Chapter 13
Hand in hand, Forrest and I each took one step into the portal, and with another, we successfully exited through to the other side.
I looked around, apprehensive, expecting something or someone to pop out at us, but there was nothing.
Just as we took another step away from the portal, the door closed with a locking sound, and it transformed back into the vine tunnel.
I looked up at Forrest, and my eyes welled. His lips rested on my forehead as I let all my feelings out. Sadness, rage, guilt, and grief regarding the life I’d now lost, spilling out of me and onto Forrest’s chest.
“Hey. It’s all right. I’ve got you,” he whispered into my ear. His voice was calm and soothing. He gently held my face in his hands. “We did it, Aurelia.” He leaned in and placed soft, tender kisses on my forehead and the back of my hands.
I wrapped my arms around him and held him as tight as I could. He was right. We had done it.
Pulling away from Forrest, I took in our surroundings. “I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I thought going through a portal would be more eventful than that.”
He chuckled at me. “I would have thought an uneventful passage into another realm was kind of what we would want, no? Especially given what just happened on the other side.”
I patted his chest. “I suppose you’re right.”
The portal was situated in a clearing similar to the one we had just left.
A forest also surrounded it, but this one not only looked different but felt different.
My body vibrated and thrummed as I allowed the foreign magic to flow through me.
The trees towered above us like monoliths, their trunks pale and smooth, soft silver leaves gently swaying in a wind I could not sense.
It felt like the forest was a living, breathing entity.
Moonlight filtered through the canopy, casting silver light on the moss-covered forest floor.
I knelt down and ran my fingers over the soft, sparkling moss.
I smiled as I stood up to take my boots off.
As I stepped barefoot on the carpet of moss, it pulsed faintly with a familiar warmth.
I could hear the calming sounds of a nearby flowing stream.
As if summoned by the water’s melody, I made my way over to it.
The water sparkled like it was covered with millions of diamonds.
Tiny flying glow bugs lined either side of the stream.
I pinched myself as I took in the sights and sounds.
I felt like I was in a dream. There was no way this place could be real.
I went over to the edge of the stream and peered down into the water.
The bloodied face staring back at me was the one I recognized as my own, yet I could tell that something fundamental about this woman had changed.
Tucking a small section of hair behind my ear, I froze.
The woman staring back at me in the water looked scared and confused.
I turned my head to look at my ear. Where it once had rounded edges were elongated points.
I reached my hand up for physical confirmation, but as I ran my fingers along the top of my ear, I found nothing but a smooth, rounded tip.
Pulling my hair back, I looked at my reflection again.
My ears appeared to have returned to normal. I stared at my reflection, unblinking.
Where were we? My heart began to race as the various possibilities ran through my mind.
Tonight I had discovered that the weird vines I had found Forrest in front of was actually a portal.
Magda had been magically bound from telling me where that portal led.
Could it be? It was impossible. Right? Or was it totally reasonable to think that we may have ended up wherever it was Forrest came from?
I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths while I listened to the sounds of the forest, trying to centre myself.
Just as my thoughts started to wander toward spiralling again, I was brought back to the side of the stream by something wading into the water.
I opened my eyes to see Astra paddling about.
Nocturna followed her sister. Smiling at my two girls splashing about, I decided to join them.
I tiptoed into the stream, bent down, and splashed handfuls of the crisp, clear water on my face.
The brisk cold was like a reset for my mind, bringing me back to the present and dispelling whatever muddled thoughts had been swirling about in my head beforehand.
Nocturna, Astra, and I made our way back toward the clearing after they finished playing. We found Forrest sitting in front of a roaring fire with our sleeping rolls set together on the other side. I sat down on the ground next to Forrest.
He handed me some dried apples and meat on a handkerchief. “Dinner is served,” he said with a mocking flourish.
“Thank you. It looks amazing.” I leaned over and planted a kiss on his lips.
“After we eat, we should take care of whatever injuries you have. I don’t have all my healing aids with me, but I have enough of the basics to take care of your bruising and any pain,” I said, as I ripped off a piece of dried meat.
“I don’t feel too bad, if I’m being honest, but it would probably be a good idea if you gave me the once-over,” he said as he wiggled his eyebrows at me.
“You’re incorrigible,” I said between chews.
“I think what you meant to say was ‘Wow, Forrest. You’re so irresistibly charming.’”
I swallowed and smiled. “Yeah, that was what I meant.”
We ate the remainder of our small dinner in silence.
Exhaustion was weighing heavily on both of us.
We made our way over to the sleeping rolls so I could look over Forrest’s injuries.
Most of the bruising on his face was already resolving.
He had just a few scratches that needed to be cleaned.
He removed his shirt, exposing a myriad bruises on his chest and back.
The fight hadn’t lasted very long, but that hadn’t prevented the men from leaving their mark on Forrest.
“Those assholes,” I muttered, rubbing arnica salve on the large bruises covering Forrest’s chest. “I wish they had all died for what they did to you.”
Forrest reached out and gently held my hand. “I’m sorry for not doing a better job of protecting you,” he said, sadness falling across his face. “None of those men should ever have had the opportunity to raise their hands to you. I failed you, and I’m sorry.”
“We were outnumbered. You did everything you could. I should have done more. I was completely useless.” My eyes started to water as my body betrayed me with more tears.
“When they all attacked you, I was so scared and angry. I could feel my magic welling up inside me, like it was waiting for a release. That’s when I noticed the darkness in the clearing.
It felt alive, like it was this tangible entity.
In my mind, I imagined it creeping over and choking the life out of those men … and then it did.”
Forrest sat up and pulled me close. “Do you think you did that?”
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “But when it was done, I was so relieved that they had been taken care of and that you weren’t being hurt anymore.
Then the darkness receded, and I saw how everyone looked.
Blood running out of their noses and ears.
It was terrifying. I don’t think it was me, though.
I don’t have magical abilities like that.
It had to be something in the Nightwood—something or someone looking out for us. ”
“Well, I guess we should be thankful that whoever or whatever that was, it was on our side,” he said, brushing a small piece of my hair behind my ear.
“Yeah,” I mumbled in agreement, unable to make eye contact.
My thoughts drifted back to the stream. I couldn’t shake the realization that things were about to change for us, if it happened to be true.
His fingers brushed down my cheek, lifting my chin up. “What’s going on inside that head of yours?”
“I guess I’m just a bit overwhelmed by the situation.” The statement was not a complete lie.
It felt like something had come loose, and all the words I had been holding back made their way out in a free fall.
“I don’t know where to go from here. Literally from this spot. Where do we go?” I picked at the hem of my tunic, steadying myself for what I was about to say next. “I have no idea where we are, but I have a feeling it has something to do with you.” I met Forrest’s concerned gaze.
Forrest put his hand on his chest. “You think this place has something to do with me?”
“I feel magic here. It’s slightly off, from what it felt like back home, but it’s here. Stronger too. And the portal we came through to get here. You were lying right in front of it the night I found you.” I bit my lip before continuing. “I think this is where you came from, Forrest.”
The statement hung in the air, neither of us eager to acknowledge it.
Forrest broke the silence with only a few words. “It makes sense.”
My mind started to unravel at the never-ending list of things that could go wrong here.
I had blindly walked into a situation with no inkling as to how it could possibly unfold.
Why hadn’t it occurred to me sooner that this was possibly where the portal led.
If I had figured that out, maybe I could have asked Magda about it.
She might not have been able to give me a direct answer, but something would have been better than nothing.
Was that what she meant about “back to the start”?
Where I met Forrest and our relationship started? I felt so stupid and naive.
Then another awful thought happened upon me.
“What happens to us, Forrest? What if you get your memories back and you remember that you have someone you care about deeply, or even a family? I know I’m being stupid and selfish, but I just can’t imagine going through everything we have tonight to come out the other side and lose what little I have left. ”
Forrest stared intensely at me as I tried to regain my composure.
“I don’t think I’d survive losing you,” I whispered, finally done unloading every vulnerability and insecurity I had been holding on to.
Forrest pulled me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around me. His mouth was on my neck, his warm breath causing shivers to break out all over my body. “What did I tell you before, Aurelia? I will always be yours, for as long as you’ll have me.”
His gentle kisses slowly made their way up my neck, ending at my lips.
“I would gladly ruin the lives of those around me just so I could make you happy.” His rough hands slowly fell down my back to caress my backside.
“Wherever we go from here, we shall do so hand in hand. We will face this entire realm together.”
My heart began to ache, like it knew where this was heading.
Before I could protest, Forrest whispered, “I love you, Aurelia,” then took my breath away with a kiss that melted my heart and worries into oblivion.
The kiss was fierce, achy, and messy. Our mouths moved with longing and desperation, like those of two people who had nothing left in this realm but each other.
Our lips parted for mere moments, enough for me to get out the breathy words I had so anxiously avoided. “I love you too, Forrest.”
His hands slid greedily up my back and into my hair.
My hands slid down his chest, finding their home over his heart.
Our breaths, mouths, and hearts combined beneath the stars and foreign ancient trees, allowing ourselves this intimate moment when we weren’t running or hiding from anyone, when we could simply be just Forrest and Aurelia.
We untangled ourselves to lie on our sides facing one another, bathing in the warmth and glow of our small fire. We lay in comfortable silence, breathing in one another, relishing the peace we now had.
“Does this place feel like anything to you?” My question came seemingly out of nowhere.
Forrest looked at me thoughtfully while he contemplated it. “Yeah, it kind of does, actually. I couldn’t quite place the feeling before, but now that you’ve brought it up, it feels … familiar. It’s like I know what this place is but have no memory of it. It’s weird. Do you feel anything?”
“Everything around here feels alive. It’s like the air talks, and the trees are breathing, and the water sings. It doesn’t feel real. It’s like I’m in a dream, and I’m going to be woken up from it at any moment.”
Forrest leaned into me, a smile tugging on his lips. “If this is a dream. I hope we never wake up.”
Forrest pulled me in closer, and I rested my face on his chest, finding comfort in the sounds of a heart that beat for me.