The Enchanting Rapture (#1)

Chapter 16

Annika

     Memory...

     The little girl ran though the Center, giggling up a storm. Annika had accidentally bumped into Inferno, and now the incredibly small pixie was insistent on ending her existence. 

     "Say it! Annika is my best friend!" Annika called, legs still furiously working. The ground barely sunk under her weightless frame. 

     Inferno growled. "You are not!"

     "Yes I am!"

     "Not!"

     "Are too!" Annika teased in a singsong voice. She was losing her breath from the hike. Being a child meant she could effortlessly become active, but that little body could only go so far.

     Clouds were scattered across the overcast, puffy and white. Delicate breezes carried around in cooling waves. The weather was perfect as always.

     "What makes you think I'd want you as my best friend?" Inferno demanded as their bodies maneuvered  through the creatures of the Soul Summits. 

     "Maybe because I am the only existing creature who you haven't made cry!" 

     "Yet! There is still time." 

     "Bet you can't make me cry!"

     Inferno chuckled. "Challenge accepted."

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     "Annika!"

     She got up from her bed and got to the doorway. "Yes, Kir Gordus?" His deep tone of voice peaked her interest. 

     "Come down now, please. I want you to meet someone." 

     Annika skipped down the stairs, wrapped in a blue floral dress. Her endless inky hair cascaded down wildly, pieces of black framing her young features and others going astray. 

     The first thing she saw when she entered was a woman, a very good-looking woman. Her dark blonde hair was braided down her back, looking elegant with her pale green eyes. She was pretty in a way Annika could not describe with the correct terms. 

     Kir Gordus had his hand rested on her hip, but Annika didn't understand why. "Annika, I want you to meet, Elexa," he said with a proud smile, "in soon time, we will be married." 

     For only a second, Annika was confused because she never met the woman beside that day, but her kind smile soon found its way onto her lips. "Congratulations, Kir Gordus." 

     "Oh Annika, aren't you a sight?" Elexa muttered and she stepped forward and patted her lightly on the head, "such beauty like yours is so... rare." Annika tried to stay positive, but the way she complimented her did not seem right. 

     "You're too kind, Elexa," Kir Gordus boasted as he planted a soft kiss on the corner of her lovely mouth. 

     Annika found those pale green orbs as they dug their claws deep into her core. Something about her seemed wrong, especially when she smiled so sweetly.

     "Oh, I believe I am going to like it here. And Annika, please call me Kira Elexa." 

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