The Tropical Wood
"I do not know where to find an inn to stay. I'd be so glad if I could accompany you all." a rather draught yet tired voice spoke; it was Eldon.
At this instance, it was more than oblivious that he was sure to be tired. After all, getting attacked by bandits, escaping the forest, saving yourself, and then being lost in a random garden was, in fact, quite troublesome.
"Ok, you can, but are you sure you won't get tired on the way? It's pretty far from here.", said Aurienbergie trying to warn him that there were chances that he might not be able to reach the cottage due to the distance.
"No, I won't get tired, or at least I pray not to get tired." Eldon laughed it out, exclaiming that he was accompanying them no matter what.
The end of the beautiful garden with poppies, lavenders, roses, marigolds, peonies, carnations, and anvarietiesies of herbs was finally coming closer. The thsofgreen-yellowish-hueded grasses were over.
All that remained there was a vast woodland with that of a tropical climate. The layers of forest falling onto the ground made it seemingly frightening. The emergents, more of the mahogany trees were hovering right at the distance of 12m - 15m from the ground, which was followed by the canopies and the dwarf trees. In the forest, remain remain unidentifiable creepers, which looked as if only stepping onto them would be dangerous and life-threatening.
But Aurienbergie was familiar; that was the only thing that encouraged both Arabella and Eldon to go into that dense, monstrous forest.
"Both of you, be on your gaurds!"
Aurienbergie reminded that it wasn't some regular forest that they would come across in their everyday life.
"Ok."
Both of them spoke in unison. They somehow had developed a great trust in a complete stranger, Aurienbergie.
Suddenly, a sharp noise came from behind, then from their right, and again from the left. Now, it was echoing from all directions; they were surrounded by an unknown enemy.
The sound stopped echoing as Eldon moved his hand to grab his sword, which was fixated by a belt on his back. A sword that was a family heirloom given to all the heirs of the Frenzi family.
A large creeper that fell from the tree, had started moving all by itself. The cold wind had witnessed a turn in itself. The winds started reversing, forming a loop around the three of them. They became distracted. They were so fixated on the sudden turn of winds that their senses became numb and they were quite mesmerized with the turns.
The sword, the necklace, the gardening tools, every single piece of equipment was gone. The only thing that remained with them was their clothing and nothing else. Yet, they had not noticed it. The wind had hypnotized them, blinding their senses and hormones.
It was only their subconscious self that could help them out.
A branch from that wind envelope came straight, hitting Arabella's hand. The blood started pouring out of her skull, near the brink of being dozed off, her robes emitted a bright violet light that was used in the repairment of her fractured skull.
The light started approaching her bruised knees and cranium, she was almost levitating in the air.
It was the special ability hidden within elves that whenever they would be in trouble, a light so bright of your soul would come to save you when your own self would give you up. This light can only originate subconsciously, no amount of practice is enough to awaken it voluntarily.
It had finally happened; one of them had recovered, and she could now function properly without any restraint on her health .. as her consciousness recovered, she thanked the light and went to Eldon and Aurienbergie to help them gain consciousness too.
It didn't seem possible....nothing was working. Shaking, vibrating, flinching, pinching, and even punching them won't work. They could only wake up if they wanted to. It could not be initiated by any external force.
"I am sorry, Father. ", Aurienbergie said, regretful of her actions. I never meant to destroy that. It just happened.
"YOU INITIATED IT AURIE!!!
Your mere apology is not enough to fix what has been destroyed. You were always a useless child, I knew it, yet I kept you.", her father shouted in a loud and clear voice whose motive was only to hurt Aurienbergie.
You were always a useless child!
A useless child!
A useless child!
A useless child!
A USELESS CHILD ( AURIENBERGIE)!!
A faint laughter was heard from the background; before she could get out of the dilemma that she was experiencing continuously, various events were happening in front of her.
All her sins, moments, and deeds were flashing in front of her, yet she could not process; 'a useless child !' these words were pressed onto her head.
She accepted it.
"Am I a useless child? Why is a useless child like me alive?"
She kept questioning everything around her as if it were a question that she was asking herself.
THUD!!!!
A loud voice rang in her ear. She looked around her, she was in the same wind envelope.
"Oh, thank god ! You gained your consciousness back. That was tiring.", Arabella spoke as she threw the stone far away from her hand.
Blood started flowing out from the elbow of Aurienbergie, "Were you trying to kill me right now ?" she questioned, implementing difficult choices upon Arabella.
"No silly! I'll explain the story to you later. Right now, help me make Eldon gain consciousness.", Arabella commanded Aurienbergie.
It wasn't complete, but she understood that there were no ill intentions behind her attack; rather, it was for the safety of Aurienbergie herself. She nodded and asked Arabella about how they were going to help Eldon.
"I don't know. I do not have any idea how you gained consciousness. I was just continuously shaking you, and then I tried hitting you with a stone, and viola! It worked you woke up." explained Arabella.
"Huh... What gibberish are you talking about?"
Questioned Aurienbergie with surprised eyes. The attack indeed helped her, but it wasn't just the attack; she was suffering so much because of the memories inside her head.