Bound by the Mist (Mists of Eria)

  Bound by the Mist

  By

  Lisa Kumar

  Copyright 2012 Lisa Kumar

  Cover art by Hot Damn Designs

  Electronic Version

  This is a work of fiction, so any resemblance to persons, locales, or events is purely coincidental. The characters, locales, and events are products of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously.

  Discover other titles by Lisa Kumar at www.lisakumar.com

  .

  Dedication

  My thanks to Casea, a great critique partner, for her invaluable advice; my mom for rereading the story many times over to help catch errors; and my family for their understanding when I’m tied to my laptop.

  Chapter 1

  Cal Warner was lost in the mad house of her mind. Students’ voices buzzed in the sterile hallway of the Wisconsin college and pressed in on her. Glare from the overhead lights flooded her eyes, making her temples pound. Stopping, she gazed at the floor before she shook her head.

  She couldn’t go on this way. Unfortunately, if she told her tale, the only help she’d probably receive would be the psychiatric kind. A shudder raced up her spine, and goose bumps popped up on her skin.

  No, she’d been down that path before. Nobody had believed her then. Nobody would believe her now. All she wanted was the “average” life of a twenty-two-year-old college student. She snorted. Whatever that was. But when did she ever get her wish? Well, this was her last year of undergrad, and nothing could take that away.

  “Um, Cal, what are you shaking your head about? You look like you just saw Big Jimmy’s massive collection of chest hair or something.”

  Maggie’s words pierced Cal’s reverie and made her startle in surprise. The books in her arms fell with a loud thud that echoed in the hallway, drowning out the swarm of voices. Students turned and stared.

  “Damn it! How embarrassing. And I really don’t want to hear about your cousin’s chest hair.” She sucked in a breath and closed her eyes, trying to calm her pounding heart. Maggie wasn’t to blame. Her own lack of attention claimed that honor. An apologetic smile curved her lips before she stooped down to pick up her belongings.

  Maggie crouched to help. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  Cal forced out a laugh and took the book Maggie handed her. If she didn’t want Maggie to ask questions, she would need to focus on the world occurring outside her fantasies. “It’s okay. I should know better than to daydream and walk at the same time. That’s just asking for trouble.”

  “Hmm, okay.” Doubt flickered over Maggie’s face before a look of mischief replaced it. “Well, Calantha, are you ready to study?”

  Cal groaned as she stepped through the doorway of the study lounge. She hated her given name. Her friends and family simply called her Cal. “Oh, I don’t know, Margaret, am I?”

  “Don’t call me that here. People may overhear.” Maggie peered around in a faux attempt at panic.

  She snorted at her friend’s antics and shook her head. “I don’t know about you at times. You’re such a drama queen.”

  Maggie plopped down in the chair next to her. “You know you love it. Besides, it’s not like you’re normal. Your tendency to appear all daydream-ish, along with my avant-garde personality, grabs us strange looks wherever we go.”

  Cal froze at the truth of that statement, her smile pasted to her face. The irony was too much. “Thanks for reminding me. You have to admit we mesh well in our weirdness.”

  “Without a doubt.” If she noticed Cal’s strained tone, she didn’t say anything. “Do you think this has something to do with our boyfriend-less state?”

  Cal leaned forward and cupped her chin in her hand. She couldn’t remain pessimistic for long with Maggie around. “Possibly. We do seem to frighten all the sane guys away. Look what happened during our last few dates.”

  “Speak for yourself, my dates are so....” A chagrined expression spread over Maggie’s features while she stumbled for words. “Horrible. Yeah, you got me there. Do you think we emit vibes that attract all the weirdos? I mean, come on, the last guys either had enough piercings to rival the moles on my Aunt Edna’s neck or enough hair to make Jimmy’s chest whimper in jealousy. As if I would ever date anybody who has more holes in their body or longer hair than I do.”

  The dryness of Maggie’s voice caused her to laugh. She always found some comfort in their familiar banter. “The piercings in your ears, nose, tongue, and belly button are enough for you?”

  Maggie sniffed. “You know I took out the tongue one. The guys who hit on me seemed to get off on it, wanting to drop their pants without even a hello.” Her nose scrunched up. “Perfectly good waste of a tongue bar. Perverts.”

  “I think your threat of taking the bar out and jabbing their nuts with it did the trick.”

  Maggie smirked, and their inane chatter soon melded into a minted art form. They were quite good at this and delighted in being able to drive others to distraction. Admittedly, Maggie sought that result more often than she did. Still, the ability was quite handy to have in her arsenal of tricks when she tried to deflect the presence of unwanted individuals—whether in mind or body. Lately, it had definitely been in mind.

  Cal glanced at the clock and sighed. They’d parried back and forth for some time. “Can’t postpone it any longer, can we? Guess we better get busy if we want to get any studying done before our test.” She frowned at the book she’d yet to crack open. Though the tome wasn’t the cause of all her problems, the action relieved some frustration.

  “Yeah, but damn, how I hate History of Music and our professor. It’s so boring that I’m surprised I haven’t begged to be tagged for a casket yet.”

  Cal gave an evil grin. “Sometimes I’m almost determined to let you put me out of my misery. As your best friend, I could legitimately get away with skipping a few days if you kicked the bucket.”

  “Uh, thanks.” Maggie looked affronted, but her laughter gave her away. “Glad to know you could find a good mercenary perk to my death.”

  They began a half-hearted attempt at looking over the study guide, but Cal’s resolution of sticking in the here and now was challenged. Memories of her dreams, of black hair and gray eyes, easily swept away any focus she scrounged up. Bits and pieces flashed through her mind and chased one another, appearing lifelike in their sensuous reality. Even now, his touch ghosted over her and heated her most private places. Her cheeks flushed, and she shifted in her chair. Now was not the time for such thoughts.

  They had to be mere fantasy. Why didn’t she believe it, then? After all, they were just dreams. And dreams didn’t mean anything. She’d learned that the hard way.

  Cal glanced up at the clock, and relief trickled through her. Her calm vanished long ago, leaving behind a racing heart and an urge of wanting to flee that had nothing to do with the exam. A deep, steadying breath later, she shoved her materials into her backpack while Maggie followed suit. The smell of vending-machine coffee infiltrated her nose and almost made her gag. She swallowed against the nausea. And to think, she normally liked the aroma.

  Before Maggie could call her out on her strange behavior, she needed to get out of the lounge. Her friend had been giving her concerned glances for months, so only a matter of time would pass before the questions started again. Running out of the room would only draw more attention. She couldn’t afford that. Maybe the walk to her class would help settle her. Once there, the test might give a few blessed moments of focus.

  In a sedate march, she trailed behind Maggie. Her friend neared the exit of the lounge room when Cal saw it. Was that.... She paused and turned her head to track the auburn strands’ movements as they left h
er line of vision. Her breath hitched while her mind tried to justify the unusual occurrence. It shouldn’t have been strange. She often shed hair in the name of grooming. But strange it was. The strands of hair didn’t fall to the ground. They floated teasingly before her with a will all their own, shining like a beacon.

  Her eyes tracked the strands’ every undulation as they danced on the air before flying away to a small shimmering mist just off to the left. Cal’s stomach clenched. She’d seen this before. He and that mist had permanently etched themselves into her mind, whether she liked it or not. But they weren’t supposed to exist. She decided that long ago.

  Had anyone else noticed? She’d been standing still for a few seconds. When she looked wildly around her, her stomach dropped to her toes. Other than a few puzzled glances thrown her way, people still studied and talked, not pointing or panicking. No, apparently she was the only peculiar thing here.

  She watched the strands as they hovered near the mist before they passed through. Though tempted to see what the other side contained, she had more than a few suspicions. Maybe if she just took the few steps needed to reach the mist….

  Her first hesitant step stopped short when Maggie turned around. “Girl, what are you doing standing there? We have a test to flunk. Come on.”

  As Maggie pulled her away, disappointment engulfed her. She’d been so close. Now she wouldn’t know, though a sickening burn in her chest told her this was far from over.

  ***

  Relian stood still and scanned the gently rolling hills outside of Eriannon with a lingering unease. The tree-dotted area revealed no enemy presence. His vanguard of warriors, along with those already assigned to patrol this part of the border, fanned out around him.

  “Captain, we have found something of importance over here.”

  He swore silently, wanting a few more seconds to determine the cause of his disquiet. His skin tingled. Something was not right, but it was something he couldn’t attribute to the factors that required their presence here. No, the enemy brought about a different dissonance within him. This unrest was something else entirely.

  Wiping all emotion from his face, he turned and strolled toward the uniformed sentinel. There had been reports of enemy activity, and now they tracked for footprints and other signs. That had to be his first priority—his only priority.

  As he glanced at the warrior, he drew in a sharp breath, now seeing the reason for his growing wariness. Behind the man, an iridescent mist formed to the left of a copse of trees. If there had been any chance the sentinel’s discovery had caused Relian’s disquiet, he now considered those concerns null. He stepped nearer to the man. The sentinel seemed completely unaware of the mist-shrouded veil. Frowning, Relian gestured to it. “Is this what troubles you?”

  The sentinel pivoted around. After a few moments, he turned back, his brow furrowed. “I do not see anything, Captain.”

  Relian’s mind shuddered to a halt. How could the soldier not see it…sense it? Confusion swamped him, and he wanted nothing more than to be alone. The sentinel’s findings could wait.

  He motioned to the sentinel. “Go join your guard. We will do this section last.”

  “Yes, Captain.” The warrior bowed shallowly and walked away toward the trees.

  As he watched the soldier retreat, a sickening sensation settled deep in his stomach. The sentinel hadn’t even noticed the mist. How could that be? The veil always attracted attention.

  He tore his gaze away from the mist to glance about at his men. The other warriors attended to their duties without pause as if nothing untoward happened. His mind spun, but he forced himself to crouch down to examine the ground. Intruding glances were better avoided until he could figure out what this meant for him and his people.

  The veil tended to come and go as it pleased after it had removed his kind from the human world. When it deigned to appear, everyone in the area saw it. All adult elves viewed the mist at one time or another. But it never ceased to cause a ripple of excitement, because its schedule was by no means frequent or consistent. As such, his people remarked upon such an occurrence for many decades, for one might see it a handful of times over a few centuries and then go as many years without a peek of it. That was the way the veil operated.

  Until now. Now it chose to reveal itself to him alone.

  Relian frowned at the leaf in his hand. There must be a reason. Could his erotically disturbing dreams be related? Of late, an auburn-haired human had overtaken his nights. Images of how their bodies shuddered in passionate combustion, of how black hair meshed with that of the darkest auburn, flickered through his mind. These sensual scenes always left him gasping with need and wanting more when she disappeared from his arms.

  He closed his eyes, hoping to wipe those visions away. But the woman in them wouldn’t be subdued so easily.

  Relian never saw her clearly, or at least didn’t remember her features upon waking. Only brownish-red hair and green eyes filtered through his mind. But from the beginning, he couldn’t shake some unfathomable intuition she was human. That fact never seemed important, until he woke up. Then it was unconscionable. Elf and human did not mix.

  Despite the dread this caused, she filled every one of his minutes, so even his waking moments were not his alone. He hated this fact, and her at times. And now the veil had appeared.

  He glanced up at it. Shaking off his indecision, he stood and squared his shoulders. This opportunity for insight couldn’t be overlooked. Otherwise, he would go mad. Something he couldn’t define itched continually at his skin, at his mind, seeking entrance.

  But when he gazed into the swirling mass of fog and starlight, disappointment took hold. Nothing was visible. He turned to go but paused midstride. The veil stabilized as a rift opened up within it, and an image started to appear. He held his breath, afraid any puff of air would cause the wavering picture to disappear. Seated figures that conversed together or studied from books in a large white room dominated the sight before him.

  As Relian’s vision sharpened and the clarity of the scene increased, he narrowed his eyes. Two human women walked toward the door. The last one’s reddish-brown hair somehow seemed familiar. His heart and stomach lurched together painfully, making his head swim when she turned her head toward the veil for a brief second before her friend pulled her away.

  When the door closed behind the women, something moved on the breeze within the mist. He had to draw on all his long years of elvin inscrutability not to make a scene. What exactly he would have done, he couldn’t say. But as the few intertwined strands of auburn hair came to rest upon his hand, the remembrance of another such occasion sprang up. A chill of horror danced down his spine.

  Memory and dream merged. Before him rose up the dreamscape of the woman’s red hair spread across his pillow and the memory of a young girl’s hair. A decade ago, the veil took a plait of auburn hair, allowing it to float through the rift and wrap around his hand. Even though the girl had been but an adolescent, he now arrived at a logical conclusion, one his mind rebelled at. But his assumption made sense. It was so simple, so elegant, so wrong.

  Chapter 2

  Later that day, Cal’s keychain jangled against the doorknob while she fought to liberate her key from the lock. After she bolted the door behind her, she dropped the keys into a small bowl on the table and trudged to her bedroom. She ignored the dark woodwork and avocado walls of the living room. The very sight nauseated her on the best of days.

  Tossing her book bag down on her bed, she let out a weary moan and stretched her muscles. Being stuffed into a chair all day was hell on her body.

  Now she could relax. She glanced around. Her apartment might not be much, but at least she didn’t live on campus. Maggie wouldn’t be back until sometime after seven, so the place was hers for a few hours. At a time like this, she could overlook the tiny, outdated kitchen and the even drabber green bath.

  A wry smile curved her lips. Apparently the owners had been obsessed with green an
d even now didn’t want the puke-colored shades changed. She shrugged. The visual assault to her retinas was worth the privacy. Fortunately, the color scheme for the walls hadn’t carried over into her cream-colored bedroom.

  A yawn escaped her. She kicked off her shoes and collapsed onto the lumpy mattress in a seated position. The impact knocked her book bag off the edge of the bed, and she winced when it hit the floor with a thud. Oh well, she’d pick it up later.

  Hours of coursework awaited her, but sweet oblivion was what she desired. In the corner of the room, her glossy acoustic guitar glowered at her. In the past, practicing the instrument had soothed her, but she couldn’t muster the drive anymore. She hardly felt like herself, awake or in sleep. Either way, she seemed to be lost in dreams.

  Cal grimaced. Surely she was only restless and tired, her sleep not being what it should. Too bad the excuse rang hollow.

  Strange dreams and visions, ones she couldn’t quite remember when she awoke, had lately overtaken her nights. Only snippets remained, but the common theme always featured a man. No, that wasn’t right. She labeled the male an elf for some reason.

  Maybe because of the lilting language he spoke, and oh yes, the pointed ears. Flowing black hair and stormy gray eyes seemed permanently branded into her psyche. That was all she could recollect of him when dreams faded.

  Pressing a hand to her still aching forehead, she bent over to retrieve her bag and froze. The floor underneath the bag, underneath her feet, rippled and swelled into a mass of waves.

  She jerked her legs up on the bed, her heart plummeting. As she whimpered, her gaze stayed fixated on the floor.

  A glittering mist formed on the ground, overtaking the strange ripples and leaving her blind while it crept over the bed. She yelped and scrambled for the covers. Her fingers, shaking so badly they hardly functioned, pulled frantically at the comforter and sheets. Desperation lent strength to her hands, and she managed to fling the covers over her head. Not even for escape would she get off the bed.