Tamed

Chapter 37. True Love

The way she effortlessly glided down the magnificent beast and patted its rough  flaky skin lovingly, it gave him goosebumps. Her legs wounded, hands cut and bruised, tear stricken cheeks, tangled hairy mess hanging behind her, everything was overshadowed by her big blue orbs which twinkled with hope and determination. She came limping to them, staring each of them with wide eyes and then his brown met with her ocean blue ones before she collapsed into his arms.

"You all right?" Aiden's deep voice brought charlie back into reality. The fire flickered, giving them warmth on the cold windy night. It was hours after sunset and they had found refuge in a small cave far away from the tribal settlements. Alzena made sure they were unseen and uncaught by her people. Amara, a trusted friend of hers had accompanied them to the cave. Alzena was tending to Natlaie's wounds inside and the boys waited outside, munching on the dinner which they had hunted and cooked.

Charlie cleared his throat "Y..Yes I am fine" and mustered a fake smile.

"She will make it through anything" Aiden assured him with a smile, placing his hand on Charlie's shoulder.

"That she will" Charlie nodded "That's a fact" he added, smiling.

"This is delicious" Owen spoke, stifling a burp and caressing his stomach.

"This one is always thinks about food" Aiden remarked "And that's another fact" he chuckled.

"Whatever guys" Owen rolled his eyes  indifferently "Imma gonna take a nap" he said lying down beside the fire, pulling his cloak over his face. The next minute they heard snores.

Charlie and Aiden went inside to check on their friend. Alzena and her friend Amara were seated on either side of Natalie, who was holding a wooden bowl in her hand, probably drinking soup made from fresh herbs.  It seemed like they were engaged in a funny conversation because they were laughing hysterically.  Nat winced as she clutched her wounded torso.

"Careful" A word inadvertently skipped Charlie's mouth.

"Don't worry Weasley, pain never pains me anymore" she grinned at him.

"It's always easy to say but pain is pain" he corrected, as he sat opposite to them on a rock

"Your friend here is recovering fast. I have made sure of that" Alzena assured him. "In a weak all these wounds will be healed"

"But before tomorrow's sunrise you have to leave this place" Amara told him. There was panic in her crimson eyes.

Aiden's heart sank at the mention of leaving the Carpathian mountains. The real reason of their trip to the mountains hit him like violent waves of the ocean. "Can ..Can we talk Alzena?" Aiden asked, looking at Alzena.

"Sure Aiden, let's take a walk, shall we?" she smiled and walked out of the cave, Aiden following her.

It was freezing cold outside.  Aiden's hands found the warmth of his pockets as he walked. It was then he realized that Alzena, in her thin sleeveless clothing was totally unaffected.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked, keeping up with her pace.

"Yes" she admitted.

"Then how come you are not shivering in that dress?" he asked curiously.

"Got used to it, I guess?"  she smiled.

"Do you want my coat?" he offered.

"No. But Thank you"she acknowledged his chivalry.

Silence lingered in the darkness. Howls and hoots could be heard in distance.

"Nothing affects us unless we let it, you know?"

"What?" Aiden was clueless for a second.

"Cold, pain, anger, sadness, disappointments.. It's all just a state of mind and these all affect us and sometimes overpower us only because we let them, because deep inside we want them to affect us"

"Maybe that's true on some level" Aiden shrugged "But honestly I have never thought it that way"

"Natalie is a pure soul" Alzena suddenly went off topic "She doesn't let anything affect her life's purpose" Alzena told him as they continued strolling in the darkness.

"Life's purpose?What does that mean?"Aiden asked knitting his eyebrows.

"We have all got a purpose in life Aiden. We  all do. You, me , everyone. We come to this world to achieve that sole purpose and whatever stands in the way becomes secondary" Alzena explained.

"hem hem" Aiden cleared his throat before asking "Even love?" 

"Love is the basis of life, Aiden, but at the same time it is the most complex emotion" 

"How come?" This was like always, beyond comprehension for Aiden. But it was important that he understood this particular aspect of what she was saying.

"Have you experienced love, Aiden?"

"Umm.. yes I guess" Aiden's cheeks flushed.

"See? You aren't sure. Doesn't that make it a complex emotion? Because we are always unsure when it comes to love"

"No.. I mean yes" Aiden swiftly corrected. Alzena smiled at him.

"Love drives people crazy, love makes people blind, love makes people suffer" she said.

"Because it's true love" Aiden said.

"No. It's quite the opposite. It's because people don't know what love in the purest form is"

"Purest form of love?"

"Yes the unconditional love. When you love a person  because you find them attractive or because you are close to them or your interests match, or because the person has done something for you which made you fall in love with them, or because you can picture a life together with that person, it simply cannot be qualified as unconditional" she explained.

"Then what does?"

"When an infinite emotion of love comes from within, when it chokes you to the point where you think that your future would be sheer emptiness without that other person, when you are ready to let go of anything including the person you unconditionally love, solely for their own sake. When there is no me and you and just 'us', it is unconditional love" Alzena's eyes twinkled. "Aiden, most of the times, we humans err in our judgments when it comes to love. We get attracted to each other very easily and construe it as true love, but that's just not it. True love is really hard to find"

"Then how do you know if it is true love or not?" he asked

"It is easy. If  you can picture yourself moving on in life and falling in love once again it isn't true love"

An owl hooted from the branch above.

"I think we should get going" Aiden said, and started walking back to the cave. Alzena mutely followed him. They saw the fire dying down to embers.

"Aiden?" Alzena suddenly called him from behind. Aiden stopped on his tracks and looked back his shoulder.

"Yes?" he asked

"I would never fit in your world" she said, in a voice only loud enough for him to hear.

"I know" he replied and continued walking.

It didn't kill him to let go of the emotion that he felt for Alzena. He knew she felt something for him too. And she knew what exactly he feels for her. And maybe like what Alzena said,  in their life's purpose, their love was only secondary.