Azriel relied on the light of the day to save him from the darkness. To keep him from the shadows and scars that haunted his nightmares.
Tahlia relied on the darkness to save her from the light. By keeping to the shadows, she can protect her future...
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The pain of today
Is the strength of tomorrow
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Tahlia woke up alone, the sun already high in the sky. She couldn't remember the last time the light had beaten her to rising, but she still couldn't find the will to move.
Not when the duvets and quilts and pillows felt like they'd been sewn by the mother herself, stolen from the clouds and lain beneath her.
The city rolled for miles out on the other side of the window. A family of birds were flying past, their wings flapping in perfect beat.
One day, she'd explore. She'd buy more craft supplies than could ever possibly fit in her arms, visit enough shows that she knew all of the words and dance until she wore out the sole of her shoes.
First, she'd have to heal. At that thought, she groaned, pulling back the sheets and unravelling the bandage fixed tightly against her skin to uncover the weeping wound on her leg.
At first, the pain had been excruciating enough that she'd thought she might die. It'd been almost paralysing and she couldn't really remember at what point she'd blacked out. Now, she could barely tell it'd happened, like a bad dream. A nightmare.
The scar told her enough, as did the memory of an explosion of shadows erupting from him like... well, like nothing Tahlia had ever seen.
The tear of her skin wept, no way near as much as it should've been. It looked better, impossibly better. The black, decaying skin had been seemingly replaced by a hue that matched the rest of her body.
"You have Madja to thank for that." Feyre said, slipping through the doorway, a tray of what smelled like toast and a fruity marmalade that reminded her of summer. "And you have Elain to thank for this."
"This is all too kind." Tahlia didn't have the heart to turn it away, and the growl resounding from her stomach seemed to agree. "Thank you. All of you."
Feyre smiled, settling herself on the end of the bed. In all honesty, Tahlia was thankful for the company. She missed the verbal sparring with Helion. "I would've come up sooner but Nesta threw the first batch out the window... which you didn't need to know." She cringed, quieting the further through the remark she got.
"It's fine." She'd had a hunch they wouldn't quite see eye to eye anyway. Tahlia took one bite, then another scoffing away the food like she'd been starving.
"Yeah, you have five days worth of eating to make up for."
Tahlia choked on her next mouthful, coughing and hitting her chest in hopes it'd dislodge the lump. "Five days?!"
"Before you panic, Helion's downstairs. He came as soon as he heard and has been giving Azriel and Tamlin a bollocking ever since."
Tahlia's chest constricted a bit at the thought. "Please tell me someone told him to rightfully shut the hell up."
