Bound To You

Chapter 11

Caelia

At first, the only thing she knew was darkness. Coldness. Emptiness.

Those things were unfamiliar to nymphs. Not just unfamiliar, but dangerous. Nymphs weren't creatures meant for darkness. They thrived on the lifeblood of the gods themselves, the sun and moon.

Caelia wasn't aware of where she was. She wasn't aware of much of anything. Except for the hollowness inside her. For as long as she could remember, her power had taken a form of a fire, deep inside of her.

Her fire used to be strong. A blaze constantly fed.

Then it changed, to mere embers. Occasionally they would be stoked, but not enough. Never enough for true fire. The embers clung to their life for as long as they could. Struggling and straining to survive.

But now, Caelia searched desperately for her embers, for any still lit, still struggling...and found nothing but cold ashes.

Something deep inside her wished to scream and sob at this realization...but there was no energy to do so. 

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It might've been minutes...It could've been centuries...until there was warmth.

A curious feeling, spreading over her like a blanket, desperately trying to seep into her bones...but this wasn't light replenishing her...no, her embers were still extinguished.

So then what was this?

Her mind was so tired. Whereas before the darkness was the one thing she feared, that all nymphs feared...now it seemed welcoming. An embrace she wanted to fall into and give herself to.

But then there was a voice.

Come back to me.

This voice was warmth, drawing her away from the darkness.

This voice was safe. 

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Caelia sucked in a breath that she felt deep in her chest and winced, letting out a soft whimper. Every part of her ached and the coldness enveloped her down to her bones, at war with the parts of her skin that were on fire.

Movement came to her attention, a touch of skin against hers. Skin so delightful and warm compared to hers. She wanted to sink into that warmth and wrap it around herself.

''That's it, open those eyes for me,'' A deep, familiar voice murmured.

Her brows furrowed. ''A—Areven?'' She rasped and finally managed to pry her eyes open. She blinked a few times until her blurry vision cleared and adjusted to the darkness.

She was in the mountain of a man's lap, with his entire body wrapped around her. Every place his skin touched hers was heaven, a cherished spot of warmth that drove away the coldness.

''Easy,'' He said when she tried to sit up from his arms. ''You've been asleep for a while, almost didn't think you'd wake up.'' He placed a warm hand on her cool forehead and she almost moaned at the warmth before he moved onto laying the back of his palm on the side of her face.

''You're still pretty cold. Keep...'' His voice faded back into a comforting background noise as her eyes started to flutter shut again. Areven was safe. She could go back to sleep now that she knew he was watching over her.

''...Caelia! Hey, none of that now, Cae,'' His firm voice jolted her out of the sleep she'd almost achieved.

She groaned, ''I'm so tired.''