My Willful flame

Chapter Twenty-One

Everything stopped. My world. My body. My breath.

The voice, once a melodic song, now whispered terror through my veins. Tears welled up, and my body trembled involuntarily. Surrendering seemed inevitable.

Turning slowly, my eyes met him. Clad in dark garments with a hint of lily fragrance, Xander stood before me. Those eyes, once soft with care, now stared at me, surprised.

"How?" I  gasped, realizing I had held my breath.

"I got away." His voice was the same. "Where have you been?"

"Xander," I whispered, the relief mingled with confusion. They took him away.

"You're hurt." He moved closer, the imposing figure I'd feared, admired, and cared for, reaching out his hand.

I could say nothing, ask nothing. My tongue was as if clipped off.

I felt sure panic. Xander was here, and where was Djevel? His men? Lau? Was he still around?

"How are you here?" I stammered.

"Elora, I waited for you." He said with softened eyes, ignoring my question.

"They took you away." I was confused and scared. Was he still the same?

"I'm here. Don't leave again.." he implored, a step away.

"Xander, I have so much to say, to ask..." I stammered, struggling to convey the overwhelming emotions. My singular purpose had been clear; now, the reunion felt surreal.

"I'm here. We can have eternity together. Once we're safe, there'll be nothing left to fight for," he declared, his eyes scanning my face, hands resting on my arms.

Smiling, I looked away, his touch colder than expected. "Don't leave me," he whispered."Don't leave me again." He repeated.

My joy vanished.

I shook my head, "No," I exhaled with grief and looked back into his eyes. "I didn't leave. I never will. " I let the sadness take over. "I will find you, I promise."

"I'm here, I'm free." He tried reassuring me while letting a cold hand run down my cheek.

I shook my head. "No, you're not, you're just in my head," I said defeated. "This isn't real and you're not with me. "

The warmth of his touch felt icy, like the rest of him. He was the ice surrounding me, the cold that had seeped in. My mind had begun to feel the consequence of it. I was losing grip on reality. The world had gone.

"Elora," A voice held me.

My eyes stalled.

"Father?" I turned.

Edmund, in his truest form, was standing in front of me.

"Daughter," he said, and my eyes widened. His voice, unheard for almost a year, gripped my heart.

For the first time since his death, I sobbed at the sight of him. Grief, suppressed for so long, now streamed down my face. My father, Edmund, was truly here. Rounded glasses on his pointed nose, a faded brown long sleeve, and dark red suspenders — every detail etched in my memory. His wrinkled hand reached out.

"Come with me," he commanded, and my instinct was to obey.

"I want to." I cried.

"You can," he nodded at me with soft eyes. "You can, child."

"Yes," I breathed relieved and walked toward him.

"Wait," Xander's voice cut in reminding me I was still seeing him too, "What about me? What about us?"

I looked at him. Knowing he wasn't here, knowing it wasn't real, "I can't, I want to go."

"Don't go," a clear, sweet voice echoed from another direction. Beautiful Selene with golden hair and a dimpled smile, standing in her beautiful unstained gown.

"Have mercy," I prayed, realising it must be a god's only punishment. This torture showed me the losses I had endured and made them beg for me to choose one. How cruel. 

"I pleaded, do you remember?"

I was gasping for air, feeling as if I had been locked away underwater. It was so dark there, and empty. I felt crushed, absolutely devastated by the sight of her standing before me in her pretty dress. Why did I have to endure this?

"You still have a duty, Elora. To yourself, to your legacy," my father interjected, making me turn.

"Don't leave me," Xander's voice pleaded again.

"Come with me." Edmund commanded.

"Don't leave," Xander pleaded.

"Don't," I whispered, devastated, trying to drown out their voices as they surrounded me.

"I am waiting," Selene's light eyes found mine.

"Stop please," I shook my head, crying, sobbing, wailing.

"Find me, my queen. Remember?"

"Stop!" I was screaming, covering my ears as they continued their pleas. One by one they commanded me, begging me. To leave. To seek. To remember. But I was running. Fastly running through the cold. I felt them, their hands clawing at me, dragging me back into the frozen abyss. It was an endless wasteland with no safety, no rescue from them. The voices in my head, back, and forever maybe.

"I am waiting,"

I stopped. Heaving for breath, there it was.

Beautiful Selene stood before me like a haunting painting of the last night I saw her.

Suddenly she pointed. "I will be waiting."

I gazed toward it. The mountains. Strong and mighty in front of me. Between them hung a bridge, wide, strong and covered in sharp blue ice— I stood at its gate, ready to cross into Mile Man territory.