Chapter 479 The Long Lost Tale Part XV
Dinah and her escorts headed towards Dark Dragon Hills. It took them a few days' journey to get there, resting only at night. The small party was mainly silent during their journey, focusing only on their goal. On the final day of their journey, they finally arrived in the thick forest where Dinah turned to her companions and said, "I think I can find my way from here. There's no need for you to escort me any longer. Thank you for keeping me safe all this time but I should be alright to go on by myself."
Her companions looked at each other. They knew this was the last leg of their journey and that the Dark Dragon Hills were only a few hours away but they were still unsure if it was alright for them to leave her like this.
The leader of the group was about to protest but Dinah just smiled at him and spoke before he could. "I will be fine, really. I have been here before and know my way around this area. Besides, I know that you are probably eager to get back to your master, so this will give you a few hours' head start."
Dinah convinced them to go and used the fact that they were itching to get back to where the action was. As she expected, they agreed and they immediately left.
Dinah's smile faded the moment her companions disappeared from her sight. During their journey, her heart had completely turned black with hatred and utter jealousy. She had become so obsessed with Alexander, almost to the point of being unhinged. All her thoughts were about him and how to get him to love her back. She needed to find a way to remove Abigail from his heart so that she could place herself there and for that to happen, Abigail had to die. After that, Alex would finally become hers.
She continued her way towards the foot of Dark Dragon Hills, all the while plotting Abigail's demise. She knew she would have to tread carefully because she was aware of Abigail's powers.
When Dinah emerged from the thick forest, the small hut came into view. She could also see a small figure in the river holding a spear in her hand. 'Ah, that must be my beloved sister,' she thought hatefully. With a change in her demeanour and expression, she walked towards Abigail, who immediately turned her head at the sound of a human heartbeat coming her way.
Abigail had spent the first part of her day as normal, cooking breakfast, cleaning and then looking for food. She had been fishing for almost an hour and she was using her excellent hearing skills to track and locate the fish. She had been successful in her endeavor so far, having caught five of them so far. She was just about to spear another one when she heard the distinct sound of a human heartbeat.
She looked up and she could see a small, cloaked figure walking towards her. Her eyes narrowed because this heartbeat felt familiar. Those footsteps too. Abi stopped what she was doing and left the water, hastily drying herself as she quickly walked towards the cloaked figure. A wide smile spread across her face the closer she got the cloaked girl. Dinah! She was here!
Abigail ran the rest of the way towards her sister, calling out her name in excitement, and she gave Dinah a huge hug when she got there. She couldn't believe it! It had been years since she had seen her half-sister but they had been very close when they were little girls and she was so happy to see her again.
"Dinah! What are you doing here? How is everyone? How are mother and father?" Abigail excitedly chattered, somewhat taking Dinah aback for a few reasons.
Firstly, Dinah hadn't expected that Abigail would welcome her so wholehearted like this and secondly, she was shocked to hear that Abigail still didn't know that all of their family was gone. However, her shock didn't last long. This was good. She could use this information to her advantage.
"Abi! Look how much you've grown! I was sent here to see how you are doing. Everyone is doing very well," Dinah replied, feigning an excited expression.
Abigail smiled at her response and pulled Dinah in for another hug. She just couldn't help it. It had been years since she had seen or heard from any of her family and she so badly wanted to know how they were doing. Abigail quickly pulled Dinah into her house and sat her down by the table.
"You must be hungry from your long journey. Here, have some of this," Abigail said as she scooped up some food into a bowl and placed it in front of her sister.
Abigail chatted the whole time, asking so many questions that made Dinah's head spin. They were mostly questions about their family so Dinah basically made up all the answers to Abi's questions.
Thankfully, a small knock interrupted this reunion and a silver-haired witch entered.
Abigail jumped up and quickly dragged Zeres towards the small table and sat him next to Dinah. "Zeres! Meet my sister, Dinah. Dinah, this is Zeres, my friend," Abi introduced.
Dinah faced him and smiled before she held her hand out for him to shake. "Hi. I'm really happy to know that Abi has a friend around here. This place is so isolated I was afraid that she would be all by herself here," Dinah said, smiling at Abi too.
The trio spent the rest of the day together and after dinner, after Zeres went on his way, it was Dinah's turn to quiz Abigail. Dinah had noticed the way Zeres looked at Abi and she was sure that he was in love with her so she probed Abigail.
"Well, isn't Zeres such a gentleman? Handsome, too!" Dinah said, nudging Abigail with her shoulders the way good friends did when they teased each other. "I can tell he likes you," Dinah continued, trying to probe where Abigail's affections lay. Maybe, hopefully, Abigail actually liked this Zeres and that Alexander's feelings for Abigail were unrequited.
"I… Zeres is a very good friend. That's all," Abi said.
"Oh, really? Don't you like him more than that? He's so good looking with that silver hair and intense eyes. And he seems to care about you a lot," Dinah kept going, needing answers.
"He is very kind but I just… it's just that I…" Abigail trailed off, unsure how much she should say because she didn't want her family to worry and worse yet, take her away.
"It's alright. You can tell me. I'm good at keeping secrets," Dinah whispered, trying to coax those words out of Abigail.
Abigail blushed and sighed. She succumbed because it has been a long time since she had a girl to talk to about something like this. "I have someone else that I love," she replied shyly.
Dinah leaned in closer to Abigail and then asked the burning question, "Who? What's his name?"
Abigail stared at Dinah for a long while before she finally said his name. "Alexander."