The Explanation

Piercing cerulean irises regarded me keenly; I felt lost in them. Everything around us faded into soft hazy murmurings of far away unconcern as I became absorbed in his presence. His face was exactly as I’d dreamed it; dazzling ocean eyes framed by dark lashes, and a strong aquiline nose beneath. Full lips and a sharp jaw framed by masses of thick ebony hair, sat upon the broadest shoulders I’d ever seen. Something about him seemed identical, yet somewhat different to the figure I’d been relentlessly dreaming about during my short stay in Greenvale. His face seemed harder, more stern and stoic as he towered above me. His eyes didn’t hold the soft tenderness and warmth that they had during our trysts.

This thought jolted me back to my present reality as I chided myself that we had never actually met. I didn’t know this man; I’d only dreamed about him. An intense sexual fantasy conjured by my affection-starved brain; the brain that mourned for the relationship I’d lost. How it was even possible to dream about a complete stranger I had no idea, but then very little had made sense since I’d encountered the orbs. I shuddered at recalling the memories; feeling as I’d touched the small sphere of light and tried to ground myself, searching for words that would somehow explain my predicament without making me appear like a complete madwoman.

He continued to stare. Waiting for an answer to a question he’d asked, that my brain hadn’t quite processed.

“I.. uh, I..”

My stumbling cascade of mumbling incoherence was cut short, as voices and footsteps approached us, the two voices addressing Ayris were my captors. The trickle of dread returned and slowly oozed down my spine as I turned to look at them.

“Drogar, Varis, explain. Now”

“He was overpowered by the female” Varis stated as he glared at Drogar, granting him a growl in his direction. I was speechless, It was like he was a feral animal. “She escaped him and was subdued by me as she approached the clearing”

Ayris’s gaze flitted briefly in my direction, his harsh mask slipping for a brief moment, belying a look of curiosity, perhaps? Or mild shock? I couldn’t be sure.

“You subdued the female, Varis?” Ayris questioned, his eyes fixed upon upon him. A slight feeling of indignation seeped through me as they discussed me as though I weren't there.

“I did, my Lord”

Ayris paused to consider this before speaking once more. His tone was quiet, but oozed authority and power.

“Tell me, Varis, how is it possible for a subdued human female, captured by two of the strongest warriors of the Valien Army; to be sprinting her way through the military camp alone?”

Both men appeared crestfallen before their commander, pausing to consider their options and unsure how to proceed. I suddenly found my mouth releasing words before my brain had processed I was talking.

“I bit him” my words cut through the silence and the warlord turned to face me, his expression now completely unreadable. He shot a sideward glance to Varis and turned his face a fraction to regard him. Varis’s eyes now bore holes into the ground, his gaze unable to meet that of Ayris’s piercing blues.

“Speak” One word, directly solely at me, his gaze so intense I felt almost compelled to stare at the ground along with Varis, but I still felt dazzled by the eyes of the man I’d fantasised about so intimately. This single word was a command, and I felt myself compelled as I shakily explained how Drogar had approached me, and how I’d escaped before being captured and taken to the camp.

“And as the started squabbling, I saw my chance and that’s when I..”

“Bit him?” Ayris finished. His mask still unreadable. I nodded before continuing.

“As he tried to stop me biting I kicked his stomach and started running, until..”

“Until you were stopped?” I nodded, my focus slowly returning to the dull throb that seeped through my shoulder. A hot, intense pulsating pressure that I tried desperately to filter out.

Ayris said nothing, straightening himself, as I suddenly realised he’d lowered his face to listen to my tale. His eyes flitted between myself and the two men before him and the camp remained eerily silent. Panic began to rise in my throat, as I wondered if he’d hurt me for what I’d done, or even kill me. I had no idea what rules I was supposed to be working with in this strange place, filled with feral, growling strangers. Also their constant reference to me as 'human' had my brain racing.

“Come with me” he spoke, his words directly at me, whilst the whole camp watched intently. The panic increased, the thoughts of where he was taking me or what he was going to do with me for injuring his men had my knees trembling, as he firmly grasped my uninjured shoulder and guided me through the camp. All eyes were upon us, as the men slowly went back to work, shifting through the masses of tents and tables; but silently stealing opportune glances at the source of commotion in their military camp. I suddenly began to realise it was getting dark now, the soft twilight of evening back at Greenvale had now made way for night time in whichever god forsaken place I’d found myself in. The darkened fabrics of the tents billowed in the breeze as we passed, the working bodies of the men making way for their commander as each man gracefully stepped to one side to allow us passage.

I struggled to keep pace as we weaved our way to an unknown destination. His strides were swift and large, owing to his enormous frame have I somehow stepped into a world full of giants? I wondered, my brain trying to ignore the possibility of my impending death or worse as we came to an abrupt stop before a tent situated in what appeared to be the centre of the camp. Ayris lifted the flap of the tent and ushered me inside, bile began to rise in my throat as I wondered what horrors lay in wait for me inside.