Spirit Love

Anabel woke up enveloped in Allistar's arms. Every time she tried to extricate herself he held her tighter and pulled her into him even more. Finally he kissed the back of her neck.

"Why must you always wake up so early?"

"Because I am responsible."

He laughed softly in her ear just before he gently kissed it. "Yes you are." The smile in his voice seemed to caress a place deep within her.

He let her go as he rolled in the other direction and out of the bed.

He looked down at her in the bed and smiled. "I'll cook you breakfast. Can you at least wait for that?"

It took her a moment to comprehend his words as her eyes roamed over his body. When the words finally registered she slowly smiled and placed her breakfast order.

Crims:

With Eveline by her side Amethyst easily made it to her destination. It was the entrance to a cave. They were both standing looking at it when Jolan and the other spirit beings were suddenly at their side.

Jolan looked back prepared to defend but paused when he saw that they stood close to the edge of a cliff. He had to forcibly stop himself from walking to look out over the edge. He slowly turned to look at his sister.

"Are you going to go in already? I am ready to get to Drousan." He spoke with little to no confidence.

Amethyst turned smiling at him. "I'm going. Wait here for me. I'll be back to boast with my new shiny object."

Jolan rolled his eyes, his posture relaxing to almost a slump. "'… shiny object'? Hurry up please. If you take too long I'll go to Drousan alone."

Amethyst disappeared into the maw of the cave. Her words drifting back to her brother. "You don't have the guts."

Amethyst walled deep into the cave, or maybe it was just a hall carved out of rock. She perceived that she was just going in a straight line. No curve, no turn, and no side tunnels.

But she continued on moving forward to a soft Blue light that was calling to her. A light that woke something inside her. It seemed like it was a piece that she was missing or needed.

She tried to teleport several times. When that didn't work she tried to walk through the spirit realm to reach the blue light, only to find she was cut off from the spirit realm.

As she neared the light she readied herself to fight. When she finally entered the range of the light she felt a portion of her soul stir as if woke up from a turbulent sleep. There was a moment of disorientation and then she to another step and was inside a large bedchamber.

The walls were made of dark wood and large tapestries hung from the ceiling almost reaching the floor. She looked at the closest one too her. It depicted a scene of a mythical hunt. She felt it was mythical because the creature being hunted was like nothing she had ever seen. It stood in agony engulfed in deep blue flames. The flesh of his arms dropped to the ground covered in flames. His legs and the chunks of flesh on the ground were frozen but still covered I flames.

The creature was covered in patches of both fur and scales that were black and seemed to intertwine with areas of creamy pale skin. The skin seemed to be soft but protruded like knots between the patches of fur and scales. His face was equine with deep blue radiant eyes and his arms and legs ended in hoof like golden appendages.

The creature seemed to want to melt into the red radiance behind him and as she scrutinized that area more she realized it was a portal. A deep red portal shaped like an eight pointed star. The creature seemed to be at the center of it. Her eyes widened as she realized he was using a star gate but she had never seen a red star gate before.

"Mother?"

"I see it. It is an Ashlan. The gate leads to their dimension. They are divine celestial beings so you wouldn't know the gate. I try not to explore the dimensions that contain any type of celestial being."

Her mother went silent for a long while. "Mother."

"It is taking everything within me not to teleport to you. You asked me not to help you and I can see you are not in danger. This Ashlan seems to be in some type of soul distress. Keep looking. I sense there is a tapestry pulling you. Go look at it and see what it shows you."

Amethyst ignored the rest of the tapestries and went to the one hanging in the back left corner. It depicted a man. A man with the same deep blue eyes as the Ashlan and the source of blue light emanating from the room. The man suddenly looked at her and she sensed that he needed help. His eyes were pleading and she suddenly felt she needed to help him.

As soon as the thought crossed her mind the image on the tapestry swirled and rearranged before her eyes. A bright blue eight pointed star portal opened in front of it and she walked through it.

Amethyst entered the tapestry and the man smiled warmly at her. "I have been waiting for you for a long time Amethyst." His smile faded and Amethyst thought he might cry at any moment. "I am so sorry I brought you here but I need you. No one else can help me but you."

Everything swirled and a dark red eight point star portal opened behind him. The area was flooded with dark red light and the man before her made a soundless cry. His face twisted in agony as it elongated to the equine shape of an Ashlan. His body rippled as clusters of pale knots emerged on all over his body. Patches of black fur and black scales grew from the patches as his long fingered hands took on shape close to golden hooves.

His body trembled as he began to be pulled into the portal.

Amethyst snapped out of her stunned state as he moved from her. She burst into action several doors opening in and around the eight point start portal. A final door opened in front of the man and he was pulled into it. As he was pulled in the other doors released spells and shut quickly.

A violent burst of red light burst forth from the portal but the tapestry was an empty scene of red. It suddenly burned within a dense blue flame.

A large wooden door with silver hinges, knob, and scattered inlay appeared in the bedchamber. It opened and essentially spit Amethyst out.

"Please… help me… to the bed… Amethyst. If I do not… fuse… with my… physical body… I won't… wake up."

It was difficult for him to speak and Amethyst didn't hesitate to complete the request. The bed was massive and she never noticed that a person was lying on it.

She cast a spell to help him levitate. She turned him to his back and lowered him to his sleeping human form. His soul body fused with his human form. And he groaned in pain as he began alternating between human and Ashlan.

All Amethyst was able to do was stand there and watch. Her body tensed as she realized that she actually could not move.

The room began to change around her. It went form the huge luxurious bedchamber to a room that was divided into a bedroom, den, and lab, then a vast cave with shabby wooden furniture to a solitary lonely cave then the process repeated from the luxurious bedchamber again. This loop repeated more times than Amethyst could count.

It sped up faster than she could follow the changes blink in and out faster than her brain could process them.

Then it slowed and she saw the solitary cave that was large and cavernous. The man from the second tapestry entered. He looked troubled but then resolved as if he made a decision.

His hands rose up towards the roof of the cave. He cast several spells almost as fast as her mother and the cave became the vast cave with shabby wooden furniture. He lived here for centuries. She watched him go through days sometimes lonely sometimes happy sometimes enthusiastic about his work. One day he stood up frustrated and swung his arms up violently. The room changed again and became the bedroom-den-lab.

He researched and studied for days without sleep. He created several potions and smashed them all to the floor. Finally he made a slowly swirling potion that looked like a mini slow moving red and blue hurricane.

The cave suddenly transformed into the luxurious bedchamber. He blinked into the center of the bed of drank the potion. He slid back into the bed and instantly fell asleep. He slept, his dreams troubled, for many years and suddenly tapestries unfurled around the room.

They showed the man traveling. It seemed he moved from dimension to dimension. Amethyst was puzzled because she thought he was an Ashlan that had a humanoid form but it seemed he started as a human.

He continued to travel until he encountered an eight point star portal. He looked at the portal with reverence and seemed to solemnly step into it. A red light flashed brightly and Amethyst heard an agonizing scream.

The man was pushed back out of the portal and instantly changed into an Ashlan.

A blue light shone and blinded Amethyst for a split second. When she regained her senses the Ashlan was before her looking down at her.

Her mouth opened. "What's your name?"

He smiled. "My name is Solnm."

Amethyst looked around the room. "Are you cursed?"

He cupped her chin in his hoof like hands. "Not anymore." He smiled a very human smile. "You have been in my dreams for such a long time. You promised you would come to me." His eyes suddenly became sad. "You do not remember me do you?"

She shook her head. "No. But my soul does." This made him smile again and she suddenly realized she was in love with both his smile and his touch.