Lovers End

Chapter Five: Part Four

Emeric was frightened during his first flight too, when his father first took him up, but there was no better way to learn than by being thrown off the deep end. Emeric couldn't help but laugh at her accusations.

Emeric kept a tight hold on her to ensure she wouldn't fall. "You're alright, darling," he soothed.

"You can't possibly know that!" She called out over the sound of Skylore's wings. It was rough at first, feeling the jolts of the beast trying to gain height.

Soon, Skylore evened out, keeping their formation as they soared through the sky along with the breeze. Placing his hand on her abdomen, he pulled her closer against his chest.

"Oh, but I do know... I've got you." He had lowered his head a little so his lips were close to her ear, breathing her in mixed with the clean air.

"Open your eyes," he said in a calm voice.

This was insane, no matter what he said. Even in her fear, slowly she opened one eye, then the other followed, taking in a sharp breath at the beautiful view all around her. "Woah..."

He smiled, seeing the wonder in her eyes as she opened them. The sun would be setting soon. He hated that their time together never seemed to be enough. For now, he focused on being present with her. With a pull of the reins, Skylore leaned towards the west, flying towards the other mountains that surrounded their Kingdom.

She let out a laugh, leaning back into him comfortably. As they flew through a set of clouds, she reached out daringly to touch one, but it just felt like air. "Interesting..." She mumbled, half expecting them to feel soft somehow.

He smiled, hearing that laugh of hers; it was an angelic sound that brought him salvation. He watched as she tried to touch a cloud. She looked so beautiful at that moment. It was something he wanted to commemorate with a painting if he could. A cloud might not have been something you could touch, but it was still a magical feeling to try.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he asked with a gentle smile. "I've wanted to take you up here since the day we met," he confessed.

"It's more than beautiful... I don't have the words." She shook her head, looking back at him with a big smile. She leaned up to kiss him.

Her gaze pulled him toward her. Lowering his head to meet her lips, he kissed her deeply to savor her taste.

"What other things have you been hiding?" She mumbled against his lips.

"You'll just have to wait and see," he said teasingly, smiling against her lips before straightening his posture.

"I don't like waiting." As he pulled away, she leaned over a bit to watch the forest far below them crawl up the mountain sides until trees started to disappear into a snowy landscape. It was cold, but the heat coming off of Emeric and Skylore was enough to keep her warm.

"Was it worth conquering the fear?" he asked with a knowing smile.

"It was worth every moment... thank you." She breathed in the air deeply, looking down at the valley below the cliff

watching the ruins of Asatus. She frowned a moment, tilting her head as a few flashes of light reflecting off of something caught her eye.

"Do people really still live down there in the ruins?"

"Supposedly," Emeric answered, looking down to the lights she was looking at. "But to be honest... I don't know much about the affairs of Asatus. But I will soon enough. It was their people that killed my father," he spoke with grit. It may have looked like shambles, but clearly, there was something more going on than meets the eye. For Asatus to arrange a tactical attack against his father like they had, it was clear that Asatus had more resources than they wanted Luminara to know.

At this point, Aurora had known that their fathers had been attacked, but like the rest of the village, she had been told it was by bandits trying to steal a kill. That's why she had a look of shock on her face at the bit of information he had shared. "Them?!" Her blood boiled, looking back down at the ruins.

She had read stories of what Asatus once was, a home for people like her, but they were greedy, falling victim to their own demise. "Why did you lie to the people? Don't they deserve to know? This must mean something..."

Emeric looked to her, realizing what he had said. He bit his tongue but soon continued to answer her question, keeping a lingering gaze at the grounds below.

"If they knew the truth, it would cause panic... we have to get to the truth first before we act. Knowledge is power, like my father used to say." He sighed, "We have to know what we're fighting before we fight it."

She slowly looked back to the ruins as he spoke. He was right; panic would run rampant through the entire kingdom. It was a heavy weight to know that everyone was in danger from something that had long been thought destroyed.

His voice held something more behind it, and she could sense it. "You know more than you're letting on," she accused.

He swallowed hard as she called him out. Luckily, he was behind her, so the expression on his face was easily hidden, but he knew that she could sense it. He didn't say anything. He exhaled and wrapped his arm around her waist a little tighter. "We should head back; mother will be waiting for me," Emeric said and guided Skylore back to the castle.

She didn't push any further when he chose to ignore what she said, assuming there were certain things she just wasn't allowed to know, no matter how much she wanted to.

She couldn't hide her worry though; Asatus had been filled with powerful beings at one point. Being left dormant for so long, who knew what the ruins could be hiding.

Her train of thought was broken as he spoke, leaning into his hold. "Just a little longer...?" She echoed his words from that morning, not wanting to return to the world below and leave him just yet.

Emeric smiled softly at her words, finding comfort in them. He nodded and pulled her closer against his chest, letting Skylore wander a while longer through the sky, in their own little bubble - at peace. 

**Here is a shorter one for you guys, i hope you are still hanging on!! let me know what you think of the story so far, anything you wanna see happen?***