The Hope Of The Three (Book 2 of the Hidden Trilogy)

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Sun Woman

Eliana Morane
(SLB)
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You can't put into words how deeply painful it is, to lose someone close to you. To try and put it into words would be a task that no person could ever accomplish, for it's a run-on list of emotions constantly changing and yet each more heartbreaking than the last. It would be an insult to the emotion itself. I had been through this before. The Masters, my mom, my dad, and now Ali was added to the list. It hurt. It hurt so much.

Umair hugged me tightly from behind, his face buried between my shoulder blades, my shirt wet from his tears. I did that. It was my fault. They would tell me it wasn't. It was. I didn't want to continue on the quest. I wanted to stop and curl up in a bed and stay there for the rest of my life. But I couldn't, I owed it to Ali to continue. These thoughts raced through my mind but never fully sank in. Ali was gone. That was hard to believe, I couldn't except it. The blood was still in my hand and the memory all too fresh in my brain.

"We'll be there soon," Adira said softly in my ear, she probably didn't want to agitate me. For a moment I wished I could be her, sad but not affected. Unfortunately, I had had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know Ali, thus making my pain all the more painful.

True to Adira's words, we arrived in five minutes. Umair looked up for the first time as we neared the sun. My sun. It had been so long. My home was in front of me and it comforted me knowing that I would be home and safe. I wish Ali could have seen this. That he could see the quest through and know that we made it, we found the Sun women. Well, we hadn't found her yet, but I was feeling stronger and could somewhat fell her presence. I asked Adira to land the Shadows a few hours from my home. She landed the shadows perfectly and the second I touched my feet on my planet, strength, and happiness coursed through me. The sun, contrary to what humans believed; was a beautiful planet, beautiful trees and lakes covered it, except they were made out of light. We landed right beside a light lake and on the other side of the lake, was a small cottage.

Umair got off of the Nortoche and helped me down, even through mourning he was a gentleman. I wonder if he blamed me. I would, I did. I led the two of them around the lake, or should I call it a marsh? Pond? Well, it was small. I neared the door to the small cottage and rapped my knuckles on the wood door. It swung open in an instance and an old woman, old enough to be at least one hundred years old stood in front of us. Her hair was in a tight bun and her eyes wet droopy. Her lips were pulled in so she obviously had no teeth.

"Um hello?" I nervously start, not exactly sure what to say. What am I even supposed to say? 'Hello I'm Eliana and I'm inhabited by and evil Nortoche that can control me and make me kill people, please invite me into your home!' Ya, that would be a great thing to say. Ali would have known exactly what to say, he seemed like the type of person that would be good with old people. "Um, miss? We would...um...if you could be so kind as too...we were wondering if," I cleared my through, finding the right words to say. If she refused to help us, I would soon be fully taken over by the Nortoche. And then he would eat my soul and I would die.
"We hear that you are an amazing healer, we have come seeking your help," Umair interjected smoothly, putting a debonair smile on. What was he trying to do, charm the hundred-year-old grandma?

"Of course, come in dears," the woman smiled, getting out of the door way and letting us into the cottage. The cottage was fairly small and made entirely of wood. Shelves lined every wall and in each of them was filled with different substances in them. There were a few with different slimes and powders. Most of them I didn't even want to know what was in them. A set of stairs on the opposite wall led up to what I assumed was the bedroom. A table and a few chairs were in the middle, a cauldron rested on it with a thousand different ingredients tossed to the side. A fire was on in a fireplace and yet another cauldron was placed inside, roasting something that smelled quite delicious.