Escape from Aelendor

Chapter 7

 My eyes fluttered open to inky, black darkness. Disoriented, it took a moment to realize I was lying down. I slowly pushed myself up, digging into the uneven fabric beneath me. Immediately, my head started to pound, making me wince.

"You're awake?"

Amari's voice traveled to my ears. For a moment, I didn't know where it was coming from. When my eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, I noticed a mass beside me which made my heart jump. After several seconds, I registered that it was a criss-cross seated Amari and not another magical creature out for my blood.

"Hi," I muttered, a bit delayed.

"Welcome to Earth. Are you feeling better?"

"Kind of," I responded. Despite feeling heavy-headed, a lot of the weakness in my limbs had disappeared. The air was completely still but freezing cold which made me shiver. I looked down and realized that my arm was covered in a dressing.

"The gremlins did a number on you," Amari answered. "They were poisonous, so I patched you up."

"Poisonous?" I repeated, slightly dazed. "Wait...what about you then?"

"I'm fine. They only affected you so severely because you don't have any...you're normal," he grumbled hesitantly while looking away.

I raised an eyebrow, recollecting my previous outburst. A bit of guilt lingered in my mind. "It's ok. I'm not offended."

He looked at me with a tight mouth, and away again. I took the time to study my surroundings. Under the moonlight, I could see the same trees from earlier surrounding everything within sight. Only a couple feet away was a small lake that reflected the crescent moon. The floor was covered in autumn leaves except for under me, where I was sitting on some cloth.

"You brought us to the forest?"

"No, just a place with trees, leaves, and soil," he said, sarcasm lacing his voice.

Suddenly, I gasped. "You didn't carry me all the way here, did you?"

"Why, you expected me to sprout some wings and fly? You're heavier than you look by the way."

"How long!?" I gawked.

"A couple miles? Just until I felt we were far enough. What?" he questioned at my incredulous stare.

Worry flooded my mind. "Aren't you feeling weak? The gremlins attacked you too!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Concerned? Seems a bit hypocritical." When I frowned, he continued. "Maybe if you didn't set them loose in the first place, neither of us would be in this position."

I clenched my fists, all gratefulness dissipating. "If I didn't set them loose, we wouldn't be alive."

He gave me a side glance. "Always finding an excuse to cause chaos, Ziah. First, you burn down the room, forcing us to Aelendor. Then you disturbed one of the most frequented areas for traveling between the worlds. On top of that, you let your emotions get the best of you and take your anger out on me." he let out a sigh, tiredness evident in his voice. "You can't keep acting irrationally to get out of a situation. Sometimes you need to follow a plan," he ended, voice hard.

I was starting to breathe faster. Anger blazed in my heart but part of me began to blame myself too, though I never meant this to happen. In a moment of desperation, I began projecting back at Amari. "If you didn't bring me to the office, if you didn't pick on me because of a stupid curfew, I wouldn't be here. If you just left me alone, everything would have been fine."

My voice broke on the last part, and I couldn't help it. Tears welled up in my eyes and started streaming down my face. After a few moments, I began choking on sobs and furiously rubbing my tears away, but they wouldn't stop. Amari watched me silently for minutes. When I finally looked up, he handed me a towel, a bottle of water, and some food.