I felt like I was floating in the emptiness of the space, free from any kind of work or talk or people. I could hear a few distant whispers. They were all around me. I could not understand most of them but one voice caught my attention. "E-ll-io-t.. I know.. you are.. There.... I ..a-am..coming for.. you" The voice said in a deep hissing sound and I suddenly felt like I was choking. There were some shadows circling around.. And I-I.. could feel myself being squeezed under an unexplainable force.
I woke up shouting out of my own nightmare. I was breathing out of rhythm. I looked around. I was on the couch under a soft quilt. The quilt was drenched in my own sweat. I was in an unfamiliar room. The walls were bricked with sparks of white paint over them. The room had a small glass window, through which bird chirps and warm sunshine was pouring in. There was also a wooden table in front of me. It was decorated with a vase filled with weirdly beautiful flowers. I smelled the flowers. It smelled something..of pineapple and rose. Strong but sweet.
I remembered the incident last night. Wait....Where was Nathan? Or a better question would be---Where am I ??
"Oh! You're awake." I heard a voice exclaim. I turned to my left and saw a tall figure standing there with a heartwarming smile. I was instinctively startled and moved back with an impulse. "It's alright, I won't do any harm to you" He assured me.
"Do I know you?" I asked in confusion. It felt like I had seen this man somewhere and at the same time it felt like I hadn't. A slight frown slid across his face which most people wouldn't even notice. 'That was rude for you to say' : I scolded myself.
Although the man seemed only a few years older than me, he was really tall with broad shoulders. I felt like a four year old boy in front of him. He wore a dark blue cloak-like fitting over his body, which was in slight contrast with his pale skin and grey eyes. His jet-coloured smooth hair fell upto his neck, through which his horn shaped ears appeared. His pointy nose, arched eyebrows, thin lips and every other feature of his could easily make him a world-class model. I am not sure about those peculiar ears, though. But strangely enough, I felt like I had met this person a really long time ago. Maybe somewhere in my dreams.
"You don't remember, you were the one who asked me for help last night. "He told me as he comforted himself on the couch. I still kept my distance from him by slipping on the other side of the couch. He didn't mind it this time. I tried regaining my lost memories bit by bit.
"Where is my friend??" I asked him.
"Oh, you mean the other human. He was not breathing when you brought him but my sister helped him with a few of the medicines she made. He is okay now and is resting in my sister's room..."He said. I took a breath of relief.
"Can I check on him?" I asked him.
"Sure.." He replied shortly. He got up and straightened his clothes and put forward his hands to help me get up. But thanks to my cynical nature, I didn't take it and got up myself. You cannot blame me though, wouldn't you be wary of such a huge man, specifically with such ears...
He took me through a hall which had a fireplace surrounded by four sofas and a small stand, probably a place offering a good talk, into a neat bedroom. This room had two windows and a single-sized bed. In front of the bed was a huge shelf, filled with old books and bottles of medicines. On the bed I saw Nathan, sleeping peacefully. I sat on the bed beside him. I felt really sad seeing him like that.
"I am..I am really sorry, Nathan. It's really my fault. If I hadn't been me you wouldn't have ..ended up like this..." I could hear my voice shaking. My eyes were already brimming with tears of regret but then, I felt a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"It was not your fault...Don't punish yourself for a crime you haven't committed." He said. I looked at him.
"But....you don't even know-"
"Even if I don't know what happened...I am still sure whatever happened, you didn't do it on purpose." Though coming out from a stranger, these words still felt heavenly comforting.
"Thank you..Mr.--"I said, trailing off the sentence with embarrassment.
"It's Zeo." He said.
"Thank you, Mr. Zeo for both...for saving us and comforting me." I said.
"It's better if you call me only Zeo. No need for Mr. and neither for the thank you." He said with a warm smile. I don't know why but I felt really touched by this smile of his.
"Alright, now I need to leave. Have some work to do. If you need something to eat just take a left from the hall. You will find the kitchen." He added and was turning his back on me, but without me noticing, I said, "You're leaving already..." I had said this in a low tone but he seemed to hear it and chuckled. I felt really awkward right now.
'Curse you! Curse you! Elliot. Why do I have to be such an idiot'- I thought to myself.
"You want to accompany me.??" He asked. There was a ting of amusement in those grey eyes of his.
"I wish I could but....Nathan is alon-" I was cut short by Zeo in between.
"Your friend will be fine and I am sure he will not wake up until evening. So..if you wish..you" He said literally pacing with his words. I thought for a moment. It seemed like he would really need company today. So I agreed. And we left the house.
We were walking through the forest it was a clean afternoon. The cool breezes made a shushing sound as they escaped through the dancing leaves. The forest wasn't that dense but it was certainly not a city park. It had tall, slender pine trees whose tops seemed to touch the sky. While our walk through the forest I asked Zeo about the place I was in and the explanation I got as a reply was not something I was expecting.
"As I had told you yesterday, You are in the Terra Clan of the Elf Realm. The Terra Clan is the user of Earth element. There are several other clans like the Aqua Clan with Water's elemental, Ventus Clan with the wind, Ignis Clan with the power of fire and a few others. The sorcerers of these clans may be the user of any type of element irrespective of their clan's principal element. But those with their elemental 'mana'(magic force) matching with the clan's element are descents of the main branch of the clan and are considered stronger sorcerers. They might also have higher ranks of 3 or 4 levels in the hierarchy. Those with inferior magical abilities are ranked 1 or 2 as per their comprehension of magic."
Although the explanation was well organised and simple, my walnut-sized brain found this hard to believe. 'Is this 1st April? Or am I dreaming? ' I thought.
I turned to Zeo.
" You know, after all this shit you have told me, I am hundred percent sure that either you're fooling around or I am trapped in a really weird dream. Now that I think of it I really have a good imagination." I commented.
He chuckled and then pinched my cheeks with his cold hands.
"Hey, what was that for?" I asked in an annoyed tone.
"To make you believe that you are not in a dream and let me assure you I am not lying."
"Now hold this bag and follow me. I am going to collect some herbs from here." Zeo added as he handed me a cotton bag and got down to pick some plants.
"Are you a doctor??" I asked with interest.
"No, but my sister holds a small clinic in the village nearby. She is the one who helped your friend...remember." He replied. I nodded my head but my mind was still swirling around the whole magic thing.
"If you say that you are an Elf and the people here can do magic and stuff. Why don't you show me some of those magic powers of yours??" I said.
"I can't show you...because..I can't do magic." He told me."What do you mean you can't do magic?" I asked.
"Well, not every elf is capable of doing magic..and I am supposed to be one of those who can't use magic." He said with a bit of a disheartened tone. I immediately regretted asking such question. He got up and filled the bags with a few leaves, roots and flowers. "Let's leave..it's going to get dark soon." He said and started moving down we followed to get here. I followed him silently. It was getting darker now the sun was already down.
"Well, you know my sister does use magic." he started the conversation after some ten minutes of silence on the walk.
"What kind of magic does your sister know??" I asked. He turned around and looked at me for a second or two.
"Actually, my sister is a 'Soul Manipulator'.." he said. "What does that mean?" I questioned in curiosity. He looked at me again. It felt like he was analysing me.
"For Elemental sorcerers the resource of mana is the elements of the environment itself. But Soul Manipulators can use their own souls as mana resources because of which soul manipulators can use their bodies as weapons. But for Millia , my sister, her manipulation style only allows her to see the future. "
"Wait!!! Your sister can see the future!!" I exclaimed. "Not exactly, she often has visions of a few bits of future but she is rarely able to predict it correctly." He told me. We were walking side by side now. "But promise me you won't tell this to anyone.. this is something most people aren't supposed to know" He asked. "So why did you tell me??" I was puzzled at his request.
"Because I trust you..." he said. I caught him looking at me. His moon eyes were pouring down on mine. I felt my heart warming up. He moved his hands almost touching my cheeks.
But suddenly I heard a loud howling sound coming from afar. I was afraid of even dogs and these wolf howls were beyond my tolerable level of anxiety. In the grip of my fear, I suddenly jumped and hugged Zeo. Zeo was obviously surprised by this turn of events but did not push me away. Instead, he put his arms over my head and waved it through my hair.
"It's alright, those were just some blood hounds. They won't come here. And even if they do I won't let anything happen to you. " he assured me and that is when I got back to my senses and sprang away from him in a jerk. My face must have turned red because I could see Zeo smiling.
While the rest of our way back to the house, neither of us spoke any words. After reaching there Zeo told me to go back to the bedroom and he would bring something to eat. Hardly, had I entered the bedroom, I was left speechless with raw tension gripping me.
Nathan was not in the bed!!!