196 Valley Of Lost Souls

CHAPTER 196

"I smell something."

They all looked at each other before fixing their gaze at his back. 

"What is it?" 

It was Lyklor who first spoke up, his gaze was sharp as though they could pierce through Aelfdene's head and look at his skull.

"Can't you smell that, take a long sniff. It should probably be coming from some distance ahead," he replied to him and returned his gaze back to the path.

True to what he had said, the others took a long sniff of the air and almost instantly…

"Eww!"

"What is that smell?"

"Disgusting! It smells like a rotten beast. How can you make us sniff that, Aelfdene?"

"Better now than later. Besides, if it is coming from the path ahead, then I presume, it would stink worse from now on. Be prepared."

"All these for a hybrid, it better be rewarding at the end of it all," Borak muttered to himself as he followed after them.

"At this pace, we would never catch up with the hybrid before she escapes," Aelfdene queried them, his gaze still fixed ahead and ignoring the snickers and glares he would be getting from the others, but he didn't care and continued. "Let us hope she isn't devoured by one of those beasts first before we get her."

"What would be the point of this journey then?" Borak asked, feeling agitated at the thought of what Aelfdene said.

"No need to be agitated. That is why we should hurry and hope that would not be the case," he quickly tried to calm the situation he almost caused.

"At least, the burnt marks on the ground show that we are not late and that they may still be in this tunnel. It is probably from a day or two old," Lyklor pointed out as a matter of fact.

He averted his gaze to look at Aelfdene and their eyes met. Aelfdene gave him a nod and continued after him. 

"So in order to catch up with them and prevent any funny issues, we must double our speed and run faster. Be at alert at all times, I have a feeling we are entering dangerous zone now."

"Yes, sir!" Borak and the other soldier, ... chorused.

With eyes like their own that reflected a newly found determination and zeal, Aelfdene charged forward with the others following solidly behind him as they ran.

Little did they know that the hybrid whom they were after was long gone and now stuck in the valley of lost souls.

********

~VALLEY OF LOST SOULS~

Slowly, Astrid got up from the ground and brushed off the dirt on her gown. Seconds later, she was now standing straight with her gaze flickering all around her.

Something wasn't right and she knew it. She looked at her surroundings and it was covered with white coloured mist blocking her sight from the other part of the valley.

Her eyes widened in shock when she noticed something. "

"Snow! Snow? Where are you?"

"Where are you?"

'Where can he be? He was in my arms when that good for nothing witch threw us into the mist. How come Snow is separated from me?' she wondered to herself.

"Hello! Is anyone out there? Snow! Baby where are you? Talk to me if you can hear me."

She yelled again, moving around in the mist with her hands at the side of her mouth as she called.

After minutes of yelling and not getting any response, she began to feel sad. 'What if he is lonely without me? Would he be able to find his way?'

Several questions ran through her mind at that moment. She went as far as closing her eyes and reaching through their mind link to Snow, but everything proved futile at the end of it all.

After about an hour, the mist began to clear, opening up a path for her ahead. Without much thought, she followed it through and went to where it took her.

Another two hours passed and nothing, it felt as though her journey was pointless. There was no progress in her journey but the very same old looking rocks around. It was at this moment the mist closed back up into a condensed thick white fog.

"No!" 

Astrid yelled when she saw the situation had reversed to how it was before. "Don't close back, come on! Open, give me Snow!"

There was no reply or response from their end, only that the air around her became chilly and that only angered her even more. Immediately, she began using her powers, her control over air and directed the wind in front of her to clear up a path.

Countless trials and several attempts but no matter what she did, no matter the element she controlled trying to forge a path forward, it all boiled down to nothing.

By now Astrid was panting hard, her chest rose and fell with each deep short breath she took. Her forehead glistened with sweat in the sun as her exhaustion washed off on her.

After some seconds, her eyes stung and became blurry from the tears begging for a release. She slumped down on her feet and finally yielded as a tear escaped her eyelid and rolled down her rosy cheek.

"Aunt Nerissa," she said in a whimper, reaching up to cover her face in her hands as she sobbed. 

"Where are you? You said you would always be here for me, but that is not the case anymore. You broke your promise. You left me. There is so much that I do not know and so much I need to learn about, but I am left alone in this world, with a price tag on my head. I cannot hold on much longer. I have tried carrying on, putting up a bold front, but I can't anymore."

WOO HOO!

"I need you, please."

Slowly she wiped her eyes and face clean and sniffed, drawing her nostrils in the process. "Just tell me that it is going to be okay and I would carry on."

"Astrid!"

Astrid whipped her head to the side, from where she heard her name being called softly and looked intently at the mist, hoping, praying for a miracle, but she didn't answer.

"Astrid…" The voice called out again, but this time softer, gentler and louder than the first.

"Yes?"

She answered upon the third call because the voice felt so familiar now, but she couldn't place where she had heard it before. 

From a distance in front of her, she could see the silhouette of a figure walking towards her. Her brows furrowed slightly and her eyes narrowed when she noticed the figure had the form of a woman, making her squint more.

By the time the figure moved closer to her, she noticed that the lady was not walking, rather she floated on the mist that clouded round about her feet.

In a couple of seconds, she was standing face to face with the lady. This lady was more beautiful than any female she had ever seen in her life.

She had a shining wavy waist-length golden brown hair, with nicely shaped brows, cute pointed nose and a rosy pink lip. Her figure was a pure epitome of figure eight, making her look as though she was an out of world godly beauty.

When she smiled, warmth immediately enveloped the surrounding especially Astrid's heart, keeping the freezing temperature at bay, as her gaze zeroed in on the beautiful lady in front of her.

"Hello, Astrid!" The strange, yet soft familiar voice said. But her voice came in like a whisper of serenity in Astrid's mind.

She stood still like a statue rooted to the spot, not saying or doing anything, as her gaze remained fixed on the lady.

"Why… who? I–I …" Astrid stuttered. It felt as though she lost the ability to think and form a coherent word in the presence of the strange goddess-like beauty.

"No need to fret, Astrid. You called for help and here I am."

Astrid's mouth hung agape opening in an 'O' fashion at the lady's remark. 

When she noticed Astrid wasn't paying any attention to her, her brows creased as her brows furrowed slightly into a frown. 

Little did she know that the girl was spellbound and the atmosphere felt too heavy and light at the same time for her.

She decided to speak up to get her attention as she asked, "Do you not know who I am?"

Her round eyes shimmered with anticipation as she eagerly awaited Astrid's answer.

After careful thought, Astrid came out of her thoughts with her answer.

"I do not know exactly, but something about you feels familiar. Can you tell me, please?"

The lady let out a disappointed sigh before answering Astrid's question.

"My name is Leia."

'Leia, Leia, hmm where have I heard that name before?' Her finger held her chin as she tried recalling. All of a sudden, her eyes popped open as the answer came into her head. 'Oh yes, I remember.'

She looked up at the lady with the same shocked expression as before but this time her eyes were filled with warmth and brimmed with untold happiness.

"You are… ha..."