Ark Kingdom: The Magic Within (Bellarke)

Chapter 7

“So, why are you here?” I ask Bellamy after I can’t take the silence any longer.

“You needed to change and then we got sucked into another world. Now we need water.” He says matter of factly. I can see a smirk on his face.

I shove him lightly with my shoulder. “No, seriously you’re too old to have been in the dungeon.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Come on, Bellamy. You can tell me.”

“We’re not talking about this.” Bellamy tugs his hand away from me and stomps off leaving me to run after him to keep up.

“Hey.” I say, but he doesn’t even acknowledge me. “Hey! Neanderthal! Stop!” I yell after him.

He continues onward. I can see the veil getting closer. Up ahead there is a gap. He suddenly turns toward it and disappears. I rush forward to see the green fog blocking the path. I could have sworn he went this way. I spin around to see where else he could have gone. There’s nowhere else. Where did he go? Did he just walk into the veil?

“Bellamy?” My voice sounds hysterical even to me. “Bellamy? Answer me!”

“Quiet.” He hisses at me. I still can’t see him. The green fog is starting to surround me. My lungs burn from breathing in the toxic air. My skin starts to itch and burn. I try to turn back, but now am cut off from freedom. All around me is the green fog. I wonder why it hasn’t actually touched me yet.

“Ahhhh!” I let out a bloodcurdling scream as something grabs me from behind. I kick and hit as hard as I can, but my arms are being held down to my sides. “Get off of me!”

“Stop, princess. They’ll hear you.” Bellamy’s lips graze my ear as he whispers his warning.

“Who?” I ask. My hands are trembling and my legs have turned to jelly. I’m actually glad that Bellamy is holding me so tightly. If he weren’t I probably would fall over.

“Them.” He shifts me so that one of his hands is free. He points to a little hole that appears in the fog. I see a masked man walk past, then another, and another. There are at least 10 people pacing in front of us.

“How are we in here?”

“It doesn’t matter. Stay quiet.”

“Tell me.”

“Do you want answers or do you want to live?” He growls at me.

I turn myself to face him and he lets me. I look into his eyes and his burn holes into my own. He glances down and then back up so quickly that I’m not sure if it really happened. He leans even closer to me. Our faces are so close that when he closes his eyes I feel the flutter of his eyelashes against my skin. It sends a shiver down my spine. My eyes close and I lean even closer. I think he’s going to kiss me. Our foreheads touch.

“Yes! It worked!” Bellamy shouts shocking me out of my daydream.

“What?” I shake my head trying to understand what’s going on. I push against his chest.

“Wait. Don’t pull back.” Bellamy tugs me close again.

“Bellamy, what is going on?” I ask. Now my anger is starting to bubble up again. I can’t tell if I want to kiss him or punch him.

“We did it again. Look around.” He moves his ungloved hand to my own and turns me around.

I gasp when I see where we are. We’re in a meadow full of wild flowers and chirping birds. There is a little boy playing with an animal. I can’t tell what kind of animal it is yet. It looks like it has scales. The boy has dark, curly hair, tan skin, and bright, blue eyes. I can tell because he is looking right at us. Staring as if he’s seen a ghost.

Before any of us can say a word a little girl skips into the meadow. She has long, blonde hair and deep brown eyes. She freezes when she sees us.

“Sorry, I know I’m not supposed to go off alone. But, Jake,” She glares at the boy, “threw my doll into the forest. I couldn’t leave her out there.”

“Is she talking to us?” Bellamy asks through the side of his mouth.

“I think so. Any idea who they are or where we are?” I ask back. I can’t take my eyes off of the kids. There’s something very familiar about them.

“Aurora! Jake! Time for supper!” A voice yells out from behind us. Before we can turn to see who it is Bellamy drops my hand catapulting us back.

We’re not alone.