the Forest of Emmitaenu

Hold the Phone

[Art By Shono - author/illustrator of Shadows of Oblivion]

With all the stealth of an expert tracker, he snuck up on the source of this summons. In a round natural clearing he found a maiden playfully spinning in the wide open space. She glowed under the suns love, rays of light bouncing off her fine mahogany hair, tinting it a burgundy red, like wine. He stopped and stared, drinking in the sight.

She wore a bold red cloak decorated with gold and it danced around her ankles as she continued to spin. She had her arms stretched out wide, her eyes skyward, and a smile on her face that made his heart stutter. She was unmistakably the fairest maiden he'd ever seen. Definitely a trick, he tried to tell himself. What is she? He wondered. Enchantress, no! Temptress, no!  He couldn't figure it out. She giggled with delight and he became too distracted to guess anymore.

"You came and you saw," he whispered to himself, "now leave and be satisfied." Instead of walking away he walked forward, dropping his masking spell, completely mesmerized. She reversed her spinning and started turning counterclockwise without slowing down. She completely failed to notice him now standing in the open with her. Carefully he moved closer one cautious step at a time and was able to see her tilting dizzily till she leaned too much to one side. Already predicting her fall, he leapt forward just in time.

"Whoa!" Lara exclaimed in a voice breathless from nearly falling. "Thank you Zef—hold the phone," She interrupted herself flatly. I don't think that's him, she thought when looking up into the face of the stranger who had caught her and was at this moment holding her snuggly. She felt woozy. Lara closed her eyes and shook her head gently. When she opened them again, the stranger was still the same, avidly watching her through warm brown eyes. She stared back.

He had medium length surfer style hair feathering dark silky brown strands around his head. Most of it was tucked back behind both ears but sections fell forward out of check as he peered down at her. Zeftx stood about a foot above Lara's modest height and this guy was half way between her height and Zeftx's. His skin tone was a sun bronzed olive tan. She inhaled deeply, catching his earthy scent. Quickly she pulled away. Is everyone in this realm beautiful? Lara couldn't stop herself from wondering.

Her nerves prickled as she stood tip-toe on the verge of running away. Stupidly, Lara realized she was waiting for her mysterious companion to say something. Peering at him with unveiled curiosity, she became utterly enthralled as the floating specks of glittering gold dust collected around him. Every time he inhaled, a handful of floating specks would disappear between his lips and into his mouth.

She stared where they had gone and noticed he had a strong mouth that was very angular and flat. Then he exhaled and all the golden magic dust would burst out in a rejuvenated frenzy and spiral away from him in every direction. She watched utterly fascinated but it was strange how he didn't seem to notice it at all.

Lara looked curiously back at his eyes. There she felt recaptured by his air of mystery. His eyes seemed to be reaching out with as much curiosity as she felt, yet at the same time they seemed to be guarded as though he needed to protect himself. She sensed a shield around him, almost like he was reaching out to her with both hands while wearing full chain mail armor.

Though of course he wasn't, he was wearing casual slacks and a colonial V-neck blouse under a light leather jacket. The shoes on his feet even looked casual like comfortable moccasin slippers. Somehow the time defying styles looked sensible together on him.

"Lara!" Came the frightened shout of Zeftx, and she realized they must have been looking for her. How long ago had she lost them? "Lara!" She heard again with a tinge of desperation.

"Lara!" She could hear Jade too now and they seemed to be coming closer. The stranger looked at Lara with puzzlement. She broke the spell and turned her head in the direction of the shouts. He studied her profile and smiled.

"Lara," he whispered as he reached out to touch her face and regain her attention, "the perfect name for the perfect maiden." He withdrew his hand from her and she watched him draw symbols in the air with his forefinger. She didn't understand what he was writing and she couldn't find her voice fast enough to ask. Lara was starting to feel slow and clumsy with words all together.

He shot her a sideways smile before turning his back and walking away from the clearing and into the trees. As he moved away from her, he also faded into the air like mist, completely vanishing from sight before even reaching the first line of trees.

"A ghost?" Lara whispered in shock to herself. Then she shook her head from side to side. "Not a ghost," she corrected. He had touched her, twice. Once when she fell and again when he learned her name. He was real, but she was still too new to these strange occurrences to understand what exactly that made him.

Zeftx ran into the clearing exhausted. As soon as he saw her he shouted one more time unnecessarily before bending over to put his hands on his knees and catch his breath. Lara stared after where the stranger had been for a minute before walking towards Zeftx.

Zeftx's pale face was drenched in sweat from searching. His rainbow eyes were frantic when she first glimpsed them, but now they were settling into a mixture of purple and teal. The dark-haired stranger struck her as mysterious whereas kind-hearted Zeftx, even panicked, looked gorgeous. With a jolt Lara realized they were both mysterious and gorgeous in their own ways.

Moments later, Jade found her way into the clearing, the worry on her face receding when she realized that Lara was unharmed and alone except for Zeftx who stood by her side.