Tal'rith

Chapter Five

It wasn't a dream.

Light streamed into their bedroom from slitted blinds, leaving cuts of yellow across their sky-blue duvet. Squinting their eyes against the morning sun's assault, Rylie rolled over and smashed their face into their well-loved pillows.

Their actual dream from that night slipped through the cracks of their mind like grains of sand.

A stained-glass sky swirling with colors; nebulae filled with stars inside a factory of gasses. An old land. War-torn, but rife with natural vegetation and creatures. Black rivers cutting through rock as easily as lava would.

And against the sky, blotting the swirling colors out, floating rock and buildings. That same grand castle, crafted from slate and volcanic rock.

This time, silky sheets did not meet their back. Nor were they ravaged for hours on it, balancing on the thin tight-rope of pleasure and pain.

Grass as crimson as blood brushed against their bare feet. A hand warmed the small of their back. Small. Thin. A soft laughter rang in their ears.

They saw. They finally saw. But they could not smell. Not taste. The wind that whistled through the midnight trees did not ruffle them, or leave its cool kiss on their skin.

The hand grounded them.

Rylie had no fear, despite not knowing who was behind them.

But they knew one thing; it was not Casrath.

Unable to move their head to see, unable to take a step forward in that grassy grove, they stood still, as if trapped in a painting.

Rylie groaned. They tried to hang onto the details of the dream, tried to scratch each one into their memory. But already, as their grogginess faded, so too did the dream.

Colors. Floating rock. Red grass. A hand. Safe.

Kicking the duvet off of them, Rylie sat up and rubbed their eyes.

At least it wasn't that wet-dream, they supposed. A small sigh broke their lips.

Something new. Something to forget.

It took Rylie a moment to realize that it wasn't their alarm that woke them. They stiffened.

"Shit," they said. Whirling around a little too fast, they snatched their phone from their end table.

7:33 AM stared back at them with a mocking grin.

"Shit!" Rylie said, this time louder than before. Yanking their phone off the charger, they scrambled out of bed. Hurrying to their closet, they pulled out a pair of slacks and a blouse to wear.

The blacks of their socks didn't match; one was a paler gray than the other, but Rylie did not care at that moment.

They slept for over half an hour. They must have turned their alarm off in their sleep.

Cursing themself for it, Rylie quickly took their morning medication for the day; their antidepressant, birth control, and their multi-vitamins. They washed the "breakfast" down with the glass of old water from the night before.

Rylie hurried into the living room. The only thoughts that swirled through them were ones of worry; did they have enough gas to get to work? They wouldn't be able to pack their lunch, they would need to order online... that's always too expensive. Or maybe they could go without lunch? They could afford to lose some extra pounds, after all....

And what about Beepers? They didn't have time to give him his early morning pets and playtime. He'll be pissed when they get back from work—

Freezing at the entrance of the kitchen, the sight of Casrath halted Rylie's torrent of worries.