Free Terran Times 18 - Emerald Envisage by Viola Grace Page A

Her wails carried through the trees on the wind and echoed deep into the night.
    He faded in mere minutes, disappeared and left no trace just as the leaves did over a single season.
     
    Time passed slow and painful for Lysette. There was no joy for her when the beauty of Spring flowered over the forest.
    Stepping out onto the porch, she watched as the sun started its descent toward the horizon. She stared at the trees and a longing seized her, bringing agony to her soul. Not even her clean bill of health could console her shattered heart.
    “No good came of your sacrifice, beloved. Nothing is worth the loss of you.” Tears blurred her vision and she rubbed her arms as a sudden chill passed over her. Then movement at the wood line caught her attention. Stock-still, she peered between the trees at the worn path and gawked. “Can’t be…”
     
    * * * *
     
    His senses attuned to her presence, Arrden had waited for her all day. He proffered a broad smile and opened his arms. “Will you come to me, little wood nymph?”
    Exuberant, she sucked in an unsteady breath. “It is you!” Without hesitation, she sprinted off the porch toward the man she lost at the beginning of the previous autumn. She stumbled a time or two, but never faltered in her headlong plunge into his arms.
    He swept her up into his embrace and clutched her tight. The wrap of her legs around his waist earned his sigh. Her wild and woodsy scent filled him while honeysuckle and lilac encircled and embraced his senses. “I knew you would return for me.”
    Lysette leaned back and pushed the hair from his face. “So vivid and wonderfully. Never have I seen more beautiful green eyes. I thought I lost you when you died.”
    All too aware of the new forest lord behind him who now controlled his once green and vibrant world, Arrden hugged her tight. “You did for a season, but you needed to return and take me from the forest for me to exist again.”
    “Take you from the forest? I don’t understand.”
    “As an immortal, I was forbidden to leave the forest. The sacrifice of my life granted me the ability to cure you, but I had to release my body back to Gaia and be reborn as a mortal in the following spring.” He untangled her from him and set her on her feet. “The moment we’re at right now is the one that decides if I stay here or live elsewhere.”
    Bewildered, Lysette furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”
    “You must lead me from my world into yours.” Arrden held out his hand. If the lady of his heart didn’t accept him now, he faded with the last rays of the setting sun. “Will you take me from my former realm into yours, little wood nymph, to live at your side as a mortal man for the rest of our lives?”
    She stared at the palm held steady before her. “Forever,” she said and clasped his hand in hers. Then she backed into the meadow and led him from the shadow of the forest. The warm smile, which spread across his face, danced her heart on air. Turned and tucked against his side, she managed a few steps toward the cabin before the eerie rustle of the trees drew her backward glance toward the woods.
    “Come.” He tightened his arm around her waist and encouraged her forward as the new forest lord faded into the nearest tree. “They’re whispering farewell. Take me home, my love.”
    “Forever.”
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    THE NECKLACE
     
    Kira Chase
     
     
    Lara hummed softly to herself as she sorted through the miscellaneous baubles spread out on her bed.
    “What are you doing?” Ian asked as he surveyed the assortment of earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings.
    She grinned. “I decided it was high time I got rid of some of these things.” She picked up a gaudy looking red-stoned ring. “This can definitely go. I can’t believe I ever wore this thing.”
    Ian sat on the edge of the bed. “What are you going to do with all of this stuff?”
    She shrugged. “Probably take it down to the thrift shop and donate