The Brave One

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“It is really me, William.” Evera squeezed his hands, reassuring her statements. “Please, do not ignore this. Do not ignore me.” Her cheeks were blood red in the firelight and the cold air was now soothing instead of irritating. He had remained withdrawn and still for longer than she had thought. Such a shock did not come upon a person, least of all on a poor, lowly and lonely man such as William.

Evera ran her fingers through his hair and trailed them to cup his cheek. She tapped his face lightly and tried raising his eyes to hers.

“Please, William,” begged Evera. “Please wake up. In the name of all good and Godly wake up.” She dried her tears for the silly things could not help here.

Evera held William in an awkward but calming embrace. Her arms wrapped around her friend and she silently waited for his mind to return to the present.

This strange discovery --added with fatigue, soreness, loss of sleep, and racing emotions-- raged inside William’s mind. Suddenly, he felt pressure against his torso. It would have been easy to mistake it for a strong wind, but this was comforting instead of abrasive; light yet strong.

William shook his senses awake and Evera pulled herself from the hug. He looked into her forest green eyes as a smiled spread upon her face. Her eyes were watered and red, her hair was a mess, and her breath was still in rasps. He grabbed her and threw his arms around her, holding her with a fervor that ran alongside his need for air. He was holding the girl… No, the woman that his young heart had belonged to.

“Evera, has fate given me another chance?” William held her face, proving this was no trick. The eyes were the color of budding leaves on a sun filled spring afternoon, her skin was as pale, maybe even more so now, reminding him of a moonlit winter’s night, her hair the color of rutted bark. Why he had not seen the resemblance he could not say, but what mattered now was not on how or why she was here. It only matter beyond all other things of not letting this woman, of whom he will think of from now to the rest of eternity, go and leave for another long stretch in time.

“Let us talk no more tonight, we need our rest.” Evera took hold of the silver-chained necklace secretly and held it in her palm.

“I will not be able to for my dreams are ensnaring me as I am awake.”

“Please, I have been awake and tired for hours. Let me rest. We will speak of this in lighter hours.” Her eyes grew heavier with each moment until she could no longer focus her vision.

William saw it pained her to keep talking. He laid her down near enough to the fire to keep warm.

“Until you awaken, Evera.” The boy brushed her hair behind her ear, letting the light of the flames dance on her cheek. As she drifted to sleep, he soothed her with a lullaby he had not uttered since his day of youth.

William sat against a tree and watched over his weary companion. He was overjoyed he had found the girl he fell in love with all those years ago. He became peaceful and his anger that had built in his soul from his life without her started to dissolve.

Eventually, the man’s mind drifted into slumber as well, with his fantasy being softer than he could remember. Life for him could now be happy.

The young Fae had fallen into a dream-filled slumber, with nightmares and love crashing together with waves of madness like that of the untamable sea. All the while she held on to the necklace, squeezing the charm with urgency, even in sleep.

The morning hours faded and transformed into the dancing winds and cloudless skies as the young Fae awoke. She wanted to slip back into her nighttime fantasies where she dreamed of living within the trees and dancing in the rivers. She laughed with the rain and frolicked in the ferns and in those few hours of whimsical imaginations, she had felt a peace she never felt in the reality that lay before her during those damnable daylight hours.