To the Fountain
To the Fountain
"No, I don't want to stop." Theodore tightened his hold around Adeline's waist and kissed her lips passionately.
"Theo…" She broke free from Theodore's arms and started to run away while still giggling.
Theodore kept on watching her from behind. She would turn around to look at him every once in a while. And she would continue to run away.
Theodore fell in love with her all over again. His wife looked like an angel who was running in the garden of Heaven under the beautiful sunset.
"Wait for me, Adeline," Theodore also started to follow her.
But no matter how fast he ran, he was unable to catch up to her.
The smile on Theodore's face faded. He furrowed his brows and shouted, "Adeline, why are you running so fast? Wait for me. Let's walk together."
Adeline stopped running and turned around to look at Theodore. She teasingly shook her head and shouted back, "You are the one who is running too slow!" She covered her mouth and giggled again.
"I'm trying to catch up to you… but…" Theodore tried to teleport to where Adeline was but could not. He then tried to flap out his wings so that he could fly instead of running.
However, something was interfering and he was unable to do either.
Theodore got worried even more. He looked at Adeline. She seemed to be drifting further and further away from him. So he asked while panicking, "Adeline, come to me. Let's get out of this place. I don't think it is safe here."
But instead of running to his arms, Adeline spread out her arms for Theodore and said, "No, you should come to me." She pouted and added, "I'm already tired…"
Theodore's eyes were suddenly filled with tears. He held out his hand for Adeline and pleaded in a sad voice, "Wife, come to me, please."
But then, he saw Adeline slowly fading away with the setting sun.
"No… Adeline!" Theodore tried to run again.
This time, he could get closer to her.
"Adeline! Wait!" Adeline was just an arm's length away from him.
Theodore stretched out his hand to hold Adeline. Adeline also held out her hand with a melancholic smile on her face.
He was so close to grasping her hand but all he caught was... nothing.
Adeline turned into a puff of smoke and dissolved into nothingness.
Theodore felt an excruciating pain in his heart. He opened his palm which he had used to try to hold Adeline. He looked at his empty palm… then looked at the empty plot of the garden that stretched out till his eyes could see.
Adeline was nowhere to be seen.
He dropped down on his knees and screamed in a cracked voice, "Nooooooooooo…"
---
"Nooooooooooo…" Theodore suddenly came out of his oblivion state.
Everyone who was near him looked petrified because of his loud and gut-wrenching growl that resounded throughout the battlefield.
Theodore's heart clenched badly as he recalled his hellish dream where Adeline had vanished right in front of his eyes.
"Adeline!"
He instantly sat up and looked down on his lap.
Adeline wasn't there.
"Arion took Her Majesty to your cave," one of the soldiers who saw him panicking informed him.
Theodore vaguely recalled the soldiers helping Adeline to get on Arion's back.
"They have not reached the fountain yet!" The pain that he got from Adeline's wound had not vanished yet. Theodore wasn't sure how long he was out for. But he did hope that it hadn't been too long.
His fear of losing Adeline became stronger than the pain that he was still feeling in his chest. He pushed himself up despite his pain and closed his eyes. He used his divine vision to find the exact location of Adeline.
They were still flying alongside the hills that were far away from the Hill of Grimmer Death.
Theodore flapped out his wings first and in the next moment, he teleported to find Adeline.
He reappeared a little behind Arion. He flew and covered the distance between him and Arion in no time.
"Theodore!" Arion glanced at Theodore with very hopeful eyes.
Adeline had already lost a lot of blood. Her pulse was feeble. Her lips looked bluish-grey, and her face looked paler than the vampires. And her body felt ice-cold even when Agnes was covering Adeline with her thick cloak.
Agnes was barely keeping Adeline alive.
And Arion had been worried sick that he wouldn't be able to reach inside the cave in time. But with Theodore there, his hope of Adeline's survival soared high.
Without even wasting time in giving a warning, Theodore immediately touched Arion and teleported all three of them right by the side of the fountain.
Theodore retracted his wings and went around Arion to stand right in the fountain. He felt a sharp sting in his heart on top of his consistent pain when his gaze landed on his wife's pale face.
"Agnes, keep on chanting your spell," Theodore instructed Agnes and then carefully lifted Adeline in his arms.
He could tell that Adeline's condition had worsened a lot. And he didn't want Agnes to stop her spell even for half a second, in case her spell was the one thing that was keeping Adeline alive.
Agnes also directly climbed down inside the fountain without breaking her contact with Adeline's body and without breaking her concentration in chanting the healing spell.
Theodore didn't notice it but Agnes was having a severe nosebleed because she had gone beyond her limit already. And as soon as she stepped inside the fountain water, chanting the spell became a little easier for her. Meaning, the energy she had expended was being restored by the water.
Theodore's pain also eased up a little. He gently lay Adeline down in the fountain water. And his pain eased up a little more.
He created a pillow and put it under Adeline's head so that she wouldn't completely submerge in the water.
He then shifted to kneel down beside Adeline's chest. Her sword was still sticking out of her chest.
The wound on her chest was already starting to heal around that sword, which was bad if the sword stayed inside her chest for any longer. It would be harder to pull out the sword, making it painful for Adeline.
Theodore needed to pull the sword out faster so that she would start healing properly.
So he gripped the hilt of the sword with both of his palms. He took a deep breath in so as to prepare himself for the surge in pain that was about to come.
And then with one swift pull, the sword was out of Adeline's body.