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.
Hours elapsed and it was already dawn. Leo was the first to open his eyes and the first thing he wanted to do was check on Lily. Lily was still asleep and holding him lightly. Leo noticed that she had already let go of his wrist and the tight grip had left a visible mark on him.
He realized that Lily was breathing softly and as much as he did not want to wake her, he had to. "Lily, Lily....wake up, we have to get going," Leo whispered softly. Lily opened her eyes after hearing a voice wake her up.
She raised her head to look at the face that was very close to hers. Lily registered the face quickly and slowly pulled away from him. She had fallen asleep by the log as she remembered. But now she was in Leo's arms when she was just waking up.
"Let's be on our way then," Lily added in a weak voice. She then tried getting up and almost staggered. Leo saw her struggle and quickly moved close to her in order to support her. Leo held onto her and held onto her waist, putting one of her hands across his neck.
Lily paused and looked at Leo who did not seem to change his mind about what he just did, " you are getting weaker and we need to be fast," Leo uttered beginning to help Lily walk. "The shell," Lily pointed onto the ground next to the log.
Leo bent a little and stretched out his hand to reach out for the shell that was lying on the ground next to the log. Lily then frowned looking at Leo, " where did you get that?" She inquired staring at Leo's wrist that had marks on it, those that resembled hand prints from a tight grip.
Leo picked up the shell and looked at Lily as he rose up. "Oh this... I kinda hurt myself a little last night when I was practicing.. some guardian stuff", Leo fumbled all through the answer. He then supported Lily once more and began walking ahead.
Lily's mind seemed like it hadn't settled as she still had a disturbed look on her face. "You know I had a very weird dream last night, and I could have sworn that it was that exact side of you hand," Lily continued as she stared at Leo's arm.
Leo suddenly got alarmed, " and what exactly happened in your dream? Did you by any chance appear to be somewhere in particular? Like your house or the town or maybe by the beach?"
"I was here, in this forest...," Lily hesitated and continued, " I was standing right here at this exact place, but a little bit over there," she pointed her finger towards the very exact spot that Leo saw her standing on in his dream.
"Wait, how then did you manage to talk about my wrist?" Leo followed up now even more intrigued. "Lily what exactly did you see?" He asked seriously. Leo had a feeling that something was very off at that moment and he had the oddest feeling about how they might have just coincidentally had the same dream with Lily.
"I stood right there," Lily pointed again at the same direction and continued, "you were facing me and you spoke to me but I couldn't hear you, then I also said something but I can't remember what it was. The next thing I remember is holding your wrist, I think I gripped it quite firmly.
After that I didn't see anything else because you suddenly blinked and it was dark all around me but I still held onto you wrist because I could still feel it. You were still there, I just couldn't see any other thing and I did not want to let go because I had this feeling that I could have sunk into the darkness too." Lily explained with a lost look in her eyes.
Leo was beyond shocked at this point. He tried to process everything that Lily was just telling him that instant and the possibility of them having the same dream. How could that even be possible? How was it that he kept seeing her? Leo really struggled to make sense of the coincidence.
"I had the same dream," Leo uttered after being silent for a few seconds. Lily was equally shocked. She too wondered how any of that could be possible. "What do you mean you had the same dream?" Lily inquired anxiously.
"You see in my dream, everything you're saying happened. Except for the part where you couldn't hear anything, because I could hear everything. You actually gripped my wrist and when I woke up you still fastened your grip.
What I don't understand is why, why that kind of a dream and why so vivid. How could it even be possible?" Leo wondered out loud. He looked at Lily who could also not get a hang of anything and seemed equally confused. He imagined how it must be very strange to Lily especially because Lily did not have any in-built magic in her. He thought that Lily was probably more spooked than him for that reason.
"We should get going," Lily voiced. They then resumed heading out and Lily showed Leo how to use the shell since she was too weak to keep lifting it. They kept going deep into the woods for a while and kept hearing strange sounds that were probably of magical creatures that existed in those woods.
After being silent all through, Lily decided to speak, "you mentioned being able to hear what we said in the dream, yeah?" Lily asked, filled with curiosity. "That's right," Leo answered. "What was I asking or telling you because I can't quite remember anything since I could not hear anything at all," Lily inquired.
Leo did not want to tell her what it was actually about because he knew Lily was very sensitive when it came to her pendant and that it was very precious to her. He knew that the dream they had was not just anything or nothing, it meant something or it was trying to send a message.
"What do you remember that was strange to you?" Leo asked Lily, trying to ensure that he did not make an unnecessary lie. He did not want to make a risk where Lily perhaps could remember some of the things well and maybe even be able to place them together if she really gave a deeper concentration.
"Well now I just remembered saying something to you and turning to my side to look at something but I can't remember what it was. Leo gave a sigh after listening to Lily. He was relieved that she did not remember everything as it was.
He was trying so hard not to tell Lily about the whole dream and that strange chilling energy he felt still lingering over them even after he woke up. He really didn't want her to get mixed up in his side of the world because it was very dangerous.
"Huh? Leo?" He was shaken back by Lily's voice. "It was a coyote, you were actually very scared of the coyote that you ran towards me," Leo answered, trying to hide his embarrassment. Lily got even more embarrassed after hearing what Leo just said.
"Oh," Lily added trying to brush away that topic as fast as she could. Just when the mood was about to go back to the silence that it had before, Leo suddenly halted. He held out the shell again and saw something that was slightly different from what he was seeing before.
Before,the shell just enabled them to sense the right direction they were to follow and where to turn. But now, Leo had began seeing plants, small plants growing out of nowhere and marking where they had to follow. The plants grew very fast and the moment they went past it, it wilted and disappeared completely.
"I think we are getting close to whichever place we have to be at. Lily also witnessed what Leo was talking about and her hopes finally rose again and she had a feeling that they might just be in time to be able to get to her grandmother and finally put an end to that spell.
Leo and Lily kept going for a few hours and they finally stopped immediately when the path had stopped indicating itself. Lily took the shell from Leo and decided to put it down on the ground and follow what the witch told her back then. "I hope this works," she uttered with uncertainty. She however had a feeling that the witch could not lie to her.
"Lily look at that," Leo signaled Lily who was still staring at the shell on the ground. Lily rose her head and before them, was small wooden stairs that had only two steps. Beyond the steps was a vast space that ran a few meters deeper and between that space was something that looked like a never ending abyss.
A voice suddenly sounded from around Lily and Leo, "what a perfect surprise! Visitors for me! What a delightful day!" The figure appeared before them. Leo and Lily both stared in an untimely surprised look, "is that a..."Leo hesitated as he looked at the creature still. "A gnome, yes it is," Lily answered, her gaze also still fixed on it.
"What do you seek beyond my esteemed guests?" The gnome asked with a keen interest. Leo looked at Lily and realized that she wasn't willing to disclose that information. "With the shell you can grant us safe passage, am I right?" Lily asked the gnome.
"That is very true pretty lady," The gnome answered Lily looking keenly at her. "Very well then, take what we owe you and let us through," Lily added.
"Lily took out the shell and handed it to the gnome. The gnome seeing Lily holding out her hand and presenting the shell to him, he excitedly dashed towards her and snatched it quickly out of her hand.
"Have a nice adventure out there," the gnome uttered with a little chuckle. He then picked out what looked like dust from a tiny jar that appeared out of nowhere, and sprinkled it on the wooden steps.
A massive bridge suddenly began materializing out of thin air and in no time at all, it had already connected to the other end that could be seen a few meters ahead. The bridge dangled between the space firmly as it reached to the other end that looked very different from the side of the forest that Leo and Lily went in at the moment.