Chapter 21 #2
Alianna stared at him for several moments, so deep in thought that she looked like she was in a trance. Finally, she shook her head, like she was clearing it, and stepped out of his arms.
“How am I supposed to know that any of what you’re saying is true?
” As a child, she’d often been told bedtime stories about other worlds that existed outside of her own.
She was told about the creatures that lived there, like humans in some ways – but so far from humans in others.
She never dreamed that any of that could be real.
“I have only your word to go on, and that hasn’t meant much so far. ”
“I understand,” Rionan nodded. “The only true lie I told you was my name. And adjusting my appearance, although that is largely involuntary when arriving in another realm.”
“Don’t try to be smart, Max West,” Alianna snapped. “Give me a reason to believe anything you’re saying, or I will walk out of here, and you won’t see me again. Soul-bonded or not.”
Rionan studied her for a moment, as if contemplating his next move.
“I can show you,” he said, finally.
“Show me? Show me what?”
“Xanthia. Where I am from. Before the war began.”
Alianna nodded, but said nothing. Rionan stepped towards her. “May I touch you?”
“Yes,” she said, bracing herself for whatever was about to happen. He stepped towards her again, until he was mere inches from her. Rionan lifted his hands and placed them gently on either side of her face.
“Just breathe,” he requested. Alianna hadn’t realised that she was holding her breath. Letting it out in a long exhale, she took another deep breath in again. “That’s it. Slowly. Relax.”
After several deep breaths, Alianna felt a warmth spreading over her body. Rionan’s hands began to heat slightly. Not scalding, but soothing, like the feeling of lowering an aching body into a hot bath.
“This won’t hurt you. You will be able to see Xanthia. Hear it, smell it. I’ll be right here with you, and we won’t leave this suite. Please close your eyes when you are ready.”
Alianna allowed herself to relax her shoulders, still her mind, and closed her eyes.
Alianna found herself standing in a clearing of trees.
The air smelled sweet, fresh, with a cool breeze caressing her skin.
She could smell honeysuckle, jasmine, and the smell of earth after rain.
Turning around, she could see a large castle of greying stone.
No flags flew, and no banners were hung from the turrets, but it was clear people dwelled here.
She could hear laughter from what she assumed was a courtyard.
And there – an entry way. She moved through the trees, eyeing the castle in the near distance.
People moved through it, laughing and smiling.
They had the same not-quite-silver skin as Rionan.
The same pointed ears. Some were older, with greying hair and fine lines across their face.
Some were young. Families walked through, with children who ran towards her as if to enter the forest. As she began to worry about them seeing her and began to move, she found herself in an entirely different environment all together.
Alianna felt her feet slipping on moss-covered rocks as she continued her steps, no longer moving through a forest, but instead walking along the edge of a lake.
She steadied herself, trying her best to reorient herself somehow.
Looking around the lake, she could see no castle.
But that sound…she stopped moving and listened to the most unique, wonderful song.
Bird song. Looking up to the trees around her, she could not see the birds, well hidden in their nests.
Their song was a lullaby, a love song, a celebratory chorus, a symphony of everything and anything, all at once.
She’d never heard such a comforting thing.
Walking towards where the trees began to thicken, careful not to fall in the water, Alianna could hear the sound of water crashing.
She spotted the source when she looked up.
A waterfall. The water spilt down into the lake in majestic plumes, sending spray everywhere, a rainbow being cast through it as the sun blazed down on this piece of paradise.
Alianna considered dipping a toe in the water to see if it was warm.
The water shimmered, as if welcoming her in.
It was almost crystalline. Small fish swam about beneath her, unbothered by her presence.
As she lowered her foot to the surface, she blinked, and when she opened her eyes, she found that her foot was making contact with solid rock.
Alianna stood on a mountain peak. It was cold, but not unpleasant.
The view was like none she had ever seen.
She looked down upon forests, glades, fields, villages, and in the distance, she could have sworn she could see a city.
The sound of bells rang out from this place.
Not bells of warning, but bells of celebration.
The buildings were made of a light brown stone, although she could not pinpoint what exactly, was where.
Turning on the spot, behind her stood more and more mountains, covered in fresh, powdery snow.
As she stepped forward, moving towards the edge of the plateau she was on, she found that she was once again looking in to water.
The area around her was immediately much busier.
Alianna could hear voices, moving feet, and the smell of freshly baked bread.
She looked up from the water, finding herself in a small harbour.
There were shops – bakeries, artisans, jewellery shops.
A person – a Xanthian – walked along the street shouting about new metalwork statues being available by Invor Garlasson, for only the price of 100 Goldmarks.
Goldmarks, she noted. Not Ironmarks, like they used in the human realm.
She moved towards the direction the man was heading in, keen to see what the smith had been making, and stumbled over a cobblestone.
Jerking towards the ground, her eyes snapped open.
Alianna could feel the heat from Rionan’s hands on each side of her face as she breathed heavily. Her eyes were lined with silver, although she didn’t remember crying. Her breathing was deep, even, and she felt a strange sense of peace washing over her.
“That,” Rionan explained, dropping his hands to his sides.
“Was Xanthia. Some of it, anyway. A few of my favourite places. The first you saw was my palace in the West. It is surrounded by forests and is usually quite busy, with many people passing through all day. I keep to the upper levels and occasionally transport myself elsewhere in the territory, but once a week, I will visit the lower levels to speak with those who are visiting.”
“Your palace?” Alianna repeated.
“Yes. I didn’t build it, of course. It has belonged to the Lord of the West since the beginning.”
He waited for her to ask further questions before moving on.
“Next was the waterfall. I told you about it the other day. Well, now you have seen it. You have heard the birdsong,” Rionan smiled fondly, eyes wistful.
“The Alaccaran Mountain Range. Some of the most accessible peaks in Xanthia with incredible views of nearby areas. Lastly, Syncara Port. A nice place to shop, get food, and socialise. Boats come and go, trading between the territories.”
Alianna considered everything he was saying and everything she had seen. “These places. Are they all in your territory?”
“Yes,” he nodded. “The other territories are not mine to show. Technically, the mountain range sits between my territory and another, but it is still within mine.”
Alianna stepped back, her eyes still scanning Rionan’s changed form. She gently lowered herself to the nearby sofa. “It looked…beautiful.”
“It was.”
Alianna looked up at Rionan, seeing the sadness in his face.
She should be angry with him.
Yet, the way he was looking at her now.
What he’d shown to her.
“You truly wish to help your people? Your lands?”
He didn’t answer, although the sincerity on his face said everything that words did not need to convey.
Alianna returned her gaze to meet his.
“Let’s try this whole thing again. Right from the top. Hi. I’m Ali. I’m twenty-eight years old, and I’m from Porthan.”
He smiled softly. “Hello. I’m Rionan, Lord of Western Xanthia. I am…three hundred and forty-eight years old.”
Alianna’s eyes widened.
“But I’ve seen every bit of you. You don’t look a day beyond your mid-thirties!”
“Xanthians age very, very slowly compared to humans. We reach physical and mental maturity at a similar age, but everything slows down from then. Our life spans often exceed one thousand years. In the eyes of many of our people, I am quite young, for a Lord.”
Her eyes dropped to the floor.
“This is…a lot. Xanthia. You are some all-powerful Lord of another Realm. The war. Being…soul-bonded? And you’re over three hundred years old. It is so much to take in. There have always been stories about other types of beings that were out there somewhere, children’s stories, but this…”
“I know,” he agreed again, “although I am not all-powerful. If I were, I wouldn’t have needed to come here in the first place.”
“Don’t be smarmy,” she instructed firmly. “I’m trying to think.”
After what seemed like several long, hard minutes, she contemplated. Rionan didn’t move, didn’t speak, and didn’t take his eyes off her. He felt the tension in his shoulders release as her face softened, her previously angered expression fading.
“You need to find something to save your people. I’ll help you. Where do we start?”