We all have this sort of sixth sense within us.
Wether you'd like to admit it or not, we all get that gut feeling that usually alerts us when something might go terribly wrong.
I like to think that, that gut wrenching feeling you feel in the deep pit of your stomach when you know impending doom is about to hit you is your bodies way of preparing you for the worst, a form of survival strategy you could say, kind of like flight or fight.
And I guess in this moment, my body was warning me that things were about to get real.
The man that had been terrorizing my dreams, was now right in front of me.
Even if I tried looking for help, or tried to reach out to Donellan, I couldn't do a single thing. My brain wouldn't let me.
He took control over the very thing that enabled me to make a move.
"Don't worry, I have no plans of harming you, not if you cooperate. We will be leaving this place slowly, without drawing any attention to ourselves."
I could hear that echo-y voice inside my head.
Knowing the position I was in, I complied to his demands, not because I was afraid, but because I didn't want the people who weren't involved in any of this to get hurt.
Alexandria noticed the slight change in my demeanour and asked if everything was okay, to which I assured him that everything was fine and that I needed to get a little bit of air.
Since nothing seemed wrong with my expression nor my body language, the others could only nod and told me to hurry back once I was done.
I could only be grateful that my years of abuse have allowed me to mask my discomfort flawlessly.
Kind of a sad realization to think about.
But this proved to be usefully in the current situation so I decided to take it a blessing in disguise.
I didn't waste a single moment and quickly made my way to the terrace without drawing any major attention to myself.
Even though I was currently alone, and didn't have a high chance of escaping if things started to go south, I wasn't worried nor was I afraid.
If there's one thing Donellan was good for, it was being meticulous.
He made sure I always had a guard or knight with me whenever I was out, and as an insurance plan, there was also a shadow knight assigned to guard me at all times.
Donellan made sure to let me know of this after our time in the capital in order to reassure me that if the man even tried to resurface, I was in no real danger.
On top of that, Donellan started my mana training and showed me a defence spell that would keep me safe if I was in any danger.
But he warned me that this spell was powerful and had major drawbacks for me considering my low amounts of mana.
The only problem with that was, I didn't know how the spell actually worked. Donellan didn't have the time to explain how it worked because of how busy he was.
Furthermore, I still hadn't gotten any magic lessons from Mr. Leox yet and although I knew the theory behind mana, the problem was actually executing it.
In this moment, I wished I had insisted on starting with the magic lessons, instead of geography. But these were all things that the scarred man wasn't aware of.
He probably thought I was alone and defenceless, and would never imagine that Donellan would go through such care to keep me save.
He probably still thought I was being neglected and that Donellan didn't care much for me.
After a couple of minutes of waiting, I sensed a presence behind me.
I made no sudden movements, I stayed where I was.
Although I couldn't hear any footsteps, I could still vaguely sense that someone was behind me and they were getting closer and closer. How could I do this when my mana levels were low?
Let me explain this concept called spiritual awareness. It is essentially one's ability to sense the things around you.
Even if you don't have any mana, spiritual awareness is something most people can achieve if they have the innate ability to do so.
And as a Grey, we have higher levels than most. So wether I want to or not, I am always aware of what's going on around me and I could feel in that moment that there was someone behind me.
I didn't have to guess who it was. I slowly turned around to face the man that had been tormenting this poor boy for so long.
Contrary to my dreams, his face was much clearer and I could finally get a good look of the scarred man's appearance.
He had tan skin, brown hair and green eyes with a large scar on his left eye. He was tall with a muscular build and looked to be on high alert.
He was sizing me up as if trying to measure my level.
There was a slight look of surprise on his face, probably due to the change in my appearance.
Although I still looked the same, but that small, defenceless little boy who wasn't capable of anything was gone.
Thanks to Ms. Levinseon's treatment, my weak and frail body was much stronger now and I grew taller as well.
This in turn made me feel a lot more confident in myself which changed the air around me.
On top of that, there were no signs of fear on my face at the moment.
I remained expressionless despite being face to face with my tormentor. Now even though I didn't look afraid, I was very much anxious inside.
I had no plan as to how to get out of this situation, and on top of that I didn't know what he would do.
This was quite the predicament.