Enaya: Solace of Time (20 page)

“A dark elf. He was covered in black.”

Nile grew silent.

Bancroft leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees. “He was with another man, but he was dressed not of this world. The weapons they had, my boy, were more than fast. They took us out, slaughtered the women and children and whomever declined their proposal to join the Lucian Empire, and that is why I’m here.”

“I’m sorry,” Ashera said, patting his shoulder.

“My eldest son prepared a way for us to escape, but these crows attacked us. These crows were the same elf that came into Azeul.”

Nile leaned closer to Bancroft. “You said this elf can turn into crows?”

“By my life, he did.”

Nile sat back in shock. “Srinath and Ramiel.”

“What?” Bancroft and Ashera asked in unison.

“Was there just one elf or two elves?”

“There was just the one, my boy.”

Nile stood up quickly and his knees wobbled.

“What is wrong, Nile?” Ashera asked.

Leo patted Nile on the back. “It’s All right.”

Nile slammed his fist in the wall. “No, Leo! It’s not all right! They’re still out there! They killed my family!” Nile slammed his fist into the wall again, his hands beginning to burn from the pain, but he continued for several more times. He turned toward the group, his face burning red and he spoke, “I can’t let them get away with this.”

“I don’t expect that you should,” Leo said, “but take into consideration that we have other people with us now. We can’t do anything. We can’t go after them now.”

“Did I say something to offend you?” Bancroft asked.

“No, I’m sorry to interrupt you. These elves raided my village before and killed my family. I know what you’re going through.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that, my boy.”

“It makes me mad that Norcross is now with them.”

“Norcross?” Ashera asked.

“The people who attacked your village are from the future.”

“What do you mean?” Bancroft asked.

“They come from the future,” Nile said, massaging the stress away from his face.

Bancroft nearly chuckled. “That makes no sense.”

“It makes perfect sense—they want to kill us. They call every creature, plant, organism that inhabits this planet the ‘Magical.’ Either we join the Lucian Empire, or we die.”

“How do you know this, Nile?” Bancroft asked.

Nile stopped ranting and looked at the saddened gentleman before him. “I don’t know.” With that being said, Nile walked out onto the balcony of the Ancrya and sat down, feeling the breeze brush against his face. This time, the breeze didn’t feel so good. It was swaying through the sky with painful memories and bad thoughts.

Leo rushed after him. “What the hell was that about?”

Nile jumped from the chair. “Srinath and Ramiel attacked me, my mother, and my brother. They are the reason my family is dead.”

“This isn’t about you right now. They are the reason my family is dead. At least have the common courtesy to let Bancroft mourn; he just lost his family.”

“I know,” Nile said while calming down, “I know.”

“It’s like Locklin said earlier: you can’t undo things.”

“That’s the problem, Leo. Time has escaped, and now I don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m running out of time, and I don’t want to feel this way. I want to live my life and stop wanting to redo the past. I want to undo this whole mess I got us in.” Nile pulled Enaya out from his pocket.

“You only have one chance. You can never go back and redo anything.”

Ashera walked out on the balcony, and Nile quickly stuffed the gem back into his pocket. She looked at them curiously. “What is going on out here?”

“Nothing,” Nile remarked.

Leo winked at her. “Nothing at all.”

Ashera rested her arms on the railing and leaned over, looking at the ground below her moving fast. The wind blew her hair back, and Nile and Leo stood behind her, watching her.

“Beautiful, isn’t she?” Leo whispered.

“Yeah, reminds me of Dywnwen.”

Leo smiled. “I can see that.”

Nile started toward the door, but Leo pulled him back. “Nile, why don’t you stay out here and talk to her, man? I’ll go in and check on Bancroft.”

Nile smiled. “No, I want you out here.”

Leo rolled his eyes. “No, you don’t.”

They smiled at each other, and Leo patted Nile on the arm before leaving the balcony. Nile stared at Ashera as she faced the running earth. Her hair fluttered against the wind, and she rested her chin in the palm of her hands, watching life pass her by. Nile took a deep breath.

Ashera lifted up her left foot and scratched the back of her right leg. Nile ran his hands through his hair and slowly approached her. The sunlight sprayed off her cheeks and she smiled. She then brought her hands down, clutched them together, and rested on her elbows across the railing. There was a moment of silence between them, just like there was a moment of silence between Dywnwen and him in their younger days.

“I want to thank you for helping with Bancroft,” Nile said, saying the first thing that came to his mind. He had been thinking of what to say to her for a while now.

“It’s not a problem at all,” she said.

“I know that you two are going through a rough time—”

“Stop,” Ashera interrupted. “Stop pretending that it’s about other people. We are all hurting, Nile.” Ashera walked her left hand across the railing and placed it over Nile’s. “Let your heart roam free.”

Ashera’s hand on his made him feel like a nervous wreck, but at the same time made him feel alive again. His heart was a rotting fruit, and by her touch, it became fruitful, strong, and warm. It was a feeling he had not felt since before his mother and brother died. He rolled his hand around to accept hers in his palm, and they entwined fingers.

“I’m glad you’re with us,” Nile said.

“So am I.”

Then there was more silence, but it was good. Nile could not help but smile. Maybe it was the thought and the feeling that everything was going to get better. Maybe it was because Ashera was making him feel real again, but whatever the cause, he loved the feeling. Tears streamed down Ashera’s face, and he wondered if he had done something wrong.

“What’s wrong?”

Ashera turned to Nile. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

Nile turned to her. “I know . . . I can’t either.”

Ashera hugged him, resting her head on his chest. Nile embraced her and ran his left hand through her hair. She cried a little harder, and Nile could feel her face and neck jerk to the reaction of her crying. She closed her eyes and tightened her grip on Nile, and he welcomed her in.

“Everything has a reason; we just have to believe it will get better.”

“That is all we can do,” Nile remarked.

Ashera pushed herself away and turned back to the open sky while wiping the tears away. Nile grabbed her hand and kissed it, then kissed her on the cheek. “I promise you, Ashera. I will fix this.”

“I hate crying in front of people. I’m sure it makes me look ugly.”

“From where I’m standing, you look beautiful.”

“Thank you.” She kissed Nile on the cheek and went back into his arms.

Nile played with her soft hair, staring off into the abyss as she rested against his chest. Everything had come down to this. There had to be an ending and he was going to see to it that there was one. By promising her that he would fix it, a glimmer of hope streaked across Nile’s heart. There was no other way around it. He was going to set things straight as best as he could.

“I want to show you something.”

“All right,” she mumbled.

Nile closed his eyes and squeezed her hard. His heart desired to see Solace of Time with her, to show her the beauty. Then Enaya began to spin in his pocket, and he could feel it. With a flash of light, they disappeared and were traveling through Time’s Space.

A bright blue sky and millions of white lights flashed before Ashera. She knew they had to be traveling a hundred miles a second and she grew nervous. A sickening feeling hit her stomach and she closed her eyes and gripped Nile harder as they floated through the space of time, knowing that it would all be over soon.

Chapter 28

A Place of Solace

The sunlight warmed Ashera. There was a sound of chirping birds. There was an ocean somewhere. The smell of grass tickled her nose. A breeze soothed her spirit. It was a feeling she had never had and all seemed at peace until Nile pushed her away and held her.

“Open your eyes.”

Ashera did, and the grass was heavenly. The trees filled the landscape like a spring painting. Her heart was beating regularly, and her smile spread across her face like a little child with a wonderful surprise.

“We were just on the Ancrya,” Ashera said.

“I know,” Nile said, following Ashera as she walked through the trees.

“Where are we?” she asked, dazzled as orbs floated upward from the ground.

“Solace of Time.”

Ashera looked at him. “Are you a wizard?”

Nile put his hands on his hips. “No.”

Ashera looked to the ground and pondered hard. “What are those people called who can travel through dreams?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not one of those either.”

Ashera looked around. “Then how are we here?”

“What would you say if I told you that we were inside my mind?”

“I would laugh.”

Nile threw out his hands and smiled. “Then I guess you’re laughing.”

And she did, but immediately stopped when she saw that Nile was not laughing. “Are you being serious?”

Nile nodded.

“Wow! How can we get into your mind?”

“Dreaming is one way,” Nile replied. “Enaya is another.”

“Enaya?”

“An element.”

Ashera nodded. “And this element can do what?”

“From my understanding,” Nile said with a quirky smile, “it can do anything.”

“And how does Enaya help you travel to your mind?”

Nile shrugged. “It just opens up a secret door in the back of your mind, a place where memories that you don’t remember are stored.”

“Only memories you don’t remember?”

“No,” Nile laughed, “your other memories as well.”

Ashera walked to a tree. She touched it, pressing her fingertips against its bark, and she circled the tree. She came back around and stopped in front of Nile. “What a beautiful mind you have. I could only imagine what Leo’s mind looks like.”

“Why is that?”

Ashera crossed her arms. “Please, I’ve seen the way he stares at me.”

Nile scratched his head gently behind his right ear. “Yeah, he can be pretty strange.” He laughed.

“But he loves you; I can tell by the way he acts around you.”

“We’ve been close since we were kids. I love him like a brother.”

“You two are perfect for each other.”

Nile and Ashera both laughed hard.

Ashera walked across the land and came to the cliff. She stared down into the ocean and it crashed against the rocks. Several orbs released from the crash and floated upward, and when they got to Ashera, she saw images of Nile and other people and places and things going on.

“What are these?”

“Memories.”

“All your memories?”

“Yeah,” Nile said.

Another orb crossed in front of her and she saw Nile kissing Dywnwen. She backed away from it and glanced across the field to Nile. “Do you have anybody in your life?”

Nile hesitated for a minute. “No.”

“You took too long to answer that.”

Nile shrugged and looked down at his feet. “There’s nobody.”

Ashera placed a hand on his cheek. “If so, she is a very lucky girl.”

Nile stared into her eyes, feeling the sincerity that she meant. He nodded and said, “There’s nobody.”

Ashera said nothing, but removed her hand.

“And you?”

“I have nobody,” Ashera replied.

Nile buried his hands in his pockets and walked toward the cliff, but Ashera grabbed him and spun him around. She placed her hands around him as if they were dancing, and before Nile knew it, they were. Ashera slowly moved with him, forcing him to place his hands on her waist. They stared at each other. Nile was nervous.

“What is this about?” Nile asked.

“I’m opening you up,” Ashera said.

“From what?”

“You need to learn to live,” Ashera said, stepping closer to him.

Nile said nothing.

“And you need to kiss me.”

The nervousness swelled inside him. He gaped into her eyes. What if he messed up? Did she do tongue? Did he kiss her for two seconds or six seconds? Did he hold her as he kissed her? How exactly should he move his lips? All these things and more made Nile sweat.

He gulped. “You have to say ‘please.’”

Ashera smiled, then batted her eyes. “Pease kiss me.”

“Pease, that’s cute,” Nile said with a laugh.

Ashera pulled him to her, their lips locking. Nile pulled away and she followed, but he was able to distance himself from her. Their lips turned and twisted against each other, and Ashera ran her fingers through Nile’s hair, pulling him in.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her, moving his lips at her hungrily. Their teeth scraped and their mouths widened. Nile pressed his tongue against hers, still caught in the movement of her lips. She fought to gain control, but Nile pushed his lips harder into hers, catching her lower lip between his. He pulled on her lip and she grabbed the sides of his face.

It felt so good. Almost like he had never done this before, but he and Dywnwen used to kiss all the time in the kitchen, in her room, in the throne room, catch each other and kiss in the great hall, in the courtyard, on her terrace, in his house, in a canoe—everywhere they could, they would kiss. For a moment, Nile believed that he was kissing Dywnwen, almost like he had forgotten.

Ashera’s arms ran across Nile’s shoulders and tightened around his neck. Her lips were lustrous and felt so good that for a second Ashera replaced Dywnwen in his memory. Nile dipped down with her, holding her straight, her back parallel against the ground.

“It’s been a while since I’ve kissed anybody,” Nile whispered to her, getting lost in her brown eyes.

“Pease kiss me again,” she said.

Nile did so, and when he pulled her back up on her feet they were standing on the Ancrya, and the calm feeling disappeared. They pulled away from each other, and Ashera’s face swam in disappointment as she looked around. The pain and the misery sank back into their hearts. Ashera released Nile’s hand.

“Will you take me back?” Ashera asked.

“In time,” he replied, laying a hand upon her cheek.