Chapter FIFTEEN: Aveyond Escape-TALIA
...
Five months pass...
Time seemed to slowly drift by in the High Realm. Talia had been falling asleep almost every day able to hear Devin calling her from his dreams. He was out of sight and out of reach. She could only hopelessly hear his voice echoing within the swirls of eerie clouds of violet and blues shades. She was unable to get to him in the murky shadows of her Dreamworld because she was not adept at communicating with mortal sleepers yet.
Although for some reason the night before, Talia was able to briefly speak with her grandmother in Elden through her dreams only to find out that she was becoming weak from ailments and old age. Under the horrible distress from such news, Talia grew more depressed. Even with all the extraordinary things happening around her, she felt lonelier than she had ever felt before.
There was one person, however, that she confided on, since Leana was not always the best to turn to as she was mostly unavailable; and Trin was just growing more spiteful towards her with every encounter they had, even speaking badly about her to the Oracle after they would train together. The Oracle, of course, knew better than to listen to Trin's unreasonable complaints; but the Oracle herself was never around unless something was urgent. Only the Sun Priest was within reach whenever she needed.
In a sense, with Aydan, he was always there to help. Like a glimmer of light, Talia was able to sustain some normalcy with the Sun Priest as her friend. Even though he was a little strange with his overly friendly manners and willingness to help all the time, he had become a good friend, and perhaps, her only true friend in the High Realm considering everyone else was much older than them or too far away.
Their friendship had grown significantly since she had arrived. Talia could not help noticing that he was always vying for her attention, and perhaps, also affection in some instances. Aydan would always bring her a pretty flower that he would conjure from a magic spell every afternoon before she would wake up. And when they would visit Vin'aneer, he would get her anything she hinted that she liked, even after she would insist that she didn't need anything.
Nevertheless, he would be there to listen and keep her company when she needed.
...
Talia was heading out into the corridor to visit Aydan in the eastern tower, knowing that he would most likely be back from the Sun Temple by now. She spun around to close her room door, when someone gently covered her eyes from behind.
"Oh my, have I gone blind? Or is this old castle getting even dimmer?" Talia said causally knowing who it was.
"No. Your gorgeous eyes are perfectly fine and the castle is barely lit as always. But I have a surprise for you and cannot bring myself to spoil it!" Aydan said cheerfully as he led her down the corridor.
"Come now, you surprise me all the time, Aydan...I'm not longer susceptible to any surprises because of you. But this one seems very exciting! So do tell before you cause me to trip over into my grave!" Talia exclaimed as she tried not to stumble, unable to see anything in front of her.
"No, you are safe. I will not let you fall into your grave... I would miss you too much," he assured her as they reached the eastern towers. Talia tightly grabbed his arms as he led the way.
"Umm...Where exactly are we going?" Talia asked.
"We're already here!" Aydan replied as he lifted his hands away from her eyes.
Talia saw nothing special about this place. It was a room for potions and spell books, and she had been here many times before to study. She picked up an old parchment on the table with a basic spell written on it.
"Wow, I must say, this is very impressive for a Sun Priest. I've always known you had it in you, to create scroll out of magic," Talia said sarcastically as she looked around for more clues.
"Talia, it is not what's in here that's important. It's something I have been working on since we met... Remember that I am part warlock? Well I have managed to write a spell, specifically for you, the Dreamer."
"What kind of a spell, Aydan?" Talia said a little shocked. She wondered if he had gone too far this time.
"Talia, it is a spell so that I can take you outside the High Realm without risking on waking your sleeping-half in the Dreamworld," Aydan replied almost too excited to say where exactly he was taking her.
"Oh, Aydan, you're kidding, right?" Talia said in disbelief after being told so many times that she couldn't return to her world.
"I'm afraid I will just have to show you if I want you to believe me. I'm taking you to Aveyond," he said and began to recite a spell from memory. The spell seemed to create a kind of shield around her, Talia noticed as the magic enveloped her.
"All right, we can leave now!" he finished the incantation and embraced a speechless Talia as he teleported into light.
Within a fraction of a second, they arrived at their destination.
They were now far from the High Realm and the Dream. They were in Aveyond.
"Aydan?!" Talia gasped, fearful at what could happen next.
"My dear, this is my domain. We are currently inside the Sun Temple!" Aydan said extremely pleased that his spell worked. He had wanted to bring her to the world for so long, especially since she had been so depressed lately. He knew that Aveyond would cheer her up.
"I don't want you to get in trouble for bringing me here. I think we should go back right now."
"Talia, I made sure that no one would know we are gone. Everyone is too busy right now to realize that we're gone."
"But-"
"Ah-ah! No buts," Aydan put his hands on Talia's shoulders and looked into her worried eyes. "Trust me, with the power of the sun at my finger tips, I would never let something bad happen to you. We're safe here as long as you're under my spell."
And without anymore fuss, Talia thanked him. He really meant no harm, she thought; but still she was somewhat in disbelief about what he had accomplished to do just now. She blushed without warning, as he grabbed hold of her hand to take her outside of the temple.
Aveyond was as wonderful as Aydan had explained before so many times in great detail. Full of lush green pastures, blue streams, pink blossom trees, and its giant mushrooms, since it was always spring.
They walked around, looking at the scenery as well as occasionally running into a gryphon or bee that needed to be fought away. Aydan then took her to a small community of cat-like creatures, called Bini, which were very loud but interesting to look at.
He continued to hold Talia's hand throughout their trek until they began to walk back up towards Sun Temple when she pulled hers away. A look of immense sadness fell over Talia's face.
Again?! Aydan thought, troubled. She is thinking about THAT oaf again!
He hated Devin for every bit of agony he had caused her, especially in her dreams where she was most vulnerable. How could she still love him...? He had been a fool to let her go in the first place, Aydan continued to think, angered. He had sworn to himself before that if he ever met Devin he would pay greatly for every tear Talia had shed in his name. But he knew that that day would never come and was grateful for that.
When they finally reached the temple again, after circling back, they sat down on the ancient steps to look out from atop of the hill as Talia suddenly engaged him in conversation.
"Aydan...if you can bring me here to Aveyond, do you think that perhaps you could take me to Thais or Elden?" Talia spoke suddenly realizing that there was possible hope for her to visit Devin or her grandmother.
Aydan's heart sank. He had not thought that he was actually capable of taking her to the places - that in his opinion-she should no longer think about, with the exception of seeing her grandmother. He thought for a moment, not wanting to answer. He did not want to lie to her...He loved her too much to lie, but he would now if it meant that she would try to see that oaf of a bastard again.
"No. I am afraid that I cannot take you anywhere else... Perhaps in the future," Aydan responded nervously.
Luckily, Talia did not seem to notice or ask any further, but he felt guiltless for not telling her the truth.
"Well, we should head back to the High Realm. We have much to do today," he said immediately after, wanting to take her back and away from the world.
They teleported at once.