I woke up with a jolt, not quite understanding where I was. My vision was still blurry and I was feeling dizzy. Searing pain burned through my hand as I tried to stand. Giving up, I reclined against the tree. The pain was unbearable and at that moment, I wanted to pass out again. I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to come. It never came, so I opened my eyes again.

I was still in the forest but looking at my surroundings, I assumed it was less dense than where we had been for the past two days. Neither Ryan nor Emma was there. I wondered what happened to them—what if they were killed by that monster? Merely thinking about it made me shudder. I finally looked at my hands, not being able to tolerate the pain that was gradually spreading over my whole arm. I was surprised to see that most of the burned skin was replaced by new, healed skin. But the rays were filled with poison as my arm had turned pale— almost white with barest traces of blue, and from what I could see, it was spreading to the shoulders. A huge cut marked the region where the rays had hit me.

Tears filled my eyes as I thought about my condition and what I was getting myself into. But, then again, I willed myself to be strong and waited for someone to arrive at that lonely forest.

A few minutes had passed when I heard footsteps approaching me. Emma's face came into view. I let out a sigh of relief seeing her. "Oh good. You are awake," she said and put some fruits and her knife on the rock beside me.

"And you are alive," I said.

"How is your hand?" she asked and frowned as she looked at its condition.

"It's paining. I don't know if I'll ever to move my hand again," I said. I looked behind her, an unsettling feeling taking over my mind. "Where's—"

"He is fine," Emma answered before I could ask. "And as of where he is, I don't know. He brought you here and then left." Emma took an apple.

"You—you did not ask where he was going?"

Emma looked at me with curious eyes, then answered, "He said he had something important to do, and left before I could ask anything else."

"He went to his house," I said, realization dawning upon me. "He should not have gone there, Emma."

"Why do you care so much about him?" she asked me.

I had no answer to that question as I myself was searching for an answer to a similar question. "I don't know," I told her. "Maybe because he cares about me."

"Venus, look at yourself. You are miserable. Still, you are worried about Ryan?" she looked at me in my eyes.

"If I start worrying about myself, I would not be able to go to Odalis. I am too weak but I need to be strong, and for that, I cannot brood in my agony. So, why not worry about you and Ryan?" Even when I was saying those things, my hand ached. My mouth was parched and my stomach growled. Emma had brought fruits but a slight movement of my body or any of my hands, made me wish to die.

Emma seemed to have understood what I was talking about. She nodded once and then said, "After bringing you here, he tried to heal your arm, you know. Too bad the infection is getting worse every moment."

"The burned skin has been healed." I let out a heavy sigh.

Then I asked Emma what I should have asked earlier, "How did you escape? Were you able to kill the monster?"

Emma's lips curved upwards at the question. I could tell from her face that she enjoyed the fact of being able to escape from a creature belonging to a world unknown to humans, despite the hardships it brought.

"Stop smiling now," I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Sorry. It's just that...you know, right?" she gave me an apologetic smile and went on, "Anyway, you showed Ryan that mud house with your other hand before passing out. After that, he was quick to trick the monster into that house. Then, after he shut the door, I covered it with more leaves and mud from the ground. We don't know if it has died but we made sure to not let the creature escape."

I sighed. "Still, we must leave this forest as soon as possible. What is Ryan doing? I asked, irritated.

Emma shrugged and teared a scrap of cloth and started cleaning my wound. I winced.

"It should have been cleaned earlier. Maybe that's why the infection is spreading," she said. I did not say anything. Instead I asked, "Who do you think built a mud house in there?"

"I seriously don't know. Maybe some weird magic." But I knew it was not some weird magic. It was definitely built with magic, but some refined magic, as the whole house was made with mud, even the roof and the windows and the door— and the architecture was so beautiful. But it had to be built much earlier.

"I don't—," I heard heavy footsteps approaching us. Then I saw Ryan's face. He was carrying a satchel in his arms. He smiled at me but when he saw my hand, his smile faded. Ryan quickened his pace and came to me.

"Before... I..." I had never seen him so lost at words. He knelt infront of me and carefully took my arm.

"I had healed most of your wound before I went," Ryan said looking at me. "How—how did this happen?" he asked.

I was also puzzled. "Is—is this kind of wound in human from attack by your kind not normal?" I asked him.

"Not if they are healed by the prince of the Kingdom of Water," he said and added, looking at my baffled face, "All the members of the Kingdom of Water are good healers and being a prince, my ability to heal others is slightly more. But..." Ryan again looked at my hand and softly placed his hand upon my arm. I embraced myself for that burning pain but instead I felt a cold, soothing sensation. I could not exactly describe it, but it felt nice. I closed my eyes.

"...my powers have been taken away, so maybe the wound isn't healing." Ryan let out a sigh.

"I think the pain is fading," I told him.

"That's temporary, Venus. And even if you can't feel the pain, your wound is not healing." Ryan paused and then said, "We need to go to Odalis. Immediately."

"What? No." Was he mad? I wanted to go there as soon as possible, but going there with my wound still fresh— I was afraid that it would do no good to me, or to anyone.

"You can't take this big a risk, Ryan, not when she is so badly wounded," Emma sounded frantic.

"Did you find those spells you told me would help her breathe underwater? How do you think she will heal or survive if she can't breathe underwater?" she asked Ryan.

"You need to calm down, Emma," Ryan said.

"CALM DO—? "

Emma was going to say something but Ryan cut her off. "If I don't take her to Odalis now, she will die. Do you want your best friend to die this way? Lying wounded in a forest?" he asked Emma.

"She will die anyway, if she goes to your crazy and weird world, amidst such monsters."

"You— both of you need to trust me." Ryan raked his hand through his hair.

He looked at me and said, "I have friends in my kingdom. They will not harm you. Once I take you there, they will even be able to provide you with protection. But, as a human, you need to be more careful. You already know that our kind doesn't like your kind, but if you are careful and with me or my friends—we will not let you get killed."

He let out a deep breath before saying, "I went to my house to search for the spell." Ryan then took out a blue and black book. A copper snake coiled along the front and back cover of the book, and its mouth acted as a clasp one needed to open in order to open the book.

"It's here in this book," Ryan opened the page containing the spell. "Mutter it once, before you go underwater. You need to say it once, every day to keep the spell working," he said and then showed me the spell.

"Thank you."

"So, you will come with me today?"

"Yes. But how shall I heal?"

Ryan thought for a moment and then said, "We, at the Kingdom of Water are natural healers, but we do not practice healing. Taking you to an experienced healer may help."

I nodded.

"Are you sure?" Emma asked me.

"Yes. I need to go there anyway, so why not now?"

When Emma did not say anything, I added, "At first, I also thought it will be impossible to go to Odalis like this," I gestured at myself with my good arm.

"...but staying here will be no good. Things don't always go the way we plan them." I sighed. "I need to take this risk. All we can have is hope. Take care of yourself."

"I'll always be hoping for you, Venus," Emma's voice trembled a bit.

Emma then looked at Ryan. "We both are trusting you, even when it is really difficult for us to trust a faerie after what happened today. I hope you will not break our trust."

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Tell me how you felt about this chapter. I am so excited that finally they are going to Odalis. Do you think it ill be easy for her at Odalis?

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