Blood of the Abyss

blood of the abyss Part 5

Chapter 5

Having Hope

Lysandra

We had returned from the orchard and had headed straight for Merrilora's hut to continue our discussion of the dying trees. As we continued discussing the abyss and the taint that was spreading throughout Eodanor, Illine had sprinted into the hut.

"LYS!" She yelled at me and we immediately halted our discussion.

"What is it, Illine?" She looked as though she had seen a ghost and she was gasping for air.

"Cas..." she breathed heavily. "I just saw Caspian."

"Where did you see him, Illine?" Merrilora asked. I stood beside Thelran with my arms crossed over my chest as Illine began to explain what she had seen to us.

"He was in Aglirim, Mistress. He was just walking around." Illine was shaking.

"If he was in Aglirim all this time, how did we miss him? There's no way it was actually him. If it were him, he would've come home." I had a scowl forming on my face. It was pointless to get my hopes up. Caspian was gone and he was never coming back.

"Hold on, Lysandra. I recognized him. I knew it was him." Illine turned to face me. Her eyes were wide and staring deep into mine, as if she was begging me to believe her.

"Merrilora, you can't honestly be entertaining this idea. Cas has been gone for three years. He is either dead or he is somewhere we weren't able to find. Stop this nonsense now, please." I looked past Illine and at Merrilora, hoping she would see some form of reason. We had mourned and lost the person we both cared about. There was no healing the wound and reopening it would bring only more heartbreak. Besides, the orchard was dying. That should be our most pressing concern, not chasing ghosts.

"Lysandra, if Illine saw him, I am inclined to believe that she might have seen him. Just go to Aglirim with Thelran and Illine. There is no harm in just checking."

I rolled my eyes, exasperated. She was really going to make us go through heartbreak again based on some glance. I refused to get my hopes up. We had searched everywhere for him. I would entertain this idea for Merrilora's sake, but I refused to believe Caspian had come back. I turned and gathered my things, slinging the hood of my cloak over my head.

"Let's go." I muttered, through gritted teeth. The sooner this nonsense was over the better.

***

Silence prevailed as Thelran, Illine, and I made our way through the orchard. The stench of blood seemed to affect me more than the others, and I tried to push that worry from my mind. It was replaced by something worse. Caspian's golden eyes, his lopsided grin, everything about him was on the forefront of my mind now. My brows furrowed and the scowl on my face deepened. I should never have entertained this idea; this was a very bad idea.

We emerged from Eodanor and entered Aglirim. My heart was beating so loudly that I thought all Evrand could hear it.

We were approaching Alwine's shop when a man exited. He froze in place and I looked up and saw golden eyes staring right at me. Caspian. This was all too much and I felt myself falling.

When I regained consciousness, the first thing I saw was the golden eyes. Shaken, I sat up quickly and smacked my head right against something very hard. Sure enough, there was Caspian, clutching his forehead where I had just smacked into him.

"I'm so sorry, Cas." I stammered quickly, blushing a bright red.

"Um...do I know you?" Caspian questioned.

"You don't know me?"

"No, I don't? I just saw you fall in a faint so I helped." Caspian rubbed his head to help with the pain. He looked right into my eyes and they were empty of any recognition. "Are you alright?" His voice reached my ears but it was almost like I couldn't hear him. Everything was just noise. I was grateful that Caspian was in fact alive, but my heart felt even more shattered than before. He had no idea who I was and the thought of that hurt more than believing he was dead. He was standing now and offered his hand down to me. I looked up to see that lopsided grin and my heart fluttered at the sight of it. He had no idea what he was doing to me. I slowly allowed my hand to reach his and as he grabbed it, a jolt of electricity shocked us both.

"I try to help you and I end up more injured each time." Caspian laughed jokingly. I looked at him and felt the tears stinging my eyes but grinned through it. This was him, my Caspian, and he had no idea who I was. "I didn't get your name." He cocked his head at me.

"It's...Lysandra." I sighed. "Thank you for your help." I gathered myself and dusted the dirt off. I offered a half smile and turned away from Caspian.

"Wait!" Caspian's voice called after me. "How do you know me?" I stopped and turned to look at him. His eyes were pleading for me to give him an answer. The answer I wanted to give was the one I couldn't. So I settled with the best answer I could give him.

"Let's just say I knew you a long time ago." I sighed and smiled lightly at him. Before he could ask me any more questions, causing me to reveal more than I needed to, I rushed away.