The Petals of A Dream - II

Pandaea ((Chapter 33))

*** Alaire's POV ***

My dry throat tightened, his words sending a weird twisting sensation inside me. I couldn't breathe. My lungs were refusing to work. My chest felt heavy like lead, while my heart, which became as cold as ice, beat unsteadily within. It was as if it was grieving. My heart was tearing apart.

Yhuelle's voice became incomprehensible, as he broke down in front of everyone. He was sobbing, his face distorted with emotions he never showed before, not even to me. He was broken, beyond repair, letting his feelings out of check. I was staring at him, but with my heightened senses, I was aware of everything. I could hear the uneven heartbeats of everyone in the room, their ragged breathing, even the soft groaning of my shoes against the cobbled floor. Past the walls, I could hear raindrops sounding like drum rolls on the rocky ground. On the corners of my line of vision, I saw no one stir. They were all as frozen as me, unable to move, unable to say anything, unable to think of a way to comfort the man before us.

Everyone was aware of how much this fact hurt him, and maybe we could never fully understand the intensity of it. To him, she was more than a woman he pledge his love to. She was his life, his existence. She was everything to him. His love for her was deeper than the oceans, and vaster than the sky. His love was inhuman. It was not something to be contested.

The sight of him crying was alien to everyone, even me. Never in my life did I saw him cry. He didn't cry when his father died. He didn't cry when the Dark Earl killed his mother. No, he didn't even shed a tear. Don't take me wrong. He felt devastated, I knew since I was always by his side. It was just he was strong enough to keep his emotions in check. Was losing Abrielle that much to him, that all the walls he placed around himself disintegrated?

"What the fuck-? Get a hold of your selves, shitty bastards. No use dilly-dallying."

I turned my head around, and glanced unbelieving at the small lady in thin clothes leaning against the wall. I was surprised, not because of her sharp tongue, but because she was able to recover fast enough to think clearly. She had a good sense of self-control. Aldina's face displayed no signs of pain or disorient. Her whole figure seemed calm, although she couldn't masked her tortured eyes.

Despite her cold display, I knew what she meant. Behind her unpleasant words, she was worried. She liked Abrielle more than she liked the others here. Abrielle was the reason she joined our ranks after all. It was her who convinced her to become our comrade. To her, this was the greatest misfortune that could befall us. How she composed herself, I couldn't perceive.

"You're right," Wrynlace said in an almost inaudible voice. "We don't have to give up. We could still stop her. How long has she been gone?"

"Less than an hour, I think." Yhuelle stood up, and faced everyone. He looked wretched, but he already dried his tears away.

"Is that so? Then we could make it!" Theletta cried enthusiastically, rubbing her face with the edges of her sleeves. "What are we waiting for?"

Everyone came back to their senses. Everything happened within a flash. Plans were made, the routes directed. We were divided into groups, based on our specialties, using different means to get to Pandaea. Jaed, Wrynlace, and Era would use the Gate spell, a traveling enchantment that allows one to travel using the Spirit Path. Yhuelle and I would travel on Karr's back, and head straight to Pandaea, the heart of our world, a solitary island off in the middle of the Sea of Dwellings. Aldina and the rest would try using a longer route, in case Abrielle laid traps for us. The objective was to find Abrielle as soon as possible, and get her away from there. Who gets to her first must stop her. If she tried to resist, we could team up together.

"Alaire, come on," Yhuelle called me.

"Okay."

We didn't waste any minute. I whistled, and as soon as Karr landed, Yhuelle and I jumped to his back. He turned around and searched for Steven, the tracker of the group.