The Crimson Snow (A Realm of Chaos and Void #1)

Chapter 26

The Ageless Fox

You once asked me if I could rewrite history if I would make it all different. My answer will always be the same. No, I would not change a thing, even if that led to my doom, the same fate that led me to you.

Retrieved from Serien W. Elaris’s journal.

Seraphine Ashcroft

One nightmare at a time.

After talking with Evren a few days ago, everything had fallen into a comfortable routine again. The only difference was that this time, Evren didn’t seem distant. Instead, he seemed eager to talk to her. He was his usual trickster and a flirt, and Seraphine had to admit she enjoyed their little chats. It felt as if she had found a safe place inside the eyes of her former enemy.

Seraphine also noticed how warm his eyes turned when he looked at her these days, a storm of soft and sweet snowflakes. The worst of all, his small gestures made her heart flutter—little touches and careful details, the sweetness in his tone and the caring in his voice. Seraphine knew everything in her world seemed like a twisted lie, but she was learning to love those lies. Or maybe the mouth from which they came.

She sighed, moving along the high walls full of books and loving their smell. The girl was also loving how much she had been feeling. There was something about losing her heart that made her realize how much she had missed it—the good, the bad, her humanity. Now, some things hadn’t changed. Seraphine was still sleeping in the same room as before their incident. Evren had mentioned he was rearranging a new resting place for her. She just needed to wait a little, according to him.

Halting, Seraphine laughed at that. Seemingly, she had all the time in the world now. The girl couldn’t help but wonder what she could do after this quest. Maybe I’ll travel around the realms and marvel at wonderful places, unknown seasons, and faces. She might see every corner of the world with all the time at the tips of her fingers.

Sometimes, that thought excited her, but then she would have to see her sister eventually pass away. She wondered if the reason behind the frozen heart deal name was because, in time, one might wear off humanity—if a timeless body would lead to an immutable heart, stoned and stored by time. Evren seemed fine enough. However, he wasn’t born human.

Wasn’t being an unfeeling creature, wandering alone in solitude, something I wanted when I asked for this?

Here she was, with enough time to live, but the longer she lived, the more she would miss her father and sister. Seraphine hoped the memories of her loved ones would remain in her so she wouldn’t become just a void vessel.

“One nightmare at a time,”

she muttered to herself, heading to the library.

Today, they were going to the forbidden section, and she was a little too eager. It seemed like she was attracted to everything that was forbidden these days. Evren thought it would be a good idea. Maybe there was something useful about lifting a curse or about her inner curse.

She had started to think of her condition as a curse after a few days, especially since using gloves on her hands was something she did daily.

Seraphine gazed up and welcomed the feeling of being marveled by the library’s crystals and colors. It was noon, and the sun was rising high, reflecting shadows and figures in kaleidoscope colors. She had never seen the library bathed in daylight, and while the moonlight cast quite a stunning glow in this place, the sun was warmer. For a moment, she closed her eyes and let her mind rest for a minute.

“There.”

Evren’s voice was loud.

She stayed still, not daring to open her eyes. Just a few seconds more. She just wanted to feel the warmth of not thinking at all. However, those around her had other plans.

Unmoving, she said, “Can’t I even have a moment for myself?”

Evren laughed, and she knew his dimples had appeared. She couldn’t help but smile a bit too.

“Ah, a brief glimpse of a smile!”

he exclaimed.

Seraphine opened her eyes to roll them at him, but she didn’t find the chance to. He was right in front of her, robbing her air, her privacy, her mind. He was always way too close. Yet, she started to pull away, afraid of hurting him.

“No,”

he said, touching her cheeks.

Whatever Seraphine wanted to say was lost. Evren looked at her in a way that could be described as watching a rose grow in the winter, like a drop of rain falling in a desert.

“Two things.”

“Two things,”

she uttered slowly, not knowing what else to say.

“I know you are scared of… whatever happened there, but we are under a blood pact. Even if you find yourself in a position where you try to harm me, you wouldn’t be able to.”

Evren had said that before. She had figured that much after a few conversations with him, but she still wasn’t sure how much that blood pact could protect him.

“And second, and most importantly, I need you to do the same thing you were doing before I interrupted you.”

“What? I was just standing still and—”

“Exactly. Just close your eyes and stay there. I’ll be back in a minute, but… stay there.”

With that, he moved his fingers, fluttering like butterfly wings against her eyes, and she closed them for him.

Well then.

Seraphine heard him leave, and while she should have moved and done exactly the opposite of what he had said, she did not. She closed her eyes and moved her head up, letting her mind wander to white snow and snowflakes instead.

Minutes passed, and she heard a click. Seraphine opened her eyes and saw Evren carrying a strange-looking box with a rounded crystal in the center.

“What is that?”

Curiosity filled her.

Evren gave her the box. It was old and heavy and looked like an oddly-shaped telescope.

“Not sure what this is called, but a hag created it for my father a long time ago. It captures moments on canvases,”

he said, moving toward the staircase.

“Can I keep it?”

She had been asking him that a lot lately and could not help herself.

Running to walk side by side with him, they moved toward the second floor and around some old and dusty parts of the library. At the end, she could see an intriguing door and a bored Raggart waiting for them.

“You did not answer my question,”

she pushed again, moving in front of Evren.

He laughed softly, almost as if he found the answer to the question too obvious. “You can keep everything.”

Seraphine smiled and held the little box in her hands. He started to move but then turned around, blocking the view of Raggart and the door. “Could you go to the tales section and bring one of those stories you like so much? We might stay a while in the forbidden section, so it’s better to have something nice to read whenever we need a break.”

Seraphine nodded, and as she made her way to the second floor, she passed by the infamous hallway with the peculiar paintings of Evren’s memories.

Clack!

The strange artifact Evren had given her fell to the floor, and Seraphine’s eyes felt heavier and lighter at the same time, a tear falling down her cheek. The hall of paintings was as damaged and torn as ever, except for a newly added painting in the center, bringing some new life to the area.

She could see the library in the canvas, full of books and starlight mirrors, and in the center of it, there was a long-haired girl, smiling, looking up with her eyes closed, peaceful, melodic.

Seraphine’s heart and eyes fluttered with countless snowflakes and butterflies.

That’s me.

Evren had used the artifact to save the memory of her on a canvas. Then, she felt a whisper from afar inside her mind, just as he used to do when he was the Grim Wanderer.

“Thought you may like my new favorite painting.”

Seraphine smiled, her heart full.

Evren Wraithwood

Seraphine returned with her hands full of books, the memory-taker artifact dangling precariously on top. The sight brought a smile to Evren’s face. He moved closer and took a couple of books from her, his fingers briefly grazing her gloved ones.

He could feel the energy bouncing between them and marveled at that. Since the first day he met her, it had always been like this. What was even more entrancing was she looked at him in a way he hadn’t seen in decades, the same way she had when she had waited for him at the waterfalls all those years ago. Her eyes were full of yearning. While Evren couldn’t fathom how she could barely gaze at him, he also understood that they were fated. In a twisted, peculiar way, they always found a way back to each other. However, this time, it felt like the final one.

One final chance.

Yet, a certain fear clung to him like a persistent shadow, reminding him to be careful. If his father found out about her or what they had done centuries ago, he would use that against him. Killing her would be an act of mercy in his father’s eyes.

Evren cleared his throat. “Raggart, grant us access to the forbidden section.”

Raggart moved between Evren and Seraphine, holding a large golden key shaped like a leaf with a crimson crystal in the center. “I must apologize in advance, Mr. and Lady Wraithwood,”

Raggart said as Seraphine rolled her eyes. “We have not entered this place in centuries, so there is probably a lot of dust. I will make sure to have some—”

“There is no need, Raggart. We want to keep this place forbidden,”

Evren said as Raggart placed the key in the oddly-shaped hole in the small door.

The door was tiny. They might need to crouch to enter. Evren created it when he stole his father’s tomes about the Underworld just to irritate him. However, he had barely entered once.

There was a click, and Raggart pulled the door open. Dots of golden dust filled the air.

“Golden dust?”

Seraphine muttered, almost ironically. “Nemera must have had very rich tastes to have dust that looks like gold sparkles.”

Raggart moved aside from the door. “As soon as you cross the threshold, you’ll go through a very narrow tunnel for a couple of meters. Here, be careful with your heads.”

Seraphine angled her head to the side, and Evren found it was one of her quirky habits, making every movement a delightful view. “You aren’t coming?”

“No, someone must keep an eye on the library, and I am waiting for some important correspondence from a… friend,”

Raggart said, his ears twitching slightly, implying that it was indeed the truth.

Then, Raggart moved from the door and dusted off the gold particles from his skin. “After the tunnel, there are a couple of pools created when the realms cracked. Just find the one that is crystal clear. Should be at the very end, and…”

Raggart gazed at Evren.

“And then I’ll lead the way,”

Evren said confidently.

Seraphine Ashcroft

Evren quickly crouched down and entered the tunnel, crawling mostly on his knees while still holding most of the books Seraphine had borrowed. Perhaps she shouldn’t have borrowed so many, as those books were as thick as a sentinel tree. Seraphine followed him, and while she was only carrying the little box, she found it challenging. The tunnel was narrow and pitch black, and she could barely see the back of Evren’s neck.

“Why is there a tunnel? This feels more like we’re sneaking in rather than just checking a library section,”

she posed, her knees hurting.

He looked back at her, his eyes light blue and gray, almost iridescent in contrast with the tunnel’s darkness. “I wanted to make it difficult to reach, which I deeply regret now.”

Seraphine was about to ask why, but she saved her breath. At this point, she felt the air was becoming thicker and denser, as if they were no longer in the library. Nothing in this realm is obvious or as it’s supposed to be, especially with Evren.

Her eyes sparkled as she noticed a blue light coming from the end of the tunnel. “Almost there, Crimson Eyes.”

Moving a few meters more, they reached what should be the edge of the tunnel, and Evren stood up first, offering her his hand. Seraphine hesitated but decided to trust that her gloves would be enough of a barrier to prevent her from hurting Evren. Even with the gloves, she could feel a brief electric push and warmth coming from his hand, feeding her, filling her. Slowly pulling her up, he managed to handle the books with the other hand.

As they both stood up, her eyes widened in pure wonder.

Right in the library, far from the tunnel, lay something akin to a cave. It was full of strangely shaped leaves, unique flowers, and ponds of different colors. Seraphine could stay days here and never count all of them. Water filtered out the walls.

Then, she realized this appeared like the remnants of a waterfall—broken or misplaced in time but still beautiful.

“When I built this place, I thought it would be fun to have a distraction—a setup that would make no one consider this was hiding the most forbidden and wanted books in the entire realm,”

Evren said.

Seraphine’s gaze moved all around, mesmerized by everything she saw. She wondered if she could get permission to dip into one of those ponds one day. It was a place out of a fairytale—it was a hidden spring haven, a glamour that served to protect something outstandingly powerful: knowledge.

“It is a very beautiful facade. It looks like… waterfalls. We had some, but those are frozen and…”

Evren moved his free hand and removed a small strand of her hair from her face, his knuckles grazing her delicately. “It used to be a waterfall before the veil’s creation. Instead of ponds, there was a gigantic crystalline waterfall that extended higher than the library and… It was a very magical place, ”

Evren said quietly, a tone of sadness in his voice. “Now, let’s find that crystal pond.”

Seraphine followed him, unable to resist touching some of the flowers. They moved past various ponds—some green, others dark blue, and even a rosy one. Near the edge of the cave was a crystal pond. The waters seemed to bubble and sparkle. To Seraphine, it was like watching stars swimming freely in the delicate waters.

Nothing is impossible in the Otherworld. Sometimes, she forgot about that, and her human feelings would still hinder such beautiful impossibilities.

Would touching the pond feel the same as touching the sky? Seraphine could not stop the thought. There was something indeed magical about this place.

She looked around and exhaled. “Now what? Do we get into the waters and pray for the books to appear?”

she joked, the words feeling unfamiliar on her tongue.

Joking again felt strange and wrong—and right. When Evren was around, the line between those seemed to disappear.

However, her amusement faltered as Evren stared intensely at her.

“What?”

she asked nervously, unsure what to expect.

“Nothing, just that seeing you smile felt like…”

His lashes now hid his eyes as if he feared meeting hers.

Curiosity filled her. “Like what? If you don’t like it, then I will do it more frequently. Anything that displeases you will surely make me happy.”

At that, Evren moved his gaze slowly from the ground to her face, feeling his eyes touch every single part, and a shiver went through her. The books in his grasp disappeared in the air as he moved slowly, circling her just like the predator he was. However, Seraphine was not afraid—not of him.

The only thing she feared was her mind whenever he was around.

Stopping behind her, Evren moved his hand around her waist. His mouth brushed against her ear. “You put me in such a tough position, Crimson Eyes. The issue here is that I like those lips of yours too much. But let’s pretend I don’t so you can continue smiling at me to disgust me while I secretly enjoy it.”

Air flew away from her lungs, and her veins filled with warmth and heat as strong as ice itself. Seraphine let her head drop, and from behind her, Evren moved his hand up until he was slowly caressing her upper stomach.

“Now, let’s get this out of here,” he said.

For a moment, her mind went wild about what he was referring to. Then, he took the artifact, the mere touch of his hand making it disappear.

He sighed, and she felt his chest expand. With a tone of mischief, he murmured, “And please, do not kill me after this, Crimson Eyes.”

Before Seraphine could process the meaning behind his words, he pushed her into the pond.