The Emerald Legend (Book 1)

Chapter Thirty-Four: Which Lies Our Fated Days

The light came down from the sky through the break in the clouds and Amalia's hand was instinctively drawn above her eyes to catch a glimpse of the blue sky she had missed for many days. The wind slid past her as she squinted from the light against the paleness of her eyes. It was a slightly warmer day on the plateau, yet everything seemed to be under a haze, as if Amalia wasn't quite there. She shrugged it off and turned back to the clay abode.

She walked inside through the dark wooden door and into the living room. It was empty except for two tea cups placed upon the low table. Upon further inspection, she found that tea had been poured but no one had been there to indulge, leaving them to grow cold.

She made her way into the kitchen and was met by the same emptiness and silence. Where have those two run off to now? she thought. Surely Osirian and Seian hadn't gone far, she assured herself.

After evaluating both rooms, she found them to be unoccupied. A sense of worry struck her and she returned to the main hallway of the clay house. As she made her way to the door, there was a terrible rumble that threw her off balance and pushed her onto the wall for support. It lasted several moments before subsiding. She then heard a roaring explosion coming from the distance. Amalia steadied herself against the wall again and hurried as quickly as she could outside. She continued to look around for Osirian and Seian but saw nothing. His name escaped her lips with a scream, as her eyes spun in every direction trying to find them.

Then, with a thunderous blow, shards of rock began slamming down onto the mountainside. She looked up into the sky and saw hundreds of fireballs flying in every direction. The northern volcano was erupting, the sky was blotted black with ash, and the flames of the beast ascended to the sky only to fall and scatter its rain of hell down upon the mountainsides.

Amalia's instincts told her to turn and run, but everything was happening so quickly it was hard to keep up. She screamed out Osirian' name once more and was met with the same ill response, only now, the roaring volcano shrouded the silence.

She watched as a large boulder hurdled into the ground destroying the Ina'gava flowers and part of the house. Debris scattered in every direction and the ground was completely unstable. She had no choice but to sprint towards the oak tree. Blazing rocks were slamming down all around her, some only inches from her skin. They were destroying everything.

She leapt towards the small opening under the tree and slipped down into it. She slid onto the slick staircase and she could hear the loud slams of the rock above her. She turned and hurried down the stairwell catching herself multiple times on the muddy, wet walls. As she reached the bottom, she was met by an empty crystal cove. "Osirian," she called out. Her throat was closing and her eyes felt hotter than the igniting flames above. Then, the twinkle of crystal shards caught her eye as they lay scattered across the quartz floor. Amalia moved further into the cave and passed through the small flowing river which was now hot to the touch.

As she stepped onto the small quartz island, she reached down to touch a shard of the crushed crystal. To her surprise, she heard her name called out from behind her. When she turned to face the man who she had been so desperately searching for, she was met by a dark, violet light and then—nothingness.

The darkness covered her and the silence engulfed her completely. The only thought that remained was that she was died. She was not afraid of death, or rather, she knew she would always accept it willingly, but the thought of not knowing what had happened to the man she had grown so close to, killed her even more.

With a painful gasp and an inhale of precious breath, Amalia shot up from where she laid onto a dense hard floor. Delirium followed along with a ringing high in her ears. She reached out into the darkness and it felt like the air had been pulled from around her. She heard a knocking sound in the distance and a familiar voice sang her name. At least, to Amalia, it sounded like singing. Then, the darkness found her again, leaving her with nothing but his voice.

"Osirian," she cried out in the darkness.

She knew didn't want to be in this pit of nothingness any longer; she knew she needed to get out and see him—she never even got to hold him. After repeating his name several times with no response, an echo flooded her mind as the sound she had been longing for entered. "Amalia," Osirian said, softly stroking the hair out of Amalia's face. She awoke with a jolt and sprung forward.

"Relax, relax," he said reaching out for her shoulders, trying to steady her and help her lay back down. "You were dreaming."

"Osirian?" she said in such a lost, desperate tone that it almost broke his heart to hear it.

"I'm here, Amalia. It's alright," he said trying to comfort her. Amalia's face broke with tears and she reached out and hugged him. She cried for many moments trying to collect her words, trying to explain to him how afraid and how lost she was. Then, she remembered the volcano, and everything became serious. She knew it was real, she had been given a vision of the future, she knew in her heart that it was absolutely true.

"The—" she croaked. "The volcano," she said, wide-eyed, full of fear and despair.

"Say again?" He was trying to understand her chopped words.

"The volcano," she whispered through her sniffs and sobs. "The volcano is going to burst."

"The volcano? We are surrounded by volcanoes, and they are all asleep," he said trying to calm and reassure her.

"No, I saw it. In my dream, the north volcano—the fireballs, the ashes, everything. I saw it all." Her words were filled with pure horror and her eyes could not contain her tears as they began to flow again.

"Amalia," he whispered softly projecting his energy over hers. She felt the warmth wrap around her in a gentle embrace, pulling her energy down to equalize with his. "I'm here," he said holding up a hand to her wet cheek, wiping the tears away from it. "You do not have to be afraid anymore. As long as we are here, I will always protect you."

She immediately felt comfort envelope her entire body and the fear dissolve around her. She collapsed in his arms once more, and felt every part of her filled up with pure warmth. He placed his hand on the top of her head and weaved his fingers between her hair softly.

"You should get some rest," he said holding her in his arms. Amalia buried her face deeper into his chest. "I don't think I'm able," she said, afraid of what dreams might follow.

He continued to stroke the strands of pale hair that flew down her back as he spoke. "I'll stay with you until you return to your slumber," he said reassuring her. She sat back looking into his eyes to make sure of his words; her eyes darting from one to the next. "I promise."

"Thank you." She laid down slowly. Osirian's hand moved the strands of hair out of her face which brought her a great sense of comfort.

"I'm here," he said giving her a gentle smile. "Rest."

"Will you promise to be here when I rise?"

"Yes, I will stay with you tonight."

She reached out, grabbed his hand and held it tightly.

It was with the jolt of her touch, that Osirian realized just how precious Amalia had become to him. He really wanted to protect her, to be with her, to make her happy.

Her eyes shut slowly, and without thinking he leaned down and kissed her cheeks. He held himself above her lips, but in a swift moment he decided against it and moved back to the seated position he was in. Don't be a fool, he thought to himself, keeping his ill-intentions restrained. Sleep found them soon after.