An Airan's Quest

Chapter 20: The Enaran Prophecy

Evanity's POV

We collapse from exhaustion on the cold and dirty ground barely caring whether our faces and clothes had gotten smudged with grime and dust. Several yards away, black fog drifted upwards towards the sky which came from the bomb explosion back at the Cabrians headquarters. For a moment, we lay like that both of our faces pressed on the ground neither one of us saying anything.

Avery's eyes were half closed and despite all the streaks of dirt and grime covering his face he still managed to look stunning. I breathe heavily and waited as the rapid thumping of my heart started to subside and was back to its regular rhythm. I rolled over on my back just in time to see the first few rays of sunlight scattering a rainbow of different hues across the sky.

Leading straight downhill from where we are is Braviah City, the biggest city in the kingdom of Enara with its vast tracts of woodland forest which are spread all over the kingdom's territory. From our position up here in the hills, I could see the neighborhoods, businesses, shops and stores and only a few people getting ready for the start of another day. And in the heart of the city, standing tall and proud was the grand avilar - the royal palace of the Enaran heirs - Tarah and Avery.

With great effort and difficulty, I got up to my feet and dusted myself off, wincing as a sharp pain pierced my left forearm where Avery had wounded me from our duel last night. Glancing down, I watched as he stirred groggily from unconsciousness then slowly sat on crisscross legs and stared straight ahead of him.

We didn't speak to each other for a few moments, both of us mulling over on what to say to break the silence between us. It was when I moved my left forearm to examine my wound that Avery spoke up sounding surprised, "Where'd you get that?"

I shifted my gaze to look at him. "If I remember clearly, you were the one who did this to me." When he stared up at me his clear blue eyes looking baffled, I glanced down at him my eyebrow raised incredulously. "You don't remember?"

"No," he answered rising to his feet and towering over me for only a few inches. "What exactly happened?" He slapped a hand on his forehead then began rubbing his temples vigorously. "To be honest, last night was quite hazy for me."

I sighed heavily not really wanting to discuss about last night's events. But I recounted them to him anyway. "You owe me an apology," I told him when I've finished.

"I'm truly sorry for what happened last night, Vann," he said his luminous sapphire eyes looking really apologetic that they made my heart melt just staring right through them. He gently took my arm and scrutinized the slash wound that he made. Then placing his hand only a couple of inches over the cut, he closed his eyes and concentrated, his hand emitting a soft glow of golden light as he healed my wound. I swiveled my head and saw that the reddish skin surrounding my wound slowly returned to its natural pale color and within just a few seconds the cut closed and my left forearm looks as though it has never been injured before.

"Thanks," I smiled gratefully at him when he had let go of my arm. Until now, I still couldn't shake off the tingly feeling that I get whenever we touch and wondered whether he felt the same way then tried to brush it off my mind. Stop getting ridiculous ideas! I chided myself. Then summoned Fallon out of my milaire and watched as he took off in the air to stretch his wings.

"No problem," he returned the smile with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "I owed it to you anyway." At the same time, Kyra appeared at his side and nuzzled his arm affectionately while he patted her head.

"So..." I hesitated unsure of how to say it. "What's our next move? Are we going back to Batidalle now?"

Avery furrowed his eyebrows a little and scrunched up his nose as if trying to remember something. His eyes lit up all of a sudden and he fished on his pocket and produced a piece of crumpled paper which was slightly torn around the edges. He unfolded it carefully and showed it to me.