Heir of Dreams and Princess of Light

Chapter 12: The Demons

Though he knew it was a dream, Nyx couldn't help but reach out his hand, as if he could touch that golden hair in front of him. It danced as she did, away from him and just out of his reach. 

"Wait," He called after her. "Wait for me!" 

She spun, and he caught the barest glimpse of her face. She was grinning, dark green eyes sparkling with a joke he hadn't heard. But he could hear her laughter, ringing through the air just like it had when he'd been beside her. 

She wasn't waiting for him. And he couldn't even fault her for it, because hadn't he betrayed her first? 

She spun again, and the sunbeam waterfall of her hair cascaded across her shoulders as she ran. As if in slow motion, Nyx tried to follow, but it was useless. She was getting farther away, and he couldn't reach her. 

She vanished into the light, and Nyx's eyes finally shot open. 

He lay there for a moment, breathing into the dark. A dream. It was just a dream. On his right, he could hear Edam's heavy breathing from his own cot. He turned his head to look at him, wishing suddenly that he could cross the room and wake him up, even if just for a distraction. But they both had to be up at dawn, and he refused to rob Edam of much-needed sleep. 

There was nothing he could do for himself, though, so he didn't even bother trying to go back to sleep. He sat up, swiveling to rest his feet on the floor and reach for his boots. He started to lace them up, pulling the strings taut to leave white lines on his fingers. 

"And just where do you think you're going at this unholy hour?" Nyx froze at Edam's slightly slurred words, lifting his head to find Edam propped up on an elbow, an eyebrow raised his way. 

"Can't sleep," Nyx replied shortly, shoving on his other boot. "Just going out for a bit. I'll be back to help with whatever Darrow assigns us." 

"Will you, though? Because last I checked, you were supposed to be here yesterday for sparring, and you didn't show." 

Nyx blew out an annoyed breath. "You're still on that, huh?" 

To Nyx's disappointment, Edam sat up fully and shoved off the blanket he'd stolen from Nyx months ago. "Yeah, I'm 'still on that.' You're supposed to do better. You were supposed to be there, Nyx." 

"I had somewhere else to be." 

"Legion before family, Nyx." 

"It wasn't for--" Nyx stopped himself from snapping, taking a deep breath in to calm himself. "It wasn't for them. It was for me." 

"I see." Edam watched as Nyx tied his other boot, grabbed his shirt from the floor, and pulled it on. He stayed silent, just observing as Nyx shrugged on his jacket and made for the door. He was almost out when he felt Edam's hand snake around his wrist. 

"C'mere," Edam tugged on him not-so-gently, and Nyx allowed himself to be pulled to Edam's cot, where he sat him down beside him and interlocked their fingers, then wound his arm around Nyx's shoulders so their joined hands rested by his heart. "Listen. I know you've been through some shit, okay? And I get why you never want to talk about it. But--" He tightened his grip on Nyx's hand until Nyx turned his head and looked at him, his long hair catching in Edam's as Edam leaned in close. "That doesn't give you the right to turn me into someone unimportant. You don't get to make me into someone you just fuck on the sidelines sometimes, okay? That's not me, and if you think for one second I'll let you turn me into that, you've got another thing coming." 

"I'm not trying to--" 

"Maybe not trying, but you are doing it," Edam cut in mercilessly. Nyx tried very hard to suppress a smile. That was one of the things he liked about Edam. He never let Nyx have the last word, or a word anywhere in between if he was being honest.