Born in the Flame

Chapter 29

    "Elwin?" The familiar voice called out. I was dreaming, or something similar. Flowers were all around me, dancing in the breeze, but I couldn't feel them.

    "I'm here." I called back. Just like last time, a figure began to form a few feet away. This time, it seemed to be picking up where I had last left it.

    "We've been interacting with each other for a while now." He said. His dawn-elven features were hidden, but I could tell he looked at me.

    "You're Reeyar, right?" I asked.

    "Yes." He said, "How did you know?"

    "We have the same gift. Or we did." I said, wincing a bit at the memory of his death.

    "Ah... No wonder you woke me up." He said, his gold hair blew in the wind as his features began to clear up; my hair, on the other hand, fell flat around me.

    "I saw your last memory from when you were alive." I told him.

    "Ah... that." He sighed, "What of it?"

    "I think that is when we started running into each other in my dreams." I said. I tried to stay away from actually saying out loud that this was a dream, in case it threw me back to consciousness.

    "She was right. It wasn't worth it." He sighed, "I never got to verify if she was right about the dwarves, but she was right about the battle being lost."

    "She was right about that too. The dawn elves did enslave the dwarves, and then again about a hundred years before I was born."

    "My mother lied to me." He whispered to himself, "I died... for nothing."

    Reeyar's form had become clear. Before me, the god was bloodied, and his eyes were completely black. A hole gaped open in his chest. I wonder if I looked similar after I died. Streaks of blood matted the golden waves of his hair as they continued to blow in the wind and sound of glass chimes. Though there was nothing but black where the color of green should be, I could see he had tears welling up in his eyes.

    Before I could say anything else, I felt myself begin to fade. I desperately tried to tie myself to the dream, but could not. Reeyar seemed to ignore the fact that I was leaving. Before I knew it, I was thrust back into my waking life.

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    I awoke in the bed, not gasping for air, but just simply blinking. This was the most peaceful I had woken up in months. Rather than the screaming and thrashing I had done prior, I was just blinking. Looking around, I didn't see the familiar locks of copper hair or the rise and fall of Uzlos' sleeping chest.

    It was disappointing. Maybe he had decided I was okay enough to sleep on my own. Maybe he had spared my feelings when he told me that he wanted to sleep in the same bed. Maybe I was stuck in my thoughts and was overthinking things. I knew damn well I tended to do that. Natural paranoia often snaked through me when something was amiss. Tonight, his not being in the same bed, triggered it.

    The sun had risen as the weak light shone through the curtains and into the room. Uzlos had not come back at all. Well, I thought that until I looked into my old room and saw him curled up on the single bed inside. When I stood in the door frame of the open room, I knew he heard me. If I had hurt him, he hurt me more. His eyes opened to meet mine. Our eyes locked on each other, yet neither of us said a word before I turned down the stairs.

    We'd talk about it, but not now. I had to get myself ready to go on a ship. I didn't know how long we'd be gone for, but I needed a bag that would hold more than just a single change of clothes. I didn't want to go back to switching between dirty and dirtier clothing items. As I went down the stairs, I hurried down them, ignoring the shuffling linen coming from Uzlos' room. If he stopped me at any point before I left this house, I would snap. Nothing I said when I snapped was kind or light-hearted. I couldn't blame him for trying to follow, I knew which look had rested on my face when I saw him in that bed. It was one I had a mere glimpse of in a mirror once before while arguing with my brother.