Page 18 of My Dark Obsession
The fuck? The tree was still distorted by the blur. It covered about 6 ft in a full circle.
“Ye’ will walk through with me.” Rí held his huge, tanned hand out towards me. Waiting expectantly.
I once again ignored it, pulled my big girl pants up and stepped through.
Six
‘Dark Witch-Tenebris Pythonissam’
Amaya
Cool air greeted me. Misty droplets settled on my skin and a slight breeze blew my hair from my face. I was walking on water. All sound was muffled as if I had my hands covering my ears.
Two steps were all it took before my feet settled on hard ground. Opening my eyes, I gasped. All around me hung wisteria trees. Their long drooping clusters of purple petals dangling created a shelter from the beaming sun, the leaves a feathered lace that resembled a fern. There were so many, hundreds in fact. I’d never seen such beauty. A cool breeze blew through their swaying delicate blades causing the fallen petals to gather together on the stone floor.
Birds sung in the distance, harmonising with the leaves when they brushed against each other in the wind, so gentle, so serene.
Something within me had unfurled and stretched. My eyes closed against the breathtaking sight before me as I inhaled the fragrant air. The trees' honeysuckle and Rí’s mixture of sweet and smoky surrounded my senses. I didn't know what this feeling was, but I could almost say it was what peace felt like.
“These ones are called a Black Dragon Wisteria.” Rí had stepped through the portal and stood with his hands tucked into his pockets. Watching me closely as always.
The air was different here; it didn’t slap you in the face with a sweltering heat and choke you, its cool breeze was heavenly on my face.
How was it possible to walk through a blur and end up somewhere so beautiful with entirely different climate zones?
Magic. It was all magic.
There was something about those trees, something important in their magnificent structure.
“Wisteria, is that where the name comes from?” I asked as I ran my hand through a cluster, their petals soft and ticklish on my palm.
“Yes, the First supernatural found this realm, and all tha’ was here was land and one Wisteria tree. Their Circle embraced its magic and the realm grew, more supernaturals gathered and the population expanded.” He hadn’t moved from his spot by the portal. His hands were still tucked in his pockets as he tracked me walking from tree to tree, touching, smelling and exploring thebeauty. Nothing had ever drawn my attention like that before.
When a tree's roots dug into the ground and held on with all its might and it grew and expanded, its branches reaching far and wide and its leaves and petals vibrant and strong, it was a sign of life. A sign of a past, a present and its future. It had time. It had viability. Its essence was creation itself.
I hated that.
Hated its freedom to grow.
Hated its healthy future.
Was I jealous of a tree's ability to set roots and grow?
Maybe.
Snatching my hand away from the petals I muttered, “Where do we go now?”
He gestured to a small path covered in fallen purple petals. We walked under the Wisteria in silence. I had no urge to fill the quiet and neither did he.
We didn't walk for long before Rí lifted one dangling full branch and nodded for me to duck under. We entered a small hidden clearing. A circle of trees surrounded us, the floor covered in its petals and a small empty wooden crate rested against a large protruding root.
“He’ll be here soon. He’s usually late.” He grumbled and nudged the crate with a shake of his head, his brown messy hair flopping onto his deep furrowed brow.Something about this giant of a man called to me, with his bright eyes that followed me everywhere and softened whenever they settled upon my face. It was unnerving the way my stomach summersaulted with feelings I was unused too.
I gritted my teeth at my own emotions.
“What is this ‘Cole’ able to do to help me exactly?”
Sighing, he scratched at his beard before turning those glowing red eyes my way.
