SPELLBOUND

Back in the inside of the barrier.

After being slapped and yelled at by Evie, Gavrael had remained silent. He just stared at her and then, without a word, he turned his back from her and faced Thundrann.

Evie calmed down as she looked at his broad back. She had seen the shock reflected in his eyes, but he did not seem resentful nor angry that she had slapped him. However, his silence bothered her. She had fully expected him to retort with the way his temper was.

Staring hard at his broad and strong back, Evie was about to reach out when he spoke.

"I know, Evie…" his voice was low and controlled. She could see him clenching his fists and relaxing them intermittently. "I am aware that you are more than capable now.. I know you're strong and powerful even without you telling me that." He paused, still not facing her. "I know you're… you are not the Evie I used to know." His voice softened as he spoke that last sentence, as though he was speaking to himself.

Feeling like he still had more to say, Evie waited. But for some reason, he seemed to change his mind and held back. She saw his shoulders lift as he drew in a deep breath before his clenched fists loosened up.

"How did you break my barrier?" He asked, changing the topic suddenly. He sounded like he had finally given in.

"I had Onyx break it from the outside." She replied albeit a little absentmindedly, still wondering what was it that he had held back from saying to her.

"I see…" There was a hint of approval and pride in his voice.

"But the tree of light… someone else helped me break it."

Gavrael's form suddenly stilled. But he did not ask as Evie had expected him to.

"You don't want to know who?" Evie prompted him as she reached out and held his hand that had tightened into a fist again. "It's your –"

"I know." He cut her off stiffly. "No one should be able to break that other than him."

Evie moved to his side, holding his free hand as she looked up at him. "He –"

"I don't want to talk about him in this situation, Evie." He cut her off and he finally looked into her eyes again. His gaze sharp and piercing as he searched into her eyes. "Fine," he breathed after a while. "We'll do this together, Evie."

A smile bloomed on Evie's face. Her eyes twinkled with gladness before they shone with a passionate and formidable fighting spirit that seemed to be unbreakable. Her bearing suddenly went through a shift and Gavrael could sense a queenly aura radiating off her.

Gavrael lifted her clean hand with his filthy one and kissed the back of her palm. His intense eyes peering through the strands of his hair as he looked down at her. Then he spoke against her hand. "But…" he started, "if all things fail, please promise me you'll listen to what I will say."

Evie's smile slowly faded, then her expression became utterly serious. "We will not fail, Gav. We will win." Her back was pencil straight, head lifted with shoulders back, and eyes condensed with a positive light. Her entire demeanour was enough to scream her belief without her speaking a single word.

It was Gav's turn to smile, which was something so unexpected to Evie. "We will. Definitely." There was a promise in his eyes. "Still, I need you to promise me that one thing, love."

"Didn't you hate promises?" She raised one brow questioningly.

"I'd like to believe in it one more time." There was an irony in his smile, but she detected hope in his gentle tone. And that made Evie helplessly nod at him.

"Alright. I promise."

"Thank you." Gav breathed out as his whole person relaxed. Evie realised that he really took this to heart.

They just stood there, looking at each other, drinking in the sight of the other as though they had not seen one another for a very long time. Somehow, Evie felt a little uneasy as she looked into those eyes of his. Those strange colour of his eyes which was a combination of reddish and bluish hues. It was apparent that he still could not remember anything about his life as Gavriel.

However, the fact that his eyes had that colour change, Evie knew that his vampire side had also emerged. He had drunk her blood, so she was certain about that at least. She was also positive that his vampiric side might be the main reason on why his darkness still could not consume him even after all that had happened in this war. This was enough for now. After the war, she would spare no effort in helping him to remember those missing memories no matter how long it will take.

"Are you ready?" Gav turned and asked her as the barrier surrounding Thundrann began to melt, indicating that the nasty enemy had finally recuperated enough and is now back to its full vigour. His eyes were tender as he looked at her, his large hand wrapped warmly around hers as he exerted a gentle pressure to impart comfort to her.

Evie's eyes sharpened, and then it glowed as she looked at Gav. "I'm ready." She nodded firmly and then both of their bodies began to glow as they started to call forth their powers. As the light of their magic peaked, it blazed out and due to their close distance to each other, both their magic auras combined in an interesting manner, as if the darkness and light was trying to merge. The two normally opposing powers were now creating something that had never been seen before.

And the moment Thundrann's barrier dissolved, Evie and Gav's combined dark and light magic came hurling at him like a meteor.

Keep the Golden Tickets coming! I will give 10 chapters mass release if we keep our top 1 rank in golden ranking until the end of this month. ^^