The Enchanted Flame

Chapter 6 - Maybe I was too late

“When will you come back?” I questioned nervously.

Killian stopped at the dark wooden door, the same shade of brown as the floor.

“In an hour or so. I just need to gather some information before we make a plan to send you back.”

I stayed silent as I played with the fabric of the large shirt I was wearing.

“You will be fine,” Killian said softly, understanding my dilemma, “I will be back before you even know, just stay inside and do not open the door for anyone.”

I nodded with a small smile.

Killian opened the door, the sound of the chirping of birds became more loud and he was about to step outside when I called his name.

“Be careful.”

He gave me one of his charming smiles that were making my heartbeat in a way it had never before and left.

I was alone in his house, I was no stranger to being alone. Even when I was in the coven I was alone. The coven had many people who cared for each other, not because they felt like it but mostly because they had to. The fear of the wrath of their leader was taking the emotions out of their hearts. The loneliness could not be filled by being surrounded by people, sometimes people remain a stranger even if we had spent years with them and sometimes they create a space in our hearts just in a few days.

But was I an i***t for trusting Killian? It was the question that was keeping me up at night.

I had no other choice, It was my only option if I did not want to die. I had no way of contacting Amara or Astrid without magic, even the bracelet that Amara had which we used to contact each other was in the dark forest. They all would get worried after not finding me there.

I felt guilty just by thinking about the problems I could cause in their lives, they all had enough on their plates at that moment. They were trying to make the Kingdom better for everyone again and here I was creating unnecessary problems for them.

Why did I have to leave the cottage?

Why didn't I just wait for Astrid to visit me in the dark forest, even though I knew it very well she visited the forest every once in a while.

I was powerless without magic but I could not let it make me feel bad, I needed to find a way to contact them. I could not just sit and wait until Killian came up with an idea to send me back.

I opened the side bag that I borrowed from Astrid in the hope of finding something useful in it but only some herbs came into my hand and my moonstone. With the help of moonstone, I could focus all my energy on one thing, it helped me in channeling my powers. But I could not use it, I did not know about the powers of superior shifters and it was a risk that could cost me my life and Killian could also get in trouble for helping me.

An hour passed, the sun started setting behind the trees and the room started getting darker with every passing minute but there was no sign of Killian anywhere.

I went near the window to take a look outside. The trees looked scary at that moment, they appeared to take shapes of ghostly figures that could haunt anyone. The shadows appeared to hide the creatures in its lap, the mere thought of what might be hiding out there was enough to make my skin crawl. No matter which forest it was, the fear was still the same.

Nature always knew better, that's what we were taught. It would always find a way to balance things.

My ears perked when I heard some rustling sound, I tried to get a better look from the window, by standing on the tip of my toes and getting the support of the wall to reach the window that was made for the convenience of Killian for sure. But I could not tell where the sound was coming from and I knew better than to walk outside at this time.

I did not move from my position and stood still holding my breath hoping for the sound to be an illusion of my brain but unfortunately it was not true. The rustling came again, but this time I knew very well from where it came.

I ran towards the bag to get the moonstone.

Holding the moonstone tightly in my hand I waited for someone to appear from behind the tree and drag me outside to kill.

I finally took a breath of relief when a small rodent jumped out.

A small chuckle escaped from my lips after realizing I was just overthinking the small thing.

I turned all the lights on in the house. Being alone inside the new place that was in the middle of the forest was one thing but staying in the dark would only give more motivation to my colorful imagination.

It was getting late and I was starting to feel a little hungry. I went over to the corner to prepare something for both of us. Killian had been cooking for both of us, I could make dinner for us.

It could not be that difficult.

.

.

.

I was wrong.

Cooking was not my cup of tea.

I tried making the only thing that was easy in my head….soup.

Due to magic I never had to learn how to cook, all I had to do was flick my fingers in the air while concentrating on the dish I wanted to eat.

The starting was good, I chopped all the vegetables I found in the kitchen, trying my best to keep the pieces as small and even as possible which took me almost twenty minutes.

Next, I heated the oil in the pan and put all the veggies in it but somehow my idea was not entirely right, I kept on waiting for the veggies to become soft before adding water but somehow the pan caught fire, and just by my luck, there was no water in my sight.

“Oh, ship,” I started searching for water as the smoke covered the area around me.

“What are you doing?” Killian’s voice entered the room, “get away from the pan, you are going to hurt yourself.”

He held my arm and moved me away from the pan while using the water from the container that was in the corner of the shelf to extinguish the fire, while I observed everything standing behind him with embarrassment.

Killian turned around when the situation was under control with no expression on his face. I was sure he was going to be mad and throw me out of the house.

“In one day you managed to break one out of two rules,” his words were serious but his eyes held amusement.

I looked at my feet, “I am sorry.”

“C’mon,” he led me to the couch and passed me a glass of water.

I shook my head, “Thank you.”

“What were you thinking?” Killian asked after the silence of a few seconds.

“I wanted to make us some dinner but I have never done cooking.”

“You don’t know how to cook?”

“I always used magic to prepare meals, so, I never had to learn cooking. It was a piece of cake for me,” the thought of eating a cake appeared in my head but I shook it off.

“It is sweet that you wanted to do that but it is fine."

I finally looked at Killian who gave me a reassuring smile, I returned the gesture with my smile.

“What happened?” I asked putting the empty glass of water on the table.

Killian pressed his lips together tightly, “There are guards near the border. I doubt we will be able to go anywhere near the dark forest without getting noticed.”

The path to get out of the kingdom was foggy but I could not give up hope that easily.

“Is there a place where I can use magic?”

Killian sighed looking at the remaining smoke in the corner, “It is not safe for you.”

Another silence settled between us, but it was not the uncomfortable kind of silence. It was the silence that we needed to use our heads.

“I have a friend, maybe he can help,” Killian suggested thoughtfully.

“Should we trust someone else?” I asked skeptically.

I was not ready to believe someone else. If more people got involved in this, the risk of getting caught would increase as well.

Deep down the truth was, I was still skeptical about trusting Killian.

All the years, I had only heard the stories about how cruel the superior shifters were, how much they hated the witches. If any witch or wizard crossed the gate, the chances of them coming back were negative.

So many years ago, a wizard named Andrew crossed the gate and a week later we found his head on our kingdom’s entrance.

The people of our kingdom became furious after this and we were on the brink of war.

If it was not for elves, we would still be in a war.

“He is someone we can trust, he……”

Before Killian could complete the sentence we heard something outside, it sounded like whispering sounds.

First I thought it was only my misunderstanding but then I looked at Killian's face and I was sure it was not only me who heard the sound.

Killian put his index finger on his lip and indicated me to stay quiet as he approached the door like a mouse.

He opened the door and went outside while I stayed frozen in my spot not knowing if I should go outside or wait.

When I did not hear any sound after a few minutes, I decided to check what was going on by myself.

Taking slow steps, I walked over to the door but froze the minute my feet touched the outside ground.

“Killian,” my voice came out in a whisper, feeling scared by the scene in front of me.

Three buff men were standing in front of Killian, two of them had swords in their hands and looked furious.

They were wearing the same dark uniform the men I saw earlier were wearing.

The realization hit me like the cold wind on my face, they were the royal guards and they were going to attack Killian.

The third guard noticed me, “There is the bitch.” He pointed his finger at me while screaming to catch the attention of the other two.

“Valeria, go inside,” Killian screamed while covering the path of the guards to reach me. His eyes were no longer the same but I did not have the time to look at them carefully.

All I knew was they were shining like the eyes of a wild animal in the dark.

I quickly turned around and closed the door tightly.

My breath became shallow as I sat on the couch wondering how I could help Killian and what if he got hurt because of me.

I put my head between my hands to block the sounds coming from outside. I needed to use the moonstone even if it meant getting caught by the King. I knew I could not let Killian get hurt after everything he was doing for me.

I prepared myself to use the magic but just then the front door opened and my breath got stuck in my throat.

Maybe I was too late.