"What just happened, why do you have burns?" Leo questioned in a very worried and concerned voice. Lily was still calming herself as she slowly replayed the events trying to figure out what might have gone wrong. "I think somebody wants me dead," she uttered looking at Leo.
"Why would someone want you dead? Leo asked. Lily stood up without much of a struggle and headed towards the fire. Staring at the flames that were burning in a wavey motion, she answered, "the question is who."
"Do you have any enemies that would want you dead?" Leo followed up. Lily walked past the fire and towards the log she sat on before, " well at least I know there is a witch trying to kill my grandmother, and it looks like they want me gone too."
Leo asked himself how they would possibly be able to attack Lily even though she was that far off. He then concluded that perhaps they succeeded in altering her pendant, that was the only way he thought they might have used to succeed in hurting Lily.
"I think we should take care of that first," Leo stated still standing on the same spot he supported up Lily from. Lily saw how concerned Leo was getting and could not help but feel bad about the fact that she had to add to his worries. "Much of the pain is gone now, I'll be fine by morning," Lily responded.
"We should rest for the night and get going by the crack of dawn. That way, we might be fast enough to be able to get you back home before your wound catches an infection," Leo added looking at Lily in a concerned way.
"I guess we both need to rest," Lily forced a smile on her face. Leo then walked towards the fire and started putting it out. Lily looked at him with an inquisitive face. Leo noticed her looking at him and just continued putting out the fire, "oh you think you can get any sleep with this still burning?"
Lily tightened her face as a child would do and pointed towards the fire that was almost completely out, "well then don't put out my side of the fire. Just put out yours." Leo stopped and bent towards where she was seated on the log and spoke in a teasing way, "someone is scared of the dark?"
He then laughed and put out the fire completely. He looked at Lily who was trying so hard to hide her stubborn displeasure. The sight of that made him laugh even more. "But I thought the whole point of being a forest fairy is actually being able to live in it. Now you want to tell me you are scared of your very own home?" Leo continued teasing Lily.
Lily sulked at Leo who continued speaking even after noticing Lily's sulk, "don't look at me like that, was it not you who agreed to being a forest fairy, how else would you explain those eyes," Leo realized what he had just said and saw the shift in Lily's reaction. "...and your hair... and the way you look...," he continued with a stutter.
Realizing that the mood was tensing up, he decided to calm it, "sleep well Lily." Lily nodded and said it back. She then looked at Leo wondering what he was made of after hearing him continue speaking, "don't snore too loud, you might attract the coyotes," he then laughed seeing how pissed Lily looked.
"Do you have to be this annoying?" Lily questioned staring unbelievably at Leo. "I'm actually trying so hard to distract you from the pain, think of it as a bonus on top of my annoying company," Leo added, winking playfully at Lily.
She looked at him and could not help but smile. She thought of how he was easy to be around and yet he was the biggest danger she could ever expose herself to. The kind of danger that was way worse than the one her grandmother was facing at the moment, maybe even worse than the attack she just had from the pendant.
Lily decided to forget about that matter for the time being and try getting some rest. She had began feeling slightly weak and maybe a little tired. She figured that sleep was what she needed. She then slid down from the log she was sitting on and sat herself on the groud, using the log as a backrest. This way, she would be able to sleep in a more comfortable posture.
Leo sat across her and watched her close her eyes slowly as she fell asleep. He did not fall asleep fast enough as he was planning to keep watch for a while. As much as they were resting in a clearing he still could not be sure of their safety since he was aware of the danger that loomed in the woods.
A few minutes passed by and Lily was already fast asleep. Leo watched her as she struggled resting her head. He then got up and moved to where she was and sat himself down next to her. Leo then sofltly rested Lily's head on his shoulder and covered her with the jacket he was wearing.
In no time at all they were both fast asleep. The night kept getting chilly and Lily slightly shivered next to Leo who was asleep too. Leo too began twitching his fingers slightly and the restlessness under his closed eyelids were observable.
He turned his head slowly as his eyes kept moving restlessly under closed eyelids. Leo slowed his breath and finally managed to see something. He saw himself standing next to the fire had just put out.
There by the fire where he was standing, he could see himself gazing at a figure before him just a few yards away. The figure was that of a woman and she had her back to him. He then called out to the figure in a whisper, 'Lily'.
The figure then quickly turned around and it was indeed Lily. She had a sad look on her face. The sadness was mixed with bits of anger and bitterness. Leo then saw her walk towards him and the way she struggled to occasionally stop herself from moving towards him.
Leo saw her troubled look and decided to step forward to go to her but it was at that moment that he realized he could not move. He looked down on his feet and saw that they were rooted on the ground and they felt so heavy and numb.
The next moment he looked up, he saw Lily almost close enough to him. She had tears in her eyes but there was something else that caught his attention. He slowly trailed his eyes towards Lily's chest.
The sight of her shook him. The tiny scar she got from the burn had began turning darker and tiny little veins spread from it like roots. That was when he realized that Lily did not have her pendant.
'Your pendant Lily, where is it,' he mouthed with a struggle. He felt as though her stare was pressing him down. Immediately he asked that, Lily halted and gasped as if Leo had uttered something she dreaded.
She touched her chest and by that time her skin had already turned pale. It looked like the infection had spread far enough through her body and was now feeding off her energy. She looked so pale and weak.
The sadness in her eyes deepened the moment she realized she did not have her pendant. As if her realization had brought her back to her senses, she pointed towards a particular direction and uttered, 'he took it...he took it...,' her voice getting weaker each time she spoke.
She then looked at her hands and shook her head repeatedly in fear, ' no...no...no!' Leo then saw Lily drop down onto the ground as she kept crying out and eventually stopped. In the next moment, she began rising up with her hair covering her face.
Leo could feel a chill in the air as this happened. He saw Lily twitch her head as she rose. The sudden shift in the atmosphere intensified even more as Lily kept getting off the ground. Before Leo could witness Lily completely getting off the ground, she suddenly moved swiftly towards him.
Leo then felt the tight grip from Lily's hand as she uttered in a dead dry voice, 'he has it, my pendant...' Before Leo could hear everything, he was startled awake by Lily's tight grip that kept getting even tighter.
Opening his eyes abruptly, Leo could still feel the same chill still lingering in the air as it disappeared slowly. He was familiar with the feel, it was like what he felt when he attacked the faceless creature in the well.
As he was still trying to figure out which kind of dream that was, he felt some tension on his wrist. Slowly looking at it and being careful enough not to startle Lily from her sleep, he saw what he could not clearly place.
Did he not just have a dream where Lily had griped his wrist so tight and now he was witnessing the same thing? He carefully tried to remove Lily's hand that had gripped him and noticed that it was too strong.
The grip was way too strong for anyone to keep holding. He clenched his jaws as Lily kept tightening her grip. He then noticed that Lily's face looked a little bit different. It had gotten a little pale and her breathing was also unstable.
Leo instinctively moved his hand to Lily's neck and moved away her hair that had rested onto her chest. He noticed that Lily still had her pendant and he decided not to touch it. Just when he was about to lay back her hair, he noticed the scar.
It was just like in his dream. The scar had now slightly darkened and the surrounding area was paler than Lily's general body. He then keenly looked into it and noticed that it was not looking good at all.
Leo knew that they did not have much time and things did not look like they were getting any better. Whatever they were to do, they had to be really fast about it. He knew he had to get Lily out of this place as soon as he could.