The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 133: A Beautiful Night Scenery

Chapter 133: A Beautiful Night Scenery

"Her Majesty wants us to follow Ezra and his team to the Mortal Realm," Leela announced a couple of moments later, pulling Annalise out of her deep thoughts. The latter just let out a small sigh before she buried herself under the covers once again.

"What are you doing?" Leela asked as she stared at Annalise in confusion.

"We would be departing at dawn and it’s already past midnight. We should sleep now so that we can survive the long journey ahead." Annalise answered without bothering to look at the girl who started smiling as she hurriedly climbed onto the bed and took her place beside Annalise.

"I knew it! You won’t abandon me." The girl sounded too happy as she wrapped her arm around Annalise and gave her a tight but warm squeeze.

"Don’t be too happy. I’m only coming with you because I want to find answers too." Annalise stated as she tried to push Leela away but the girl only tightened her hold as she whispered - "If you say so."

Realizing that Leela had no plans of letting go of her, Annalise decided to stop trying and just allowed her body and mind to relax.

It didn’t take too long before both of them were fast asleep and while one of them dreamed about slaying a certain dragon, the other one had an interesting encounter in her dream.

*****

Annalise wasn’t prepared to end up at such a beautiful place in her dream. It was like the moment she closed her eyes, her body teleported from the room at the tavern and landed at her current location.

It was still the middle of the night with a bright moon shining in the sky along with millions of stars accompanying it. She seemed to be standing under a pavilion in the middle of what seemed like a lake.

There were mountains at a far distance and tall trees marked the edge of the river. There was a peach blossom tree standing next to the pavilion, its roots disappearing under the water’s surface and it was in full bloom. The air was filled with the fresh smell of the river and the beautiful flowers.

When she looked at the water’s surface, she found herself looking at the beautiful reflection of the sky which only made her to be more in awe.

She was still busy gazing at the beautiful scenery when she felt a strong pair of hands circling her waist before her back was pulled against a firm and warm chest.

"Kenric...?" She knew it was him the very moment he touched her, his warmth surrounding her and protecting her from the cold breeze that was blowing.

"How have you been, Little bird? Though it’s been only half of a day since we last saw each other, I already miss you so much." Kenric whispered as he buried his face in the crook of her neck and took a deep breath to inhale her scent.

"Why doesn’t it feel like a dream anymore?" Annalise couldn’t help but ask as she felt her entire body coming alive in Kenric’s arms. Those feelings that had started taking over her were too real to be just a part of her dream.

Instead of answering her, Kenric just placed a soft kiss on her cheek before he turned her around to face him. It was at that moment when she found that Kenric was not the only one present there with her, Damien and Valerius were also there.

Damien was the first one to close the distance between them as he pulled her in a tight hug, his strong arms squeezing her tightly as she buried her face in his chest. "Never knew you would leave us behind to go on an adventure." He teased her but his voice sounded kind of proud as he cupped her face in his palms and looked into her eyes.

"You shouldn’t have left me behind first." Annalise found herself countering back with a confidence that she had seemed to gain after the long day of the said adventure.

Damien just smiled at her words before he placed a kiss on her forehead and once again pulled her into a hug. The two of them remained standing like that in each other’s arms for quite some time before Damien finally pulled away and stepped. Even though he seemed reluctant to let go of her, he was aware that Valerius had been patiently waiting for his turn.

Annalise finally turned her complete attention to Valerius and found her heartbeat increasing as she feared the lecture that she would be receiving from the first dark lord.

When she remained standing in her original position like a statue, Valerius was the one who decided to move and close the distance between them and unlike his other two brothers, he didn’t immediately pull her into a hug which only made her more anxious.

"Are you aware of what you have done?" His voice was so calm and collected that it was almost impossible to tell whether he was angry or not, but taking his choice of words into consideration, Annalise could tell that he didn’t seem happy at least.

She opened her mouth but then closed it. Taking in a deep breath, she finally found the courage to look up at her husband before she spoke, "I know that I shouldn’t have left like that without any information but Leela told me that she informed the Mer Queen and you all were also with Her Majesty, meaning you knew what was going on."

She stopped for a second or two to take another deep breath before continuing, "I shouldn’t have trusted those men or even Leela as I didn’t know them but I trust my instincts and none of them lied about anything that they said. Most importantly, the situation didn’t give me much time to consider too many things. It was an opportunity to find answers that I couldn’t give up just because of my insecurities."