Chapter 19

"Mira! Wait! Mira!"

He desperately called for her but she only walked faster. She heard a low growl from behind her and then a loud bang on the barrier. She flinched, almost tripping over her own feet but she never turned back. She imagined Rex and his pet working together to try and get through the barrier but she didn't want to see it. She couldn't.

She hated how powerless and weak she'd felt standing before him, like a rabbit standing before a wolf. But more than that, she hated how attracted she was to him in spite of her fear; hated the desire that swept through her body whenever she heard her name on his lips, her nickname. She should've been smart enough to give him an alias but her mind had been a mess.

It had taken all her mental strength to act aloof and to even talk to him. It had been nigh impossible to remain upright and speak before the power that had washed over her, raw power that came off his body in waves despite the fact that he was trying to hold back. She could tell since an occasional wave would be too strong, that she almost couldn't breathe.

The scariest part of it all was the desire that took hold of her before that power, a strong desire for his strength and for him. She wanted to own him. She had been so scared and aroused at the same time that she couldn't think straight.

The oversized boots were sliding and rubbing uncomfortably on her feet, slowing her down. She vanished them into her space and broke into run. She had to get as far away from him as possible. It would be too late to regret it after night fell and she succumbed to her desires, succumbed to him. She would be beyond humiliated if he saw her like that, crying and begging to be ravaged.

Once she was far away enough and she couldn't hear the growls anymore, she shifted to her fairy form. Her pale body was flushed pink and her face was as red as ripe cherries. She put away her new clothes into her space and flew off towards Sher, too mentally drained to teleport. Of course she wouldn't be giving the clothes back.

She was panting when she landed at Sher's hollow and she collapsed onto her back by the poolside, her right arm over her eyes. Her heart raced and her inner thighs felt cool and wet from her arousal, chilled by the wind during flight. The cold sensation calmed her erratic emotions somewhat and she pushed all thoughts of Rex to the back of her mind.

After a quick dive in the pool, she went to sit by the entrance, dangling her feet over the edge as she looked at her fairy forest. White flowers adorned her body and her wings were retracted, her nails digging into the white wood by her legs due to her tense nerves.

She watched with baited breath as the long shadows from the trees stretched before her. She couldn't watch the sunset since the hollow faced the Southern edge of the island, which was now pointing East after fitting it into the lake. It was the one thing that had never changed on any planet; the sun always rose in the East and set in the West. But what if she wasn't in the Milky Way galaxy anymore? She sighed for the umpteenth time that day.

Everything was peaceful and quiet as dusk arrived and darkness fell. Birds could no longer be heard singing among the trees as they also retired for the night. Sher's leaves took on a soft azure glow and she could see three similar glows from Whiteleaf trees in the distance. Pink and white illusory butterflies were already popping out all over the forest, and a red haze didn't cloud over her vision.

She exhaled a breath that she hadn't realised she was holding. Rex was right. He hadn't lied to her and her heat was truly over. She might've misjudged him but she still felt justified with her actions. It was all the more reason to stay away from him. But did she have such a reaction simply because she was too weak in comparison to him?

She would just take note to apologise if he was still hanging around but she would move in this new world on her own. And technically, she wasn't on her own, she had Sher. She also had Amir and her invisibility, she would be fine. All she had to do was avoid Rex and all other humans, at least until she figured out how to use mana and got strong enough.

She was about to ask Sher about the guy's whereabouts when a loud boom reached her ears. She looked towards the sky and saw three bright moons among sparse clouds and twinkling stars, one blue and two white. The dark navy blue backdrop was a sea of tranquility with no thunderclouds in sight. Suddenly, it felt like a rainstorm was approaching from far away, getting closer by the minute. What was it this time?

Images flooded her mind and she trembled. It felt like she was looking at a movie and she almost questioned Sher, but she knew better than to doubt it again. Several dark tornadoes swirled in the sky, the wind howling strongly and ripping through the coniferous forest like blades. Hundreds and thousands of dark debris fell from the sky, raining down on the forest like hail, smashing everything in its path.

Focusing on some of the falling chunks, they twitched. It was obvious at a glance what it all was. They looked like bits and pieces of insects, locusts to be exact. Dread chilled her to the bone. This wasn't what she was expecting when Rex said flying vermin would swarm her territory, their proportions were all wrong.

She watched as a locust head bit at the nearest tree, easily tearing through its stem in one bite and swallowing. The tree disappeared into its depths within a few bites, the chopped pieces falling out through the bottom; a gigantic detached locust head!

She had wanted to scream then but the sound died in her throat when she saw it; a huge blue dragon swam in the air amidst the tornadoes. It was long and winding like a snake, with blue obsidian scales to match. Several horns crowned it's head and the two short fore limbs that she could see sported sharp claws. But that wasn't what made her choke, it was the massive sinister dark cloud that stood beyond it, a huge swarm of giant locusts that persistently flew into the tornadoes and were chopped into pieces.

According to Sher, all that was happening a couple hundred miles West from them. She took a deep steadying breath. She could handle this. She flew into the hollow, landing beside her flower bed when a loud crack clearly rang out through the island. It ominously echoed inside the hollow walls, too close for comfort. She didn't have to ask before Sher showed her a bright crack forming at the Southern edge of the barrier, white light spreading like spider-webs across seemingly vacant air.

She panicked and dived into her bed, instantaneously teleporting to Arim without a second thought. Was her entire territory already overrun by giant locusts? Did the wildlife even stand a chance? Did Rex? Her eyes flew wide. Rex!