Chapter Twelve
"My name's Adler". I've now finished eating the peach, and feel suddenly full to the point where it hurts a little.
As I admire his stunning features I can’t help but smile. He looks and sounds quite mature. It flatters him. His slim, yet powerful figure is enough to make my stomach have a terrible case of butterflies. His dynamic face is rather tan. Light brown hair nearly falls to the tip of his nose and is gracefully swept across his face. His black eyes are not piercing, or frightening as you would think them to be. They’re pleasantly soft. And let’s not forget his four golden legs and tail. Finding it hard to speak, I weakly question,"So, Adler, do you have any idea whatsoever of where i am, and why I’m here?""Cessy, you are in Phyland” He responds. God! How strangely idiotic I must appear to just be smiling up at him. I can’t seem to help it. His voice warms my cold, lonely heart.
“You have come here through some sort of enchantment that had gone horribly wrong. A great while ago, in your world, there was a witch. She was arrested and sentenced to be hanged. Obviously, it was a great embarrassment to be hanged. She refused to be put through that embarrassment, so she did what she had to do. She put a spell on a window in her tower where she was locked up. The spell that she cast on that window would help her to escape her death. Everything was perfect in her plan, except that she was less powerful than she needed to be to enchant the window. So, she sold the only valuable thing that she possessed to the only...creature...that could set her free. She sold her soul to a man named Jolten. Although, he is only in the shape and form of a man. He is the one rules all the evil in the universe. He is the one who possesses the dead. He is the one who kills. Think what you may, but he is the evil that good cannot overcome. Anyways, the witch, after trading her soul for power, cast her spell. No one knows the exact words, but her incantation stated that she would jump out the window, which would show no breakage, and be united with Jolten. She would leave the guards dumbfounded. So, she eventually jumped. Although, she had been terribly tricked by Him. Instead of being transported to Him, she ended up-""-in Phyland" I interrupt."Yes. Now, she has only one way to get out of Phyland and be with Jolten.""What's that?" I ask"To take the life of a mortal, so that she, herself, may once again become whole. At the moment she is neither dead nor living. Once the life of the mortal has been taken, she will rule with him.""So, I'm going to take a completely blind guess here. Might the witches name be Elvira""I'm terribly afraid so" Adler responds gravely."But how did I get here?""You were compelled to the still enchanted window. You see, part of the enchantment was to draw close a mortal. Once you jumped, the same thing that happened to Elvira happened to you.""And you know all of this how?" I shakily ask."Few cetagals are granted the gift of being completely omniscient. There are none of those existing of that we know. Strangely, I had been given the gift of being partly omniscient. I can only see and understand the past. Of the occurrences in the future, I have no insight"I should be frightened considering that I just found out that an evil witch is trying to murder me. I should be frightened that I stand between this witch and eternal life with her master. But I am not. With Adler, I feel safe."So does that mean that I can only return home by killing her?" I hope the answer is yes, because then I’d have a bit of hope."I don't know" Adler says somberly.
“Great!” I sarcastically exclaim. He laughs deeply. His face turns bright and dazzling. My heart is now a melted pool of mush.
“Is there anything else you want to know?” He joyfully inquires with open arms, revealing his perfectly chiseled chest.
“Yes…” I reply mysteriously. Standing up, I playfully pace my way towards him until I’m speaking directly up to his face(you see, he is a bit taller than me considering his body is that of a horse).
“Why was I worth saving?” I question with a hint of wonder, followed by a dash of lightheartedness.
“Ha. Now that’s an easy one” he begins. “I didn’t think that such a lovely creature should be destroyed”.
With a look of doubt, I raise one eyebrow and purse my lips. Still, as I appear unbelieving and emotionally untouched, a flutter lets loose within me.
Lovely. Lovely? Me? Is it even remotely possible that Cecilia Eleanor Davis could be lovely? That’s just about as ridiculous as calling the sun cold, or the snow hot. This green eyed girl with long, stringy hair, and pale, sickly skin could never be lovely. Not that I have a problem with it, I just don’t believe it.
Still looking up at him, disbelievingly, he softly chuckles and then wraps his arms tightly around me. His hand strokes my hair as I remain frozen. My cheek rests upon his stone chest and, with hesitation, I carefully embrace him. I lighten the tension being held in my every muscle. His heart beats so steadily, while mine is hasty and irregular. Is it odd that I feel hollow next to him? He seems so sturdy and secure, whereas I’m standing like a rickety, hundred year old fence. I feel so very unworthy. I feel as though I’ve never been loved before. I feel that the fire I’ve neglected for sixteen empty years has sparked a tiny flame. Nevertheless, all good things must come to an end.
Catching him off guard, I quietly inform him,
“I really must return home”. He loosens his hold of me and backs away.
“Oh, Cessy. I promise you, you will return”
“Yes, but how?” I moan agonizingly.
He closes his eyes and bows before me. I’m left breathing heavily as he turns his back to me. I don’t want him to leave, if even for one second. I watch him get smaller as he gets farther away from me. When he arrives at a far away tree he raises his arm to touch the tree, nearly collapsing, but quickly catches himself. There’s something more that I don’t see. There’s something that I do not know. I figure it better not to pry, and crumple to the ground. I lay on my back, my head resting on my arms behind me. I inhale as my eyes shut, but swiftly reopen them to watch the fast moving clouds.