Chapter 18
1202 Words
ARIANA’S POV
I let out a cry as the arrow pierced into my arm. My blood spilled onto the sand in generous amounts, and in fear, I sank to the ground.
“Ariana!” Luke shouted, looking at my bloody fingers that tried to stop my bleeding. He looked around, and finally looked at the thick scroll in his hand, before using it to apply pressure on my wound.
“Ah!” I screamed, as the scroll burned.
Then, Luke tipped the bottle of the invisibility potion into my mouth, and did the same.
“I forgot about this. If I had, this wouldn’t happen to you.” He said, looking at the hags, who screamed around, shooting the arrows recklessly, hoping to hit us by accident.
“Ah, it burns!” I exclaimed, pushing the map away from me.
“Ariana.” Luke called softly, and we saw that the map was beginning to fill up with descriptions written in my blood.
“Sacrifice. It meant blood.” I whispered. We began to see the map of the whole place. Far dangerous paths lay before us, and we were currently at the hag village.
“How do we get to the pure forest with all these in the way?” Luke asked, with resentment, and just then, the map burst into flames.
“No, no!” I screamed, alerting the hags to us, but just then, we noticed a chariot wasn’t far from us.
Luke and I exchanged glances, and quickly climbed into the chariot. It was like a mini helicopter, without the horses. It soared into the sky, and we watched the hags getting smaller, and smaller.
The chariot was set on an automatic ride, so we didn’t need to do anything.
“Oh my… I think it’s going to the forest. You asked, Luke. You asked how to get there.” I said, and he laughed.
“It was that simple?”
As the chariot took us further, we passed lands that seemed to be even more terrible than the hags’ village.
“Come here.” Luke said, when he saw I wasn’t healing.
He ripped his clothes, and tied them around my wound.
“Wow. Those hags were really heartless. How could they think of doing such to us? Eating human flesh?” I asked, feeling disgusted by them.
“I was so repulsed when I saw their true selves in the mirror. Their hearts are just as hideous as they look.” Luke said, and I shook my head.
“I was so scared when I saw what they really looked like. It means even the pretty leader looks like a beast.” I said, and he laughed.
“They need some serious makeup products.”
“Oh, come on, makeup can never be the solution.” I said, laughing, and relaxed in the chariot, looking at the bright blue sky. “I finally feel at peace.”
“I don’t think I can be at peace until we leave this place.” He replied, and I looked at him.
“I think this chariot is going to take us straight to our destination without any more problems. After all, you asked it to, and I’m grateful you voiced out your frustrations. If you hadn’t, we might have had to go through all that horrible stuff we saw not too long.” I said, and he smiled.
I knew he wasn’t at rest, and he had every right to. Honestly, so many times, I had expected him to shout at me, and blame me for everything that happened, but he had remained surprisingly calm and encouraging through it all.
Finally, the chariot began to descend, and it was right in front of a thick forest.
It settled on the ground, and I got down first, followed by Luke. Honestly, I felt a sense of peace, just by looking at the forest.
“I’ll go. You keep watch. We have to be extra careful.” Luke said, and although, I was reluctant to let him go alone, we actually needed someone to watch out. Should there be any danger, I’ll call out to him, and we’ll both jump into the chariot.
“Uh, Ariana. Come for a sec.” He called out, and I went to meet him, glancing back occasionally like the chariot was going to disappear.
I approached him, and saw him place his hand out gently. Before he could touch a single leaf, something stopped him.
“A barrier?” I asked, and almost screamed in frustration.
“Try it.” He said, and I placed my hand on it. It hit something solid, and I hit it again. “It’s not budging.” Luke said, hitting it.
I hit it again, and again, and when Luke hit it, our hands went in. I looked at him, and gasped.
“Okay, something just happened now.” Luke said.
Of course, the forest was the main reason why only couples could make the journey. It wouldn’t allow one to go in, it would only take two in. And although, we aren’t couples, but probably because there is this closeness or sort.
“Thank God, I didn’t sacrifice myself for the map. It would all be in vain.” He said, and I smiled.
“You have no idea how grateful I am for that.” I replied.
We held hands, and walked into the forest together.
“Wow.” I let out slowly. The forest was beautiful itself. The rich green of the leaves stood out, and different exotic birds, and animas filled the whole place.
Beautiful chirping sounds, long curtains of silver and golden leaves all around. The ground itself had diamonds, and precious instead of stones.
“This place is beautiful. Wow. I don’t think anything dangerous could be in it.” Luke said, and I pointed towards a clear stream rushing in the distance. We made our way towards it, and I bent, ready to drink.
“Don’t. You don’t know what could be in it.” Luke cautioned.
“Luke, it’s the pure forest, remember?” I reminded him with a smile, and dipped my hands into the water, raising them to my lips to drink.
It was cool, and refreshing, and just that little amount seemed to fill me up.
“Ariana, look.” Luke pointed, and we watched as the blood on my arm dried up. We took off Luke’s ripped clothes, and saw it was all healed. Seeing that, Luke-+ also drank of the water, and was healed of all his wounds.
“Healing water. I’m glad I’m here with you and no one else.” I said, blushing, and he laughed.
“You still thinking about stuff like that?” He asked, and I nodded. “Well, just so you know, this place is more beautiful because you’re in it with me.” He said, and I hit his shoulder.
“You don’t lose, do you?” I asked, and just then, a leaf floated over to us. I stretched out my palm, and it lay in it. “Holy…” I began.
It was a six-leaf clover.
- Writer
