Sacred Flame

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Scarlet

I awoke to find darkness surrounding me. The area that I found myself in smelled of old incense, and a dark husky scent. One that seemed to calm me further. I looked around, letting my eyes a just to the dark space. I found that I was in a basement of sorts, lying in an old bed, to the far back of the room. In the room, there were six beds, including the one I was currently laying in.

Laying on the bed beside me was a man, who seemed to be sound asleep. A sleep so deep that the man seemed to not be breathing. Testing my strength, I sat up; I guess that I was more worn out that I had thought... Sitting up completely, I felt a rush of dizziness, making me grip my head, waiting for the spell to pass.

Looking over to the bed next to me, I felt a strange urge to go the man that was laying there. A man... My thoughts traveled back to right before I passed out. Nathaniel! I almost shot up out of the bed, but was stopped by a sudden presence in the back of my mind, a soothing presence, with power and command. I heard a noise come from the man beside me. The presence faded as my thoughts took on more trivial matters.

The man beside me... as I looked closer, I realized that it didn't just appear that he wasn't breathing, he truly wasn't. There was no timed fall of his chest, no sounds as he took in air. I felt an inkling of panic, which was quickly dispelled by the presence I had felt earlier. This presence was telling me to go to the man beside me, to stay with him... I shook my head.

Getting up slowly, I made sure that I didn't strain myself too much, which is probably what caused me to pass out in the first place. I stood up and took the few steps over to the bed beside me. As I got to the bed side, I realized that the man there was, in fact, Nathaniel. He lay there on his back, seemingly oblivious to any outer worldly happenings.

The presence entered my mind again, urging me to lie next to him, to comfort him. I pushed the presence aside, thinking it would be absurd to do that with a man I had just met, no matter how drawn I was to him. However, I did sit next to him; he was not wearing his cloak at this point in time, so I finally had a full view of his face. Even in the minimal lighting I could make out distinct features.

Shoulder length black hair, darker than oil, pale skin, as if he had never seem the sun in his life, long eye lashes that just barely touched his cheeks when closed, pale pink lips, just plump enough to be considered kissable, but not so much that they looked feminine. I leaned in closer wanting a better look at his face, the man was handsome in his own right, and there was no denying that. I noticed that his bangs were hanging in his face, seemingly to cover his eyes further, as if the hood he wore was not enough.

Not truly thinking the action threw, I lifted my hand to his face, and brushed his hair aside, revealing more of it to my vision. I lightly brushed my fingers down his face, feeling his soft, yet weathered skin. It seemed that he had seen many moons, rain or snow, hot or cold, without proper protection. Though soft to the touch, there was a slight roughness to his skin as well, giving me the idea that he was often traveling. Whether those travels left him alone or not was not knowledge that I held.

Still not thinking my actions through properly, I moved my hand to his hair, the silky length seeming to glisten even without light. It was softer than I had expected... It was shorter than men usually wore it, whether they were of wealthy heritage or not. It was common for men to wear their hair long enough to put in a pony tale, while Nathaniel's hair only reached his shoulders. The bangs seemed to reach to just above his eyes - I once again brushed them aside, loving the feel of it against my fingertips.