It was getting dark quicker here.

She stood by the window, looking out into the darkening orange sky, past the horizon and she rubbed her forearm with both hands, hugging herself as she did. It was getting dark and it was getting cold and it was about this time of the day that people would be retiring to their homes to rest and sleep, preparing for the next day, but Lyra could not sleep. She could not bring herself to be calm either, and she could not sit in one place.

She turned away from the window and paced a little in the room. The only thought in her head was the thing that that man had told her about; the year of Osyron. What did he mean when he had told her to find her truth? She let out a breath and looked to the ceiling, walking back and forth in front of the extremely large window. The curtains swayed in the breeze, reaching out to her like they wanted to wrap her up and cuddle her in their soft silkiness.

She paused. To find her truth she would first need to know what the year of Osyron was all about and what it had to do with her. To find that out, she would need to get her hands on some books, books that were in the study, a study Xanth had said she was allowed to enter. But then he had also told her where the study was; down the hall to the left.

She swallowed, her curiosity was much greater than any consequence, she walked towards the door and reached her hand out to pull it. “Besides,” She thought as she slipped out of the room, “I’m pretty important so the consequence would not be so harsh.”

The hall was dimly lit with burning torches, spaced so far away from each other that along the wall in this rather long hallway, she had only counted three. As she passed the last torch, she picked up a small lamp and lit it with the fire from the torch, the rest of the hallway was in pitch-black darkness. She swallowed hard but knew that she could not turn back now, she pressed on, feeling her way by touching the wall on the left as she walked on, and sure enough, at the end of the hallway, there was a small black door. She looked around once before she pushed it in and disappeared into the room.

She turned.

The room was much darker than the hallways and the blackness here was thick, almost too thick to be natural. She shuffled her feet forward as she could only see so little even with the help of the lamp in her hands. There was a small table in the little space between the shelves and the door, she folded her lips and took in a breath. “Okay, let’s begin.”

She went to the first shelf behind the table, her fingers ran along the thick and dusty books, it seemed like they had not been moved for ages, and she also noticed that the books on this shelf were sorted by color, except for one which was misplaced. She reached for it above her head and pulled it out, the book was heavy but it seemed like it was just the book she was supposed to find. It was a book bound in hard blue covers and etched along the spine in gold letters was the word; “Khione.”

“Khione,” She repeated, it was something they had been calling her, maybe she might find something here. “Let’s start with you then.” She smiled and turned away from the shelf, back to the table but paused when she noticed another book that was misplaced, she moved closer till she could read the words etched on the spine. Osyron.

She ran her finger along the book’s spine, wrapped her fingers around so she could have a good grip, and then she pulled. She would read this one first.

“Lyra.”

She jumped in fright, letting out a small yelp as everything fell from her hands, including the lamp which went off immediately it hit the floor, plunging the room into darkness. She grabbed ahold of the shelf and turned so she had her back to it. It was clearly Ryder’s voice she had heard.

“You’re not supposed to be in here.” He continued. She swallowed, she could hear his footsteps approaching her but she could not see him. She could not see anything.

But he had no trouble seeing in the dark, he could see everything as clear as day, just as he could see her frightened face, her eyes darting left and right, he could hear her heart pounding loudly in her chest. He smirked and walked towards her.

“You wanted to read the Osyron book.”

She shook her head and swallowed hard, again and again, her breath was shaky and she felt like prey, a blind prey being stalked by a powerful predator. His footsteps sounded closer and she closed her eyes, they were useless in here anyway. She breathed to calm herself down but she could not be calm, so she just stood there, her back pressed to the shelf and her fingers digging into the wood.

Ryder came closer, close enough that he could smell her and she could smell him too, then he placed his hands on either side of her, leaning down because he was much taller than she was. He looked at her, he watched her tongue slide out of her mouth to lick her lips, he watched her throat bubble up and down each time she swallowed, his eyes roamed her exposed neck and shoulder, down to her cleavage and he felt a strange kind of wave wash over him. He traced a finger across her cheek and felt her body vibrate at his sudden touch, his gaze on her was soft, his touch was softer as his fingers continued down her face, his thumb sliding across her lower lip. She sucked in a breath and her eyes opened but she still could not see anything so she shut them back.

He wanted to kiss her, he didn’t know why he felt that way but he knew that he wanted to kiss her. He leaned down just as his hand went behind her neck, pushing her hair away, but he didn’t go for her lips, instead, he leaned lower and went for her neck, kissing the spot he had marked and nibbling on it. He groaned.

She gasped, felt the energy tear through her and her eyes shot open, glowing bright white. His other hand went around her waist, pulling her to him and squeezing as he continued his assault on her neck, a low growl emanated from his throat and she let out a moan, her fingers found his shirt and she pulled him to herself before her hands went to his head and she pulled him away from her neck and kissed him.

Ryder responded instantly. The kiss was deep and needy and passionate, her fingers dug into his hair, his neck, his shoulders, everywhere she could get a hold of and so did he. He held on to her waist and lifted her so she could wrap her legs around his torso, his hands went underneath her dress, digging into her thighs and her bum. He squeezed.

He broke from the kiss and went back to her neck, Lyra moaned, her eyes shut tightly, her eyebrows furrowed and her fingers fisted in his hair. She arched her back, pushing her chest to him, and gasped and let out a small cry when he bit painfully.

His fingers underneath her dress scraped against her very thin underwear, right across her bud and she moaned out, jumping a little at the sudden contact, but she soon settled and allowed him to continue, throwing her head back. His assault on her neck went lower until he was right above her left breast, he suckled on the mold of flesh before biting into it.

“Ryder…” She gasped and moaned louder.

His eyes had darkened and were now just two balls of black sitting in his sockets. He groaned, his control was gone and everything in his body was screaming at him to take her. He knew he wanted to, but at the same time, a part of him knew that he shouldn’t. he let out a growl and stopped then he set her down, taking a few steps away from her.

“Get out.” He ordered, his breathing was rasp.

Lyra, shocked at his sudden displeasure smirked, the glow in her eyes dimly illuminated his face and she could see him struggling to regain control, the blackness in his eyes faded and returned only to fade again. The veins in his head popped out, this was just what she wanted. She walked closer to him and reached her hand out to touch his face but he grabbed her wrist and growled at her, immediately, the glow in her eyes diminished and she struggled like she was someone gasping for air. Ryder let go of her wrist and watched her keenly, she stumbled backward until she hit the shelf.

She blinked severally, grabbing a hold of her head, the ringing in her head continued for a while, fading away into the distance. She put her other hand out and got a hold of the wooden shelves, then she looked up to the person she could sense standing beside her. “Where am I right now?”