Meanwhile, Quara and the others had made it to Misty Wood Lake, but danger had already found them a few times before. Nolen led the way and protected Queen Quara from the front. Tessa stayed behind the queen. “Is it getting colder?” Tess asked the others.
“I do not feel a change in temperature.” Nolen said.
“Wait,” Queen Quara stopped walking, “I think Tess is right. These chilly breezes are strange. “
“This is strange for the season.” Nolen agreed.
An eerie laugh was heard, but the person was not seen. “I know you have journeyed a while just to find me. Here is my warm… or rather icy cold welcome!”
“Silver!” Queen Quara yelled. The temperature changed drastically.
“Wow, it is so cold, yet the scenery still seemed like summer. What is this?” Tessa shivered.
“It must be one of his illusions.” Nolen said.
The mist of the lake rose and floated around them. “What is wrong with a bit of mind manipulation? Did you enjoy my plants?”
“We will defeat you!” Tessa hissed with attitude.
“Now I will stun you with fear!” Silver shouted unaffected by their threats.
Tess was suddenly overwhelmed with her fears that she always hid inside. “No. Stay away!” In her mind she saw warriors that carried swords, spears, arrows and other different weapons. She was in Lakewood, her home village that was in ruins. “Why!” She cried with her hands held tightly against her head over her ears.
Nolen and Queen Quara starred at her. Nolen asked, “Queen, what is wrong with her?”
“I am not sure… unless…” Queen Quara wondered.
A voice in their heads was heard. “Yes… correct… I am in her mind as well as yours. I pulled up a real fear from her memories. I wanted to see your group squirm with your hidden fears!” Silver laughed.
One of Nolen’s fears was failing to protect the queen. In his mind Silver was making the queen suffer slowly. Nolen was restrained with strong rope, and could do nothing. The queen’s fear was watching her kingdom suffer. From her tall palace balcony she saw buildings on fire from far away. She heard screams of her people that she so desperately wanted to save. Tess was shook. The wall she built so no one could see her pain, and her image of being so strong and carefree fell apart just like it had done with the encounter of the plants. She screamed until her lungs ached. Her fear was being abandoned.
Chapter VII: Mind Games
“Mother!” Sylvia was screaming. “It was my fault you died! Why? Why did I have to live?”
“Sylvia...” Zell softly tried to wake her. He touched her face where tears had fallen in her sleep.
She jerked awake, and jolted up in shock. She was alive? She looked around, and saw thick layers of mist all around. At first, she thought she was alone. Abandoned. Then she felt a bit of relief when Zell came into focus. “You saved me?”
“I made a promise, and kept my word." He leaned close and whispered, "learn to trust me.”
Her cheeks reddened. “Thank you.” She looked away, and wiped at her wet eyes. She noticed her skin was clean. Her clothes had dried mud on them. She looked back up at Zell in a questionable way. “Did you clean the mud from my skin?”
“I had cloth, and used water from the lake in front of us.” Sylvia stared at him in wonder. “What? Don't look at me with such eyes.” He felt a heat of embarrassment when he realized what she meant. Defensively, he said, “I was a complete gentleman.” He smiled awkwardly.
“I believe you. Thank you.” Her voice was quiet. She felt her face flush with a red heat when she imagined Zell's touch. She must have been a disaster to look at. Yet he had cleaned her mud splattered face and mud soaked arms. Good thing she had been unconscious. Her heart had gone mad at the touch of his hand in hers in that creepy town. He had only done so as reassurance she had told herself. Again, She was embarrassed to play such scenes in her mind.
"Do you want to exchange secrets now?" Zell caught her off guard. She had a look of guilt, like a child who had gotten caught stealing a sweet treat.
“Why now? I have little to hide." She shook her head and tried to focus.
“When we were all in a tangle with those plants, I overheard some things you were shouting. In your sleep, I heard you cry.”
Her mouth dropped. "I don't cry in my sleep. You must have imagined it” She tried to laugh it off. Her first reaction was denial.
Then she nearly choked when Zell put his hands over hers. "I just thought you might want to talk." He stared right at her with those green eyes. Those hypnotizing green eyes that made her stomach drop and her heart beat quickly.
Sylvia tensed up. She was almost angry that someone knew her secrets; her past that she wished had happened. She broke the hypnotizing gaze and looked down. Staring at his larger hands over hers didn't help and she picked the mist covered grass to stare at. "Why have been so nice to me?”
He looked perplexed at first. "I felt drawn to help you."
"I don't know how to take it at times. People from where I'm from don't help people like me." Then she thought of the nice old woman, Latasha. After all the time she was on the streets, she could only count a handful of people that had helped. "Most people don't anyway." She added in a mumble.
He sighed as if he had to tackle a task that he was not looking forward to. "Look, Sylvia, there is something I need to tell you."
She risked looking back at him through damp red waves of hair that stuck to her face.
He took a deep breath, and only hope she would not hate him. “I am not originally from here.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Like you, I am from a different time period.” He revealed his own pendant with his hand. It was not blue like Sylvia's. It was green in a crystal shape that hung from a leather cord.
Sylvia thought her mouth would fall to the ground. She tried to form words, but a complete word did not come out. “Is that why you think my necklace has something to do with my sudden appearance here?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, I do not have all the details that I would love to have. You see I was a geologist. I was interested in studying rocks and gems, which is how I found this crystal.”
“And you ended up in Enigma? How long have you been here?”
“A few years.”
“Did you want to return to your home?” Sylvia had many questions now as her curiosity peaked. Part of her wanted to be angry that he had not told her.
“I thought about it, but no one knew of a way to send me back.”
She wanted to ask why he kept it from her. They had been through quite an adventure without much time to have a friendly chat. “Did it make you sad?” She asked instead.
“At first maybe, but I came to find my place here. I did not have much to return to anyway. I was disowned by my family when I decided not to go into their family business, be rich, and live an empty life like the rest of them.”
Perhaps he understood her more than she had thought. He too, was without family. "Will you tell me what happened to you in your time period now?"
She had not wanted to open up. Suddenly she felt everything she had bottled up; a pressure, a burden that threatened to be released. Sylvia felt the burning of tears in her eyes. "She died because of me!" She started crying all over again. "My aunt told me that after my mother gave birth to me that her body changed, and later on developed an unknown illness from bearing me. If I had not have been born she would have been fine, and could have lived the rest of her life." All the pain, sadness, and loneliness poured out in a flood of tears and jumbled words.
"Sylvia," Zell breathed out in a in a hushed tone. "You cannot blame yourself for all that. You shouldn't live with such regret." He wanted to comfort her.
"What does it matter? I'm just an orphan, a thief on the run since I escaped from an orphanage...blasted hellish place." She could barely form full sentences. She was a complete mess- a blubbering fool. Of all the times for her to have an emotional br
eakdown this was the worst. Why now- and in front of this green-eyed dream, the only guy she had felt any connection with. One, whom she may have a chance with. Rather may "have had" a chance with, but after all her crying she doubted any chance was possible.
"Do you really believe that you're a bother to everyone? You fail to see your worth because of the past and the situations you were forced into." Zell felt urged to convince her otherwise. Finally, she had opened up and now he knew the weight of the burden that she carried alone. All that sorrow was too much to bear alone.
"What worth?" Her voice had come out louder than she had meant. Her nose was all snotty, but she was too upset to be embarrassed by that. She was caught in the frustration, like not being able to find a way out of a maze. The anger that was erupting from within was like red-orange lava flowing from a volcano. The sorrow suffocated like plunging under water and not being able to swim up for breath. "You should have left me in that sink hole."
Zell held a pained expression on his face, as if he could feel what she was feeling. "Sylvia." All he said was her name. At a loss of what else to do, he embraced her. He let her vent and cry. It had caught Sylvia off guard, but she accepted the embrace. Tension began to leave her and she returned the embrace. Through the materiel of his shirt, she felt his strong back. She took in the pleasant scent like pine needles. She got control of her breath though her heart was a different matter. She felt safe around him and wanted to remain in his arms.
"You have carried tough burdens on yourself." Zell spoke and the warmth of his breath tickled the back of Sylvia's neck. She felt a warm tingle through her whole body. Zell continued, "You are stronger than you think. Believe in yourself. I'm here to help you." He offered.
He had taken her breath away so her reply was a whisper. "I'm not good at relying on people."
He pulled away and looked at her. "Then only rely on me." A smile stretched across his face."
She was constantly confused at thoughts that entered her mind like how she liked his smile.
Also, it confused her at how she would have liked to stay in his arms a bit longer. All she could do was smile back with a nod. She didn't trust her voice not squeak. She remembered in school when girls would talk after studies about cute boys in their high squeaky voices. She had not been interested in boys at that time. She had been too young to care and boys they were. They had annoyed her. Then she was thrown into situations where she thought she would never have a chance to connect with any young man.