ANALIA
My heart starts to pound as my hasty steps turn to a jog. It's suddenly so cold that I start to shiver. The lush vegetation and greenery sight I once admired is now captured in a thick fog that covers the atmosphere like a blanket. With each breath I take, I can feel my lungs crying out at the intensity of the cold. If we're to stay out here any longer with how rapidly the weather is changing, we'll freeze to death.
"I've found the cave." I hear him call out from ahead of me. I'm quivering uncontrollably and my steps are becoming sluggish. Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, snowflakes start to fall off from the sky so fast, the ground is starting to be piled up with snow.
I try to walk faster but I suddenly trip over and fall. I can't find Iyan in all this fog and my body is starting to feel numb and stiff.
Is this how I'm going to die? I thought this terror was easy enough to survive in. Where did Iyan go?
Is he going to abandon me?
I feel tears start to sting my eye but it's so cold, it doesn't even get to slide down but stays frozen on my cheek. He said he found the cave so it shouldn't be any further from here right? All I have to do is get myself up and walk.
I try to get up but I'm already being covered up by a terrifying amount of snow. I want to scream in frustration but I can't even do that due to the aching of my lungs.
No!
No!
I didn't come this far to get frozen to death.
I push myself up from the snow that's heaping on top of me and suddenly a weight starts to pull me from underneath it. I'm too cold and shocked to form coherent words when I find Iyan's displeased face staring back at mine.
"Try to make it to the cave. I'll make it warm enough for you there."
I nod stiffly at his words and with his help, we find our way through the snow and into a cave that's already been lighted by a torch.
He sets me down by the sludgy wall of the cave and whispers a few words in Astur.
The room suddenly starts to get so hot, every form of ice in the cave melts away and evaporates. My shivering stops and I start to feel warm and back to normal. Almost like I didn't just freeze to death but I'm still in a state of shock and my body can't seem to stop trembling.
So Iyan controls fire. That's a very detrimental element that humans of the realm hate. Anything that spells out destruction sends a wave of fear over all humans because they all think of the prophecy of our doom.
Not many mages can control fire and those who do are shunned by society. Seeing a demigod being able to control fire would throw the entire realm into hysteria.
Still, I'm grateful he came back to get me. For a moment I thought I was all on my own.
"Thank you-" My voice is still quite shaky.
"Iyan," he tells me from across the cave where I spot our things. "My name is Iyan."
My cheeks heat up at the fact that he told me his name though I already figured that out a while back.
"Thank you Iyan," The name sounds foreign on my lips but I'd have to get used to It.
"I think you may have underestimated how extreme the situation would be. I considered leaving you out there to die but somehow I found myself going back for you. I don't think I'd have a change of heart if this happens again."
His words sting but I know he's just being honest. I can't be a liability to someone I'm meant to be protecting. A wave of shame suddenly washes over me at how naive I've been this whole time. Willpower alone can't save me.
"I understand. There won't be a repeat of this, I promise. So please bear with me." I plead
I catch his intense scrutinizing gaze from across the room and I can't help but wonder what he's thinking.
"We'll have to stay here for some days before we continue. We'll study how the weather changes and use that to our advantage." He diverts from the topic by saying. I nod my head slowly at his words before I lift myself from the ground and walk around, slinging off the bow I've been carrying around on my shoulder.
The cave isn't too deep and neither is it too congested. It's perfect and thanks to Iyan, the icicles that had formed at the top of it have melted away leaving the cave completely dry.
We can definitely stay here for some days. That's what I thought till my eyes fell on the pile of bones at the end of the cave.
We're in the territory of a predatory animal. Didn't Iyan notice that?
"Something else houses this place we'll have to find somewhere else as soon as the snow melts away," I inform him and move away from the unpleasant sight.
"It will make a tasty dinner," he muses aloud from his spot, a few steps away from the pile of bones. He probably even noticed it before I did.
My eyes almost bulge out of their sockets at his remark.
Tasty dinner?
If I'm not mistaken, those piles of bones look like they once belonged to a human. That animal is probably a wolf or one of those creatures I've heard stories about.
"I-Iyan," I still find it extremely hard calling out his name. "You can't possibly think we'll survive, right?"
From across the room, I see him smile in a wry manner that makes my skin crawl. I can't always rely on his expressions to let me in on what he feels, and that alone makes me wary of him.
"You might not but I will." He responds and the blood from my face drains as I slide to the ground with a loud thud.
Was this his plan the entire time? To sacrifice me as bait? Is that why he saved me?
"Relax," He sighs with a deep, low chuckle.
"Those aren't human bones. The only time humans come here is every three years. We all just came in today, and those bones are still fresh. It's probably a deer or something. Also, If you can't kill a wolf, how do you expect to survive past this terror?"
His question causes another wave of shame to course through me. I bow my head down, unable to give him a reply. I begin to wonder why Gina thought coming here would be the best solution to everything in my life. I want to get my family back, but I'm starting to doubt myself and the things I want. I wonder if I'm cut out for this.
If I can't kill a wolf, I can't kill anything worse than it and I won't even last to the end of Asha's land.
I lean further into the wall and rest my head on my elevated knees. What's going to happen in the next four days that we're stuck here together?
I did bring some books written in my native language along, but I can't just sit around and read all day long. I lift my eyes to find his figure uncomfortably leaning on the wall of the cave, with his eyes closed. Even from this distance, I still marvel at his beauty. He may not be dressed like it, but his glowing skin and rich, luscious hair say otherwise.
His enigma is as the night - dark and mysterious, scary yet compelling - as I find myself strangely drawn to it.
It's funny how my feelings about him are in a constant state of conflict.
I blink furiously as I snap myself out from the depth of my thoughts on Iyan before I leave my position on the wall and walk toward my things in an attempt to get a book. Princess Kora had General Cara share with us the notes of the two companions that survived the journey.
Grandmother's notes are included in them, but unlike the vague things written in her notes, her diary that she left behind has more details. I started reading it some days back, but most of her writings are in Astur.
I pick up the other companion's note before returning to my spot. Despite the blizzard outside, the cave is still extremely warm and I reckon it's a result of Iyan's magic.
There are many questions I have about him. Most demigods can't get their magic to last for a long time unless they've perfectly mastered it for years, but due to their arrogance, they don't even bother to further their magical knowledge. I also once heard from Mother that magic gets its energy from the life force of anyone who wields it-humans and demigods alike.
The more an individual practices magic, the more their lifespan reduces. It's one of the other reasons demigods participate in the conversion, as gods are the only ones exempted from this.
Iyan must be getting tired but yet the flames he lit are still burning fiercely.
I guess it's none of my business. Prying won't do me any good.
I open up the other companion's note and begin to read. There are more drawings than writings on the owner's pages. The drawings are of creatures I've never seen or even heard of. I can recognize drawings of dragons and giants, but the rest aren't familiar.
"I thought you didn't know how to read?" I flinch slightly at the sound of Iyan's voice from across the room. I stare at him blankly for a while before I fully comprehend what he asked me.
"I do know how to read other languages; I just never had the opportunity to learn Astur," I explain to him, and he nods. His eyes are still closed, meaning he wasn't asleep earlier-or was he?
"From what I've observed, I can tell that you made a last-minute decision to enlist as a companion." His eyes flicker open as they bore into mine from across the room, and I gulp hard.
"I-I just didn't have any other choice," I mumble.
"Asha's land holds no mercy for the unprepared. Try to catch up, or it won't take long before you get yourself killed."
I nod at his words and internalize them. I'm sure he'll toss me away if I tell him that the only thing I can do is use plants to treat ailments.
I sigh as I realize that I have a long journey ahead of me-a journey that might either make or break me.
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