Egrariand Chronicles Book 1: The Curse of the Black Stone

Revelation

Morning came, Lucas and the others were now getting ready to go, leaving Ava and Emily to look after his cousins in the house of Mr.Osnord.

"Did you talk to her already? I think she's still upset," asked Lucas while being helped by Blaine to mount his horse.

Blaine shook his head. As much as he wanted Ava to be with them, he couldn't let her. For her own safety, he couldn't allow her to be hurt.

They were busy preparing for their departure when Lucas noticed Steve worriedly walking to and fro. "What's the matter Steve?" he asked.

Steve stopped and walked toward them with annoyance on his face. "Do you know where she is?"

"Who?"

"Ava. I have something to tell her. Did you?" Steve mumbled, frowning. "Where did that shithead go?!" He groaned. "I've been looking everywhere since early this morning. Wait. I haven't seen her since last night!"

"Ava?" Lucas shook his head. "I don't." He looked at Blaine, but even he had no idea where she went.

A few moments later, Altair and Fina who was assisting Amara walked toward them, but even they didn't.

"Fuck!" cursed Steve underneath his breath. "She's really a pain in the ass!"

"What should we do Steve? Do we need to look for her first?" asked Lucas worriedly and looked at Amara with great concern in his eyes. They should not delay, but it was Ava they're talking about. They couldn't leave without knowing where she was. This world was a dangerous place and something might have happened to her under their noses.

"Why is she always missing?!" hissed Blaine in gritted teeth, frustrated. He cursed himself, out of all the people, he hadn't noticed that she was gone. He only thought that maybe it was better to give her space, and time to calm herself down. He sighed and was about to leave to look for Ava when Emily spoke.

"I saw her!" said Emily innocently. "Don't worry about her, she's just upset."

Blaine looked at her with relief. "I think I need to talk to her first before we leave," he said. "I want to check on her if she is all right, bid farewell at least."

Emily's face went dark for a moment, without them noticing. She then forced a sweet smile on her face then held Blaine on his forearm. "I'm telling you, she's okay. She told me, she doesn't want to talk to anybody right now. She's really, really upset."

"Blaine-" called Lucas.

Then suddenly, they heard Fina call Amara's name. They looked at their direction and saw Amara's condition getting worse. They shouldn't delay. She was fading and very weak.

Steve ran toward her followed by Lucas who jumped off his horse. Steve held her. "Hold on, Amara," he said perturbed, brushing off their conversation yesterday to the back of his mind. "We're getting there, I promise you."

Emily then smiled wickedly but replaced it quickly with worry on her face. "Amara's dying Lucas. We can't let that happen to her, you should go now before it's too late." Then she looked at Blaine. "Ava's fine, I'm telling you."

"I think we should go now," said Steve as he glanced at Blaine. He felt a little bit happy for his best friend, it seemed that the prince shared the same feelings toward her. He may hate to break it though, but they're running out of time. "I know Ava, she's angry for now, but she'll understand. I promise."

Blaine sighed, and with heavy heart, he helped Lucas back onto his horse, while Steve held Amara tightly while riding on a separate horse.

"Don't do anything stupid," said Steve to Emily before they left, with Altair and Fina behind them.