139 The Mist: Test 2

Jareth tried to hold her but she walked passed him. Quickly, he pulled her back and held her shoulders, keeping her in place. 

"Hey, Astrid, look at me. Calm down. It's with its mother. I left them behind and rushed here to get you."

"And the wild beasts, what happened?"

"We managed somehow, come let us go."

Before she could say anything else, he pulled her with him.

"To where?"

"Didn't you want to see Little White-Fire?"

"Yes I do."

"Then let's go."

"Alright."

She stopped resisting and followed him quickly.

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~HUMANKINGDOM~

The portal opened and Lorelei stepped out into her chambers and quickly grabbed a chair as she plunged her butt on the seat.

CHOO! CHOO!

She coughed hard and clutched her hand against her chest. She winced at the seething pain in her chest, making her eyes drop close.

Her chest heaved up and down; her breathing was raged as it came in short burst. She felt something warm and wet on her hand. She knew she wasn't crying, so what could it be?

She brought her hand away from her mouth for inspection, her eyes widened at what she saw…

Blood!

She couldn't recall when she last coughed out blood in her life and now, this happened when the hybrid unleashed her own storm wave at her, sending her flying towards a tree.

"Bloody wretch! How dare she!" She cursed. This was a slap to her ego. 

With staggering steps, she made her way to her potion shelf, her fingers roamed through the potions, till they found what she was looking for.

"Found you," she said and quickly picked up the glass vial containing a light purplish liquid and stared at it, her gaze sharp as she ascertained the content.

Satisfied, she corked the lid opened with the other hand and poured the contents into her mouth. She closed her eyes and rested her weight against the wall to her left hand side. In a matter of seconds, the pain died down and she felt good.

Opening her eyes, she made her way to her room. Everything was in order and carefully arranged, from her orderly books on the table, to the well spread and tucked in bed sheets, wardrobe and all.

She moved to one of the beds and sat down on it, resting her head gently against one of the pillows. She needed rest, it's been years since she had to use her powers that way. She didn't expect kidnapping her would be hard. She couldn't use the magic collar she brought along, now the hybrid would be on her guard even more.

"I am getting dull; Bayard wouldn't tolerate any more excuses. Should I tell him of this failed mission or ignore it and try again?" She asked herself.

She knew he wouldn't tolerate her loss again, but there was nothing to be done. She can't go all out and stand the chance of alerting the elves of the human's intrusion.

Knock!!

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~ELVEN FOREST~

Princess Avery finished playing her flute and successfully calmed the wild beasts down, putting them in a serene and calm state.

The feet of people running could be heard from behind them; she and the soldiers with her turned their heads at the incoming intrusion.

It was the soldiers that fought those beasts with her a while back, they finally caught up to them.

"Your Highness," they greeted.

"Welcome, you are just on time, we were about leaving."

"What happened here?" The soldier she left in charge asked her as his eyes scanned their surroundings. The ground was littered with blood, broken tree branches, leaves and beasts scattered everywhere.

"The hybrid found a way to defeat the beasts I sent, they left before we got here."

"We saw the power blast a while back, so it wasn't you that encountered the hybrid?"

"No, I thought it was used here as well, but there is no trace of something like that ever happened here. We must keep on moving; we might make it on time and capture her. I can't afford her crossing over and entering the forest peak."

"What about the animals?" Lieutenant Callum asked.

"They would be fine after sometime. For now let them be. Let us leave."

She turned towards the direction of the earlier blast and continued her pursuit, with all the soldiers following behind.

This had been one heck of a chase.

******

Astrid and Jareth continued walking, with no sign of any beast in sight. She was becoming worried. She had asked him twice now about the beasts, it was the same old answer, "We would soon get to them."

They continued walking, no one saying anytging to the other, soon her mind became in a haze, she could barely remember anything from before, all she knew was that she was following him. 

Her eyes looked around, something was not right. Something was tugging at her heart, something she should remember but she couldn't. 

As they walked, Jareth occasionally flashed her a warm smile, capturing and ensnarling her heart to himself. Whenever he smiled at her, she forgot what it was she was worried about and felt happy. 

She was happy being with him, she felt comfortable and safe. As she looked at the mist, it seemed white to her. "Everything looks so cute, so white... White, wait. White... " her eyes fluttered closed and opened as she raked her head to recall. 

The headache came again stronger this time like a migraine. "White-Fire," she muttered out. 

Jareth turned to look at her one more time, but she shut her eyes tight, causing wrinkles to form at the corners of her eyes. 

"White-Fire, what is that?" She questioned herself.

The farther she went, the more she was slipping away, losing her actual thoughts and memories. 

Jareth turned completely and drew her close to himself. "What is wrong?"

"Nothing, I keep having headaches and this phrase, white fire keep poping up in my head. 

He lifted her chin so she could look him in the eye and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. "It's nothing, ignore it. Just think about us, this moment and you'll be alright."

His eyes held a charm in them, when she gazed into them she felt lost and also found. She didn't know when he leaned in and captured her lips in his in a soft passionate kiss.

She should have been glad, but she wasn't. Everything felt so right, yet so wrong at the same time.

She pulled away from the kiss and smiled at him, as she let him lead her on.