Not What It Seems
Chapter 25

A peaceful sound came to my ears as I began to wake up. And I quickly noticed that I wasn’t hanging from the ceiling anymore. I couldn’t remember what happened in the cave, but I could guess that somehow Vudu got us out. I was also feeling significantly better than before.

I opened my eyes, though I still couldn’t see, but I felt the vibrations of Vudu’s voice from where I was lying on his lap. The sound itself was calming and beautiful. I felt much better and knowing Vudu was close helped even more.

“You haven’t sung in a while.” I stated as I continued to relax into the sound.

He abruptly stopped his song and movement caused me to guess he was looking down at me. Without any warning, his arms went around me and pulled me into his chest. His arms were tight around me but at the same time, I felt him trembling. He was truly concerned about me. A shaky breath escaped his lung and he continue to hold me close.

“Thank Romos.” He whispered. “I was thinking I lost you.”

I pushed him away and reached up to rest my hand on his cheek. “I’m fine now. I should be the one thanking you for getting us out of there.”

“I had to.” He explained. “If we stayed there any longer, I wouldn’t have been able to save you from that fever.”

“Will it come back?” I asked, worried. It was agonizing to listen to his voice when I seemed so close to death.

“Not likely, luckily.” He stated. “But after this, you will begin to feel weaker. We need to keep moving. We need to get to the Enchanted Forest in the next few days for me to feel that we will make it to Diab in time.”

“Alright,” I said while sitting up. “We better get moving then.”

“No!” His voice sounded panicked, and he grabbed my shoulder. “We can spend the rest of the day letting you rest. We were lucky today. And you are still weak enough that you should rest.”

“But we have to keep moving.” I responded. “You just said that.”

His grip tightened on my shoulder. “I just don’t want you to overexert yourself. Too much after just getting over a fever can cause a lot of damage.”

I reached up and touched his cheek, taking in the feel of the magic like substance surrounding his face. I thought for a while on what we could do. We were in a bit of a bind. Maybe we could at least make it to the next village.

“Would you be opposed to carrying me?” I asked, my fingers gently caressing his skin. “Just until the next village?”

He didn’t move. He didn’t respond.

“We don’t if you don’t want to.” I explained. “I am willing to walk, but you don’t want me to, and we do need to keep moving. So, I felt this was a good compromise.”

Before I could continue, Vudu shifted and his arms went under my knees and behind my back. Effortlessly, he lifted me up and began to walk. The sudden action caused me to stretch my arms around his neck and hold tight to him. This was scarier than expected. If I could see where we were, and what was going on around us, I would have been fine. But the movement without sight was startling. I knew I would eventually get used to it, but at first, my heart was beating out of my chest.

After a while like that, I realized my heart was still going at the same pace as before, even though I did get use to the movement. My arms remained around Vudu’s neck and he held me close to his chest. I realized that the beating was more likely because of our close proximity than anything else. I hoped he didn’t hear or feel it. It was almost deafening to me.

“Are you alright?” His voice pulled me from my thoughts.

I moved my head in the direction he was. “Yes, I’m fine.”

“Your arms are just a little tight.” He said.

Panic increased my already fast heart rate. My arms released. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to.”

He let out a hearty laugh. “I’m teasing. You’re fine. You were just so quiet I had to make sure that you were okay.”

I held my arms in front of me, not certain where to place them. “I’m okay. Just deep in thought.”

“You can put your arms back around my neck.” He responded. “Do you want to talk about it?”

I could feel the blush rise to my cheeks. “No, it’s okay. It’s not important.”

His movement suddenly stopped. “Your face is turning red. Are you getting sick again?”

I covered my face with my hands. “No, I’m fine. Just keep going.”

He shifted and placed my feet on the ground and turned me to face him. His hands rested on my shoulders. I couldn’t tell what he was doing, but he remained there for a moment. Eventually, his hands moved from my arms to my own hands covering my face. His fingers gently pulled them away. Though it made no difference, habit caused me to look down to the side feeling as though I was avoiding his gaze.

His hands went back up to my face and he rested them on my cheeks. He pulled me forward and pressed his forehead against mine and remained there for a bit. I didn’t know how much more of this my heart could take. It had been beating erratically for quite a while.

“You’re not warm.” He said as he moved back, and he took my hands again into his. “So, that’s good. But why are you red? You are feeling alright, correct?”

“Yes,” I responded and tried to back up from him, but his grip was strong enough to prevent me from moving. “Vudu, this is normal for this kind of situation. Can we just keep going, please?”

He still refused to let me go. “Why don’t you want to talk about it? Whatever is happening, I can see if I can help?”

“You can’t.” I argued.

“Zeriah,” he stepped closer to me. “We don’t know that until you tell me what’s going on.”

“No.” I shook my head. “I know you can’t.”

“Why?” He pressed.

I erupted. “Because if you do, you’ll disappear.”