Finally, it was my turn after youna got out of the shuttle before me. There was someone's presence behind me, and I instantly knew who it was with the dark aura. "Stay near them," Silas whispers, barely audible to anyone, but I heard enough. "I know," I say, and wanting to get as far away from him, I go towards the girls, where youna was jumping in excitement and begging Selene to head into the village.
The village was decorated with colourful streamers and banners. Lanterns in the shape of apples are hung across the streets, adding a harvest touch. On every street corner, you can hear the sounds of music and laughter. Vendors selling all sorts of things, like jewellery, stones of different colors and delicious delicacies. Villagers of all ages can be seen dancing in the streets and enjoying the festivities.
"Come on kaya! We'll show you everything there is around there!", youna says pulling me with her and selene also matches our pace grinning as she also loved coming to these festivals. I mean, who won't? We came near a group dancing in a big circle. "Come on, girls, let's dance first!" Youna yells, and I stop in my tracks, observing the villagers dancing. Their steps were so fast, changing at every second, but when they changed places at the beat, the steps repeated. I quickly caught up with the moves and joined in with the girls. And the very next step, we three join hands together with a few villagers on one side. The one who was beside me gave me an encouraging grin before we three also started stepping in with them, and as the music thrummed in my blood, my feet automatically started moving on their own, and for the first time, I was enjoying something.
The energy was too cheerful around us, captivating me in the bursting amount of colourful lights and banners, which passed through too quickly as I danced. I hear youna laughing with excitement beside me, making my lips curl upwards, and a grin comes over my face.
Selene, after 10 minutes, pulls us both out as new people started joining in at the places we left. I was surprised at how they weren't getting tired, as they cared about this festival and everything that came with it. They never took anything in a negative way and only hoped for it to thrive for all the years they have left to live. "Let's check out the stalls! They always put on a sale, and I want to get new stuff," youna says and pulls us to a vendor who was selling European-style coats and jackets. Selene's gaze was captivated by the different colored marble stones kept on the table. She showed me a blue jasper, which is really rare to see on Earth. I look around the entire festival behind me to find Lucien and Abex standing not too far from us. They both were looking at the daggers a blacksmith was selling, and at the same time, Lucien took small glances towards us while Abex was absolutely immersed in the daggers in front of him, making me grin.
"Oh my god, look at the jewellery!" Youna squeals, pulling Selene's hand and taking her to the stall next to the one we were standing at. I was about to follow them, but my eye caught a black stone sitting in the corner of the table. To others, it would look like an ordinary black stone, but I was somehow attracted to it. "You have got a good eye, kid." I looked up at the vender who was a man in his middle years, looking at me interestingly. He had noticed me watching that stone.
"What's so special about it?" I ask. No matter how many times I look at it, it still looks normal to me, "I ask. "All these stones have magic except this black one," he suddenly says, and I now notice how they were beaming with a small light looming over them. I look at him with confusion, and he rolls his eyes with a sigh before speaking. "Ugh, dumb kids.....Everything in this realm is magical, and every rock over here, I picked from this realm, but it has no powers." He looks at it with curiosity, sparking in his eye, making me more intrigued. "Then why bother picking it up if there is no magic in it?" I ask, and this time his gaze lingers on me. "Just because this rock looks normal, doesn't mean it has no magical powers," he says, and my eyes dart at the stone.
"You mean to say that it will show its true potential on its time," I say, and his smirk grows wider. "You might be dumb at catching things, but you are smart," he says. "Everything has its time where it can show its full strength, and when that time comes, it outshines everything as it becomes the most powerful," he says, and I stare deeply into the rock as his words influence me. It was...it was as if that rock resembled the man and me... he is not talking about the rock at all. I suddenly look up at the man, and his grin at me makes me shudder with fear. Nerves rising over my body as the thought of him knowing who I am actually hits me.
"I am gonna go actually..... my friends are calling me," I say and don't wait for the vendor to reply and walk over to the other shop, but stop short as I see no one there. Even Lucien and Abex had disappeared. The festival was too crowded for me to see anyone. I could only see four to five people whom I recognised as the students. A wave of panic goes through me, but then I remember that we were supposed to head back to the bus after an hour or so. So basically, I could roam around the festival. Pushing through the crowd and trying to look at the decent stuff made me thirsty, but I didn't carry water with me. I suppose there might be someone selling water over here.
Burn this whole festival, there was not a single damn stall selling water to those who were thirsty. There were a few stalls selling suckle ale for a few a aradox coins. But I didn't have them. I was going to find my way to the bus shuttle when there was a hand on my shoulder. "Where were you-", I turned around, hoping it would be Selene or youna or someone from the boys, but a man looking young like us stood in front of me with a glass. He was from the stall in front of which I was standing. "I can see you're thirsty, would you like our ale?" he asks, and I shake my head. "I don't have any money.", I say and was about to turn away when he stopped me. "I can give it to you for free! Afterall what's a harvest for when people cannot have a taste?" he says.
I look at the glass he was holding with golden magical liquid, waiting for me to have a taste. But it was magic, who knew what it would do to me if I drank it? But I am an immortal, I should be fine after drinking it, right? I smile and take the glass from him. I smell the ale, and it has a fruity, sweet smell. I look around to be sure, but then notice one of a few class mates were having a glass of ale in their hands. And without thinking for a second, I take a long sip of the glass as I was thirsty, but before I could empty the entire cup, it was snatched away from me, and my eyes met Silas's eyes, who was looking at me with a panic clear in his eyes.
"What the hell were you thinking?" he says and smells the glass after me. "Shit...", he mutters to himself and then glares daggers at the boy whose eyes were widened, whom I remembered that he was the general of their army. "You're giving rum to a student? That is against the high court orders," he says, and I still. What is a rum? Was it poison... The way Silas took the glass from me indicates it was. Oh my god, I am about to die.... "I didn't know she was a student general! She could have stopped me, but she took the glass and drank the rum," he says. "You should have asked her if she was a student or not, boy. How would she know if you're giving her the ale or a rum?", He says I think he spoke in a low voice or was my mind making up all that? I think the poison is getting to me. But why am I feeling so happy all of a sudden? Voices of both the males were now starting to fade away, but a groan from my throat at the sudden headache pulled Silas's attention to me, and I only heard him cursing before catching my dizzy body.
"What's happening?" he asks as I grab my head tightly. "My head is pounding!" I say out, and Silas throws daggers through his eyes as he looks at the guilty boy. "Come on, we need to get out of here before your condition gets worse, and I don't want to attract an audience on the very first day," he says and tries to help me walk, but groans out of annoyance because of my slow walking. "Don't fucking groan at me. I can't walk because everything around me is dizzy," I say, and he sighs heavily. "Fine! Just don't scream," he says, making me confused.
"What-" as soon as the word leaves my mouth, I am scooped up into Silas's muscular arms with ease, and he carries me away from the crowd, heading straight into the forest. "Why are you taking me over there!?" I panic and start wriggling in his arms to let me go.
What if he's...
"Don't even dare to think about that. I just want to avoid people," he says, his eyes in front taking us through the dark forest as if he knows the place bit by bit. Suddenly, black dots cover my eyes, and I feel sleep coming over me. I yawn, which is noticed by silas and he snaps his face towards me. "Don't you dare think about falling asleep. Keep your eyes open the entire time, firebreather," he says, and the nickname brings a deep scowl to my face.
"Don't call me that," I say, narrowing my eyes at him. "I won't if you stay awake. If you sleep its going to get you in trouble.", he says and my heart races. What if it's the poison? "Am I going to die?" I ask, and Silas stops walking to look at me. "What?", he raises his brows in confusion. "I'm talking about the poison. Will it kill me?" I clear his doubt, but then he starts laughing out of nowhere. This man wants to get beaten by me. Silas looks at me again and tries to stop his laugh as he realises I was serious about this.
"You thought it was poison?" he asks again, this time trying to hold in his laughter. "Put. Me. Down." I am pissed. How dare he laughs on something like this? "No, keep your suggestions to yourself," he says in a casual tone. "Fucking put me down before I punch that handsome face of yours," I say in frustration, but suddenly I feel ropes tying both of my hands together, keeping them where they are. Fuck he used his shadows. "This is not fair silas! Release me, or I'll start screaming."
"I like to see you try," he dares me, and the moment the scream is out of my throat, the scenery shifts, and I am pinned against the tree with a thud. My back is aching lightly from the shove. Silas stands in front of me with his hand on my mouth. "Fucking gods firebreather. Can't you listen for once?" he asks, taking deep breaths as the oxygen was lacking in such a small space.
"Try taking me against my permission and see what I'll do," I say, but I notice his eyes were glowing in the dark. His pupils were large. "Don't say something you'll regret about later kaya." He says, and I realise what he meant, and I look away. Before I could come back with something, my heartbeat fastened and my body suddenly heated up, and I was now lacking breath. There was a warm feeling down my stomach, and Silas had never looked so delicious standing this close to me.