“Oh Cyn, I’m so very sorry.”
Her arms encircled my neck and she pulled me to her kissing me. She pulled away and looked into my eyes. “Why would you say it was your fault?”
I swallowed the tightness in my throat. “Because I failed to cure them. I had all this magic. All this power and I…” I stopped when my voice quivered, and pulled my gaze away from hers. She cupped my face in her hands and forced me to look at her.
“No Cyn. You told me there are things that even magic can’t fix. Wounds it can’t cure. Right?” I nodded. “That plague that attacked your village was strong. There is nothing you could have done. How is that your fault?”
“Because I did not even try. I was told to leave. To take my brother and go to Eisha’s hut and that is exactly what I did. I didn’t fight to stay with them. I did not heal her. Maybe I could have. If I had only tried… I never saw them again.”
“No, Cyn. You were only a child. You couldn’t have. If you had stayed with them, you would have gotten sick too. You would have died and the consequences of that… Your people wouldn’t be here today. Safe. Your brother would have died. All those you saved the night you became immortal would no longer be here if you hadn’t left. I know this is a hard statement to accept, but I do believe that everything happens for a reason.”
A tear slid down my face while I gazed into her eyes. I closed them, trying to contain my anguish. I knew what she was saying to be true, yet I had spent too long blaming myself for everything that went wrong in my life. Losing my parents had been only the beginning. I had tried my best to control everything I could since then, to prevent it from happening again. To make sure I would never have to feel that kind of pain once more. I had also failed. I had lost Mo meantóir and so many of my druid family that horrid night. I erected so many walls I got lost inside them. And now she was here. She had managed to break through them with out even a word. I needed her more than I was willing to admit. I was hers. I had to protect her. If anything ever happened to her I was certain I would finally perish. My soul could not take much more.
Her lips touched my cheek where the tear had fallen. She placed a small kiss upon it then continued her way upwards to my lid. She kissed my eyes, my temple and my nose just like I had that night. The night I first kissed her. She placed her lips on mine and I got lost in her. I drank from her lips the hope and strength I needed. My arms wrapped tightly around her back bringing her body flush with mine. Taking a step backwards I rested my back onto the oak tree behind us and allowed her lips to right my world once again.
“There is one more place I want to show you.” I spoke after an hour of silence. We sat against the tree gazing upon what had been my home. I was ready to say goodbye. “Will you come with me?” I whispered in her ear and kissed her neck. She nodded and I stood offering my hand to her. We walked hand in hand and headed to the small forest of trees close to the bay.
“It’s beautiful here.”
I nodded looking at the trees that adorned our path. It was darker here than it had been at the hill. There were no houses close and we had only the gleam of the moon and the memory of a remote childhood here to guide us. I continued our way amongst the forest, holding her hand in mine. We stopped once we reached the portal.
“Here we are,” I said turning to face her. She looked around us at the trees. We were deep in the forest.
“I’m confused, what do you want me to see?” She said trying to find what I wished to show her.
“Look to the right, my Goddess. Between the trees,” A stone archway stood in between the trees. It consisted of small, thin honey colored stones like the blessed portal stones I carried. These however, continued the curve perfectly and connected at the base forming a full circle. It did not touch the ground. It hovered in the air between the two trees, responding to the magic in me. Her eyes filled with wonder.
“Is that a portal?”
I nodded. “It is another one of the natural portals here.”
“Why is it floating?”
“It formed when it connected to the magic in me. Otherwise it would not be visible. Would you like to go through it?”
She gasped in excitement. “Can we please?”
I grinned. “Yes.”
She frowned. But it’s a bit high. How will we go through it? Can you bring it down?
I chuckled. “No my Goddess. Because it is suspended a few feet above the ground we have to jump into it.”
“What?”
I laughed. “It will be fine. Do you trust me?”
She bit her lip and looked to the sky pretending to think about it. She chuckled. I took her hand and began walking backwards twenty steps.
“What are you doing?” She asked concerned.
“We need a distance between us and the portal so we can gain momentum and jump.” Her eyes widened in alarm and she looked at the portal then at me.
“I don’t think I can jump.”
“It will be fine. I used to do this all the time as a child. Art did it with me. You can do it.”
She looked at the portal once more then into my eyes and nodded. “Ok let’s do this.”
Our fingers intertwined and held tightly. “I will count to three then we run as fast as we can and jump when I say, alright?”
“Yes,” she nodded.
“One…”
“Wait!”
“What is it?”
“Don’t you have to use your map thingy to open the portal first?”
“It is already connected to me, my Goddess. The map is already drawing itself on to my skin, without me even having to utter a word.”
Her eyes went to my arm and she pulled my sleeve upwards. The gold lines were turning black and forming the map.
“Wow. So freaking cool,” she whispered in bewilderment. Her gaze sought mine and she nodded. “Ok let’s go.”
“One… Two…”
“Wait!”
I chuckled looking at her. “Yes?”
“Are you sure I can jump in there? You are not going to let go of my hand and let me face plant the ground right?”
I shook my head. “I will not. I promise… but if I do, just roll on the ground. It should not hurt too much,” she swatted at my arm and I laughed. “Are you ready?” She nodded and began bouncing on the balls of her feet. A resolute look entered her eyes.
“Ok I’m a Ginger, I can do this… Three!”
She yelled and began running, pulling me with her. I laughed scrambling to gain my footing and run by her side. We gained momentum and approached the portal as the white mist swirled inside it. It became clear a second before we reached it.
“Jump!” I yelled holding her hand tighter. The air changed around us from cool to dry heat. The night sky became light and the sun rose in the horizon. I wrapped my arms around her in midair and turned my body to cushion her. We fell to the ground and rolled on the grass at the other side of the portal. Her laughter filled the air as we rolled to a stop. She lay on me.
“Sweet mother of all rushes, that was freaking amazing!”
I laughed and kissed her. “It has not ended yet. Come, we must hurry,” I got up pulling her with me. I held her hand tightly. “Run!”
We began to run at full speed. The sunrise bathed the green and brown land before us in the most beautiful light. We ran along the wide wild river. The sound of the rushing water mingled with our laughter while we jumped over small rocks.
“Why are we running?” She yelled tightening her hold on my hand.
“To keep up with them,” I responded pointing to our right. A Zeal of wild Zebras ran along the vast terrain. Their white and black majestic forms stood out proudly in the mountainous land.
“Oh Cyn! They are Zebras! We are running with Zebras!” She yelled and laughed in excitement increasing her pace. The zeal was a wide distance from us in the open field but she was right nonetheless. We were running with Zebras. I pulled her to the left with the curve of the river towards our destination.
>
“Bye my friends. We’ll see each other again!” She yelled waving at them and I laughed once more. She was truly endearing. We slowed our pace and reached our destination. We took a moment to catch our breath.
“Ok it is time, are you ready?” I said after a few minutes. She held her finger up signaling me to give her a moment while she rested her other hand on her waist and took deep breaths.
“I need to exercise more.”
I chuckled and crouched to scoop water from the river with my hand. I brought it to her mouth. “Have a drink,” she smiled and drank the water then wiped her chin.
“Where are we?”
“Ethiopia.”
She smiled shaking her head. “Amazing, ok what’s next?”
“We go through the second natural portal.”
“Awesome! Where is it?” She asked looking all around us. She frowned when her gaze failed to find it.
“Look down. In the water,” her frown deepened once she did.
“I don’t understand. The river?”
“Look closer, my Goddess,” she let her eyes scan the area slowly then they widened.
CHAPTER 14. IN LOVE
BRIANA
Oh hell to the no!
My eyes widened when the stone circle that protruded from the water shimmered. It was connecting to Cyn’s magic just like the other one had. Except this one was not floating. It was in the water. Like inside. Was he expecting me to go in there in this dress? I hadn’t exactly prepared to take a swim tonight. Then again I hadn’t really prepared to jump four feet in the air to go through a portal, or to run with wild Zebras in Ethiopia.
I had even done my hair for him. Men.
“Are you ready?”
He asked letting go of my hand. Before I could even ask why he was letting go. He pinched his nose and jumped.
“Wait!” I jelled watching him disappear through it. I gasped. “Oh, he is so dead.” Gathering my long skirt in my hand, I took a deep breath and pinched my nose too. “Here we go!” I yelled and jumped through it. The coldness of the water hitting my skin only lasted about a second. The water turned into the night sky and suddenly I was falling through the air. I yelled but my cry was cut short as Cyn caught me in his arms.
“Oh sweet mother of… We are falling!”
He laughed. “We are. But not for long, my Goddess.”
I looked all around us. Yep, we were falling through the air. Fast.
Don’t look down. Don’t look down. Don’t look down!
I looked down and saw the top of immense trees rapidly approaching us.
“We are going to crash onto the trees!” I tightened my arms around his neck, and closed my eyes tight. I began to pray to whoever was listening to please help us.
“Trust me…” he whispered in my ear.
“Ghlacadh dhuinn.”—Catch us.
I heard him say and suddenly we landed on something soft. No, not landed. We were still falling. I opened my eyes and saw what was aiding our descent. Huge tree leaves that were probably the size of my mattress were placing themselves underneath us. Like the palm of someone’s hand catching a bubble. I looked at him incredulous and was taken aback. Green light had encircled his irises and his eyes were glowing. We glided from one to the other easily. My eyes widened when I realized why the leaves were so big. The trees were gentle giants. They were at least three hundred feet tall and their trunks’ diameter was as big as house.
“We are falling in style,” I said with a huge smile, seeing the beautiful majestic trees take us down safely to the ground. A couple of minutes later the last leaf was placing us on the ground. I let go of Cyn and covered my mouth, laughing and astonished all at the same time. Had that really just happened? I shook my head incredulous then frowned when I saw what appeared to be a wall beside me. Cyn smiled wide at my confusion and I turned towards my other side to find another wall. My hand reached it and I gasped. I looked up completely speechless. I ran my hand towards the length of it slowly. Seeing its height decline, as I moved forward. I finally stepped out from between them and turned back to gaze up at what I could only describe as a God. Cyn was right. Nature was indeed a deity. And its presence was truly humbling. The “walls” that had just surrounded me curved like ribbons and went into the earth. They were roots, the roots of the trees around us. My eyes teared up. The scene was awe-inspiring. Overwhelming, to say the least. To think we were part of this ancient and magic world but we didn’t even know it. We led our lives day today without realizing how much beauty and magnificence truly existed in our world. I placed both my hands on the root closest to me.
“Thank you,” I whispered and watched it shimmer under my touch. I smiled. I lifted my head attempting to look up at the tree that stood in front of me. I almost broke my neck and completely lost my balance. I fell backwards but strong arms embraced me. I chuckled and stood turning around. “Thank you.” He kissed my lips and took my hand.
“Let us go. There is something I wish for you to see.”
We walked through the rainforest, the moon was the only light in our path. I might as well have been in a tennis tournament. My head snapped from one side to the other looking at everything we had past. I was trying desperately to take everything in. I stopped for a moment when I noticed one of the “smaller trees” on my left covered with something… Was it a different kind of moss, I didn’t know? I let go of Cyn’s hand and walked towards it. I loved moss. It was such a beautiful thing especially on trees. When I got closer I noticed it was blue. Blue moss? I had never read about that. I couldn’t really tell. It was so dark. Cyn stood behind me while I considered if wherever it was we were at the moment, had even been discovered by man. Cyn loved taking me to natural heavens that had nothing but their natural inhabitants as residents. Places the hand of man hadn’t corrupted yet. His hands settled on my waist just as I reached for the tree. The second my fingers touched it the blue moss moved and I began to laugh in amazement. Hundreds of blue butterflies took flight. They had been resting on the trunk covering it like a blanket. Their wings fluttered and they swirled in the air. Cyn turned me in his arms while the regal blue butterflies flew around us creating a fairylike tunnel that engulfed us. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. For the first time in my life I felt pure, overwhelming joy. I knew that there would never be another moment in my life that would be as magical as this.
“We are almost there,” he said while we walked through the jungle.
The sound of water falling onto rocks reached me. The cool mist began to float around us. The warm air became cooler and fresh the closer we got to it. Cyn turned to face me and placed his hands on my waist. He lifted me onto a massive rock and I held on while he climbed to my side. I wasn’t sure if I had any wonder left in me to admire the sight. He climbed down and lifted me from the rock. On the other side was a beautiful waterfall that had been hidden by the cluster of boulders we had just climbed. The huge rocks continued along the sides of the circular waterfall creating a multilevel enclosure for it. The border of the lagoon that formed in the center of the cascading water was filled with colorful flat stones that looked like lime stones. You could see the layers of color within them. And they formed natural steps into the water. The actual waterfall was at least a thousand feet tall. The water cascaded over the different layers of boulders that protruded from the mountain, until it got to the lagoon. It was absolutely breathtaking.
“Do you like it, my Goddess?” He asked kissing my hand.
I shook my head incredulous. I needed a dictionary. I had truly run out of adjectives to use. “Yes,” was all that I managed say in answer to him. “Where are we?”
He took my hands and placed them on his chest facing me. “My home. This is my sanctuary, the only place where I could find the closest thing to peace before I found you. This is the Amazon Rainforest.
I stare into his eyes taking in what this meant for him, and for me. He had brought me to his home. The place where he had created a refuge for
his people and hid from the world all these years. And now a mortal was standing here with him. After sharing this with me, he had truly given me his all.
He took a step back and his gaze fell on one of the highest rocks to our right.
“You need not be afraid, my Goddess. She just wants to consider you.”
I frowned at his words then looked towards the rock again. My body immediately tensed when glowing yellow eyes appeared from the darkness of the trees. A beautiful yet incredibly frightening jaguar sauntered towards us. My hands fisted on Cyn’s shirt while the animal made its way down the boulders. Cyn hugged me and caressed my back in a soothing motion.
“You need not be afraid. It will not hurt you.”
“It’s a freaking Jaguar, Cyn. It might be wondering exactly how much meat my bones contain and what to have for dessert afterwards.”
He laughed. “It will not hurt you, my Goddess. It is my guide, my friend. My Spirit Animal.”
I lifted my gaze from the dangerous animal a few feet from us and looked into Cyn’s eyes. “Your spirit animal?” I remembered the conversation where he had told me about it. Druids believed each and every one of us had a spirit Animal. One that represented who we were or who we aspired to be, taught us the way and guided us through life. Some merely saw them in their spirit self but the lucky ones got to meet them in the flesh. My eyes returned to the jaguar that had stopped only a few feet away from me. Luminous eyes stared at me making me even more jumpy. Cyn’s hands slipped from my waist and I turned to him shocked to see him back way. My eyes widened. “What are you doing?”
“I want to give you a moment with her,” he said smiling. His dimple mocked me.
“With her? It’s a she?”
He nodded. “Her name is Tullia.”
Great, just great, I find the love of my life although I think its imaginary. Learn everything about him and finally realize he’s real. Travel all over the world with him through magic portals, and come here to his sanctuary just to be eaten by a female Jaguar/ Spirit Animal that is probably jealous because I stole her man.
Hidden Magic: An Ancient Magic Novel Page 27