Serpent In Love (🔞) - Completed

6. A Snake's Romance

Darkness.

Impenetrable darkness.

It's all I see in my comatose state.

It's disturbing and distressing for me. A gentle creature suffering a mild case of scotophobia, aka, a fear of blindness.

According to Pandora, my phobia might have stemmed from my 'teleporter' eyes complex. She was probably right. For as long as I can remember my mother had repeatedly warned me; if ever discovered, I would be hunted down and killed by ruffians for my precious 'dragon orbs'.

Growing up with such traumatic scare tactics, who wouldn't get a little loopy in the psyche?

Myself, I got away with a little fear of sightlessness.

Right now, I feel darkness entraps me like a prison. Impenetrable barrier so tangible, so real, I'm utterly convinced I've been robbed of sight. Even worse, it feels as if I'm bound and gagged in a way that every time I writh, the bond around me tightens.

When this happens, I feel suffocated and starved of precious air... Not in a literal sense, but you get what I mean if you're a claustrophobic.

Just as I gasp for oxygen like fish out of water, I feel warm hands clasping my shoulders, gently shaking me.

"...drina, wake up..."

A man's voice echoes in my head. The undertone vibrates deeply in the dry, cramming darkness. It passes through me like fast torrents in a river.

"Hey, you need to wake up now..."

The melodic baritone persists strongly yet soothingly in my ears. Gradually, it melts away my suffocating anxiety and dread.

Who's talking? How does he know me by name?

Other than it being a male, I haven't got a clue of anyone; man or beast, to have such a deep yet calming voice.

"Oi! Stupid little snake, wake up!" Instantly, the musical note is being replaced by an exasperated drumbeat. Completely shatters my hazy dreamscape.

Simultaneously, I feel repeated light pats on both of my cheeks.

"If you don't, I will eat your liver!"

At the words "eat" and 'liver', my eyes flare wide open faster than a flash of lightning.

I wince at the brightness that assails my sudden sight.

Frowning, I blink several times to adjust and refocus my vision.

Currently, I am lying on a vast plush bed. So luxurious and soft, I want to never move! The sheets and pillows emit a subtle scent of sandalwood oil. Overall, it is a fragrance fills me with unfamiliarity yet deep serenity.

The moment my eyes adapt to their surroundings, they are arrested by a deep cerulean blue gaze.

Aquila's...

Ah, I died, it's a bitter-sweet thought, and this is my heaven--

"...Good, you're finally up."

Aquila says, his large hands cupping my cheeks remain unmoved.

The warm sensation of his skin tells me, the touch is real.

He's real. Meaning, I'm also real...no, alive.

Without a doubt, I feel overjoyed and overwhelmed by a burst of happiness at this knowledge.

But how? I remember being 'swooped up' by a winged 'death'. Except, it wasn't really 'death' but Aquila the eagle.

With intense expression, Aquila openly assesses my face. From my confused eyes down to my mouth. There, his stare stays on my lips as the pads of his thumbs absently caress my upper cheeks.