The Enchanted Flame

Chapter 7 - Shouldn't I be on my guard?

There was only silence.

The silence, that was louder than any sound.

I gulped and held the moonstone tightly in my hand, preparing myself to face whatever was outside. I owed this to Killian, I could not let him suffer because of me.

But as I prepared myself the front door opened loudly crashing to the wall.

A small scream left from my lips as a silhouette stood outside the door without making any movement. Maybe he was preparing for an attack.

I did not care about being caught, I needed to defend myself.

But just then, Killian stepped inside and I let out a breath I did not realize I was holding and ran towards him. Without thinking much I threw myself in his arms and he caught me immediately.

There was no exchange of words between us as he softly stroked my hair.

“I thought something bad happened to you,” I whispered, lifting my face to look at him.

“Everything is fine,” he smiled.

“Are they…dead?” I said the last words softly, not wanting to say them out loud.

Killian shook his head, “No, which is why we need to leave right now.”

I gave him a confused look, it was the same look he was giving to the stone in my hand.

“It is the moonstone, I thought you needed help.”

A smirk appeared on his lips, “Aww, you were worried about me.”

“No, I was worried about myself. If they killed you I would be left on my own.”

“Sure whatever you say,” he ignored everything I said in a monotone.

I opened my mouth to argue but he cut my sentence off before I could start.

“As flattered as I am right now, we seriously need to be on our way, or else those guys will wake up and I do not want to be locked up in cells, I am too handsome for that shit.”

I rolled my eyes as he walked over to the corner where the bed was and lifted the pillow. I tried to change my position in order to get a better look at what he was doing but before I could figure that out he put something in the pocket of his pants.

I grabbed the side bag, in case we needed something from it or I got a chance to leave the kingdom without coming back here. Before leaving, Killian asked me to put some fruits and a few other things inside as well.

It was dark outside and the first step I took outside sent a shiver down my spine. I ran my eyes to analyze the area or probably to find the men who were here earlier but they were nowhere in sight. I focused on my surroundings, trying my best to ignore the darkness. I could still feel their aura, they were nearby and they were alive as well.

Relief flooded my senses knowing that they were still breathing.

“Are you alright?” Killian asked gently, standing beside me, probably trying to see what I was looking at.

I dismissed his question with a smile, “Nothing, where are we going?”

“We are going to see a friend, he might be able to help us.”

I looked at the ghostly figures of tall trees in front of me, the light of the moon was making them appear darker in a way I had never seen before, maybe because I had never left the house at this time of the night.

Inhaling a deep breath, I gave a reluctant nod to Killian. I was not comfortable walking at this hour to an unknown place but what other choice did I have?

“C’mon,” Killian guided me to what felt like the deeper end of the forest.

I clutched my bag and after giving one last look to the empty house.

“How can you see anything in this darkness?” I questioned, stumbling upon a piece of rock on the way while Killian moved effortlessly.

“Supernatural senses,” I could feel the smirk on his lips.

“Supernatural senses,” I repeated his words in a mocking tone.

“Is the almighty witch jealous?”

“Oh, please, jealous of you?” I swatted the branch away roughly, annoyed by how he could walk easily while I had to rely on my luck before taking every step.

But my foot slipped on a rock and I tried miserably to catch something and of course, nothing but air came between my hands. Just when I accepted my fate, a strong arm came out of nowhere to catch me just in time.

I could feel his minty breath so close to me as I clutched his shirt tightly between my fist.

There was darkness but in the darkness, there was enough light of the moon to show me his face staring at me, I knew he could see me clearly, I knew his dark eyes were looking into mine because the same fluttering of butterflies were back in my stomach.

“Are you okay?” he asked, steadying me on my feet.

“Yes, thank you,” I said softly, embarrassed to look at him.

“Hold my hand,” his hand was in front of me.

I looked at it skeptically, not sure if trusting this man was the right choice.

“Don’t worry I would never let you fall,” he said in a deep voice with seriousness as though reading my dilemma.

Without even realizing I put my hand in his.

“Are we just going to walk the whole night?”

I was getting tired of walking and a small part of me was scared of what might be hiding in these woods.

I was never a fan of woods in the dark. It was something that made my skin crawl may be due to the incident that took place when I was eight.

I jumped slightly moving closer to Killian when a strange sound came from somewhere.

“Relax, it is just an owl,” Killian gave a light squeeze to my hand, ensuring me that he was still there.

“We will have to get as far as possible before the guards wake up. Once we reach the mountain we can get some rest.”

I nodded like a fool, keeping my ears alert for the tiniest sound. The problem was, at night even the smallest harmless sound became scary and without my powers I felt defenseless.

It was supposed to be the time when my powers were the strongest but here I was walking in the forest like a mouse, clutching for my life to the arm of a stranger.

“Why are you so scared of the forests?”

The question caught me by surprise, I did not know if telling him about my life was a good idea considering how everyone reacted after knowing about my coven, or maybe I was just embarrassed by the reaction he would give after hearing the story.

“I am not scared, I am just not a fan of forests at night.”

“I saw the way your facial expression changed instantly when I told you we have to leave, and how you keep on looking around you like someone is going to attack you.”

I licked my bottom lip nervously, “When I was eight we were supposed to work in a group, it was to make sure we know that we can trust our people. It was the night before the full moon and we were supposed to practice for the spell that was going to be performed the next night to activate our stones. I was the youngest in the group, normally we activate our stones at ten and somehow everyone thought I did not deserve it.”

Killian held my hand tightly and guided me away from the roots of a tree.

“They made a plan to prank me, my cousin made me stand under a tree to wait for others but no one came there. Those kids started making animal noises and ghostly figures to scare me and I ran away. I ran from the ghosts that were chasing me and somehow ended up on the edge of a river, I don’t know where I was but I was about to fall, someone saved my life and I lost consciousness after that. I don’t know if someone really saved my life or it was my imagination but the next day I woke up in the coven, just in time to activate my stone.”

It might not sound much to him but for an eight year old me those trees were huge, the ghosts were real and the hope of ever seeing my mom was nil. The only person who believed in me and the only person who was suffering because of it.

“You are very brave,” Killian’s voice caught my attention.

“You don’t mean that.”

I was sure he was being sarcastic but then he continued, “If it was someone else they might have given up hope to ever go back in the forests, screw that I would not have gone back even for the stone either. But you did not let your fear win and in my eyes, you are truly a brave person and I do not spit words out of my mouth unless I mean them. I do not believe in giving the comfort of lies to anyone.”

Unconsciously, I smiled at his words, he was the first person with whom I shared this. He was the first person outside the coven to know about this, even the Queen did not know the whole truth about my ‘family’.

No one did.

No one wanted to, after knowing about which coven I was from, people always held the same reaction….their first instinct was to keep the distance.

What if Killian felt the same as well? What if he thought helping me was one of his biggest mistakes?

“Thank you,” I replied to Killian keeping the negative thoughts aside.

“I guess we can wait here for a while.”

I had no idea about where we were or what was around but I knew we were still away from the mountain. The air was still the same as in the forest.

“How far away are we from the mountain yet?” I questioned while Killian led me to a place that felt different under the feet. From what I could see, it was a small area with no trees around.

“A few hours away, but we should get some rest. You must be hungry.”

Killian was walking here and there and I could not tell what he was doing. But I stayed silent knowing he must be doing something to help us and I was proven right when a spark of light appeared a few meters away from where I was standing.

I went near the fire, I did not know when Killian had made a small hole where he put the wood to make a fire or from where he collected the sticks.

I sat down on the grass next to Killian, the flames had enough light to chase away the ghosts of the night.

Killian sat down next to me and I removed the fruits I put in my bag, they were enough to satisfy the hunger.

Killian was looking at the motion of my hands in amusement as I kept on removing the stuff from the bag.

“It is spelled,” I answered his question suppressing a laugh at how he resembled an amused child looking at the bag, with the sparkle in his dark eyes.

But then again he managed to defeat the three guards alone. Shouldn’t I be on my guard near him?