Araceli

25- Emrhys (unedited)

—Valarie (first person)—

I watched the man with an awe-stricken face as he crouched down to the beast and inspected its eyes with a slight frown. He opened the eyelid as if trying to check for something. The beast's eye had turned black entirely. As if some sort of dark spell had possessed its spirit and once it died, the spell seeped out of its body, leaving it behind with a footprint of its possession.

"Look, lady, I don't know who told you that, but this baby is called a scorch coil." the man returned as he got up and faced me after he was done with his investigation of the sand wyrm.

"Sand wyrm is what it's actually called. You're the one with a weird name for it. What's even a Scorchcoil?" I retorted. It sounds like somebody just looked at the thing and named it that because it coils against the sand and is scorching hot, very basic.

Stuck in my thoughts, I hadn't noticed how close the man had come as he peered into my face with furrowed eyebrows. "Hey!" I pushed against him and in the same instant Joshua pulled me backward, so I was standing behind him and he started his own staring competition with the mysterious, strange man.

"Who are you and how did you get here?" Joshua demanded.

"Name's Emrhys. I've been here longer than you can imagine so hold your interrogation. Also, that will not be taking you anywhere," he sighed as he pointed to the scroll in Joshua's hand, held tightly against his thigh.

"Gizem said it's a reward, it's got to be something," I told him as I chewed on my lip, a pang of anxiety rising to my heart.

Joshua hastily tore off the scroll's binding to look at what it was about. I tried peeking, tiptoeing to reach over his shoulder. I was surprised at our height difference which I hadn't noticed until today. Even standing on my toes, I could hardly peek. I gave up and moved next to him only to find him frowning at the scroll.

"It's empty" he let out slowly, scowling at the useless piece of parchment in his hand held loosely like it lost all its importance. "What!? Show me." I snatched it from him, heat rising to the back of my neck as I tried folding and unfolding it, trying to make sense of the situation."

"Maybe it's written with invisible ink, or we need to hold it under a candle," I mumbled all my secret knowledge about fantasy worlds, imagining what could have happened to the scroll. 

"I told you. There's no use. We tried it all. We're not complete idiots," Emrhys exhaled as he snatched it from me so I wouldn't rip it off. Which I was about to do. 

Why wouldn't he let me rip it apart if it doesn't work!?

"And how did you know that?" I eyed him suspiciously.

"You think you're the only ones played by Gizem? She's a liar, a deceiving witch who only knows what she wants," Emrhys forced laughter on his face as rage came over him. He clenched his dagger. His face distorted due to utmost disgust and his eyes turned darker than before, quite literally. Or it could just be the hair falling over his face and sides and casting a shadow over them so they would look scarier and darker.

I noticed Joshua was lost in deep thought. "Well, do you also know Meredith?" I asked Emrhys, my lips pressed together as Joshua's gaze bolted toward me.

"Valarie," Joshua called out as I found him shaking his head, telling me not to go any further. It seemed that Emrhys had noticed the entire eye thingy we had going, and he proceeded to let out a small chuckle.

"I don't trust you," Joshua finally said what was on his mind as he looked at the man once again, breaking eye contact with me.

"Suit yourself. Your only hope of getting out of here before another one of those creatures arrives for another warm welcome is me. And trust me, I don't want to help you either, but I won't be leaving a lady here" he sheathed his dagger, sighing.