Encounter

The green flags of the trees became sepia toned, waving in the southerly wind. Within the multitude of soft chocolatey browns there was gold shining through, and a blush that creeped on her face.

"Lady Evangeline." She called her name in a guarded whisper.

Evangeline casted her a smile, "Melian."

"We should go back now before The Queen beheaded us."

Evangeline let out a small laugh. "She won't, Melian." She stepped over the asters that have wilted, creating a crispy sound.

The blue petals which once blue were now in a grotesque brown, scattered on the green field like confetti. Evangeline blew a kiss to the mother earth and in a split of second the mother earth scattering light.

The asters that have lost their color to the arid air were now bloomed and flourished in the lush green meadow.

Pure wonderment swum in Melian's dark orbs. "That's amazing, Lady Evangeline." Melian said in an awed quiet voice.

"Melian."

"Yes, Lady Evangeline."

"I believe that beauty is only a fleeting moment for us." Evangeline casted Melian a soft smile.

"Why do you think so?" Melian's eyebrows drawn together as she watched Evangeline walked towards the endless green field with a bright smile plastered on her face.

Evangeline turned her heels, and walked backwards with her hands clutched together behind her back. "I feel like it can disappear in the blink of our eyes." She paused. "Like the wind kisses our cheeks."

Strong wind greeted them and Evangeline could feel her feet lose her strength to support her body. She fell down on the green field and she could hear Melian's voice laced with worriedness.

In a split of second, the sapphire blue sky changed into a grotesque black and Evangeline was now surrounded with trees. She quickly on her feet and eyes wandered to look for Melian but she was nowhere to be seen.

"What on earth-"Evangeline began. "Melian?" She called her name but nothing came in sight.

It did not take her for a second to notice that there was a moonlight shone brightly above her that she could see the grass was intensely green and the asters from before were still there spreading across the lushly green field. The only differences were the sudden change of the time and the trees surrounded her. It was like Evangeline was entirely in a different place and Melian was nowhere to be seen.

With the help of the moonlight, Evangeline walked past through the trees, looking for the specific silhouette. "Melian, where are you?" The crispy sound that she made as she walked startled her. Evangeline walked for so far and so long until she found she was in a large field far away from the forest.

The loud cracking sound stole her attention, looking upwards, Evangeline noticed the grotesque dark sky has given away, breaking into tiny pieces resembled snowflakes. In the distance, Evangeline heard heavy footsteps approached her and she looked over her shoulder only to find Melian running with a heavy breath.

"Finally, I found you."

"Stay there, Melian."

"But-."

"Just listen to me, Melian." Evangeline said as clearly as thunder.

Melian obliged. Her eyes fixated on Evangeline who was now looking at the night sky. A glimmering net of thin gold wires had been flung across the sky and the stars shone down through it so bright that its looked like its hammering into the darkness.

Crack......

Melian let out a small gasp. The night sky seemed to crack open like broken glasses and poured through the shards like snowflakes. Melian could see Evangeline tensed at the sight of it. A wave of worried drowned her when she knew the

world that they were living in could lose the balance.

Evangeline was too surprised to scream. The sensation of feeling the world was breaking apart was the worst part; her heart flew up into her throat and her stomach turned to water.

The grotesque dark sky broke apart, creating a big hole in the sky along with a thunder. It did not take a second for her to be knocked backward. A forehead banged against hers, her knees banging against someone else's.

Tangled up in arms and legs, Evangeline coughed hair (not her own) out of her mouth and tried to struggle out from under the weight that felt like it was crushing her flat.

"Ouch." He said in her ear, his tone indignant.

He levelled himself up on his arms and looked down at her placidly. Evangeline could see dark sky above his head. He was crowned with shining hair that seemed to shift colors in light; one moment it was a steel black hair and the next it was a soft ashen brown.

His hair fell in healthy waves over his head and Evangeline felt like she could run her fingers through his hair. His eyebrows are strong and even and his eyes drawn herself in. One eye was double-lidded, the other not and both were framed with thick, dark brown lashes. His irises were the shade of ice blue glass, but dark, chilly and endless.

But that was not what made her breathless. He had the most beautiful face she had ever seen. He has elegant cheekbones, a heart shaped like mouth and long, thick lashes. Even the curve of his throat was perfect. He looked exactly like every Prince Charming she'd ever conjured up in her head. He was breathtaking that she felt like he was illegal and unreal. She could not look away from him.

He seemed to realize she was staring at him, the ethereal man tilted his head and Evangeline noticed his icy eyes grew larger.

"You're not from this world." She finally spoke after she felt like forever and her eyes caught how quickly he avoided her gaze.

A moment later, he was on his feet, reaching down to pull her up after him. But Evangeline scrambled upright on her own. "And you landed on me."

"Sorry for that." He said. "The fossegrim didn't leave me much choice."

"Fossegrim?" She asked, looking puzzled. He gave her a small curt. He spun around to see they were standing in an open field not far from the forest.

"The fossegrim. That was what he introduced himself as." He said and Evangeline did not realize how low his voice was until now. "I believe he is the gatekeeper of your world."

"Lady Evangeline," Melian breathed. "Look." She pointed upward, at the sky.

Evangeline followed Melian's pointed hand to the sky. The sky was lining up with stars but it was different. The stars were in different shade of colors. There were rubies, gold, and cerulean blue. In the first glance, they looked like a dust of jewels, spreading across the sky.

"They are weird, Lady Evangeline." Melian said. "They arched and whirled in patterns that they never have been before."

"I know." Evangeline said softly. Her eyebrows crinkled and she turned to look at the man stood behind her. "How do you get in here?"

"I'm not sure either." He said and there was an odd paused before he continued. "All I ever knew was I was following the moonlight path and I fell into the dark water."

"The moonlight path?" Evangeline asked curiously. "You're the child of the Selene...." She added and trailed off.

He looked thunderstruck. "This is the second time I heard that I'm the child of the Selene. But I'm not." He said. "I have a name. It's Luan Winterlight for your record."

"Listen here, young man."

"Luan." He cut her off. "It's Luan." His chilly eyes clashed with her eyes.

"Sorry?"

Luan looked at her, slow and hard. Then, he smiled. His blue eyes lit when he smiled. "My name." He paused and his voice unexpectedly soft. "You can call me Luan."

"Okay....." Evangeline managed to let out all the ability of speech evaded her. "Luan." She called his name and she felt weird how soft it was on her tongue; like it was an enchantment on her. Luan tilted his head and he gave her his softest smile.

"For you to be able to come here is impossible." She said, avoiding his stares. "Unless you are the Child Of the Selene...."

She added. Evangeline let the end of the sentence hung delicately in the air between them.

"Child of the Selene..." Luan muttered slowly under his breath and Evangeline heard it.

Evangeline looked sideways at him and sighed inwardly. "Let's get you to the Queen." She said. "She will have the answer that you're looking for."

"Hmm, Lady Evangeline?" Said Melian. She has come forward, standing by Evangeline's side with her eyebrows furrowed- thinking deeply about the occurrences happened right now. "More than go to the Queen right now, we should figure where are we right now."

"I know." Said Evangeline. "The only thing that we can find out our location is to get out of this place by travelling through the night. Do you have any faint idea regarding this place?"

Melian shook her head. "I don't and I'm afraid we have to navigate the Lands by the stars."

Evangeline looked upward at the sky. "That's leave us with no choice."

Luan stepped forward. His black bangs fell into his eyes and he shoved them back with his narrow fingers. "So." He said.

"We're going to have a journey across this land using only the stars to navigate?"

"I would say it's the situation exactly." Said Evangeline. She offered him a small smile. "Are you okay with this?"

"Yeah." He said and Evangeline could see his jaw was clenched, his hands rigid and fists at his side.

He was lying...

"Mr. Winterlight..." She said. Luan glanced over at her, fury gleamed behind his eyes. "You might come here unknowingly the reason for it but we will figure it out. You can."

Evangeline could see Luan relaxed by her words and the fire died in his eyes. "Thank you." He said. "And I'm sorry."