ZARAMANNI (BOOK ONE)
PART ONE: CHAPTER TEN

Zaramanni could hear something thumping.

If it was her heart or that of the King’s, she had no idea.

All Zara knew was that the voice that came from the darkness ahead sounded like Ezeman’s and the last thing she wanted to happen at that moment was Ezeman dragging her back to Amarxona’s palace.

So, she attempted to run away.

But, the tight space that had her standing so close to the man made her plan flop.The space was already barely enough for a person, so attempting to move just caused Zaramanni momentary pain.

“Stay calm,” the king’s breath fanned hotly as he spoke with a low, coarse voice. “Don’t move.”

Zara wasn’t willing to be stubborn and refuse to follow his instructions, so she nodded, swallowed hard, and rested her head against his chest to avoid getting hurt by the spikes the cave’s opening formed.

As both of them had their sight glued onto the dark space ahead, they waited.

Suddenly, a distant green light appeared and the new footsteps became louder.

Her fear now fully bloomed, the girl realized she needed some kind of assurance that she was going to be fine. For some reason, squeezing her torn gown was the only thing she thought she could do in that regard.

But, as Zara reached for a portion of her cloth she soon realized that she was half-naked. If she was going to hold on to anything, it would be her panties.

Quickly, Zaramanni’s eyes snapped shut. The proximity of her naked chest to the King’s was something she finally became aware of.

She became aware of everything.

The way his masculine hands cupped her waist as though they were about to dance…

The contact their lower bodies had…

The manner with which her hair nestled against the broadness of his chest…

Zaramanni fully noticed these things and she felt disturbed because there was no hope of getting easily separated.

As seconds passed, Zaramanni felt more than flustered, the heat of that moment became too much to handle. She had never been so close to a man with such a build.

She had never been close to any man.

Soon, the footsteps they were dreading halted, and Zara was slapped out of the sensual scenario her mind was about to make out of her proximity to the King.

“Don’t you know…” Zara felt a chill run down her spine as the voice in the depths of the cave started to speak, the light ahead of the person blinding the duo. “… that you can never run away in Amarxona?”

“Stay calm,” the king murmured again, his hands circling her waist some more.

“The land hates it when people run away.” The green light was set to the side and the face of the haunting voice was revealed. “You should never run if you want to leave Amarxona in one piece.”

An elegant smile on her lips and pure mischief in her dark, lined eyes, the woman’s presence was a relief and the people glued together finally felt peace.

Then, they wore curiosity on their faces.

Zaramanni noticed that the illumination that pierced her eyes earlier was floating over the woman’s palm and it didn’t look like the flame was going to die.

“Who are you?” The King asked the question Zaramanni’s mind wondered about.

But there was one thing Zara could decipher… And that was the fact the woman had magic. That would be the best explanation for the floating flame anyway.

“And, who are you?” the lady inquired, certain confidence lacing her deep voice which still sounded so much like Ezeman’s.

“I asked you first,” he retorted.

The woman’s eyes, which the burning light revealed to be a shade of the colour red, looked in Zaramanni’s direction.

Of course, Zara was unable to tell exactly what colour the woman’s eyes were, but she could not help but be drawn to the peculiar hue the woman’s eyes had.

“Are you sure you don’t want to put on some clothes first?” It seemed like the dark-haired woman was teasing them. “Or, am I interrupting something? Were you sharing an erotic moment, perhaps?”

The king cleared his throat immediately, then he said, “Can you get us out of here? It is too cramped.”

”Sure.” The lady smiled as she transported the flame to the ground, the fire staying alive still, its greenness not dimming for a second. As the woman stood upright, her hands stayed in the air like a priest leading the grace. Zaramanni could hear muttering at first, but, soon, creaking sounds echoed all over the place.

The lowered arc of the tiny space she and the King were stuck in began to enlarge, the width of the area increased and after seconds, despite the rubbles that fell on them, the King and Zaramanni felt the awesome embrace of freedom.

The next line of action for Zara was to put on some clothes, the man had seen her naked enough, and she didn’t wish for things to become more embarrassing.

“Oh!” A soft exclamation escaped Zaramanni’s lips as she was surprised by the sight of her bag, bloodied gown, and shoes in front of her. Zara was pretty sure she left them by the river bank.

Indeed, she was baffled, but the girl did not dwell much on the strange occurrence. Hurriedly, she ran to a corner inside the largeness of the cave, pulled her hoodie and trousers out of her bag, and put them on.

Once fully clothed, Zaramanni considered herself to be in a more comfortable zone.

Then, her stomach rumbled.

Wasting no time, Zara began to check her bag for the bar of chocolate that she left in it, her soul hoping that it hadn’t somehow gone missing.

But the unfamiliar woman walked up to her and snatched the bag from her grasp.

Zara, who wore a frown on her face instantly, watched as the lady pulled out the torn gown which was once the elegant cloth Ezeman gave her back at the palace.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

The woman gave no audible response. She just smirked and created another fire on the rocky ground. This time, the flame had a different colour and amid her scowling, Zaramanni was somehow mesmerized.

The woman threw the gown into the fire and the horrified look on Zara’s face grew as she watched the flame consume the material.

“Why did you do that?” Zara felt that after a good wash, the cloth would have been useful in the future. The woman had better have a good reason for her sudden action.

“Whoever is after you is using that gown to track your movements,” she replied, an egoistic aura in her steps as she walked away, carelessly dropping Zara’s bag.

Thankfully, Zara caught the bag before it could join the burning party on the ground. A deeper frown on her face, her voice raised at the woman whose long, black gown dragged rocks while she graciously walked, Zara asked, “How do you know that we are being followed?”

“Who are you?” The King’s voice overpowered Zaramanni’s.

After halting her footsteps, the woman stretched, her slender back arched slightly. Then, she created another green flame and turned to face the curious two who stood metres apart but wondered about nearly the same thing.

“My name,” her lips didn’t cease to have a smug smile, ”is Alisha. And, I am a witch.”

~

Zaramanni couldn’t help but glance occasionally at Alisha who sat opposite her.

The woman led her and the King into the depths of the cave that turned out to be more enormous than Zaramanni thought.

And, until they got to a well-lighted place that had the essentials for a person to live almost normally, their paces, which were mostly unstable because of the nature of the ground, didn’t stop.

Looking around the room they had settled into, Zaramanni noticed, in the middle of the surrounding illumination, an average-height altar that had rustled sheets covering it.

The small, puffy pillowcase that rested on the head of the stone structure caused Zara to guess that the altar was a bed.

While she induced that whoever was sleeping on the stone bed would be in severe pain, Zara noted that every other thing in the room looked okay despite being primarily rocks. Especially the pool that was quietly steaming at a corner of the space… that was something she would love to jump into.

A nice, heated bath didn’t sound bad at that point.

Her eyes darting past the lanterns of flames hung at high positions, Zara looked at the woman who had earlier introduced herself as a witch.

Alisha rolled her eyes dramatically before she locked eyes with Zaramanni. Hands clasped over her left knee, she glared so hard that the human didn’t get a chance to look away. “What is on your mind, little girl?”

“Huh… I was just wondering if you are really a witch.”

Alisha laughed, her cackle echoing past the lighted room. “Why would I lie about my identity? I am a witch who comes from the land of Amok. Do you know where Amok is?”

Zaramanni shook her head and the woman wore a frown.

“How do you not know where Amok is? Where are you from?”

“Earth.”

Alisha’s round and confident-looking face didn’t wear surprise. All she did was lift her scanty brows in amusement as she adjusted her posture and sat more majestically. “How did you replace yourself in this universe?”

Zaramanni heaved a deep sigh as her ears became distracted by the scratching noises the King was making with his feet while he paced the room, looking for who knows what.

Before she could give a reply to Alisha’s question, the tall man had his seat beside her, their arms almost touching. Zara was about to shift away when she realized there was no more space on the flat surface of the high rock they were using as a chair.

Instantly more cautious, Zaramanni eyed the man who had found a shirt to wear with the side of her eyes. Then, she replied to Alisha, “I was lured by one of the fairies.”

”Hmm,” was all Alisha responded with. Then, she faced the King, the ends of her corseted gown lifting slightly to expose her heeled boots and more of her dark-chocolate skin. “I can tell you are from here. Where are you from?”

Zara was about to say something random because she had a feeling that the man wouldn’t want to reply.

But, surprisingly, he did. He gave a response.

“Zenrada,” came that grumpy voice.

”The land of the wolves,” the witch remarked and at the same time, Zaramanni’s eyes bulged.

Wolves? As in werewolves?

Her mind raced with those questions as her small face wore further confusion.

At that point, Zara saw the need to know where she exactly was.

Zaramanni then listened attentively as Alisha said, “I heard about the fairies and vampire attack on Zenrada. Did you escape from a prison in Amarxona?”

“It is a long story,” he gave a short, dismissive reply.

Alisha alternated her eyes between the duo in front of her and Zaramanni could sense the subtle judgement the woman had. Her curvy behind cushioning against the hard stone she was seated on, Alisha asked further, “What are your names?”

“I am Zaramanni and he is the k-”

”Darren.”

Zara was amazed. The King seemed more open to the idea of talking with Alisha suddenly in the picture.

She was certain his lips would still be sewn tightly if they were still the only ones on their long journey.

But then, it was nice to finally know his name.

Darren…

Zaramanni never imagined that his name would sound so… ordinary. Seeing how he was a being from another universe and apparently a werewolf, she imagined his name would be the type that would be hard to pronounce while having a lengthy meaning.

“How did you meet?” Alisha looked entertained as she questioned them further. “A human and a werewolf running away from the same thing in this universe is an unlikely occurrence.”

Zaramanni smiled softly. “It is a long story.”

“Where are you both headed now? Zenrada?”

Zaramanni looked in the King’s direction as he nodded.

Her soul felt bothered again.

Would she really be going to a land filled with werewolves?

She might not know much about those kinds of creatures, but the few fictional stories she read displayed the viciousness of werewolves. They go crazy at that scent of human blood and tear anyone or anything in their path.

Even though she always thought lightly of the things she read, Zara was almost believing those texts at that moment.

A chill ran down her spine as she wished she could magically transport herself so she wouldn’t be sitting beside the King anymore.

At that point, she didn’t want to run again, she just wanted to go home.

So, while trying to keep her troubled mind calm, Zara faced the witch and asked, “Uh… Alisha? Do you know a way for me to go back to Earth?”

Alisha wore a pitiful look instantly and Zaramanni could only interpret that to mean that she was doomed.

The witch spoke with a low voice, “I am afraid, but going back will be a difficult thing. Channeling a portal that leads to Earth from this universe is hard and dangerous especially if it involves a human.

Only people with immense powers can help you with that and you can replace such people on Mount Hermos which is located thousands of miles away from any of the kingdoms. If it were possible, I would portal you there right now, but the seers of Mount Hermos have prohibited such hasty transportation.”

Zara’s shoulders slumped instantly, she felt every form of hope leave her body. “I can’t go home soon?”

“I would suggest you follow Darren to Zenrada, you are more likely to replace help there.”

“But…” Zaramanni felt her chest tighten. Of all things to do to get home, she had to follow a disrespectful wolf King to his Kingdom where vicious creatures could be laying around with the hope of getting fresh blood.

Alisha looked in King Darren’s direction again. “I can help both of you reach Zenrada earlier. I know a shortcut that would ease the length of your journey. All I need to know is if you will be able to trust me.”

Darren’s forehead folded into parts as he wore an expression. He glanced in Zaramanni’s direction as he seemed to calculate things.

“Are you willing to put some trust in me, Darren?” Alisha asked again with her deep voice which still bothered Zara due to its similarity to Ezeman’s.

“If you betray us, you will pay for it,” Darren warned and Zaramanni noted how his response included her in the journey.

The journey that she had no choice but to embark on.

In life, one has to take high risks, Zaramanni told herself as she decided to follow King Darren to his Kingdom. As long as she would end up on a path that would lead her home… she was going to endure being around the man.

“Great,” Alisha exclaimed as she got up without a hitch. “We can take a few minutes’ break to eat. I have some fruits that would satisfy any hunger you have.”

Zara’s stomach suddenly growled. It sounded like a monster had come to visit them when the cave echoed her stomach’s roar.

Zara wore a sheepish smile as Darren and Alisha looked her way.

“Well,” the witch spoke, “I have enough to quench your hunger.”