The Dearghs nodded and turned their heads to one side and then the other, unable to see us anymore.
"What do you know! I'm but a ghost in the jungles of Eritopia!" Hansa chuckled and kicked one of the stone giants in the knee.
The Deargh bent forward, smiling and swatting away at the air, unable to capture the fast and invisible succubus. I heard her laugh.
"This is fantastic! Make sure you leave me a copy of that spell, Druid! What we had left over from the swamp witches was nothing compared to this!" she said, having moved further down toward the edge of the clearing.
"Do we know how long it lasts?" I asked.
"Several hours for sure, but there's no precise figure." His voice tickled my ear as he closed the distance between us.
My spine tingled as I felt his body mold against mine. My cheeks burned, but I couldn't help the grin slitting my face at the thought that we were invisible and so deliciously close to each other.
"You should leave now," Inon said. "Use the spell to your advantage. Run like the wind. Don't stop unless it serves your mission. Otherwise, time is precious."
"Thank you, Inon. Thank you, Zur, for your help and kindness," Draven said. "This gesture will never be forgotten, and you have my word that I will repay you in full for this."
"It's not over yet, young Druid," Zur replied. "Fulfill your mission, and we shall rise against Azazel with you. The time for war is near."
"Indeed, it is. We're leaving now," Draven announced, taking my hand again.
"Draven, Serena, we cannot see each other, but we can follow each other's voices," Hansa said, walking alongside us as we entered the dark forest. She mimicked the sound of a snake, a brief succession of three hisses.
Draven responded with the same hissing sound.
"That's right," Hansa replied. "We'll use this when we cannot speak, should there be hostiles around."
I reproduced the triple hiss surprisingly well, prompting Hansa to clap her hands. Although, since I was unable to see her facial expression, I wasn't sure whether she was being sincere or sarcastic.
"Well done, Serena," she eventually said. "You're blending into Eritopia better and better with each passing day. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were born and belong here!"
I chuckled as I followed Draven through the woods. A part of me registered that statement-the notion of me belonging here, in Eritopia, sounded like a snippet of absolute fantasy, and yet, something tugged at my heart whenever I replayed the sentence in my mind.
I missed my home. I missed The Shade and my parents and our way of life. I carried the weight of that every day, heavy in my heart while looking for a way out of Eritopia. But as Draven's and my relationship developed, this whole world was growing on me. I liked the pink and orange sunsets, the taste of the food, and the weird creatures who called Eritopia home.
///
Draven was a pillar for me in my darkest hours, and he was slowly becoming more important than I'd ever expected. He challenged me in ways I'd never thought possible, and so did Eritopia. Nothing could replace The Shade, but I was feeling closer to this strange land now than I could have ever fathomed-and I couldn't completely deny the possibility that we might not make it back home.
I pushed the thought to the back of my mind as we followed the moon, a giant marble always in the center of the sky. The wilderness was quiet around us, the leaves and twigs crackling beneath our feet almost the only sound.
I heard Hansa up ahead, occasionally whistling just to make sure we knew where she was headed. Draven held my hand as we followed her, sending constant waves of warmth through my body. He'd opened himself up to me entirely, teasing my sentry senses with all the emotions that he was experiencing in that moment-tension, determination, an undertone of fear and anger, and a hefty amount of something I'd decided to call desire, although it felt like much more to me. It was aimed at me, and I took it all in, feeding off it and sending it back with my own emotions.
We didn't speak for a while, as we sprinted through the woods, following the moon. Feeling Draven's hand wrapped around mine kept my feet light as we treaded over the tall grass.
My heart pounded-with fear, and also with something beautiful yet dangerous; even though I knew, deep inside, that he felt the same, I was still wary of the many ways in which everything could go wrong.
I understood then that I was just as afraid of losing him as he was of losing me. If I even considered that thought, it was amplified into a true horror story filled with unimaginable pain. I couldn't stand it. It clawed at my heart.