Gone (Previously the Fan-Fiction There and Gone Again)

Chapter 21: Tying Loose Ends

The smell intensified as Kyna suddenly noticed her body again. The feeling of her limbs slowly came back, first in pins and needles, and then finally completely. She felt solid ground underneath her feet, and cool air around her. The shifting colours of the portal finally normalized, slowing and combining as they finally revealed her environment.

Kyna had once again found herself in a wooded area, and it was clearly not where she was last. The trees were too large and too old to be from home, and although similar, they differed from the ones she remembered in Daerlyre and Alenia. They were slightly larger and more aged. Sunlight filtered through the branches, bathing the clearing in warmth. The smell, however, was familiar. It reminded her of Daerlyre, but without the shadow of darkness that had lain over it. The last remnants of the portal vanished, leaving the view around her tangible and real.

Kyna's heart skipped a beat. Could it be possible? Her heart rate quickened, and she felt her throat constrict in excitement.

It was the book! Destroying the book had brought her back! Somehow, it was her link to Daerlyre. Everything finally made sense. It explained her lifelong attachment to that book—why she always took it everywhere.

At first she didn't know what to do. Part of her had no idea where to even go from here. She had never truly navigated either of the forests in this world on her own. She unzipped the sweater from her body as it had gotten too warm for the extra item of clothing.

"Well, well," a voice echoed through the branches, and as much as Kyna looked around, she could not pinpoint where it was coming from. A faint rustle moved a tree to her left, and a lithe figure dropped from the branches, landing within a few feet of her.

Kyna's face blanched when she realized who it was. She would have recognized him anywhere. The browns and greens of his clothing, the long bow swung over his back, and the two long hunting knives were a dead giveaway. His long blonde hair was tied as she remembered it, and his expression held one of amusement.

"Lorayon?" Kyna asked, taking a moment to rub her eyes.

"The very same," he replied, inclining his head towards her. "You are the very last thing I expected to see falling from the sky, Kyna. It has been a very long time. I trust I don't need to bring you to the dungeon again?" A smile moved his lips, and the distrust she had remembered on his face was absent. Einar must have explained her situation to him!

"How long exactly?" Kyna asked, inhaling deeply, her blue eyes intense. The adrenaline rose in her body and caused her heart to beat faster and faster, filling her with warmth. She felt the sweat moistening her palms and clenched her fists against the dampness. The faintest feeling of hope had uncoiled in her heart, and she felt it slowly bloom and open within her.

"Well, Kyna, it's the one hundredth and seventy-second year of The Green Age, two hundred and fifty-two years since we saw you last."

The colour completely drained from Kyna's face, and she lost her footing as dizziness overcame her. Her body was still recovering from the trip through the portal, and this development had left her awestruck.

Two hundred and fifty-two years!?

"She is not well." Kyna heard Lorayon' voice vaguely in the distance as blackness clawed at her vision. "Fetch Uilwen. She is nearby gathering herbs."

Finally, Kyna gave in to the exhaustion as she lost consciousness and crumpled to the grass covered ground.

***

"Sir, Lorayon asked me to report to you immediately." The elven scout fell to his knee before Einar's throne, lowering his head in respect.

Einar stood from the wooden throne, smoothing his robes over the leather slacks he wore beneath them. His long, flaxen hair was brushed behind his ears, laying simply over his shoulders and his striking features unreadable. The King simply observed the scout with indifference and sighed softly, as though the disturbance tired him.