Emerald ring

Chapter 15: Emerald ring

[London]

Isabella was scanning through the rows of rings and bracelets in the night market.

She had a wonderful time with Dylan's friends, .. now her friends too. The movie was great, and they had dinner outside.

She laughed and played, letting go of her worries for a while. They parted ways after planning to go out again.

Dylan and Isabella almost reached home when she saw this night market set up. She wanted to visit and hence ended up here.

"Miss. Take a look at these. I am sure you will like this collection." A sales girl showed her another tray of rings.

Isabella didn't really plan on buying any rings but the collection was beautiful. And a green stone ring particularly caught her attention.

"This will really suit you miss. You have beautiful green eyes. This ring looks like it is particularly made for you." The sales girl tried to market the ring to her.

Isabella politely smiled, knowing that these were just sales techniques, but she indeed liked that ring a lot.

"Can I hold it?" Isabella asked, and the girl carefully took it out and handed it to Isabella.

The silver ring was simple, with a small green emerald on top. Her brows raised in surprised as she weighed the ring in her hand.

"Wait. This is a real one?" Isabella asked in surprise. She could tell that the emerald was real, and even the silver was real silver, not some cheap coating.

"Yes. A lady sold this ring to us just a few hour ago at a very low price. We checked. It is not a fake."

Isabella caressed the ring delicately with her fingers. She liked it a lot. "How much?"

"It is just 500 bucks miss."

Isabella bit her her inner cheek. 500 was way more than her budget right now. But she liked the ring very much. It was very rare for her to feel this kind of attachment to anything.

It would have been fine if she hadn't seen this ring at all. But now that she has seen it, she didn't want to imagine it being on any other hand except hers.

She liked it so much that she didn't even bargain for the price. She directly payed for it and smiled happily.

She carefully put the box in her bag and looked around to search for Dylan. He said he would get some coffee but now it seems like he is lost.

Meanwhile, Dylan was returning with two full coffee cups in his hands when again started to feel that dark, gloomy aura again. He hated this feeling. It would feel as if he was about to lose something precious. And the only image flashed in his mind was Isabella.

He hastened his pace while carefully scanning his surroundings. He didn't want to see that creepy lady.

The market wasn't a big place, so it wasn't hard to find Isabella. He found her safely sitting on a stone bench and waiting for him. His racing heart settled as soon as he saw her.

"You finally came. I thought you were lost. Hehe.." Isabella joked and took a cup from his hands.

"Isa. Did you see someone suspicious around? Are did someone come to you?" Dylan asked, still scanning the surroundings.

"Huh. No. Why do you ask?" Isabella too looked around to see what Dylan was checking. Someone suspicious?

"Why? Did you see anyone? Is G-Grayson here?" Isabella asked as she moved closer to Dylan.

Dylan stopped looking around and gazed down at Isabella. She looked highly on alert.

Though she really had fun and enjoyed the evening, the fear and humiliation was still there.

Dylan gently took her hands into his before speaking. "Princess. I know you are worried, and scared. But trust me, I will be there with you. He will never touch you again."

"B-But the video. He must have s-seen on replay.. and what if he already shared it someone?" Isabella told her worries. The more she thought about the video, the more anxious she felt.

Dylan felt rage taking over him again. He knew he was powerless, poor and a nobody. But Isabella was his reverse scale. No matter how powerful the other party is, he will retaliate. 

"Isabella. I promise. I will work and become powerful. So powerful that no one will ever dare to humiliate you ever again. As for Grayson - I will not let him go for making you suffer."

Isabella was slightly taken aback hearing him say that so seriously. He said similar things in the morning too, but she was busy crying so the words lost the impact. Now she was more calm, she felt sweetness creep into her heart.

"Haha.. If you are powerful, then people will not humiliate you. But why will it stop them from troubling me?" Isabella said jokingly as she sipped on her coffee. The slight smile on the corner of her lips went unnoticed as the cup hid it.

Dylan felt complicated listening this. Indeed. Only when their relationship has a name will people not bully Isabella, right?

"I bought something. Let me show you."

Dylan saw Isabella take out a small velvet box from her bag.

"How is it? Beautiful right?"

Isabella was waiting for Dylan's response but he just kept staring at the ring blankly.

Just like Isabella, Dylan too felt an instant attraction towards the ring. But there was something else too. A strange buzz started in his mind, as if something was trying to surface. Something long forgotten in memories, but dear to heart.

His fingers slightly brushed over the ring when a horrific image flashed in his vision.

He saw the ring resting on a slender hand, but the hand was bloodied, the ring was dyed in red too. A strong metallic smell of blood entered his nose, scaring him.

The vision was accompanied by a sharp pain in his chest. His chest ached as though an invisible hand was squeezing his heart.

"DYLAN.." Isabella shut the velvet box and supported Dylan who was now clutching his chest and panting.

His eyes were unfocused and the sudden pain in his chest lingered, but he felt someone's image overlap with Isabella.

"Isa?" He whispered as he looked at Isabella.

"Yes yes. I am here. What's wrong? Is it paining anywhere?" Isabella slightly pressed on his chest to where he was hurt.

Sudden pain strokes like this were not good. She decided to take him to hospital.

Dylan felt normal after a few moments, as if everything was just a hallucination. But he knew it wasn't.

"I am fine. Don't worry."

"What fine? You were in pain and you say you are fine? We are going to doctor." Isabella commanded while cupping Dylan's face in her hands to see if he was pale.

Dylan smiled looking at her reaction.

"I am really fine. It must be .."

"No. We are going to doctor. We can't ignore chest pain. There are lungs and heart in there. Don't try to talk me out of this."

--------------------------

[Mythiopia]

In the royal palace, Lawrence, Dexter, and Aliza stood with their hands outstretched, their eyes closed as they poured magic into the ancient coin.

The coin finally showed fluctuations today and luckily, it lasted long enough for them to enter the coin while it was still unstable.

Initially it was only Lawrence and Dexter forcing their way into the coin, but later Aliza came to help them.

Aliza, the best healer in Mythiopia, focused her magic on replenishing Lawrence and Dexter's strength as they continued their assault on the coin's defenses.

The queen marveled at the coin's power. Looking at how much power Lawrence and Dexter were spending, they could probably collapse all the mountains in the realm. Despite the immense magic they were using, it felt as though the coin was mocking their efforts.

"It's okay. We were at least able to leave traces of our magic. We can grab onto them and hopefully figure out a way soon." Lawrence said. This was a huge progress already.

Dexter nodded in agreement, though exhaustion was evident on his face. It was indeed better than all those previous futile attempts.

-----------------------------

[Snowblood mountains]

Far from the palace, Calhoun stood at the base of the Snowblood Mountains when the ground beneath him trembled violently. A wave of energy rippled through the air, sending birds fleeing from the trees.

He was baffled. What was that energy? He wasn't imagining things. The energy was unlike anything he'd felt before—ancient and overwhelming. It seemed to call out to him, igniting a strange sense of familiarity deep within his chest.

The prince thanked all his stars that he wasn't on the mountains yet. Or else he would have been buried deep in the snow by now.

The mountains were getting closer now. He would reach there in a few days. He was sure there was something in there, something related to him, and he was determined to find it.