Ian huffed ploping himself on the ground with other two following suit, each taking a piece of the cooked rabbits and eating in silence thinking at what had said about the guardian of the Hollow. He silently wished for his mother to be around she would have explained everything much better than Athan did.
Chewing the last bit of food in his mouth " Tell me about guardian?" Ian askewed while swallowing, his eyes lingering on Iris breasts that she was proudly displaying.
Iris followed Ian's line of sight, wearing a bashful smile knowing well what that look meant, she raised an eyebrow and mouthed something to Ian, that made Ian's sullen demeanour suddenly change to a more cheerful one.
Athan cleared his throat to bring the other two back to this realm" Right, I do not know very much about him but he guards the Hollow or the realm of the undead, he holds power within that realm but only there, he cannot use it anywhere else. Our kind on the other hand, we hold power over this one and Ellora." he informed them while eating, feeling a little disenheartened that he wasn't of much help this time.
" Who knows more about him?" Ian asked again while he stared at Athan with a frown.
" Rhya!" he plainly answered, sighing heavily while looking at the ground.
" Rhya?" Iris and Ian echoed together with their eyebrows raised in suprise hearing the new name.
" Aha, she is one of the six priestess that served you!" he stated while wiping his mouth with back of his hand.
" How many of them are all together?" Ian asked sighing heavily in annoyance at how bad Athan was at telling a story.
" Twelve and Iris is the high priestess!" he plainly answered while looking at the two.
" Then why do you call her Queen?" Ian shot the next question while frowning not understanding the connection between the two positions that she held.
" Umm, she also the Queen of the land of Mythria and Ellora!" he proudly stated while puffing his chest looking at Iris, admiration gleaming in his eyes.
Hearing his words Iris felt the burden on her shoulders getting heavier, feeling that any moment now she would stop breathing, panting in panic thinking that she would happily go back in the Hollow right now so she wouldn't have to deal with this.
Ian shuffled on the ground moving next to Iris grabbing her shoulders, seeing that she was panicking "You don't have to worry about that right now! One step at a time! I'm here with you to share your burden!" he stated in a calming voice to ease her worries as much as he could.
Glaring at Athan " Is there anything else that you would like to share with us ?" Ian huffed annoyed scowling at Athan who suddenly shrunk under Ian's gaze.
Letting out a nervous chuckle " Well, there is more the one thing but keep in mind that we have to be weary of the guardian if he has made a deal with the Kulka witch it means that through her he can now use his power in this realm as well and he is more ruthless than the witch! he informed the two who seemed worried about what's to come.
" We should focus on Iris's for now, she needs to control the other elements if we want to stand a chance!" he stated confidently while his eyes darting between Ian and Iris who seemed a bit more relaxed now that he had reminded them that they weren't defenseless.
" Reopening the gate between the two reamls would also benefit us, since our access to the Arkathira has been limited since you sealed the gate!" he continued speaking while scribbling on the ground mindlessly.
Ian placed a gentle kiss on Iris's temple " It will alright!" he softly mumured while resting his head on hers.
Iris nodded, letting out a heavy sigh " Right, so the plan is learn how to control all elements, open the gate between the realms, defeat the wicked witch!" Iris added confidently, determination gleaming in her eyes.
" Free me!" Athan added in an hopeful tone of voice while looking at Iris with pleading eyes.
" That too!" she replied with sheepish smile, a little embarrassed that she had already forgotten about it.
"Will start first thing in the morning! Now we all need some rest!" Ian stated
while looking at the two with his eyebrows raised waiting for them to rebuke but they both nodded in agreement.
Iris stood up making her way to outside the cave looking at the evening sky sighing heavily, walking around to calm her heart that now was racing out of control both in excitement and fear .
Inside the cave Ian looked at Athan with a questioning look on his face, like he wanted to ask something but he couldn't bring up the courage.
Athan chuckled, quickly recognising that look on Ian's face, was the same look that Iris had ealier when she asked about how her wounds were healed after she had made love with Ian.
" What is it?" Athan asked curiously with an eyebrow raised
Ian cleared his throat putting on a brave face " Our marks have changed again after we
..." he stopped speaking, clearing his throat " after we did the deed today!" he confessed feeling utterly uncomfortable speaking about with a man that he had known for a few days.
" How?" Athan plainly asked trying his best to control himself from bursting into a fit of laughter at how uncomfortable these two were about speaking about such things.
" It's best that you look at it!" he stated while pulling the hem of his tunic to show him the mark.
Athan's face lit up, beaming with joy unable to contain his happiness he jumped from the ground and started running to the back of the cave giggling and muttering to himself.
Ian scoffed seeing that he went crazy again he decided that he will wait until the crazy episoade was gone, so he rested his chin on his knucles and waited with a bored expression on his face, looking down on the ground, his eyes fell on the scribbling that Athan did earlier.
Squinting he quickly realised that wasn't just random scribbling, he had seen something similar,in his mothers parchments but had no clue as to what it meant, since it was ancient language and he had refused to finish his studies, thinking he had no use for it.
Hearing Athan's footsteps behind him, he turned to look over his shoulder " What does that mean?" he asked while pointing at the scribbling on the floor.
Craning his neck to have a look at what Ian was pointing " It's just something that Iris told me before she bound me to the cave." he explained while shrugging with an impassive look on his face.
"You seem to have trouble answering my questions. What does it mean?" he asked again stressing the last sentence as he was on the verge of losing his patience.
Athan rubbed his chin with a pensive look on his face, trying to find the right words to translate the scribbling on the floor.
" Uhmm...right, I call forth the power of fire and wind to burn the seal of blood and earth!" he mumured while staring at Ian wo frowned but his expression quickly changed.
Ian opened his moth to speak but all he could do is stare at Athan wrists that glowed with dim golden hue which quickly disappeared unnoticed by Athan who was focused on Ian.