MEHJABEEN

Backing her mind to the loveliness, now Elffy was tempted to stand on the highest hill, to foresee the valley, which was sugar-coated with delightful candy colors.

As said, without her knowing, her legs carried her to the place where her heart’s having an eye for.

Reaching the highest point with nothing but struggles, she got what she thirst for.

It was a simple green landscape with dots of orange, yellow, and pink and all the colors you can think of.

The majestic colors in the valley made anyone mesmeric, in that case, Elffy isn't the one immune to its grace as she too wanton to reach out and touch it.

Ascending to the very spot, she dips her feet one after one slowly in the flowing stream to cool down her sore feet. But the chillness it radiates is intolerable.

Elffy felt biased to tolerate the coldness of the water, as it felt highly refreshing between her toes, and waited till her feet started to wrinkle.

All the river just illuminated the whole location and added a handful of cheerfulness. From the flowing river, the humming-fish were humming beautiful sounds, which might surely be echoed for miles in the valley. The blue and crystal clear water was glistening and glimmering in the sun. It was so clear that she could even see a speck of dust traveling down to the bottom.

On that very sunny spring day, it smelt like freshly cut bouquets. As she thoroughly felt the fresh morning breeze, after going through an avalanche of disappointments, her gaze amazed the visionary of the vast blue sky and smooth, even grass that looks to be mowed with perfection.

It was the most beautiful place she must have ever seen. Whereas she already said these particular lines numerous times.

Precisely at that moment, she could not find yet another piece of happiness if not these feelings to overview these great leaps of joy in her heart.

The echoes of the song the birds sang as they fled and the ring of their feathered flaps were heard all around the field.

It's hard to recognize their breed as they

were fluttering so fast, past the fluffy floating clouds.

This includes the sound of the geese ringing apace without in space, as she hears from a distance, the comfortable sound bites of the giant-faced Humming-Fish singing in a heavenly language while splashing around. Everything was still, apart from the water of lifestreaming down the dramatic mountains ahead of her eyes.

Flowing the trails, Elffy got struck by the growing beauty and contrast of specific climbers blooming with colorful wildflowers.

The flowery scent paddles its way with the breeze with a unique fragrance washing her with serendipity. It was a mixture of all the sweetest-smelling wild range flowers she could think of.

As she ran to pick some flowers to wore in her hair, underneath her, the spiky ends of the lush green grass tickled the soles of her feet as well as the changelog leaves which were fallen on the ground with a large amount and looks as soft as, and if not, felt even softer than silk.

Collecting a handful of variable flowers she made a beautiful flower garland and pinned it on her waist-long hair like a scrunchie.

Having enough of this ever-boring beauty, she starts to walk in silence in search of any pathway trails in the muddy soil.

Amidst the hours of walking, she saw some footprints on the moist mud.

Veering away from the earlier track she cut through the woods where the directions of the footprint are marked.

She could get some help if she followed this hot lead.

The longer she walked, her soles were getting dirtier than they already are. Elffy saunters along with Willow as her only companion, shaded by the pine trees that bordered either side of the partially grown-over trail.

A narrow strip of deep brown soil was all that was left to show them the way, though they'd walked it for so long, hoping they'll find the leads to home. At times in a zone, Elffy looked up through the trees to find that the sky had cleared up some. The warm sunlight leaked down to hit her face as they went the way... She smiled and took a deep breath of moist, mossy air, then looked back down at the ground just in time to notice and hop over a puddle of water on the trail.

Elffie continued walking, paying more attention to where she was stepping, thinking that though it was pleasantly sunny, something felt slightly off. It then occurred to her that the woods were overly quiet. The usual ambiance of birdsong and the scuffling of small creatures through the underbrush were completely absent. Screeching a halt, she lay off knowing that this is a blind alley full of a quagmire and scanned the area without blinking an eye as if something might blow up around nowhere... To her luck, nothing moved.

Willow stopped a few feet ahead of her and looked back questioningly, more like quivering in fear. That's not the reaction she expected from him. In an act of withstanding the fake bravery in her, all the tiny hairs on her body stood on end, as if her skin were charged with the striking hits of lightning.

Willow slowly turned to fully face Elffy and glanced around, then noticed the eerie silence, as its whirlpool figure disguised itself into a mini widened bubble, representing a widened eye.

Elffy nods to the trail, signaling that they should continue walking. On the point, they started again without a word, trying to step as lightly as possible.

Instinct told Elffy to stay as quiet as she could, like a bunny trying to avoid a fox.

Suddenly a red-beaked bird flew overhead, screeching out a warning to all of the seemingly absent birds, then flew away from them, leaving a weighted silence behind. Elffy’s palms began to sweat. To the fore, it's a giant eagle.

Sadly Kubri and Willow were shaken up badly, to respond. It's the creature they feared, especially Kubri. Eventually, it's the predator kind. That's how the life cycles in this realm are.

Uttering some soothing words, Elffy tried to boost up its quivering shell back to normal, then walked together for several minutes with only the sound of their footfalls and heavy breathing to let them know that they hadn't gone deaf. Willow is the wise one compared to Kubri, so Elffy began darting nervous glances at Willow, who stopped again and gave Elffy his full attention. Elffy mouthed,

“Should we run?”

But Willow began to shake his whirlpool in negative sign as a reply, when suddenly there was a loud crack to their left and behind them as if someone had stepped on a branch.

They both froze, neither of them so much as breathed. Elffy kept her eyes on Willow, at a loss on what to do at the moment.

Using the least of the powers Willow got, scanned the woods around them, trying to spot the origin of the cracking sound, but the pine trees and other vegetation were too dense to see very far.

All was still and silent again. But Elffy’s instincts were screaming in her head for her to flee. On signal, Willow looked back at her to nod, and they both broke into a full-blown run.

Elffy ran through the woods, the trees a blur in her peripheral vision. But after a short time, Elffy had to slow her pace for Willow’s sake to catch up with her.

Without the powers, the reality is burning Willow off its limitations. It's hard for her to watch the poor one’s suffering.

Elffy herself isn't immune to her pains, so far she managed to let the pain remain seated in the back of her mind. But right now with all the activities, she has done for a longer term, it burns out like a ripe wound.

The adrenaline was pounding in her head like a second heartbeat as she pushed harder and began to pick up speed but then tripped and went flying to land in a heap of moist soil.

Willow skidded to a halt and crouched to grip Elffy's upper arm as support and thereby dragging her to her feet.

Elffy thanked Willow, and soon brushed herself off, not minding the excruciating pain they continued running down the trail until the vegetation became less dense.

The first thought raised from her conscious side after a long time is,

‘They were almost safe.’

Elffy slowed to a trot as they reached the blanks pace and stopped in front of greenery, both of them panting from the effort.

Elffy took a moment to catch her breath, then said,

“Okay, that was weird, you felt it too right? Like someone watching us the whole way... the same someone who stepped on that branch.”

Hearing her Willow nodded its head and looked behind them, searching for a sign of their anonymous stalker. And signs a quest to which Elffy herself doesn't know the answer.

“What do you think it was?” A shaky laugh like goggles erupted from Willow.

Elffy whipped her head back around to regard.

“What could you possibly be laughing about?” She asked, exasperated.

“Oops! Sorry. Never mind, we're being ridiculous, it was probably just a deer or something.” Elffy counters her question which was directed to Willow.

Despite Elffy's laughter, she didn't sound very sure. She looked away from Willow’s skeptical glare and began examining her palm, which had been scraped when she fell.

Willow continued to stare at Elffy until she finally raised her eyes back up to meet the Mighty Willow... She flinched slightly at his stubborn look.

“C’mon Willow, do you think that we were being followed?” She crossed her arms. To her query, Willow bobs in a positive response.

“Yes, yes I do.” Actions with a dramatic sigh. On seeing this, Elffy tries to catechize him to that conclusion.

“By what? We haven't seen any crawlies or flesh eaters from this dawn.” as she said, It was Willow’s turn to look down. Right the moment, Elffie’s conscious side speaks,

“ Maybe it wasn't what you perceive it to be. ” Hearing that she laughed again.

“Who would want to follow us, and for what reason?” Blurting out, she shrugged and met Willow, not able to brush the situation off as easily as she wanted it to be.

Believe it or not her conscious side spoke yet again with a twist in the end.

“I don't know, but we are not too far, but if you continue to walk down this greenery we might for sure see it come into our view.” like always her mind logically spoke the truth.

Hoping for the best and not her last day to be, she continued down the valley but a movement on the sidelines caught her gaze.

Author's Note:

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