Author's Notes: I am really sorry for the long wait! But the second chapter is here!
He was chasing her and so she ran across the glade and towards her tree, towards the place where it all began.
Even from afar, she already caught a sight of the number of red fruits hanging from her tree.
Ready to be pluck and eaten.
She hoped it was just as crisp and sweet as she remembered it.
"Must you always play these kinds of games in the early hours of the morning, dark heart?" The voice of the one chasing her rang out through the vast glade.
She glanced behind her to see a tall figure pursuing her.
"Yes, of course. I like the sight of you getting all cranky this early in the morning. It makes my day all the more brighter," she called right back while she continued to run barefooted.
"So come and get me, you grumpy elf!" she added, laughing.
She was nearing her tree while her other half chased after her.
It didn't take long before he finally caught up to her. Her other half came from a race who had superior speed, strength and among other things. So of course, it didn't come as a surprise when she felt him drawing close. Then, without warning, she was swiftly grabbed from behind by a leanly muscled arm wrapped around her waist right before she could even hide behind her tree.
"Have you already forgotten what today is?" He asked her in a voice barely above a whisper as he placed his mouth close to the shell of her ear.
A pleasant shiver ran up her spine when he drew her body close to his tall, masculine frame.
Leaning back against him, she replied, "How can I ever forget? Today marks the day when we were born, is it not?"
"Yes,"
She turned in his arms to look at him. Then, she reached out to cup his face and meet his golden eyes with her solemn ones. She watched as he leaned into her touch with a look of pure love and tenderness.
"How can I ever forget the day when my fate became aligned with yours? Why won't I remember the day when the stars birth you, as the earth and tree bore me into existence? You were born to be mine as I am yours, as you have often told me. 'As above, so below', are we not?"
"Yes," was her other half's only answer while he tightened his hold around her slim figure.
"Then, you mustn't question me if I remembered today. I will always remember the day how we came to be," She said to him.
"But what if one day you will forget? What if...a thousand years from now, you won't remember me at all or - "
"Hush, dear heart," She interrupted by pressing the tip of her finger across his lips.
"You mustn't worry too much. I promised I won't forget all about you. After all, you are my star, even when my mind grows dark and loses all my memories, your light will shine through where I know you will guide me back home. You are my midnight star. Remember that," She tried to assure him. "However, if it ever happens, I know you will find a way to make me remember somehow. Hence, you must stop worrying too much, my love. You can even forge a key to unlock my memories, if you must."
"I apologize if you think I worry too much over nothing," He said. "Nonetheless, you are only mor -"
He suddenly lapsed into silence. Despite his abrupt pause, she knew what her other half was about to say.
"I know I am mortal, but we both know that I am no ordinary mortal. I may be born human but I have something that no other humans have," She reminded him with a sad smile on her lips. "I may age and die someday, but my life will cycle repeatedly so long as you are alive."
"It is cruel for you to be born with a short life while I can live for thousands of years," Her other half whispered to her as he pressed his forehead against hers. "I can't bear to be parted from you. This cycle of losing and waiting for you will certainly be excruciating..."
"It is the way it is," she tells him as she leaned forward to press a soft kiss on his lips. He responded by moulding his lips firmly into hers.
Afterward, she broke their kiss and said, "I am born under the same star as you are. My soul and destiny is tethered to yours. There is no escaping it."
She stepped out of her husband's warm embrace with every intention to change the subject.
"But let us not dwell more on this, dear husband." She says to him as she move to a low-lying branch where she then plucked the red fruit from her tree.
"Now, come here and have a taste of this, Aaravos." She said to him with a large grin.
"What is it with you and your apples, Elarion?" Aaravos asked in a voice tinged with obvious amusement.
In response, Elarion just laughed softly while she tucked a lock of black and white hair behind her ear. Her emerald eyes twinkling with mischief.
"This is the first time I have heard of this spell….Are you sure this is going to work?" Claudia asked while she looked up at the Startouch elf on the other side of the mirror.
She watched as a smirk appeared on the elf's handsome face and Claudia couldn't help but stare at him with her lips slightly parted.
"Are you truly doubting me now, dark heart?" was Aaravos' response as he leaned forward, where he pinned Claudia with those mesmerizing golden eyes of his.
Flustered beyond comprehension, Claudia couldn't stop the heat that spread across her face when that word of endearment passed through the mysterious elf's lips.
"I don't even know if I should trust you," was Claudia's honest admission.
She didn't understand the reason the elf had started calling her 'Dark Heart' or even 'Elarion' which she learned was some kind of otherworldly tree that had gone extinct. A beautiful, glowing tree that was said to have blossomed from the site of a fallen star thousands and thousands of years ago.
Or so what Aaravos had told her.
"Might I ask the reason for your sudden hesitation to trust me?" Aaravos asked while a crease formed between his pale brows.
"I tried searching for your name in the library, you know…." Claudia informed the Startouch elf instead, whose eyes instantly narrowed at her and she couldn't help but fidget nervously on the spot, " - but for whatever reason, the pages bled into inky blackness when I tried to read it. Now, I am unable to decipher the foreigh words that were written in the books."
"I see…" Aaravos muttered. "As can be expected, Avizandum had made certain to keep the truth of my imprisonment from anyone who might seek to free me from this magic mirror."
"Can you explain to me why the Dragon King would go to great lengths in trying to keep anyone from knowing your whereabouts and freeing you?" Claudia asked curiously.
She knew that the Startouch elf was someone dangerous. However, despite her senses warning Claudia to thread carefully around him, there was also something familiar about the elf. Something that called out to her that Claudia couldn't help but throw caution to the wind and just follow what her inner self wanted to do, like letting the Startouch elf out from the magic mirror.
"Tell me, young mage. What goes around your head when you look at me right now? Do you think I present a danger to you and your family if you agree to free me from my prison?" was Aaravos' question while completely ignoring her inquiry.
"I don't really know," She bit her lip and she briefly noted how the elf glanced at her lips before his eyes flashed back to meet her emerald orbs once more.
Heat pooled at the pit of her stomach when she caught sight of something dark - and almost ravenous - lurking beneath the elf's golden eyes.
"That's not really an answer, dark heart…" Aaravos said softly with his eyes remained fixed intently on her face, which in turn made Claudia lick her suddenly dry lips .
When the Startouch elf caught her movement, his gaze seemed to intensify as her pink tongue darted out to moisten her lips.
"I - ugh - am. No, I -" she stuttered while the blush on her face darkened all the more.
"Answer me this, young mage," Aaravos cut through her embarrassed blabbering. "Do you accept our deal to free me from my prison or not?"
Claudia stared at the elf for a long moment before finally making a decision.
Straightening up her spine, she pretended to be confident of her decision when she actually wasn't.
She was still uncertain if she was making the right choice.
"I will free you from your prison, but only on one condition." Claudia said to the elf.
Once again, an amused smirk graced the elf's features after she said this. And yet again, Claudia was at a loss in how to respond.
"Go on," Aaravos prompted and Claudia was more than happy to oblige.
Let's get this over with, She thought while she said, "So long as you behave once you are free. I don't want you to cause trouble or harm anyone."
After voicing out her condition, the elf arched a brow at her, "Do you take me for a child that you have to ask me to behave when I become free? You do know that I am five thousands years older than you are, yes?"
"Five thousa -" Claudia gasped in shock, her hand flying over her mouth.
Aaravos simply chuckled at her reaction, "Yes, I am as old as the star that blazes upon my birth. So you have no worries about properly conducting myself in human society once I am free. If you worry about me harming anyone for that matter, then rest assured that I won't raise a hand on anyone without your permission. You have my word on this, Claudia."
Claudia didn't even realize that her nerves were strung like creeper vines until Aarvos' vow seemed to loosen the tension that had built up between her shoulder blades.
"Then, we have a deal. I will free you from your prison, so long as you abide by our agreement that you will lend me your aid and knowledge of the dark arts to help the entire human kingdoms and give them a fighting chance against the might of the Elven armies from Xadia." She said.
"Done," was Aaravos' smooth reply. "Now, why don't you start the spell, young mage?"
Claudia simply nodded her head and did as instructed.
Soon, she started the spell that would finally free Aaravos from the magic mirror that had been his prison for three hundred years.
Author's Notes: Thank you so much for reading and those who reviewed on my last chapter. Anyway, I hope you check out the cover edits and Claudia and Aaravos .gif that I made for this fic. The links are in my profile. You can also read the story in my AO3 account where I imbedded the images there.