The Last Theiro

06

Tessa
•••

The man approached me slowly and extended his hand. I took hold of it reluctantly and he pulled me up from the ground, his blue eyes eyed my bow skeptically and then he glanced at the deer. He walked to the deer and touched her white fur smoothly, smiling as the deer backed away from him and walked behind me.

"Storm, why are you here?" He asked as he turned towards Storm with a raised brow.

"I had to see for myself if the prophecies were true." Storm explained. "And what brings you here, Alec?"

Alec simply smiled at Storm. "I thought chromeatophiles weren't allowed to travel to other worlds."

The smile on Storm's face was instantly wiped off and she frowned. "Surely there's an exception."

"The Elders wouldn't be too happy about this," Alec stated and he walked over to Storm hastily. He leaned in close to her ear and muttered something so soft that I couldn't hear.

Storm's grey eyes flickered towards me and she bit her lip. She nodded her head slowly and Alec pulled away from her.

I cleared my throat and Alec turned towards me. A tight-lipped smile spread across his face.

"Tessa, right?" He asked, unsure of himself.

"How does everyone know my name?" I groaned.

Alec smiled and closed the distance between us with his long, slender legs. "My name is Alec, one of the Elders. How are you?"

Alec's kindness startled me. Never has anyone asked me how I was doing, they either assumed I was okay or they just didn't care.

"I'm...I'm actually a little confused," I confirmed. "I don't understand what's happening."

Alec nodded his head slowly and pursed his lips. He then eyed my bow and the deer that stood behind me for the second time. "So, you've made yourself a Loom, I see."

I creased my brows and glanced at the deer behind me. "What exactly is a Loom?"

"Well, Miss Evans, Looms are marvelous creatures. Looms don't exist naturally. No, you have to create a Loom with a weapon called an oplio.
An oplio is a weapon that can kill a creature and bring it back to life within seconds." Alec's eyes traveled back to the deer. "When you die, you travel to a place called The Further. In The Further, an ominous power looms. The power of the dead. When you pull something from The Further back to reality, it attracts the power of the dead. The deer that you brought back from The Further now possesses the power of the dead and has marked you as its prosopia, vowing to protect you."

I gasped and backed away from the deer, staring at it with wide eyes.

Alec laughed lightly and shook his head. "The Loom will not hurt you, it belongs to you in away. You created it and so, it will protect you. Looms cannot harm but can be harmed."

I bit my lip as I looked at the deer with uncertainty. The deer approached me and nuzzled me with her head. I laughed and ran my hand over her head and the deer's eyes fluttered closed. She made a grunting noise and extended her wings, giving it a flap and she closed it again.