Blood of the Abyss

blood of the abyss Part 10

Chapter 10

Pressing Forward

Caspian

We had finally exited the marsh and I felt like I could breathe without a heavy weight on my chest. The sky above us had started to turn to dusk and we made camp on the outskirts of the marsh. I let my mind wander and immediately felt myself pulled back to the moment I had kissed Lysandra. I couldn't truly explain what emotions had overtaken me. When I heard her say that we were 'friends', my heart snapped in an odd way. I wasn't upset over the concept per se, but it wasn't all that I wanted from my relationship with Lysandra. At that moment, I knew I wanted to be more than friends with her. She had admitted that she loved me, and even then I knew that we were somehow bound together. When my lips had touched hers it was as if everything that hadn't made sense suddenly did. I didn't get any flashbacks or any new knowledge from the past, but I could somehow tell this was how our first kiss was. Light exploding around us, the scent of apples and leaves, and the feeling that my heart was going to break out of my chest.

"Cas?" Lysandra asked, suddenly shaking me from my trance. I cleared my throat and shook my head. "Where were you?" A small smirk tugged on the corner of her perfect lips. Her lips...damn those lips. They seemed to entrance me. They were not perfectly symmetrical. A faint scar stretched across her left upper lip. I desperately wanted to reach my hand out and run my thumb against her perfectly imperfect mouth. Desperately wanted to kiss her again. I cleared my throat again, trying to look into her eyes.

"Sorry. Just lost in space I guess." I rubbed the back of my neck and chuckled. She eyed me and I saw the small grin tug on her lips. What was she doing to me? I moved to the now blazing campfire where Alwine and the others were sitting.

"So, a mission to a sorceress now leads to some library." I sighed as I sat on the ground.

"Just our luck." Alwine hiccupped, clearly already drunk. "We complete one task and are set on another errand."

"I mean, this library, at least according to the least helpful witch ever, is supposed to contain some answers." Lysandra sat down next to me.

"If we can pass whatever test there is beforehand." Illine sighed. "What if one of us fails?"

"If anything that woman said was true, if one of us fails, we all do." Thelran gazed into the glowing fire.

"Well isn't that just joyous." Alwine grumbled and took a swig from another bottle he had packed.

"Where the hell are you getting all these bottles?!?!" Thelran snapped.

"I just assumed he was an alcoholic and packed a ton of them." I sighed and nodded toward Alwine's bag that rested beside him.

"HA! That would be the heaviest bag for a horse! I sadly cannot pack a brewery with me. I honestly only have two bottles." Alwine emptied the bag and out rolled a second bottle completely empty.

"Then how are you getting all this alcohol?" Lysandra asked.

"These are special bottles." Alwine was laughing, heartily. "I met someone a time ago and they owed me a favor after I saved their life or somethin'. They enchanted two bottles for me, anything I put into it and drank, it would start to refill. Takes most of the day, so I save one for every night." A broad grin emerged through his bearded face.

"Well, you are still an alcoholic." I grinned at him, and he chuckled.

"I wouldn't be able to get through this shite if I wasn't."

"It's all a bit bizarre, isn't it?" Illine sighed and glanced up at the stars. "I mean, demons being a real thing, the orchard dying, the humans becoming mad, it's just a lot to take in."