Author: fbtlwp

As Arnoh was nearly 8 years elder to them, he had developed full powers but was yet to discover his limits. He held Eyvah tighter and went into warp speeds for the next 15 minutes and finally halted when the sky turned crimson. The sun would be up in no time and he had to make it back home racing against the sun this time.

He came close to the forest edge of a small town and made a soft landing. She had fallen asleep in his arms. He was amused at how she could do that while he was trying to save their lives. Still wrapped in the blanket, he laid her down gently on a mound of hay. It was a small clearing and what looked like a farm. A strip of forest separated this land from the town ahead.

He recorded a message for her on one of his feathers and gently pinned it into her hair. He stood there for a good 5 more minutes wondering if fate would bring them together again. He had waited patiently for her to become an adult so that he could ask her to be his lady. So close, just one more birthday left. But he knew tonight had not been just another night.  He knew he may never see her again.

He soaked in the sight of her sleeping peacefully, thinking she is still wrapped in the safety of his strong embrace. He sighed and felt his heart get heavy as he slowly walked away from her. He took off gently and did a short recce of the town before turning around and heading back home. He now needed to make sure his family had survived.

The town seemed harmless and quite small to have any big trouble going on. He hoped that someone would come to her rescue and a tear escaped his eyes down his chiselled face at the thought of anything otherwise. He wondered if this is what love is, that Mum and Dad always spoke of.

As he flew past her, she looked like she was wrapped in a silken cocoon, still peacefully asleep, oblivious to what lay ahead of her. She grew tinier as he flew away and finally could no longer see her as the forest crowns took over the scenery.

It was the suffocating heat that woke her up eventually. The blanket was too thick for the 12 pm Sun. She felt like her hands were bound to her body. He had wrapped her tightly inside the blanket. She squinted as she opened her eyes with the sun staring back at her. She tried to look around and spot Arnoh. But he was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he had gone to fetch water or food. Or he was tired and resting close by too. She decided to wait it out. He couldn’t have gone too far.

A couple of hours passed and she could no longer take the stuffiness inside the blanket. She eventually rolled side to side till she rolled off the haystack and fell to the ground, unravelling the blanket in the process. As she stood up and made a futile attempt to dust off the hay sticking to her sweaty body, she heard a whistle.

Her senses were now on full alert and quickly wriggled back behind the haystack to hide. The long sharp whistling continued in a certain pattern. The sound grew closer and soon the leaves near the edge of the farm rustled. What happened next took her breath away!

She had never seen anything like this in her life. Her heart was racing. She had to bite her knuckles to calm herself down. Could these be? She dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. No, it is impossible. They are only a myth. It cannot be real. As her eyes widened with fear and excitement, she felt a soft tap on her shoulder and she froze in complete fear!

Click here to read Chapter #4

He had been wandering around the town trying to pick up on the strange new scent for weeks now. He had felt an incredibly new sensation a few weeks ago at the town fair but no matter how much he searched, he simply could not locate who it belonged to. This has never happened before. Sensing and locating were his biggest strengths. His senses had never been this confused. He was almost trapped in that scent.

After weeks of roaming aimlessly, today was the day he was going to find out. Something made him find a faint trail of the scent and he followed it like a mad dog. He was soon almost near the edge of the town when he passed by the old manor house. The scent suddenly became wildly strong. It was a bit different this time. The same, yet different! It felt more like a stress signal.

His senses were attuned to detecting even the slightest of changes in the pheromones. This way he could always know the real intention of a person even if their body language and words concealed their inner feelings. Today, the signal meant grave danger!

He jumped over the boundary wall and swiftly made his way up the railing on the side of the old house and in a jiffy he was up two floors. His body was moving as if the scent had a rope tied to him and he was being pulled right towards it. He found himself in front of a large wooden door, heavy with wrought iron handles and giant bolts. He heaved it open and pushed through.

There, there it was. The scent was incredibly strong now. He scanned the room quickly and found a large four-post bed against a massive window through which the sun shone harshly onto the ageing wooden floors. What was that on the bed? He tried to peek. There were long white coloured lace curtains flowing from the ceiling towards the floor around the four-post bed. His eyes suddenly widened with a bit of shock and curiosity as they followed the torn curtains to the floor.

Wrapped like a cocoon, on the floor was the outline of a small person, almost lifeless. The floors creaked as he instinctively stepped closer. The scent was now almost tormenting him. His senses were on overdrive. He was no longer thinking and yet his body was moving on its own.

He cradled the person into his arms and looked around quickly. He could not spot any immediate danger and decide to jump out through the window. He leaped two floors down but landed softly onto the grass below. The person was knocked out cold and a cocktail of thoughts clouded his head as the scent drove him nuts. Almost in a daze, he set out into the woods outside the edge of the town.

He ran hard, almost leaping with giant strides and continued deep into the forest towards a hidden waterfall. This was his secret haven.

He laid her gently on a mound of soft grass and wildflowers. The gentle roar of the waterfall nearby and the droplets from the spray against the sunlight made it even more magical. There were at a hidden spot in the forest that was below the forest floor surrounded by cliffs and a waterfall. It was the golden hour when the sun was on its way down. The rays bathed everything around, making them glow golden against the sun.

It had been an hour now and he was watching her breathing. She was in a deep sleep and he was not able to wake her up. It may be some sort of spell he told himself and waited impatiently.

This waterfall was his escape from everyone and it was near impossible to track him here. The place was packed with wildflowers and strange plants and herbs that filled the air with complex scents that only he could discern. He had been coming to this waterfall for a few hundred years now.

The cool breeze played with her hair while the sun’s warm rays bounced off her cheeks highlighting her slightly parted lips. They were almost translucently pink as the sun rays got caught in them. Cherries he thought, nope, strawberries maybe! Peaches! He was trying to imagine how they would feel to touch. Luscious and ripe like… “What am I thinking!” He was shocked at his own thoughts.

A sudden splash nearby jostled him. The waterfall was just a few metres tall and he never figured out where the source was to date. It never dried up and always had the same consistent flow no matter what time of the year. Strange indeed. It was a few metres wide and as it hit the bottom it created an almost bluish-purple pool below. The edges of the pool were iridescent blue almost turquoise and in some places a deep green.

He had never seen someone so delicately beautiful before. He was mesmerised by her face being caressed by the soft locks of her hair that flowed down her shoulders like the waves. Her enrapturing scent was driving him crazy, her lithe body that his rough hands now wanted to hold so dearly, were afraid they might hurt her somehow. Her softly heaving chest and her thumping heartbeats, her light cottony floral dress that fluttered gently with the breeze almost as if they were teasing him.

He slapped the back of his head hard enough to let out a soft yelp. He scanned his surroundings to ensure no one had followed him here. His eyes came to rest on the mystical pool nearby. There were strange fishes in the water that glistened every time they came up for air. There were birds that looked like magical creatures, with long flowing tails and a myriad of colours that were a sight to behold. Their chirps were a practised song, the waterfall was the background music. The mystical fishes breached occasionally creating soft ripples and it was an orchestra that always calmed his soul.

A rustle of leaves and her fluttering dress brought his attention back. What was this creature, he wondered! He saw glimpses of a silver chain running across her torso under her torn blouse. The blouse – he noticed, there were small pink flowers on the pale blue blouse. A couple of buttons were missing from the top and the bottom ones were hanging by a thread where the blouse had torn off. The buttons were shaped like roses, dark silver roses. The flowers on the blouse were dainty and pretty. What flowers were these? Cherry blossoms, he assumed and nodded to himself.

His eyes followed the chains underneath and something right at the centre of her chest caught his eyes. Glinting under the sunlight, almost blinding him each time it shone brightly. He wanted to part the blouse and check what it was. It was too low to be a pendant. He could see her skin, so it wasn’t a corset. The leaves of the trees above kept making patterns on her skin as the sun’s rays played catch through the forest crown above. His hands were itching to touch her.

Click here to read Chapter #5

He wanted time to pause here for a while, not wake up for a little longer, even though the curiosity was almost killing him inside. It was taking all his might and every cell of his body to control himself from touching her. He felt angry, trying to imagine who would have tried to harm her and what transpired that her delicate clothes were torn and tattered. She did not seem visibly hurt anywhere, there were no bleeding or scratches.

As he continued to stare at the pendant under the blouse through her torn clothes, he sensed a change in her energy. He looked up and their eyes met! She was awake! She was blinking slowly and was trying to mouth a few words. He replied, “You are safe, don’t be afraid. I am not going to harm you”. He moved closer to her slowly to hear her more clearly. It was still gibberish. He moved closer and put his ears right next to her mouth and he held his breath. It happened so fast, that he was caught off guard.

She had kneed him hard where it hurt the most and was now trying to crawl away helplessly. He curled inwards and bit his lip as the pain flowed through his body. He was absolutely stunned and waited for the pain to ebb. She was crawling dangerously close to the water’s edge and even he did not know what creatures lived underneath. Grabbing his man parts he crawled right behind her calling out,

“Stop! The water is more dangerous than me. I am not going to harm you, I promise” Just as he was about to grab her ankle, she threw herself into the water!

He cursed out loud and could not believe what was transpiring. He threw himself into the water right behind her and suddenly found himself in a completely alien world! He waited a few moments for his eyes and his senses to acclimate and looked around for her. Something large loomed around, swimming swiftly. The light above caught the shiny scales and glinted as it moved away from him. His heart was racing now. The water had numbed his hearing and he switched to sensing sound waves in the water to read the landscape around him.

There, there she was. He saw her clothes floating around her as she tried to swim in all directions. He beelined towards her but halted as something strange started happening to her. There was a glow that kept growing from her torso. It looked like the pendant was emitting a bright light. She turned to face him slowly as she kept bobbing under the water.

Her clothes floated all around her and he could not help thinking how beautiful this moment was. Their eyes met and this time everything around him started spinning! He was drawn to her at light speed or so it felt. He was moving towards her and yet she was exactly the same distance away. Her eyes were burning red like fire!

He was paralysed and yet moving towards her and yet, there she was, still away. As the dark shadowy object grew bigger behind her, he saw something heading straight for her. The shadow was way bigger now and he tried his best to warn her, but he simply could not move. His eyes widened as something massive swam up right behind her and just as he tried to scream underwater, paralysed – she turned around! The moment she broke eye contact, he felt like he had been released from a spell. She was now facing the shadow that seemed like it had no end.

As he watched helplessly, the creature opened its jaws to reveal an endless pit of teeth and innards about to swallow her whole. His reflexes returned as he swam swiftly towards her and now was right behind her in a flash. He grabbed her in the nick of time as the creature engulfed them whole and everything turned black as the jaws came down crushing down behind them.

They were inside an unknown creature, under a magical pond with no bottom, beneath the forest floor, in the middle of nowhere. Would they even be rescued alive?

Click here to read Chapter #6

It was a windy late afternoon. The bar was nearly empty except for a mysterious figure crouched at the far end of the corner, towards the emergency exit door. He was busy lost in thought as he gingerly held an intricately carved fountain pen and kept spinning, looping it between his slender fingers. His back was to the main seating area.

One could only see his long exquisite black coat and black boots with silver work on them. He had tethered book with tattered pages in front of him and the markings of some words inked across them in a strange script. He was wearing a fedora hat that hid more of his face. His profile gave away only long locks of hair that fell across his face.

A few workers finishing the day’s early morning shift walked in, loud and noisy and looking quite happy to be at the bar. There were three of them and worked as loggers. All of them were heavily built from their laborious work and sat down in front of the bartender who was busy wiping glasses and putting them away. The bartender was new and had moved into town about three months ago. The mysterious man in the corner had turned up just a week ago.

The youngest among the three workers was barely 23 but built like a tank already. He had been the soccer team captain at the university, the most popular and eligible boy that every girl wanted to date. He was not very good at studies but excelled at every type of sport including swimming. He wasn’t too fond of swimming though. Everyone assumed he would remain in the city after graduating and pursue a career in sports and modelling.

But to everyone’s surprise and disappointment, soon after graduation, he had to return to this small town to be with his ailing grandfather. He was the most handsome boy in this town too and all the women could not stop gushing over his good looks. Even young girls as young as 13 wanted to grow up quickly to become his lady!

His life had been alright all these years, and he pretty much got whatever he wanted on a platter. He had dated many girls, he never really had to try as nearly every one of them would literally throw themselves at him. His female teachers were no exception.

At the young age of 23, he was tired. Tired of being objectified wherever he went. No one wanted to really look at him. Not just his handsome face, but beyond that. He tried to date all kinds of girls, pretty, not so pretty, tall, short, rich, poor, smart, not so smart, but not one of them wanted to really know him.

Most of them wanted to sleep with him or jump to marriage talks and make babies with him. He did try to make conversations but the girls only giggled and acted coy. He was more of a trophy to show off than a man with thoughts and dreams.

He changed girlfriends like he would shed his clothes after a good game. Most of his guy friends over the years had also become quite shallow. They loved and enjoyed his company as most girls tried to befriend them to get close to him. Many even agreed to dates with them to get a chance to get introduced to him. They did not care about him as a real friend should. He had simply grown to accept this.

He longed to someday enjoy chasing someone and trying to impress a girl. Someone who would make him try harder to get to bed. Someone who would enjoy more talks with eye contact and try to read his true feelings. Someone who would make him gush and blush. He had resigned to the fact that he may never find true love. He once wanted to know what it was like to blush! To sit at a beach, hold hands, stare at the stars and just ramble on about life! Share a soft kiss and lie down on her lap as she would caress his hair and listen to his innermost thoughts.

He had started working with the logging company a year ago and enjoyed a drink at the bar every day with the other men nearly twice his age. Today, he was especially low as one of the workers had gotten injured when a log slipped and fell. He had to automatically fill in and do two persons’ workload as he was the youngest and strongest among all the middle-aged men.

As they settled down in front of the bartender, the other two men continued their loud and noisy banter. He sat a little away from them and waited for the bartender to walk up to him. The bartender was busy smiling at his colleagues and taking their order. He finally got a chance to look at the bartender properly for the first time since he had started working here.

He was startled to notice that he had hair that flowed all the way to his hips. They were long and almost dark silvery grey. They were almost bluish-grey. Or maybe a mix of blue, grey and silver? He could not decide but he concluded that they were exquisite. He had tied a tight bun with half his hair and the rest flowed. There were stray locks of hair that fell across his face reaching just below his jawline. Jaws!

His jawline was incredibly sharp but he also had high cheekbones. His eyes were smiling and nearly became slits when he grinned while his lips felt like butter melting. They were thick but soft and almost translucent pink. His face looked like a painter had spent all his life creating his favourite masterpiece. Beautiful, pretty, wait a moment. How could a man look this beautiful?

He looked so soft and child-like and yet there was a strength about him that made him manly too. He was trying to squint at his earrings as they dangled like tiny pendulums teasng his jawline. Suddenly, he was staring directly into a hypnotic set of eyes as the bartender locked his sight on him! His heart froze.

Click here to read Chapter #7

His face transformed to a manly and chiselled one and his steely gaze pierced through him. There was a glint of red as their eyes met and he was transported. He turned to stone and was unable to move or break away from his gaze. They were the most intense eyes he had ever seen and he felt like he was flying at breakneck speed and would collide with him at any moment. But no matter how much he felt like he was about to collide, there was still the same distance between them. Everything around him was spinning wildly.

Time had stopped, yet everything was moving! As he reeled in this strange sensation, the bartender turned his attention back to the older men and broke into a smile again. His face transformed once again. His eyes became tiny slits as his smile curved ear to ear revealing a perfect set of beautifully pearly teeth.

What just happened? He could finally move again and was breathing heavily. He was in absolute shock. The bartender finished his small talk and was now walking towards him. He swallowed hard and noticed that he had a narrow waist and was wearing a black silky see-through shirt. There were slim belts strapped horizontally across his chest that highlighted his sharp V physique from his shoulders to his waist. He was tall! And slender! But strong too!

He stopped in front of him and leaned over the table, his face as close as possible and a raspy voice spoke, “Are you alright?” and flashed a huge smile at him.

For the first time in his life, he was speechless. Everything about this man in front of him made him breathless. There was an incredible scent to this man and his face up close was the most beautiful face he had ever seen. Long earrings dangling on the sides of his face kept distracting him. He could see from the corner of his eyes that his top 3 shirt buttons were undone to reveal his chest underneath as he leaned in so close.

There was a sparkly silver chain all across his chest beneath the shirt. Something lower down glinted like a pendant.

He gulped and tried hard to find his voice. Who was this man? No, WHAT was this man? He found himself going red in the face and heat rising up his ears. Was he blushing! Is this what it felt like? He blurted out, ” Your teeth are so white”. The bartender stepped behind and tilted his head back with a loud laugh that felt like flowers falling from a tree. His neck was also so pretty, his Adam’s apple danced up and down to his laughter. He knew then he was done for at that moment as his eyes danced to his Adam’s apple.

This handsome and pretty flowery man looked down at him again and asked him if he was ready to order a drink today. He managed a – ‘ surprise me’ as words had decided to abandon him today. It was received with a giggle and another breathtaking smile.

He started prepping a cocktail for him and got to work. He moved so fast yet so smooth. It was like a spell. His hands were mesmerising too. They opened bottles, crushed something, added some ice, poured in something pink, chopped some strawberries, pinched some mint, and then the highlight came. He went into a vigorous shake to mix them all up and placed the final glass of blushing dark pink liquid in front of him.

He had never had anything pink in his life! Yet this looked tempting to refuse. He tried to grab the glass to give it a taste when he was suddenly blocked. The bartender held his wrist and with just a look and a sideways nod signalled he was not yet done. He removed a special lighter from his pocket and lit the surface of the drink. As the drink caught fire, the flames reflected in his eyes.

He smiled and nodded – it was ready, with a wink. He grabbed the drink and tried to gulp it down in one go. But choked after one sip! It was intense! He shook his head surprised at how strong the alcohol content was. Everything about him was potent!

The bartender broke into a laugh again. He spoke in his raspy voice, “Enjoy it slowly sugar. Savour it. This one is special, not to be rushed.” and walked away towards the back of the bar, his hips swaying side to side. He had left behind a teenage girl clutching a pink drink close to his massive chest, unable to swallow the last gulp sitting in his mouth.

He finally managed to drink it down and let out a loud sigh. He was gushing. He caught himself smiling, no, blushing! He ran his fingers through his thick long hair and sat in disbelief. This 6 feet 3-inch man was blushing like a schoolgirl. He looked at his wrist where the bartender had held him, softly yet firmly. He wanted to grab his waist!

He stood up and jumped over the bar table and walked towards the back where he had disappeared. He was excited, nervous and anxious with so many new feelings coursing through his body. He pushed the door and walked into a dark room. His eyes suddenly needed time to adjust and were unable to see anything.

He hit his knee on something and tripped. He was about to hit the floor when someone caught him and pulled him up. He was flung across the room with a sudden force and he landed on a chair in the darkness. The same fiery eyes suddenly appeared in front of him and the translucent pink lips parted to reveal fangs instead of teeth.

Small but strong hands held him still and he was now genuinely scared. Any species with fangs had to be feared. And this one did not just have fangs. He was potent in so many ways. He had a lot more going on and he knew this Being was one of the top ones in the pyramid. He suddenly regretted coming to the back this way following an unknown person.

But even through his fear, he felt a rush of excitement. This was still the most exciting moment of his life after all. He finally decided to break the eerie silence, “What are you? What is your name?” The eyes in front of him became a deeper red and a fire was burning in them. His hair was now almost glowing silver. He bared his fangs again and hissed this time. His scent grew really strong and his fangs longer! He suddenly noticed a bright glow under his shirt between his ribs.

It was like there was a lamp burning underneath. The man in front of him looked more like an animal than a regular man species. He tried to speak up again, “I mean no harm. I am really curious to know more about you. What is your name? What species do you belong to? Where did you come from? How does your hair glow like that? What is that under your shirt?”

The hissing fangs decided to not answer these questions and instead latched on to his neck and bit him hard sinking his entire fangs into his artery. He fainted in shock. But just before he fainted, he saw a shadow walk into the room and shout, “Viorel! Stop! No! Not in this town”

His last thoughts before losing consciousness were the long black coat and boots with silver work on them.

Click here to read Chapter #8

His life had frozen at the age of 29. Aoki had been wandering the planet since time immemorial. His family, much of it had passed on a long time ago. All he had left now was Viorel.

And here was Viorel about to get them both into a possibly dangerous situation. Aoki had become tired of cleaning up after Viorel and his unexplained urges to feed on people’s weaknesses. He was growing more dangerous. Not just any weakness, it was their loneliness.

Viorel belonged to one of the most sought after and mythical, almost magical species called the Evohleyts, the Purple Blood ones who carried the promise of life in them. Many believed they were THE most powerful of all species! But not all were born as special or as powerful as Viorel.

Someone like him had been born only three times since the beginning of time and Viorel was the most powerful among them all. But, no one knew this. Not even himself. There was an old prophecy that would have revealed his true powers and his real identity. But to test this prophecy, something even rarer had to be born. His soul twin! A female Viorel – a Viola! Aoki and Viorel had been travelling country to country, town to town for centuries looking for her.

Aoki needed her more than Viorel did. For Aoki, it meant his bloodline could continue. Although he could mate any species he wanted, none could birth his offspring. Only Viola would be able to birth his babies and it was important for his children to be born to maintain balance in their world. She was destined to be his mate, but no one told him when and where and how he would meet her. It seemed ridiculous now that a creature like her would even exist. Sure she was a myth!

But when he had found Viorel a few centuries ago, he could at least believe his species existed and were not just a myth. He had begun to lose hope of ever finding his Viola. Till some birdy had mentioned that they had spotted someone with purple blood in a land far away. A land that was known to not exist. They had followed the rumours and landed in this small town in the middle of nowhere.

He had sent Viorel ahead of him to recce and blend in. He would move in later and they had to pretend to be strangers to not draw attention towards themselves. Aoki dressed to conceal himself, while Viorel dressed to be as sparkly as possible. They simply could not be seen together. Little did this town know, two of the most powerful beings on the planet had entered their small nondescript town and were now living near the far edge of the town close to the forest edge in an old abandoned manor house.

Even though all species believed that Evohleyts were the most powerful, the truth wasn’t the same. Aoki came from the Blue Blood species called …

“Viorel! Stop! No! Not in this town!”

Aoki shouted as he caught a glimpse of silver flash in the darkroom and a glowing figure moved swiftly towards something at the far end. He had been peacefully writing his journal at the corner of the bar till he sensed the change in Viorel’s energy field. He caught him fixated on a man seated at the bar table and knew instantly something bad was going to happen.

He had followed the man into the stockroom and had spotted them in the nick of time. Viorel had just sunk his teeth into the man’s neck. Luckily, the man had fainted already. Viorel grunted as he suddenly found himself paralysed! He tried hard to break out of Aoki’s intangible grip on him, in vain.

He knew Aoki could potentially harness the energy of the whole planet if he wanted to. Maybe even beyond the planet! After all, he was the original creator’s direct lineage – The Blue Bloods and he was the only one alive right now. He trembled to even say the name of his species around in his own mind! He waited patiently for Aoki to release his grip from the other end of the room.

Aoki, with a deep-set voice, spoke softly, “I am going to release you now. Viorel, we cannot afford to gain attention here. Especially, if She is truly here! I want you to pull your teeth out of him and walk back outside to serve the customers. Don’t make me ground you at home” His voice was so deep, they boomed into his heart. He released his invisible grip on Viorel and walked out like a shadow disappearing.

Viorel wiped his lips and walked out leaving behind the 23-year-old unconscious in the dark room. The boy would be able to wake up only the next day now. Viorel walked back to the bar and as he took his place, he saw an extremely handsome man walk in with giant wings. He looked worried and signalled for a drink from the entrance itself. As he sat down, Viorel asked him if he was a Fionias and Arnoh looked up to notice the most beautiful man he had ever seen peering into his eyes filled with excitement!

Viorel was excited too – something about Arnoh messed with his head. He would find out the reason many years later though.