Chapter 108: Chapter 108

Prince Dakar got up, then jerked his jacket by the lapels to get it aligned with his body. He took a deep breath, relief flooding in that Avril was not dead. And she was right at the other side about to come over. He heard a feminine gasp like the one had made and made a quick turn to see the person who had come out. But he was disappointed to see the slim, black friend of Avril. Chidi. She wasn't crouched down like he was, but she was standing straight and breathless.

“Are you all right?” he asked as she stood rooted to the spot, oblivious to him standing there. After he spoke, she raised her eyes abruptly and saw him. Then she looked back at the innocent look archway.

“Congrats. You got out. Come over, let's wait for the others,” he said again and walked a few feet from where he was standing. Chidi followed silently and leaned against a tree with her eyes closed. Dakar was tempted to ask her what she saw, but he didn't want to intrude. Chidi, however, surprised him.

“I saw Avril fall overboard the ship again, I saw Nana bleed to death, I saw Xiao Wéi shut in a gunfight, and I saw myself navigating the darkness alone. With no one to hold my hand. That is my greatest fear. Losing my friends.”

Prince Dakar wasn't sure how to react or reply to her. She was still standing against the tree, her eyes closed. After a little while, Dakar cracked a smile.

“You won't lose them. They won't lose you.”

She opened her eyes and gave a small nod before another gasp came up from the archway. Xiao Wéi was bent over, her hands on her knees as she was panting so hard like she had been in a race up a hill. Chidi ran to her immediately.

“Are you all right?” she panicked.

“My father almost caught me. That big-bellied drunkard!” she breathed out and burst into laughter. Chidi smiled.

“Don't tell me you were running again? That's what got you into this in the first place.”

“At least this time, I didn't run away with foreigners.”

The two girls burst into laughter and walked away from there. The weird guy burst out next, his face wild with fear. When he saw he was out, he exhaled and composed himself. Prince Dakar stared at him; he glanced at the prince and looked away immediately. Verona exited next. She practically strolled in like she was entering her bedroom. No sign of fear on her face, not a strain or sigh. Definitely not a gasp.

“What was your fear?” Xiao Wéi inquired. Verona scoffed.

“Fear? I don't know what that is,” she answered.

“There goes our luckiest person alive,” Chidi whispered.

They all waited for the next person to arrive but no one did. Neither Nana nor Avril had shown up. This created panic, especially for Prince Dakar who was already getting red in the face.

“Why isn't anyone out yet? It doesn't take more than a minute to come out the archway,” he stated.

“What happens if one doesn't overcome their fear?” Xiao Wéi asked.

“The same circle happens over and over again until the person eventually does. If the person doesn't, it leads to insanity and the person is lost forever in their own fear,” Verona answered.

“Nah, they're both stronger than that,” Xiao Wéi waved off with a chuckle. Even Chidi smiled. Prince Dakar relaxed a little seeing the girls had faith in their friends. The only thing that bothered him now was that he didn't know what Avril's greatest fear was after their separation from the island.

Five minutes later, and Avril strolled out the same way Verona did, except she looked heavy in the face. Immediately she got on normal ground, her eyes frantically searched for Dakar's, and when she found them, she gave a small smile. Prince Dakar exhaled through his mouth and smiled at her. Everyone expected Avril to go straight to him and maybe hug him. But she turned around instead, and stood facing the archway as if expecting something more.

“Fiorella,” Verona called and Avril brought up a hand.

“Gimme a few minutes here,” she said without looking back. Then she brought down her hands. Five minutes passed and no sign of Nana. Ten minutes, still no Nana. Camper strolled in and almost hit Avril who had to scoot back immediately.

“Where is she?” he hastily asked. Avril shook her head.

“She's not out yet,” Avril answered. Camper visibly panicked and almost turned to go back inside the archway.

“Camper,” Prince Dakar's voice cautioned. Camper tightened his fingers into a fist and stomped off from the entrance. He couldn't go back immediately. Or he wouldn't come out in this region. He could even end up at the other end of the earth.

“She'll be out. She promised me,” Avril said confidently and gave Camper a smile. Camper didn't return the smile, but he believed Nana would come out. Soon.

However, they waited close to thirty minutes and still no sign of her. A cold chill was beginning to settle in, and they had to continue their journey.

“It seems we're going—” Prince Dakar began but Camper glared at him. The very first time Camper was seen to look at Dakar that way. Avril was shocked. It looked like Camper was ready to tear Dakar limb by limb if he dared suggest that they should leave without Nana.

Prince Dakar furrowed his brows at his friend.

“Don't slice me in half with your twin swords, Camper. I was only trying to say we were going to camp here for the night and wait for her,” Dakar quickly vindicated himself. Camper's eyes relaxed, and he seemed to breathe.

Prince Dakar walked up to Camper and patted his shoulder.

“I would never suggest something that awful. If it was my girl in there, I'd rather live here than go without her,” he whispered to him and patted his shoulder again. Camper gave him an appreciative look then resumed gazing at the archway like everyone else had been doing.

All of a sudden, the archway began to ripple like it was made of viscous liquid and not hard solid.

“What's happening?” Avril cried out in alarm. She was still standing closest to the archway, waiting for her best friend.

“Remdangit, it's leaving!” Verona shouted and bolted up from where she sat on a fallen tree.

“No freaking way!” Camper yelled. Extreme panic took over everyone's mind. No one knew what to do. The archway was beginning to ripple even more and it was starting to fade little by little. The implication was that Nana could be trapped for life, or she would eventually come out but find herself in a place not fit for a human. What if the Porta Metus showed up underwater next time?

“Nana!” Avril screamed with tears in her eyes. Through her blurry vision, she thought she saw a shade of black getting darker while the grey of the archway was becoming lighter. Before she could blink her eyes to see clearly, a very heavy weight knocked her down and pinned her to the ground. She screamed in fright and hastily blinked away the tears. Had the Porta Metus collapsed on her? But why was it soft and...warm?

“I thought you said open arms would be what I'd meet?” she heard a voice say just inches from her face. Her eyes widened. She looked to see a person right on top of her, squeezing air out of her body. The person lifted her face and kissed Avril on the cheek.

“This was a smooth landing though, thank you,” she said.

“Nana!” Avril finally found her voice.

Her friend was out unscathed and she made it before the Porta Metus fully dissolved into thin air.

“Hi, babe! Nice to see you again,” Nana grinned and slapped Avril's cheeks jokingly. It still hurt though. Chidi and Xiao Wéi screamed Nana's name as they ran to embrace her. She was trying to get off Avril then, but the girls came down on her excitedly and all of them fell back on Avril.

“Ugh! Get off!” Avril cried from beneath the weight. They scampered off and began to laugh.

“Hey, you almost got us scared,” Xiao Wéi let out.

“Almost? We all were on the verge of losing our minds!” Chidi countered.

“Were you all right in there?” Avril asked as they struggled to their feet, taking off bits of dirt, leaves, and sticks from their bodies. Nana shrugged.

“I made it,” she whispered and raised her eyes to find someone. Camper was staring right back at her. She raised an eyebrow at him and he began to walk towards her.

“You made it,” he grinned at her. She smiled back and Camper locked her in a passionate hug. The three girls scooted back with weird eyes.

“Okkaaay, are we missing something?” Xiao Wéi asked.

“What changed?” Chidi inquired.

“Do we officially have another couple?” Avril questioned. None of the two replied but stayed in the hug.

“You can hug her the rest of the way, Camper. Or better still when we get there. We've already spent so much time. We have to get going,” Prince Dakar spoke up. Camper then unlocked from the hug but held onto Nana's hand.

“Wait! Our horses!” Xiao Wéi screamed.

“No more horse ride from here onwards,” Prince Dakar replied to her. Everyone held onto their backpacks and readied to move.

“Why? Why didn't we even cross with them?” Avril questioned as she walked over to Prince Dakar for the first time since she crossed the Porta Metus. Prince Dakar was so relieved to see her close to him again that he too almost locked her in an everlasting hug. He settled for her hand instead and held it firm and tight.

“The owners of the horses will get them the moment they're abandoned. Besides, animals cannot cross the Porta Metus. It has the same effect on them and they might not know they're supposed to defeat their fear before being left out,” he answered her.

No one else spoke as they went through the thick forest of autumn-like trees and plants. They kept walking until night came and they set camp. Prince Dakar and Camper stayed guard and mostly fought off wild creatures throughout the night, while the others sat protected in the circle or caught a bit of sleep. When morning came, the party took to their legs again and began to move. The more they walked, the more the air turned cold. Vile creatures would burst out and attack them just for the fun of it, but Prince Dakar always seemed to know what direction they were going to attack from, and he always blocked and nullified it.

A few hours into the walk, the ground had turned snowy and the air misty. An hour after they entered the snow region, everyone's teeth began to chatter including the wolves. The cold was that terrible. They had worn the warmest clothing they brought, and covered themselves with the fur blankets but it wasn't helping. Only Prince Dakar seemed to be doing just fine.

Before someone could freeze literally, the head of a magnificent castle-like tower came into view. It was a product of stonework, intricately crafted and beautiful. When they reached the gates, they opened automatically to allow them in. It was after they successfully entered the castle itself that Avril got back her initial fear. This time, it was so strong that she had to hold onto Dakar as they moved through an empty hallway so she wouldn't fall. Finally, they burst out in a large throne room with gold gracing every surface. A magnificent woman sat on the throne with a very sheepish smile. She was beautiful and middle-aged, and her beauty radiated like sunlight across the hall. The weirdest thing was she looked like a sister to Ñiraka. The resemblance was uncanny even though she seemed younger and more cheerful.

“Welcome, welcome to my castle. I have waited long for this day to finally arrive,” she announced with a surprisingly thick voice. Avril's eyes locked with hers for one second and the chill that accompanied her eyes was unsettling. Something definitely didn't feel okay about the Eternal Witch of the North, Ñiraka's mother. But how could Avril even voice it out?