leap of faith (Completed)

chapter 11

                         Evyana woke up, her head heavy due to a change in her sleep schedule . The sun was about to set she walked out and headed downstairs to see Adrian asleep on the couch, she didn’t disturb him, he deserved the rest.

The sound of the refrigerator closing , brought her to the kitchen, where she found an almost embarrassed Theo , with what looked like a sandwich. Smiling , she walked upto him, to fix it . “ I just felt immensely hungry .” he spoke next to her.

“ It’s fine. Eat all you want , you’ve been wounded pretty bad.” she told him. “hey , you’ve been holding up fine for someone who had deep gnashes just last night.”

At the raise in his eyebrows , “ I saw it in my dream , the whole attack and the way you were brought here, the lightning flash. I was there. That’s how I found you .” she explained handing him the sandwich.

“ I feel fine, and no this isn’t my machismo , I really do , I’ll show you after I eat .” he told her as he started gorging on his sandwich , he seemed pretty hungry so she made him another one and waited for him to finish .

She placed the dish in the sink and turned around to find him shirtless , good thing she’d already taken care of the plate or it would’ve dropped. At her astonished look, he chuckled , he seemed to know the effect he had on her. Miles of ivory skin with taught muscles on display , his body seemed to be carved out of marble , he looked like he could pick her up and scale the stairs ten times without breaking a sweat. It would’ve been difficult to bring her attention to the task at hand, if not for the bandages.

The bandages around his torso and on his arm and one on his thigh , reminded her of the wounds , as deep as they were, she knew she should have dressed them twice by now , but the bandages seemed fine and the man in question seemed in no pain . “ As far as I know , people in Eirlys do heal at a normal speed , don’t they?” she asked as she walked up to him and started removing the bandages. He stood patiently as she undid the one on his arm.

“ Yes they do. I’m as surprised as you, about healing this quick .” he admitted when the bandage was completely removed they saw that it was just a scar , the wound seemed like it’d been inflicted weeks ago instead of last night.

Both of them looked at each other with equal states of surprise. Each seemed to wonder about it , as they took off the rest of the bandages . We should get you into something warmer, your clothes must be clean and dried up by now and you can borrow my hoodie she told him as she headed upstairs , he followed, they both sat in her room after he’d changed.

“ Tell me about Eirlys .” she asked.

Theo sat silently for a while , he wondered were to begin. He hadn’t read her book and didn’t know what she knew , so he just started at the beginning , he’d never had to describe Eirlys to anyone before ,” It’s a magical land , without magic.” He started .

Evyana knew as much , but why , she didn’t know , she raised her eyes and he continued with a smile, he knew she was impatient. “ Magic was free flowing in Eirlys , during the king Bronimirs reign , he was the father of Dragomir the present ruler. Eirlys was peaceful then, until Cadoc betrayed Bronimir , he was the kings trusted advisor and a close friend and also a powerful magic wielder. He had started extracting magic from other magical creatures behind the kings back , magical creatures like fairies , mermaids , unicorns. Eirlys has many magical creatures , but these were the most docile back then and hadn’t seen such deception and cruelty coming from a source so close to the crown. The king found out and eventually tossed Cadoc out. It was too late by then , and Cadoc had become extremely powerful , none of the other magic wielders could compete , not even the king himself. Cadoc was pretty close to overthrowing the king so his trusted advisors brought him a solution , one that brought Eirlys to its current state . The king knew the consequences would be dire, the spell he’d used was destroyed immediately after and the king gained what he wanted , power to defeat Cadoc. Defeat him he did, but not in the way he’d expected. The price that came with it, took the kings life , along with magic from entire Eirlys , and Cadoc disappeared. The aftermath left the entire kingdom in chaos . Dragomir was crowned king and had to take his father’s place, he brought order to the kingdom , even without magic , he was a regal , fair ruler , the magical creatures lived in peace under his reign. When all seemed at peace , the attacks started again. Dragomir and his knights tried their best to stop them, but the creature hunts began again , in the time Eirlys was in peace, Cadoc was building an army of his own , with the most vile creatures and had found magic wielders who agreed to his ways to extract magic. It was rumored that the source had retreated somewhere , no one could find , still in Eirlys . Cadocs assassins and his army had been on the look out for it, but couldn’t find it no matter how hard they’d tried. With the increasing frequency of attacks , Eirlyians had no choice, but learn to defend themselves. During all this , the queen had birthed a still born , so there’s no heir to the throne , but Dragomir and the entire kingdom , still fights everyday. To keep Cadoc at bay, we all know a huge battle is coming , we’ve prepared for it our entire lives , but we don’t know if we’d survive.” He ended his story, all this while Evyana listened carefully , hanging on to every word of his. 

                              “ I had a dream where I saw Dorian narrate a story to you as a child , I assume he was speaking of the source? No one’s found it? But it does exist?” she asked her curiosity apparent , she wasn’t a believer of magic , her family had their own fair share of skeletons in the closet, one’s she was ashamed to even acknowledge so she’d always ignored them, but she did believe there was something wrong with her mother’s lineage, it seemed to her they were cursed.

                 

                                 Everything that was happening now though, she experienced first hand and now, magic didn’t seem too far fetched of a fantasy. “ He’d told me that legend often, as a child it seemed comforting to me. Belief that magic still exists somewhere, a confirmation , that all will be fine if it’s brought back. People tried looking for it ours and Cadocs alike , but no one even came close.

               It’s like, the source decided we’re not worthy and retreated somewhere it can’t be found. I can only hope it finds someone worthy , before the final battle to save all our fates.” he looked defeated, Evyana had seen him , in battles and she’d seen him fight like a god amongst men, the same man sat next to her, his enigmatic persona now replaced by that of a scared child seeking comfort . She wasn’t so good at that and though they’ve been connected through their dreams, she didn’t want to cross any line. “ Hey, you’ll figure out a way. It’ll be fine.” She said knocking her shoulder against his. He smiled at her optimism.

            “ We’ll help you figure it out too, as much as we can and we still have to find a way to get you back to Eirlys.” Her voice seemed to dwindle at the end at the implication of her last words.

They knew he’d have to go back, but acknowledging it still seemed disheartening . They’d just found each other and neither wanted to let go just yet. They sat in silence as the night took over, the waning moon seemed to reflect their somber mood.