Night had fallen.

'Am I falling with it, too?' Tiyasha thought, looking at the fire. Shivam and Josh were sleeping, side by side, near the small fire. Tiyasha added some twigs to it, then leaned on a tree.

She sighed. Both Shivam's and Josh's faces looked beautiful in the fire. Specially Shivam's.

'There. I am doing it again,' Tiyasha thought, reproachful of herself.

She had been travelling with Shivam, Josh, and Took the dragon for two weeks. Still, there seemed to be no sign of the fabled Forest of Falling leaves. Of course, they were walking through a forest, and the pine trees that had surrounded them initially had given way to all sorts of trees after sometime. But Took had said he would tell them once they reached the vicinity of the Forest of Falling Leaves, and he had not said anything about how far they would still have to go.

Tiyasha looked around for Took. He was nowhere to be seen. Maybe the dragon had decided to go hunting for a midnight snack. He frequently did that.

The thought of food made Tiyasha's stomach rumble with hunger. When was the last time she had had a decent meal?

Maybe, when they go to the nearby village tomorrow, its people would give them something to eat, and a proper place to sleep.

Took had spotted this little village from his vantage point up in the air earlier in the evening. But Shivam had said they shouldn't go to a new place in the night...he had said they could go to this village tomorrow and try to seek help. Took would have to lurk behind in the forest, of course, until Josh called him again. Took had said he had no problems with that, he would be able to hear Josh from anywhere.

Took. Josh. Shivam. Tiyasha's new friends. She loved them all.

Blood rushed to Tiyasha's face as the word 'love' came to her mind.

'I mean, I love them as my friends. Shivam also is just a friend,' Tiyasha thought to herself, but deep in heart she knew it was just useless denial.

Conflicts, conflicts, how difficult are the conflicts within us!

Tiyasha sighed, and looked at the night sky. It appeared to have a strange reddish hue. Red, the colour of blood. Blood, that can be shed.

Tears came easily as Tiyasha saw again the death of her sisters, the blood of her relatives, and heard the screams of the innocent ringing through their village, that people unjustly called the Witches' Haunt. It wasn't a Haunted place or anything. It was their home.

Or it had been. Now it was burnt. Dead and gone.

And she had run, had run for her life, and this young man, handsome and amusing, had found her. Okay, she had been vulnerable, and Shivam had given her the support she needed. Maybe that's why she had grown attached to him...otherwise what was she doing here? Why did she even agree to help him find his girlfriend?

'Because I had nowhere else to go...' Tiyasha tried to defend herself against herself. But again it seemed to be a self-deceiving lie...

Then what was the truth? Was she falling in love with Shivam?!

'He has a girlfriend. He loves her. He'll never want you. And don't forget witches never marry outside their community...' These thoughts rushed through Tiyasha's mind. She was frightened by their clarity, and she gasped for air. The crackling of the fire sounded like a demon's chuckle.

"Crying again?" A soft voice spoke from Tiyasha's back. She jumped, and turned to see it was only Shivam. Her heartbeats got faster. She had been so entombed in her thoughts, she had not seen him getting up. And now he was standing right behind her in the middle of the night like a clueless monkey.

'For heavens sake! He loves Aparajita! And he's probably younger than you! So stop thinking like a teenager!' Tiyasha admonished herself.

"Thinking about your family again?" Shivam asked.

"Yes," Tiyasha said, wiping her eyes. Enough was enough, she was a mature person, she wouldn't let a momentary vulnerability ruin her life.

"You can go to sleep now," Shivam said.

"But it's not time yet! My watch is not yet..."

"Do what I say," Shivam said, and took her place under the tree, concluding the matter.

So Tiyasha went to the fire and laid down on the grass, relieved, confused, pained, and scared at the same time. Scared, pained, and confused, for she was falling in love with someone.

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