"What were you doing in a place like this?" I ask my brother as I move aside a branch that stands in my way.
Kalen and I are making our way through the woods. The sun is setting down making the woods darker and scarier. I still don't understand why my brother would willingly take a walk through the woods in the middle of the night.
"What did you expect me to do if I needed to visit the witch of the mountain making sure no one saw me going there?" He says. Then he adds with a shrug: ''I also like taking walks in the woods.''
"Well, if I didn't know better, I would've said it was lucky you were able to find Sedrik in this eerie place," I say moving another branch out of my way.
''What do you think about all of this?'' he asks after a brief pause. I look at him from the corner of my eye. ''I mean, Sedrik is the Diamond prince, the Deakin, and we are helping him. Don't you feel all of this is...?''
''A lot to take in?'' I finish for him. ''Bizarre? Unexpected? Yes. I do. I still feel this is not real and at some point, we are going to find out all of this was a prank. And I have to believe the worst it can be is a prank because thinking it is a trap... I mean, we are no ones, who would want to get us into a trap?''
''I don't think it's a trap. I believe him, it's just...'' he hesitates for a second, I think I might have an idea of what he is thinking. ''I'm scared,'' he admits.
He doesn't need to explain why. I know. I feel the same way. It is not just the fact that the stories our mom used to tell us were in fact a prophecy, or that we hadn't really been around another human being for a long time because we felt like we were cursed, but the fact that basically, the fate of the world was in our hands was a lot to take in, and we don't have the time to sit down and come to terms with it.
''Me too,'' I whisper. I look back at my brother and take his hand, giving it a little squeeze. He looks at me and I try to smile. ''At least Sedrik seems nice. After all, he is a prince and could be a complete jerk.''
''Good thing we didn't end up with the murderous one.'' Kalen fakes a shiver. I laugh at his words.
My laugh dies off as a familiar feeling start on my chest. The pulling sensation I felt earlier before I bumped into the handsome stranger.
I stop on my tracks, forcing Kalen to stop with me.
''What's wrong?'' he asks in a whisper; he is so used to me having these weird feelings that he already knows something is not alright.
''I don't know,'' I say back in the same way. I look at the trees around us; it is hard to see clearly and the only sound coming from the trees is the leaves moving with the cold wind. The feeling is now gone, and I want to believe it was just my nerves getting the best of me. ''Nothing.'' I finally say. ''Let's go. Sedrik is probably wondering where we are at.''
When we finally arrive at the meeting place, I am too distracted thinking about what happened, and what the unfamiliar feeling could've possibly meant, that I don't immediately realize what is going on right in front of me. It isn't until Kalen speaks that I come out of my own thoughts.
"Bloody mother of dragons!" Kalen sounds terrified.
I follow his gaze and I understand the reason for his frightening. Standing in front of us there is a majestic creature I have only read about in books. A peryton. A gray, deer-like creature with a pair of extensive and strong white wings, and a long feathery tail.
Perytons are supposed to be a myth. They are not supposed to be real, and yet there is one standing right in front of us. Kalen and I stand frozen in front of it.
"Maybe if we don't move it won't notice we are here," Kalen whispers taking my arm, pulling me closer to his side. I hold my breath.
"You don't need to be scared," Sedrik's voice comes from the peryton's back as he jumps to the ground, landing gracefully in front of us. "This is Atla. He is harmless unless I order him otherwise.'' He says simply. Kalen and I look at each other, swallowing. ''Say hello to my friends."
The peryton looks at Sedrik for a second, then he lowers his head as if inviting us to come forward and pet him. I look at my brother whose eyes are still locked in the creature, I know he won't move. I take a step forward, but his grip tightens on me.
"What are you doing? "He sounds nervous and I can almost feel his fear.
"Sedrik said he is harmless,'' I tell him releasing my arm from his hand. ''Besides, unless you want to walk all the way to the Sapphire Kingdom, you'll have to get used to him." And before he can stop me again, I walk towards Atlas.
I walk slowly, extending my arm in front of me keeping my palm up, as I carefully touch Atlas's nose. His eyes find mine as he lets out a soft snort.
"Come on, Kalen, we have to leave now." Sedrik urges my brother before turning and helping me mount Atlas.
My brother swallows as he walks towards us, hesitantly. Rolling his eyes, Sedrik lifts his hand and with a simple movement creates a small air swirl that pushes Kalen forward. He trips over his feet, his body crashing straight to Atlas's chest.
Before Kalen has time to process his panic, Sedrik hurries to lift him up from the ground just as he did with me. My brother lands right behind me and rounds my body with his arms.
"Hey, you don't have to crush my organs!" I complain moving my body away from him, forcing him to relax his grip. "Where are we going now?" I ask as Sedrik lands in front of me. He looks back at me with a smile on his face.
"We will visit an old friend.'' He says. ''She lives not far from here."
"And who exactly is this friend?" I feel Kalen's breath behind my ears. I move away from him a little, I don't really want him spitting on my neck.
''You'll see, I am sure she will be of great help,'' Sedrik says cryptically before patting a side of Atlas's neck. ''Let's fly!''
I don't have time to get ready for what is going to happen. One moment we are safe on the solid ground and the next one we are going up to the sky at high speed. The air hitting my face as daggers; it is cold and damp and I feel as if I can fall at any moment. I clasp my arms around Sedrik's body. Kalen tightens his grip on me. Sedrik looks back at us with a smile on his face and I feel his chest moving up and down rapidly as he laughs.
Once we are up high in the sky Sedrik asks Atlas to lower his speed. I look to the ground, amazed by how everything looks smaller. I can see some houses in the city and the immense forest around it. The Diamond Palace in the distance glows under the moonlight, maybe somewhere inside those walls, the Fire Queen is planning her next move. Is she still in there? Or did she go back to her own kingdom after destroying Sedrik's home? What is she planning on doing next?
I move my gaze to Sedrik in front of me. He keeps his eyes to the front, and I wonder if he is purposely avoiding looking back. I can't imagine what he is going through right now. Losing everyone he cares about in the same night, losing his kingdom, and carrying the responsibility of saving the whole world nonetheless, without having any time to mourn, I can't begin to understand how he can do it.
I try to let those thoughts go as I look down. Even with all the losses, the world keeps looking beautiful.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Sedrik's voice interrupts my thoughts, I didn't notice when he started looking back at me.
"Amazing," I say looking down again. I hear a slight moan and remember Kalen is behind me. I have to make sure he hasn't died of a heart attack.
"How are you doing?" I ask looking over my shoulder. He looks really bad as if he were about to throw up.
"Wonderful," he mutters. "Better than walking over the safe and not at all dangerous ground," he adds sarcastically.
"If you relax you could enjoy it more." I laugh. "Come on, look down, everything looks beautiful."
I look back down one last time. The city and the palace are way behind us, now we are flying away from the forest, over the mountains. Above us, the stars are shining brightly with the moon, and it is the most beautiful thing I have seen in a long time. It makes me feel complete and peaceful, and I have to enjoy this feeling while it lasts, because I know this is the calm before the storm, and something tells me I won't get many of these moments after tonight.