DEVON
We journeyed in silence at first, a heavy tension hanging around us.We stopped right in front of a place that looked like a ranch "Why are we stopping here?" Luke asked Tyrenn with a frown on his face. "We need horses....your friend looks like he's going to collapse anytime soon. Besides, are you planning to walk all the way to Grymlok?" Tyrenn said, grabbing the rein of one of the horses. He steered the horse towards Theo and I. Then, he grabbed the reins of two other horses and led one of them to where Luke was standing.
"Hop on, strangers" he said.
I noticed that Theo's nose was starting to bleed again and he definitely looked dizzy. He mounted the horse and held onto the reins of the horse. Then, Luke got me on top of the horse, right behind Theo. I watched Theo as he wiped his nose with the sleeve of his hoodie.
I placed my hand around his waist. "Lean on me" I whispered, my hands grasping onto the reins of the horse. He groaned and leaned on me, his eyes slipping close.
"My head hurts really bad"
I kissed his temple, squeezing his hand reassuringly.
"I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere" I whispered.
The horses began to move, the cool breeze ruffling my hair. Soon, we were making our way into a village with lots of dry leaves.
"This is Bisok.... the land of autumn" Theo rasped.
"Not bad" I shrugged and he smiled. We got to a check point where some faeries stood, holding swords. They were dressed in grey tunics, black riding pants and leather boots.
"We are harmless. Our friend is ill.... we're taking him to the healers" Tyrenn said.
One of the guards stepped forward and stared at Theo who glared at him.
"He looks ill" the faery said, moving away from us. They allowed us to move on and I sighed with relief. They'd probably not noticed the fact that there was a glamour on me.
'They can't see through a glamour as strong as the one I placed on you' Theo said through the mindlink.
By the time we got to Fyradok, Theo was on the verge of passing out.
'Just a little bit more, Theo' I said through the mindlink.
'I'm drained, Dev. I don't think I can hold on for much longer. I need you to tie my hands if I pass out'
'But, Theo-'
'Please.... I can feel the darkness clawing at the surface. You have to tie up my hands' he said.
'Okay'
I was getting increasingly worried because Theo's breathing had become strained.
"He's passing out" Luke said.
I grabbed my scarf and tied Theo's hands firmly.
Luke raised a brow.
"He asked me to tie his hands if he passes out" I said and Luke nodded in understanding.
"I don't think that scarf is going to hold him" Tyrenn said. I stared at him.
Did he know what was going on? "I know you're human.... I know he's the long lost prince. Don't worry your secret is safe with me"
My eyes widened and I instinctively held Theo's hands.
There was a multicolored water fall that branched into four large rivers. It was glowing beautifully.
"What's that?" I asked Luke.
"That's the Yren waterfall. It's referred to as the life force of the fae kingdom. It's rivers flow through the four lands"
"It's beautiful" I said.
Luke grinned.
"It is"
As we journeyed further, the air began to grow cold. I pulled my coat closer to myself, shivering slightly. Theo began to stir.
He opened his eyes, revealing a pair of blood red pupils. My heart sank.
He sat uprightly and started to struggle with my scarf. I tried to stop him but he was too strong. He ripped off my scarf and grabbed a small knife. Alarmed, I tried to take it away from him. Luke and Tyrenn had jumped down from their horse. Theo made a deep cut across the inside of his wrist. I let out a shriek and pounced on him.
We both fell to the ground but I didn't care. I needed to keep the knife away from him. He ran the knife down his torso with a smile on his face. "No! No! Stop it!" I cried. He roughly pushed me off himself and stumbled away from Tyrenn and Luke who were carefully stalking him. "Don't come any closer" Theo said, narrowing his eyes. "Fine, just stop hurting yourself" Tyrenn said.
Theo rolled his eyes and stabbed his own arm repeatedly. Luke pounced on him and started to wrestle the knife out of his grip.
"Get off me! Get off me, you asshole!" Theo growled.
Tyrenn grabbed a rope and quickly tied up Theo's hands and feet. They placed him back on the horse.
"I hate all of you! I don't need your help! Just let me go, you morons!" He said. I placed a gag around his mouth and he glared at me.
His words were muffled by the gag around his mouth.
If I wasn't very worried I would've burst into laughter because of the way he was sulking like a child. He had a big frown on his face and his eyes were glaring daggers at everyone he looked at.
" Welcome to Grymlok a.k.a. the ice nation" Luke said. I gasped in amazement as I took in the sight of the snow covered buildings. The place was so cold but beautiful.
"We have to be careful. We don't want to be caught up in the middle of a conflict, trust me" Tyrenn said and steered his house towards the mountain side. The mountains and hills were covered with snow. The air was foggy and freezing cold.
"Orion lives in a cave in one of the hills..... we're close"
Apparently, we were taking a short cut to avoid the Grymloks.
A shiver ran down my spine when I heard yelling and screams from the other side. We got to one of the caves by the mountain side and got down from our horses. "We're here" Tyrenn said as Luke grabbed Theo and placed him over his shoulder. Theo continued to struggle against Luke's hold even as we walked into the cave. "Orion is a shape shifter. He might be in any form. Be careful not to step on the tail of any cat you see here. It's better not to piss him off if you really need his help" Tyrenn said.
There were several lighted candles of different color. The place smelt of incense and sweet smelling fragrance. There was a grey cat sitting on a chair right in front of a blazing fire. It stared at us with it's eyes gleaming brightly.
"Orion" Luke said, maintaining eye contact with the cat. It purred and jumped down from the chair. With a hiss, it transformed into a middle aged man with long hair and grey eyes.
"Well met, Orion" he said
"Well met indeed, Lucian"
" What brings you to my abode?" He said, watching Luke keenly.
"You remember my friend, prince Daeron?"
"Yes, yes. Didn't know he's still alive. This is his soulmate, I see"
"That's right. He needs you to help with his chimaera"
Orion stroked his beard and started to pace back and forth. "I will only help you in one condition" he said.
"What do you want?" I asked. He smirked, turning to look at Theo who was glaring daggers at him.
"I want a sliver of his soul"
"Why? You don't need a sliver of his soul"
"It's a very easy deal. Give me a sliver of his soul, I help you trap his demon. I didn't ask for anything so important"
Luke turned to look at me.
"If we give him a sliver of Theo's soul, is it going to affect him?" I asked.
"Not really, no. The fact is that if a sliver of his soul is gone, his healing abilities lessens. Meaning, he won't be able to survive another dragon blade"
Theo wasn't in his right mind to choose what he wanted and at this point, I didn't know what decision to make.
"Make your decision quickly because the longer he stays in this condition, the stronger the demon in him, would become" Orion said.
...
"Fine, a sliver of his soul it is" I said and Orion grinned.
He began to draw a pentagram on the hard floor, using some sort of mountain ash. Then, he picked up a black box and opened it. He mumbled some words and took out an object. It was glowing a bright red color.
The red prism.
He placed it on the table and picked up a scalpel.
"Take off his shirt" he said. Luke knelt down in front of Theo who was struggling to free himself.
"I'm sorry" he whispered and opened a small vial, holding it in front of Theo's nostrils. He gasped, his eyes slipping close as his body went limp. I took off Theo's shirt as well as his hoodie. Orion used the scalpel to outline the chimaera tattoo, blood staining the skin of Theo's back.
"I'll need a few drops of blood from you" Orion said.
I held out my hand and he slowly made a cut on my palm, the blood dribbling onto the pentagram. The pentagram began to glow a bright red color.
Luke carried Theo and placed him inside the pentagram. Using the blood stained scalpel, Orion drew four rough runes within the pentagram. He placed the red prism on a pole, few feet away from the pentagram. The harsh glow coming from the red prism started to move over each rune that was scrawled inside the pentagram. By the time it moved over the fourth rune, Theo's eyes shot open and he let out an agonizing scream. I whimpered and Luke held my hand to comfort me. I squeezed my eyes shut when he continued to scream. I opened my eyes and watched him as he writhed on the floor. He was trying to move out from the pentagram but something was stopping him.
"Devon, please get me out of here! Please!" He cried, arching his back off the ground.
"Don't listen to him, he's not the one talking" Orion said.
Theo continued to scream as the red prism grew brighter. Orion's chanting increased and it felt like Theo's pain was increasing as well.
Theo suddenly went limp, the glow of the prism dulling. Orion stopped chanting. "Did it work?" I asked. "There's only one way to find out" Luke said.
The three of us came closer to the pentagram. Orion removed some of the mountain ash and moved Theo's limp form to the side. His chimaera tattoo was glowing slightly. Luke moved him out of the pentagram and placed him in my arms. I brushed his hair out of his eyes and kissed his warm skin. "Hey, wake up" I whispered, patting his cheek gently. "Wait- he's not breathing" Luke said, his eyes wide. "W-what?" I gasped. I realized at that point that Luke was right.
Theo was definitely not breathing.
Tears pricked my eyes and I started to shake him hard enough to restart his heart if his heart had stopped beating. There was still no reaction from him.
"Theo. Don't you dare. Please don't do this to me" I whimpered, cupping his face. "Come on, Theo. Breathe" Luke said, holding his hand. My heart jumped into my throat when he still didn't breathe.
"No....no" I breathed, tears rolling down my cheeks.
This can't be happening.
Suddenly, Theo let out a gasp. His chest started to rise and fall evenly. Tears of joy filled my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. He slowly opened his golden eyes, trembling weakly.
"You scared me" I said.
"I'm sorry" he croaked, closing his eyes.
"You're free to go" Orion said, placing the red prism inside the black box.
"Wait, you didn't take the sliver of his soul" I said.
Orion chuckled.
"I did. Now, get going....."
Luke and I helped Theo to his feet. "I'm so tired" Theo croaked. "I know, let's get you home first" I said and he sighed. Tyrenn was waiting for us outside the cave.
"You have to leave right away. The Grymloks has been alerted. They know that you're here" Tyrenn said. We mounted the horses and started to leave Grymlok. Some of the Grymloks were waiting for us there. They were armed. Tyrenn flipped on his hood and started to fire his arrows accurately. Theo used his magic to move three of the men out of the way. He literally pushed them into the ice lake. Luke used his double swords to disarm the blood thirsty Grymloks.
We headed to the entrance of the fae kingdom, narrowly escaping the Grymloks.
"You must tell no one about us" Luke said to Tyrenn.
"You have my word"
"Thank you" Theo rasped and Tyrenn clasped his hands together.
"You don't have to thank me, your majesty. I do hope that someday you'll return home and rescue us from the hands of your uncle. He's a ruthless king" He said.
"Someday" Theo breathed.
"It's an honor to be at your service. Farewell"
Theo opened a portal back to earth and we found ourselves in Paris once again.