoulders, not short like she had first thought, and perhaps it was a trick of the light that she thought he looked like an Indian. He looked like a mixture between Native Indian, Asian and slightly European as well. His skin was much paler than what she thought it was and his cheeks were perfectly defined, with a much better look of experience in his eyes.
He was no longer wearing the cloak he had on himself, rather he was in a very, very sophisticated looking robe, with a sword around his side. His strong arms were out in view and compared to Bram, they looked like the arms of a macho-man. He was surely trained as his body was much more developed than Bram’s was. And he looked really, really sure of himself. His eyes were purely filled with power and he now looked much calmer than before.
Dear lord, he’s hot! Elora exclaimed inside of her head. Wow! I can’t believe I didn’t see that before! How did I not notice those muscles, or that body? How did I not notice that?!
Gulping she looked away, not noticing the same look in Kieran’s face.
Kieran himself wondered if wearing such clothes was legal or not. Once again he was reminded by the strangeness that Elora had around her. She was wearing such strange clothes that he couldn’t believe she was capable of wearing. The clothes hugged her body so well that all Kieran wanted to do was-.
Let’s not go there. Shaking his head, Kieran looked at Elora’s face. Her hair and her eyes really made her attractive to anyone that saw her and the way that she spoke and stood screamed as to how strong and how powerful she was. She definitely wasn’t like the rest of the women for sure, for she didn’t even want to get close to him, and that was a serious hit to his pride. But for now, he was keen on ignoring whatever she had said and instead just observe her. There was something definitely wrong.
“Elora.” Chaiya came out from another tent and headed towards her. “Come sit with us, it’s time for us to eat dinner, you must be hungry.”
Actually she was starving. Looking at the stew that was cooking on in front of her, she knew that it was the only way that she would be able to eat in this place. So she walked over to the fire that was set up, where she could eat the stew and some vegetables. Chaiya sat down and removed a portion for her and passed it on to Elora. Elora smiled and quickly bit into the Vegetables. She loved vegetables, as she found them the most filling and light type of food ever.
“So,” Kieran asked two minutes into dinner, looking deep into Elora’s eyes. Elora was once again reminded of the fact that people in this land were able to strip her to her very soul by their looks. “What are you doing here? I get it that you need help and helped us, but that doesn’t explain why are you here? It is clear you are not here to repay me.”
“First of all, you were the one that jumped in. I didn’t ask for you to jump in,” Elora said, irritated. “So stop trying to guilt me into doing something I am not going to do.”
“Kieran, enough.” Chaiya sighed and glared at Kieran, amused that Kieran was failing so badly. Kieran looked put off once again, but grumbled and nodded. “I think what he means is: why are you so strange? You don’t know us yet you fearlessly walked into our camp, you stood up to the king’s men, you saved a poor innocent creature and you wear the strangest clothes that I have ever seen someone wear.”
“I...” Elora stammered, wondering what to tell. Eventually, she decided to trust these siblings because she had never ever seen siblings like these. They were ready to help her out without a simple thought. “You see, I was with my friends in a temple, where there was a tapestry. It was of a queen with a heart missing, and a lot of different other pictures, like a Pegasus, a woman holding a bow to the queen, another scared man and a woman standing by a tree of wisdom. There was an incident when my blood fell into the missing piece on the tapestry, and the tapestry glowed so harshly that I don’t even remember what happened. The next thing I know, I am waking up in a forest in a land different to mine...in a world different to.”
Chaiya instantly and abruptly stood up, her face set in a blazing mask of fury. Elora first thought that Chaiya didn’t believe her, but with the woman now looking at some bushes behind her, Elora knew that this wasn’t her fault. There was someone in the bushes.
“What is it?” Kieran demanded, getting up and looking at the same spot. There was a face in the bushes, a face of a man. Elora didn’t know who the
man was, but he looked to be seriously dressed to spy on someone. “Is that...”
“A’Wout Phong!” Chaiya growled. “A spy for the kingdom of Claw Worth! For the king! He heard the whole thing! Kieran, if what Elora says is correct she’s the girl from the legend, and if the prince found out...she would be in danger and so would the entire camp.”
Just as she said that, the head of the apparent spy disappeared, and so did Chaiya, as she took off to chase the strange spy down. Elora’s heartbeat rose again as her hands shook and she looked at Kieran nervously.
“Go to your tent, stay inside!” Kieran thundered, pushing Elora towards her tent. “You’re in danger! Do not come out or let anyone in except for me or Chaiya.”
And then Kieran ran towards his men, barking out orders and such. Elora gulped her fear down and ran inside of her tent, closing the flaps behind her. She turned around to look at Wizard but was shocked as she saw another man standing there.
The man was tall, and lean. He was wearing a black colored cloak and had a bandana around his mouth now, and he looked to be really scary. His spiky black hair was purely visible and he looked to be ready to fight, or to kill. He had a dangerous aura around him, and Elora sifted a gasp.
“W-Who are you?” Elora stuttered out as she backed up. “What do you want?!”
“You...” A’Wout Phong muttered. “You said that you came here through a tapestry that you were from another world. Was that the truth?”
Elora couldn’t breathe. She was so deathly afraid of this man in front of her that her mouth and her nose wasn’t working. She just couldn’t breathe! She took deep gulps as she managed to shake her head in fright, not wanting to speak. The spy growled, as he suddenly brought out a blade that was hidden inside of his sleeve. Just the sight of it was enough for Elora to almost shout, but her vocal cords wouldn’t work. The man slowly walked towards her, menacingly.
“It is good for you girl, that you answer the question truthfully.” A’Wout muttered, as the blade glinted in the dim light of the small blaze that was outside the tent. “But it matters not...”
And then, he stabbed forward with the blade, aiming right for Elora’s stomach. Elora couldn’t move as the blade and the hand moved towards her in slow motion, her life flying before her eyes. She could only hope that Bram and Marine would forgive her in the afterlife as the blade closed in on her. But before it could actually stab her, Wizard flew in from the side and blinded the spy.
“What the……!” The blade changed the track, and Elora was quick to duck using her flight and survival senses. The blade moved and A’Wout went to stab Wizard, but before he could, Wizard flew off, and A’Wout instead stabbed himself in the neck. Complete and utter silence ensured, before A’Wout fell down to the ground, in utter pain and agony. Blood flew up out of the wound and pooling on the floor of Elora’s new tent, as Elora looked on wide-eyed, falling on the ground, Wizard landing on her lap and curling up to give her mouth.
“D-Don’t...” A’Wout managed to gasp out through bloody coughs. “D-Don’t...fail...us...d-don’t le-let him...know...”
And then, the spy passed away in the middle of Elora’s tent, unable to breathe or see any longer, just as Chaiya and Kieran entered her tent.
“He escaped.” Chaiya was cursing as she stormed in. “Elora are you-.”
The first thing that she saw was Elora’s blank face, and A’Wout Phong lying on the ground, his own blade going through his neck, and blood rushing out. Then she noticed the expression on A’Wout’s face and finally she noticed that Elora seemed heavily affected by the entire situation. But it was Kieran that asked the question.
“Elora.” Kieran walked over to her. “Elora, what happened? Why are you looking like that? How did he get here?”
Kieran knelt down by her side, and shook Elora, but she didn’t respond. Her breathing is coming down in gasps and she finally falls over unconscious.
“Elora!” Chaiya called out to the girl, as she rushed to help. Kieran laid Elora on the ground. “Oh god, what is wrong with her?!”
“She’s in shock. She’s never seen death before,” Kieran said softly, running his hand through Elora’s forehead. “She has a fever. Something is wrong...”
3
For Marine and Bram, the few hours since Elora had vanished into the glowing tapestry were seriously, seriously terrible.
They didn’t know where their best friend was and they had no idea how to get to her. They didn’t even have any clue as to where she had gone, what she was doing, how she was, nor what she was going to do wherever she had gone. They just knew that she was missing, and there was no way to find her.
And what was worse was their guide was not even worried. Well, not that much. He was sitting outside the temple on a rock, looking off into the distance with a vacant look in his eyes.
“That look he has,” Bram muttered under his breath. “That is the look of someone who knows things we don’t. That is a look of someone who is not only sure of what has happened, but someone who knows that something is going to go wrong. I don’t even have the slightest clue as to what to do about Elora’s disappearance, but Kameron looks like he knows what is going on...like he knows what has happened to Elora.”
“But what do we do about it?” Running a hand through her hair, Marine looked at Bram, her eyes conflicted. I don’t even know what is going on now. Elora is God knows where, and I don’t even know if she will come back or not!”
“Let’s not lose hope, not right now,” Bram whispered back and looked back at Kameron. “Perhaps he might—”
“I can find out where she went,” Kameron finally said, as he looked from his musings to Marine. “I can use that piece of her jacket that you have.”
Yes, there was a small piece of her jacket that was blooded over by the cut that Bram had caught before it disappeared. It was the only reminder they had of her at the moment and neither of them wanted to risk too much. So they did the next best thing, they sat around with Kameron and noticed how suspiciously calm he was. Bram was sure that the man knew where Elora was, but he wasn’t going to start a confrontation with him, not right now.
“And how will you do that?” Bram asked, reluctant to hand over the torn off piece of her jacket. “How exactly will a torn off jacket help you?”
“I—you can say that it is an art passed in my family.” Kameron said, looking at Bram right in the eyes. “I have an…ability, to talk through realms into other worlds. And right now, that is where Elora is.”
Bram wanted to argue, he wanted to call out the bluff of a man in front of him, but he knew that deep down, Kameron was right. Elora was nowhere in this world, nowhere near home. She was far away, too far away for anyone to reach and the only way to reach her was to trust this stranger. So as reluctant as he was, Bram had to give him the piece of the torn jacket.
“I will start up a connection.” Kameron said, taking the jacket in his hands. “In the meantime, you should...remember to not tell this to anyone. It won’t end up well for you.”
Marine snorted and Bram looked on dryly. Yeah, even two year olds wouldn’t believe anything that had just happened. What was worse was the only one actually recording this entire thing was Elora and she had her phone with her, wherever she was. As the two lost themselves to their conversation and speculation about where Elora was and what was up with their mysterious guide, Kameron went off to the side and pulled out a small bowl out from his bag. It was strangely deep and round, but not too big, easily able to fit in a bag. He then removed another small vial and added it inside of the bowl, pressing both of his fingers to the side, and started to use his powers.
But as he was doing so, he was also letting his own thoughts fly about. Mainly centered about what had happened.
Unless she is like me, it is impossible for her to actually go around like that. Kameron thought as he started to make the connection that would allow them to find Elora. There was no way...no, the temple hasn’t been opened for hundreds of
years. No matter how many people tried it, no one has been able to open it and the tapestry has been remaining a secret. But Elora, she managed to open it and use the tapestry to get to another world. Could it be that—was she destined to open the door? So does that mean she was meant to find the tapestry? And if so, then did the tapestry have any clue whatsoever as to where Elora went? Probably, but I am not in the mood for that. This seeing bowl is going to take a lot out of me either way.
* * *
Unknown of the trouble that she was currently causing her friends, and unknown of the very time difference that only a few hours had passed in her world, Elora finally woke up after what seemed to be days.
She wasn’t sure as to what she was doing, or why was she on the ground. She didn’t even remember much about what had happened. She remembered the tapestry of course, and how she had ended up in whatever place this was, and Kieran...and Chaiya, and the old man, and the Rebel Camp, and Wizard...
A’Wout Phong!!!! Elora sat up suddenly, a scream wrenching through her mouth. That spy! Oh god! That spy!
The very simple thought of the knife suddenly moving from the trajectory marked for her neck to him stabbing his own neck was enough for Elora to scream in fright and panic. The man seemed so confident of himself, and so proper, yet he had...he was dead! He was dead because of her! He had tried to kill her and then he himself had been killed in the attempt! She could still remember! The rivers of blood flowing from his neck, the light leaving his eyes and his cough and words that he had said before he had finally passed over to the other side. She could remember everything.
Shadows and Sorcery: A Collection of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels Page 260