The Shadowsinger and his Flower

Chapter 3: The Light's Curse

Azriel paced in the room while the healer was looking over the unconscious Elain. He couldn't stop thinking about what happened. What happened in the backyard was so surprising and dramatic. Azriel brushed his thumb over where his split lip would have been. She healed him completely. His shattered wing would have been injured for days, weeks, but it was healed in a matter of seconds with no trace of a scar.

"She appears to be getting better. I suspect that when she uses her power too much, it drains her energy and causes her to go into a coma to restore her energy. She's been like this for a day, correct?" the healer looked toward Azriel.

"Yes, she has been like this for a day. This is the second day." Azriel sat on the edge of the bed.

Elain's face was less in distress than yesterday, he supposed. Today, it looked like she was in a rested and calm state. This relieved Azriel, but he needed her to wake up. For the past few days, he slept by her side. Feyre and Rhysand knew Elain got powerful abilities but what they don't know is what provoked her. They asked but Azriel had told them to ask Elain. He didn't know what to say or if Elain actually wanted them to know. She was the Light, not only in this world now, but in his too.

"Okay. She should wake up later today or tomorrow. I've seen this in other fae powers. We refer to it as 'After Effect Exhaustion' and it can get worse. As long as she doesn't push herself, it should only be one to two days time."

Azriel nodded and curled into the bed. The healer clicked her tongue and left. She saw how much Azriel missed Elain and probably felt bad for him. His eyes drifted to sleep, emotional stress tying him down.

-----

Elain was stuck. All she could see was black, inky limbs shooting towards her.

"No!" She screamed, shielding her eyes. She coughed from the smoke clouding the air. The impact of the ink never came, and she opened her eyes to see her surroundings.

All she could remember was falling to the ground with a heavy weight on her back and suddenly dreams of all sorts came. The most common dream she had was in a stone temple. She was her own light as she headed down the pathway and looked at the scripts painted on the wall. She couldn't figure out what they said no matter how hard she tried. Today's dream was different. This one was set in a world of nothingness, inky limbs grabbing at her every few seconds. She was terrified and wished Azriel was here to help her fight. She screamed a war cry louder than she thought she could as she lunged towards the inky limb and-

Elain's eyes shot open, her endless nightmare over. Azriel was next to her, breathing deeply. She turned over to face him and saw bags under his eyes and hints of a beard beginning to grow. She smiled, wondering what a beard would look like on his face when everything that happened hit her.

Lucien and Azriel were fighting when she came out of the house with juice. She dropped the juice and began to beg for them to stop. She recalled weapons slicing and stabbing around her lover and friend.

"Oh my god, his wing!" Elain sat up and looked at his wing. She frowned as she noticed no scar.

"Wait," Elain remembered gaining white wings; she remembered healing both of them. She remembered everything. Azriel stirred and Elain began to back away with terror.

"I'm a monster," her breathing became quick, "a horrible monster."

Azriel's eyes opened as he heard her voice. He sat up, grabbing her into a hug. When he pulled away, Elain was crying.

"You are no monster. Nothing like that." Azriel cupped her face.

"No, I am. I can't have these powers. I can already see into the future, why do I need more? Did the cauldron give me this?"