Ark Kingdom: The Magic Within (Bellarke)

Chapter 6

“Bellamy!” I call out as I grip my throbbing arm. Pain shoots up to my shoulder with every step I take. I can see the veil close to me so I know whatever happened is over. For me. Looking around I don’t recognize where I am. There are tall rough surfaces surrounding me.

“Bellamy!” I yell again as I stumble over the uneven ground. I grab the edge of a cliff with my good arm and step into cracks trying to pull myself up. If I can get to high ground maybe I’ll be able to see him. With my hurt arm dangling off to my side I have to jump for each foot hold. Then I lean against the cliff so that I can raise my arm to another handhold. After the third jump my hand is slippery from sweat.

I just have to go up about one meter before my head will be able to peek over the edge. Then I will hopefully be able to pull myself up. I have my feet positioned and lean against the rock. All of a sudden the ground shifts and I can’t hold myself up as my feet slip out from under me. I fall backwards. I scream and slam into something much softer than stone.

“Princess, it seems I came at just the right time.” Bellamy smirks down at me.

“I was doing just fine on my own, thank you.” He gently slides me down so my feet are on the ground but he keeps a hold of me. I look at his hands and see that his gloves are back on. His eyes follow mine.

“I landed right by our stuff. I grabbed my pack and came to find you. I’ve been looking for an hour.” He says.

“What happened?” I ask, not wanting to say any of it out loud.

“I have no idea. We’ve both lost our minds I think.” He looks me in the eye and gives me a tight hug and whispers in my ear so quietly that I can barely hear him. “I thought you were gone.”

I yelp in pain as the force of his hug makes my arm ignite with pain. The adrenaline from climbing has worn off so I can feel the dislocated joint again.

“You’re hurt. Here.” He lets go and touches my arm. “This will hurt, but then it will be better. Ready?”

“Yes.”

“On the count of three.”

“Okay.”

“1…” Pop! He yanks my arm so that it slides back into place.

“You said three!” I say sternly, but the smile on my face takes away from the anger in my voice. I hit his arm gently with my open hand.

“It’s better if you don’t expect it yet. And now you’re better.”

I swing my arm and massage the shoulder with my other hand. “So, where are we?”

“We’re far away from where we need to be. I’m sure the others are making camp already. We should do the same. Then we can start fresh at first light.” He pulls his pack off of his back.

“Wait. We’ll camp?” My eyes widen. “Just us?” I’ve never been alone with a boy besides Wells, let alone a man overnight.

“Got a problem with it?” Bellamy raises his eyebrow in challenge.

I straighten my back and stand tall. “No, of course not.”

“Don’t worry, princess. I don’t bite, usually.” He winks.

“Did you bring the clothes? I still need to change.” I say primly.

“Here.” He chucks the cloth at me.

“Thank you.” My voice is cold with annoyance and fear. We still haven’t talked about what happened and I don’t think I want to.

“Let me untie your dress again. Monty sure knows how to tie knots.” Bellamy brushes my hair to hang over my shoulder again. I can feel his gloved hands fumble with the knots.

“Do you want me to hold your gloves?” I ask.

“No, last time that didn’t go so well. Ah! There we go.” I feel the pressure on my next loosen as he pulls the knot out.

“Thank you.” I pull my arms out of the dress while holding it against my chest still. I can feel his eyes burning into my bare back. “Bellamy, turn around.”

I pull the tunic over my head and somehow manage to pull it over me without letting the dress drop. After I have the tunic situated I step out of the dress. Before I can turn around Bellamy has picked up the dress and is rolling it up.

“We should hold onto this. You know, for when you meet the Mountain Kingdom. It seemed important.”

“If it’s real. It was most likely a dream. We’re just thirsty and hungry.” I try to explain it away.

“No. It was real. I know it. I’ve never had a dream feel so real.”

“What caused it then?”

“I think it was us. It’s like your healing. When we touched we were sent somewhere. When I lost hold of you I lost you and we were sent back.”

“That’s crazy.”

“If you don’t believe me grab my hand.”

He slowly pulls off his glove by tugging at each finger and then sliding it off. He holds his hand out to me. I don’t want to believe what’s going on, but I also don’t want it to happen again if I touch his hand. I stay back.

“I’m going to go get us some water. There’s a river just a little ways back. I’ll be back soon. Stay here.”

“No!” I don’t want to be alone.

“Fine, come with me but let’s go. It’s almost dark. I don’t want to be wandering around without light.” He pulls his pack onto his back and starts back the way I assume he came from.

“Bellamy?” I say on a whisper.

            “Princess.” He whispers back. As if reading my mind he holds his gloved hand out to me and I take a hold of it.