The Enchantments: Book 4 - The Key of Mulastef

Chapter 19: A New Day Dawns

After the events inside the gym and Marlanda's adventures in the botany labs, both she and Shawn felt exhaustion flow over them. Situated back in the small office they had initially met the minion and had moved the debris from the sofas and had reluctantly plopped themselves down into the plush cushions. Even thou Marlanda complained about the mess of the sofa and its cushions she dropped easily into a deep, uninterrupted sleep. Shawn, on the other hand, sat motionless his body deep in the soft fabric and his eyes wide open hoping desperately for the sleep of the dead. He mused over that sentiment as a small giggle came from deep in his chest.

"I'm losing it." He whispered between sputters of giggles as he continued to stare at the ceiling.

Over the past couple of nights, he had not reflected on the incidents that had occurred to them in the past few days. They had been through so much in the last little while that the silence now enveloped him and he felt unsure. It was almost like something was about to happen, and he realized this sense of, uh something was affecting him getting to sleep.

He sighed and decided to get up and not wake Marlanda, he looked down at her sleeping form and that resounding feeling of love washed over him. She had been with him every moment since the incident of his resurrection. Still to this day he had no clue what had occurred, one moment he was dying at the side of a pit and the next as if in a dream he was running across the grass of the cemetery into the arms of Marlanda. He could still see that shocked and overjoyed face of the girl he had come to know as the love of his life. It both thrilled and scared him at the same time.

Pulling the covers higher on her sleeping form he bent down and kissed her on the forehead, she moved slightly, and he stepped back as her body relaxed again. He left her to dream and moved across the expanse of the office and stepped absentmindedly over rubble and other discarded rubbish that littered the once glossy floor. He thought about going down to see what the professor was doing, but he wasn't excited about listening to the man ramble on about material that was way over his head. He liked the man but he was intolerable when it came to his work, he'd talk for hours about science formulas and experiments that even an experienced scientist would have trouble following.

He moved to the fridge and opened up filling the room with the soft light when all of a sudden he didn't feel like he was alone. He looked back at Marlanda noticing she hadn't moved yet the light in the room seemed less intense, and he snapped towards the open door.

There stood a figure.

Shawn closed the door of the fridge and moved closer. Whoever it was it wasn't the professor, the stature of the person was smaller and much thinner. He didn't look threatening, but in his experience, this didn't matter, many other creatures much less daunting then who stood at the door in shadows now could be out there.

"Hello?" Shawn asked meekly.

"Please forgive my intrusion but circumstances have instructed me to get involved." His voice was strong yet held a tension Shawn couldn't ignore.

"Involved?" He quipped.

The man took a few steps inside a little more as the moonlight from the window fell on his face. "Forgive me, my name is Angus Strom, and I'm only here to help."

Shawn moved a step closer, but his body refused to take him closer.

"I'm sorry I have no idea who you are." He said with trepidation.

Angus Strom smiled ever so slightly, he had no idea how much this child knew about who he was to him and what he had done, and in earnest, he was thankful for that. His brain swam back to that time he had brought Shawn here back from oblivion, and he smiled at that thankful memory. There had been very few over the last century, but he remembered the help and support they gave to him, he now called friends, but only recently he had learned about the plight of one of the most important, Simeneon.