We eventually returned to Ueel’s farm and I parted ways with him briefly to check up on Adia, but as I entered the barn, I noticed that the boy wasn’t sitting in his usual place on the bed.

I checked the entire barn, but still couldn’t find him and so I dashed out of the barn and ran towards the house where I heard yelling.

I opened the door to find Ueel and Luna arguing and although while Ueel had a panicked expression, Luna sat with her hands on her lap, her expression calm.

Ueel smacked the desk, frightening both Luna and I, but Luna didn’t move, even as Ueel raised his voice further.

He eventually gave up on her before walking toward me.

He said various things before yelling at Luna once more.

The woman pointed at me, but I quickly realized that she was giving Ueel directions.

Ueel nodded before grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the house.

“What did she say? Does she know where Adia is?” I asked while running behind Ueel who remained silent.

We ran out into the open planes of Helia, which was the southern region of Medelona.

Ueel and I looked around the dry, flat plane in search of my dear Adia, but no matter how far we looked or how loudly we called, we couldn’t find him.

That didn’t mean we were going to stop.

I stuck closely to Ueel as we navigated the area surrounding his farm.

He quickly changed directions before taking us towards a less even, rocky area.

This place had quite more plant life than everywhere else.

I tried to follow Ueel’s line of thinking.

Where would Aida go once he ran away.

He’d most likely head towards a place that wasn’t just dirt and small patches of grass.

The place found ourselves was steep and littered with jagged rocks.

“Adia-“

“Zuri!” Ueel called while pointing at a patch of what looked like black grass.

We approached the patch to find several dead birds laying near it.

Strangely enough, the corpses all looked petrified. Like they were long dead and only the dark husks of their bodies remained.

Same for the grass. It was dry and looked like someone had painted it black, unlike the grass everywhere else.

Also, it looked like the patch hid what looked like a deep hole.

“Adia!” I called. My throat sore and my lips dry.

“I’m in here!”

A sweet voice cried.

Ueel and I exchanged amazed glances, but before he could even speak, I knelt by the side of the hole.

“Adia! Are you hurt?” I called and it’s here that certain feelings caught up to me.

I had tried not thinking about the possibility that he was hurt or that we’d never be able to find him, but now that we had, my tears fell freely as I tightly held the edge of the rock.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“My leg got hurt a little after I fell. I tried getting out, but the top was too high- oh I can use magic! I used it to fix my leg!”

My face twisted in confusion, but before I could ask Adia what he meant, Ueel lowered himself into the hole.

I messily wiped away my tears as he disappeared from sight.

I was then left alone on the surface, in a silence that gnawed at my mind with each passing second, but just as my vision darkened with fear and anxiety, Ueel’s head emerged and on his back, was my dear sweet Adia.

They both emerged from the hole and I didn’t waste a second in grabbing Adia and tightly holding him as tears continued falling from my face.

“What in the world did you think you’d accomplish by running off on your own?” I asked, my voice a hoarse scream.

Adia was my everything and due to my carelessness, he’d run off and gotten hurt.

Did he hate me that much?

Did I mean nothing to him?

“Did you want to leave me so badly?” I asked as I gently pushed the boy away.

I tried looking in his eyes, but his head was lowered and he avoided my gaze.

“I… I thought that if I found someone… they’d take me back home.”

“Isn’t that what I’ve been trying this entire time?” I asked as the pain in my chest became worse.

“I…” Adia tried saying, but no words left his mouth.

I pulled him into my arms again.

“Listen, Adia. I will get you back home no matter what. I just need to promise me that you’ll stay where I can find you. Even if it’s not by my side.” I cried and once again, he didn’t response.

I guess it was my fault for believing otherwise.

His response was completely natural.

After all, a child would never care for a woman who wasn’t his mother.

With this, I took a deep breath before letting Aida go.

“Umm… look.” Adia said before placing his hand above my left shoulder.

“I can use magic to fix things. I used it on my leg when I got hurt. It’s like… some things have green lines inside them and I can pull those lines and put them in other things. Look.” Adia said as his eyes began glowing green.

Ueel and I gasped as wisps of what looked like green light rose out of his body.

They then flowed down his arm and seeped into my body.

My eyes widened as a muffled crack came from my shoulder.

I hurriedly lowered my dress’s shoulder to find that the bruising around my shoulder was gone.

Not only that, I could freely move my arm again.

Ueel gasped aloud, but I turned my attention to Adia, who looked at me with an expression that was a mixture of both desperation and earnest pride.

However, just as I raised my hand to praise him, I saw that some of his hair had turned white.

I reeled in my emotions before placing my hand on his head.

“Thank you for fixing my shoulder, but…”

I plucked out one of Adia’s hairs.

“Ouch!”

“I’d rather you didn’t use that ability of yours. Who knows how its affecting your body.” I said as I inspected the whitened hair.

Adia seemingly considered what I said.

“Mmm… fine. But if you get hurt, we’ll have to, right?”

“No, Adia. I think your ability takes as much as it gives-“

“Oh, weren’t you listening? I don’t always have to use my green light. I can just use someone else’s.” Adia said with a grin.

I glanced at Ueel, but he was still as dumbfounded as before.

“Alright. Let’s head back for now.” I said before standing.

Adia nodded and I turned to Ueel, who had finally caught up with the situation.

He sighed before gesturing that we head back to the farm and he griped about various things as we walked.

It’s here, that I decided to dedicate my entire being into getting us back home.

If this was a dream, I would try my best to wake up.

If this really was another world, I would learn it’s secrets and get Aida back home.

.

..

I gently covered Adia as he soundly slept and even though I had told myself all those things about letting go, I found myself playing with the handful of the white strands of hair on his head.

My eyes then widened as I heard yelling.

It was rather late and Ueel seemed really upset that Luna had willingly allowed Adia to run off.

I wanted to tell Ueel that it was all in the past, but I had no business interfering with their exchange.

I tried my best to ignore the screaming and yelling, but that became impossible once I head the sounds of things falling and breaking.

I grabbed Ueel’s books and tried focusing on learning the language of this world.

Unfortunately, similarities between it and English we almost non existent.

I decided to focus on studying the images within the pages some more to see if I’d miss anything while seeing if any works occurred frequently to match the drawings.

My ears perked up upon hearing the sounds of footsteps.

I looked at the barn’s entrance to find an frustrated looking Ueel.

He walked up to where Adia and I slept before sitting against the opposite wall.

A moment of pure silence passed as Ueel stared at the ceiling.

He then said some things and Luna’s name came up a few times, so I guess he was venting.

He went on for about twenty minutes before eventually stopping.

He loudly sighed before walking up to me.

He saw that I was still reading his book by candlelight and so, he sat next to me, picked up the book and pointed at the first word of the first page.

He must have grown tired of talking to a person who couldn’t respond and so he spent almost the entire night teaching me what he knew.

He was understanding when I mispronounced things and he urged me to try my best.

I responded with great enthusiasm and openness as this was one of the many steps I’d have to take to better understand this world.