Sand Scented Jar (Gazellian Series #9)

Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Realm

As the sand swallowed my whole body with blood spilling on the golden grains, the familiar dim light from the lanterns on each House of Pleasure, the moonlight against the dancing red decorative hanging above the aisle, and even the few blinking stars that were scattered above the cloak of the night were slowly fading between my closing eyes.

Everything felt so heavy and suffocating that even the loudest noise turned into a hush until I couldn't hear anything. The pain was exhilarating yet I still had that small smile on my lips.

I could say that I was really that one cocky Gazellian, huh? The same blood that ran through Zen and Lily— that even in death would scream power.

Or could I just say that I had confidence because I knew that someone would save me?

Kung kanina ay pakiramdam ko ay halos mauubusan na ako ng hangin sa katawan dahil tila may nakadagan sa aking dibdib, ngayon naman ay ramdam ko ang mabilis na pagbulusok ng katawan ko.

I heard this before. Claret once mentioned to me that it was the same feeling when she crossed her mirror for the first time.

Buong akala ko ay tanging kadiliman lang ang siyang mamamayani sa aking paligid habang patuloy na bumubulusok ang katawan ko. But I noticed that I was sent to an endless pit that was supposed to be in utter darkness but was illuminated by falling grains of golden sand around me— like curtains in a circle. I felt as though I had been sent to a different realm.

Kusang umangat ang mga braso ko at pilit kong pinagmasdan ang bawat parte nito habang hinahanap ang tama ng mga pana rito. I knew that I was wounded. I was on the brink of death. I was sure that the whole Entertainment District was celebrating for offering another woman for their foolish tradition. Yet I was here, even with the idea that there was something beneath the sands of the Entertainment District, I was fascinated.

I was sure that I was hit by the arrows— I felt it, the pain, the metallic smell of my blood, the agonizing searing sound in my ears that I failed to understand. But now I was falling yet I wasn't scared.

Habang panay ang pagbulusok ng aking katawan, unti-unting may imaheng nagpakita sa akin sa itaas. Higit na lumawak ang ngiti sa mga labi ko nang tuluyan ko nang makita si Kreios. He was falling as well, above me with his arms wide open and his gentle eyes on me.

I never thought that I could be this happy even with the idea that my body would fall on the ground and might incur pain and damage. Sa sobrang bilis ng pagbagsak ko ay halos hindi niya ako maabutan. He tried to reach me with his hand, but I kept falling down as if there was an invisible string that was pulling me away from him.

"Give me your hand, Harper!"

Tipid akong ngumiti sa kanya. Sa halip na isang kamay ang inangat ko para sa kanya ay dalawang kamay ko. Ibinuka ko iyon na tila hinihintay ang yakap niya.

Kreios desperately tried to reach me that even the tips of our fingertips would graze yet we'd got separated again as if that small realm with curtains of golden grains around us were playing with us. I noticed in his expression that he'd gone more desperate. When I tried to look down, I realized that we were about to reach the ground.

Maybe I could jump like how a vampire should land. After all, I'd jumped a lot of times in different higher places. But as someone who was initially offered as a sacrifice, did that explain how I didn't have much choice but to let my body fall down?

Kaya ba ganito na lang ang reaksyon ni Kreios sa mga oras na ito? That in this realm— I was not powerful enough.

But he was here.