CHAPTER 206

"Wait, the elf is here," Coralia informed Nadia who was about releasing her attack. "Do not attack!"

Nadia released her hold on her powers and moved her hand apart, watching them ball into a fist before returning her gaze back to the scene.

"What is he doing here? I thought you said he had left." Naida asked her friend, her eyes still glued on the scene in front of her.

"I do not know, but for now we cannot attack. We better go back and reinforce with the others, Naida. This would be too big for both of us to handle."

"Okay."

Without further ado, the two mermaids, quietly swam away, going deeper into the water.

Meanwhile, Astrid and Jareth were unaware of what almost happened about the danger that lurked in the deep.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to get you riled up. It's just… I felt drawn to it and decided to take a quick bath, but the more I stayed, the more comforting it was and I kind of lost track of how long I had spent here."

"I would understand, though. You need it after everything that happened since we left the forest peak."

"True. I would be out in a minute," Astrid informed him. She arched a brow at him when she saw he didn't move a muscle. "Jareth?"

"Huh! Yes?" He blinked twice before shifting his gaze back to hers, but his eyes still felt like they were not looking at her, he was lost in thoughts. "What is it?" Jareth asked absentmindedly.

Astrid let out a soft sigh at his forgetfulness. "Jareth, I need to come out."

"Then come out, what is the wait for?" He said softly, his mind still hanging in the clouds.

Astrid face palmed herself as her cheeks reddened at his bluntness. She knew he was carried away and so didn't even think carefully about the words that came out of his mouth. "You leave first. I am…"

Before she could finish her statement, the whole situation hit him hard on his mind. "Oh damn, I am sorry. I got lost… My mind wasn't here."

"I could tell."

"Bye, come back soon."

He hurried away, giving her the privacy she deserved.

'Damn it Jareth. What were you thinking about her body for? Now she would think you are a pervert. Get a grip of yourself, nothing has changed.' He scolded himself mentally.

'What is wrong with me? I am the one who wants to let go of this feeling and stay away from her, but I find my lips not being able to control themselves when she gets close, especially when she bites down on her lower lip.'

He facepalmed himself several times, trying to the thought of seeing her reflection in the water from his mind. The last thing he needed was a boner, right now.

Right now he felt like cursing his gift, his overly sensitive eyes that could clearly see her bosom inside the water. Taking in a deep breath, he walked back to the cave.

No sooner had he left than Astrid came out of the water and proceeded to dry herself.

She picked up a clean cloth and was about using it to dry her body when she suddenly stopped. A thought ran through her mind and she smiled to herself.

'Why dry my body with a small piece of cloth, when I can use my powers to do so easily?'

She moved her right hand and raised it in front of her. Immediately, all the water droplets in her body and hair moved out and condensed into a water ball under her hand.

She moved her fingertips and the water swirled and formed an oval shape. Her eyes lit up at the new discovery on her to use her powers and her lips curved up into a smile till the corners of her eyes cringed.

She practised shaping the water into whatever she willed and it obeyed. After some time of playing with the water, she let it drop on the ground, some distance away from where she stood and picked up her clothes.

As much as she would have loved to play more with her powers, she knew it was not the right time, at least not when she was not being clothed.

She couldn't risk letting Jareth come to look for her again and find her naked. She would die from embarrassment if that ever happened.

Quickly she put on her clothes and headed for the cave.

******

~ELVEN FOREST – TUNNEL~

Although it was some hours, it didn't take very long for Aelfdene and the others to find the giant snake that Astrid killed.

"Bloody beast! Urgh!" Upon seeing the beast which produced such rotten foul smell, General Lyklor groaned in disgust.

For a man who was a general and had seen many awful things in battle, he behaved like a pampered rich brat. Although that was mainly because he let his subordinates handle the dirty work most times and reaped the benefit for himself.

"It sure stinks," Borak added, raising his hand to his face and curving it inwards so he could bury his nose where his elbow formed.

"I think the thing we should be concerned with now is, what killed this kind of beast?" Aelfdene asked them. His eyes left the other elves and trailed around the scene of the incident.

"I wonder how many of this beast there is," Lyklor spoke up, moving a little bit close to inspect the beast.

"Generals, I think it came out from the ground. Look at this," the soldier called out to them with his hand pointing to the ground where the snake burrowed out from.

Everyone hurried past the snake beast, jumping over what was left of it and headed towards the soldier.

Their eyes popped open upon seeing the big hole at the centre of the road.

"This is not good," Borak remarked.

"You can say that again. My thoughts are, the hybrid did that to this beast." Lyklor aired his view of the matter and turned to face Aelfdene waiting for his own thoughts on it.

"True. It was burnt and it wasn't a normal fire that was used. Besides, one can see several marks and dents just from this fight alone. My worry though is that there may be others lurking in this tunnel. We must be on maximum alert and we have to leave this place immediately."

Aelfdene took a glance around as he addressed them before his gaze landed on the beast again. "We must hurry, that thing was killed some time ago. The hybrid is way ahead of us. There is not a minute left to waste. We chase after her now."

"Okay," Lyklor replied.

"Yes sir," Borak and the soldier said in unison.

"Move out!"

Taking the lead, Lyklor and Aelfdene ran ahead, followed by the others, in hopes of catching Astrid before she fled and to escape the horrid smell from the snake beast.

******

~VALLEY OF LOST SOULS – CAVE~

Back at the cave, Astrid sat down on a chair like earthen block she created with her powers while eating one of the wild fruits from the forest peak.

Jareth, on the other hand, took a dagger from his bag and began carving a wood he picked up when scouting for wood to make fire.

Snow gazed at both of them, waiting for the first person to break the awkward silence from where it lay on the ground.

"Why were you in the valley?"

Finally, Astrid spoke up, asking the one question that plagued her thoughts. As much as she appreciated his being here, she found it strange that he entered into the valley when he had clearly warned her not to go in.

'Is it that he saw the attack and from that lady and rushed inside to save us or is it something else?'She thought, trying to wrap her mind on the situation.

Upon hearing her question, he lifted his eyes from what he was doing and stared at her from the side where he sat.

His hands stopped their work on the wood and kept it on the ground beside his foot, then straightened himself on the same earth-like chair as Astrid's.

"I got thrown in the same way you were," he responded to her question, his eyes fixed on her.

Astrid turned on her seat to look him in the eye and asked, "Why didn't you leave? What were you doing there?"

'Was he tailing me?' she thought and mentally shook her head. 'No, it is not possible. Let's hear his answer, first.'

"Don't get it wrong, Astrid. I wasn't watching you or anything, although I wished I had done so, then I would have been there on time when she attacked and prevented her from doing so or throwing you into the mist altogether," he said, partially answering her question.