Eris Vanserra Fanfiction-A Land Of Lavender And Thistle-Book One

CHAPTER XXXII

Ruth

Music. There was music everywhere, singing among the melody of rustling leaves above me.

I knew this place, this dream. The flute dancing in the soft wind which ruffled my hair, caressing my legs and lifting the hem of my skirt. Yet where it was coming from was still unknown to me.

And the female voice, crooning and enchanting as it swirled in the music, was even more unfamiliar.

It had never been here before, that narrating tone. And it was saying something, I knew it was, except I couldn't find myself understanding the words. It was in some unknown language, the words soft yet quick.

I eased to my feet and surveyed my surrounding, glad to find that no wave of flames was rolling toward me. So, with a deep breath, I started walking in the direction in which the flute was the stronger.

After what felt like hours, the flute began to louden and I realized I was indeed approaching it. The woman's voice was gone, wiped out in the breeze as the low emerald grass tickled my bare feet. Hopping over a mossy log, I glimpsed something among the trees not too far ahead, the music seemingly coming from that way.

Pressing my lips, I furled my fingers into the skirt and strode closer, catching a flash of sunlight over strands of flowing red hair. A name crossed my mind immediately, but I discarded the idea.

It was simply ridiculous.

Yet I continued moving on, with each step coming closer to the figure sitting on a rock, their back to me. Auburn hair waving in the gentle wind.

Then, a bark of a fox rented my thoughts, my attention snapping to my right.

There, standing among the dry leaves of bronze, yellow and crimson, the fox from a few nights ago stood. Its tail was a snap of shimmering light as it swayed, its eyes like beads of glowing gold.

My legs moved on their own, taking me away from the flute and its user, and guiding me to the fox.

When a gap of mere paces was left between us, I began to reach a hand. To do what, I wasn't sure. My skin was buzzing, my heart bucking and my mind an empty space whose focus was only on the fox. And just when I thought I'd graze my fingers over its face dazzling with gilded threads and swirls, it moved abruptly, racing away and lifting the leaves in its wake.

I tried to follow it, but as the leaves settled back on the ground, it was gone. The flute had vanished, too. So had the wind.

And it was quiet.

Too quiet.

My breath hitched and my fingers clutched the skirt again, when the music started once more and ease consumed me.

I gasped, my eyes opening wide. I felt a soft mattress beneath me and gazed at the familiar ceiling above, sheets of satin hugging my body. No leaves, no fox, no forest.

But the flute remained.

Perhaps I was still dreaming.

Rubbing my eyes, I propped myself on my elbows, my eyes adjusting to the silvery light of dawn which poured through the windows of Eris' bedroom. I paused then, my gaze fixed on the open doors of the balcony. The person standing there.

The melody ...

It was the same music from my dream, the several ones I had in the past month or so. It was that same flute, the identical lilting, relaxing tune that made my hips swing and my feet tap.