Laeleth reached the top of the tower and lifting the hatch climbed up onto the parapet. From this height one could see for miles in all directions - if nothing else the landscape here was truly stunning.
Surrounded by the imposing, impenetrable mountain chains and rising fir thickets she felt the peaceful sensation of nature wash over her.
Her mind slowly began to clear as though the mountain breeze was bearing her cares away. She tucked a stray wisp of hair behind her ear and breathed deeply of the cleansing calm as her gaze shifted to the edge of the tower wall.
There Gabriel stood - the dying sun glinting off the gold tones of his weathered red coat. His wild, windblown mane shimmered as a raven’s wing as it fell long around his shoulders. His back was to her but she knew he was aware of her presence.
Laeleth walked softly up behind him and placed her hand on his arm. Her touch caused him to stir and Gabriel turned to face her.
Once more she was amazed at how different things were now. After all that had happened she had hardly had time to consider the drastic change that had taken place in him. She had quickly had to accept it as she was rather overwhelmed by her own life changes at the time.
With the vampire’s spell broken she could now see him as he was meant to be - the fleeting glimpses she had first seen when he had been under the curse and warring with his darker self.
He still retained a rather dusky appearance, dark features with pale skin, but the light of life now glowed gently within him. The look of death no longer haunted his expression or physical nature. The hardened, cruel lines had left his face as immortality had at last released him of its long, unforgiving spite.
His hands were now not the claws of a beast, but of a man, powerful and yet surprisingly gentle. The pointed fangs had dulled and no longer flashed beneath an indifferent sneer. But perhaps the most significant change of all Laeleth noted had been his eyes.
Once as fiery and fierce as burning coals they now were calm pools of darkened blue. Flecks of red still remained near the center of the iris merging into a fascinating indigo around the pupil.
No longer defiant and enraged, Gabriel had been left with all his kinder, purer traits. The warmth of her love had begun to heal everything that had once been so unforgiving about him.
And while the vampire’s supernatural power was apparently gone he still remained an imposing figure. His extensive knowledge of weapons and time spent fighting with the Brotherhood were skills he had never lost. One could tell from his impressive stature and strongly built frame he was not one to be challenged.
Although his humanity had been restored he still seemed to have few physical needs. He now slept, but required little food or drink. If he did partake it was only as a basic necessity and never anything that had contained blood.
It seemed as though he wanted to forsake all remembrance of that horrific existence. It was quite a drastic change and Laeleth would often wonder if some sort of enchantment still remained within him. She often was concerned for her husband for many reasons.
Husband - referring to him in this way caused her to flush slightly. It was all still so new and unexpected.
In all of her wildest dreams and darkest moments she had never imagined they would be here now, so intimately connected and deeply in love - bound by the fate of their own choice.
But after all they had suffered and sacrificed together, his blood now flowing through her own veins - she would not want it to be any other way. It could not be any other way.
Laeleth must have been staring as she was lost in these thoughts for the words he spoke sounded distant.
“You were starting to concern me, Laeleth.” His voice fell softly on her ears.
“When have you not been concerned for me, Gabriel?” she laughed slightly in reply as she hoped he was not upset with her.
He smiled faintly and replied, “You are aware I tend to be overprotective … it is what I know.”
His eyes rested on the dazzling stone fastened around her neck as he spoke these words.
Ezareth’s Bane – once a magnificent relic that could control fate; it now held the infernal dragon’s fire - and Laeleth’s very life. The glittering flecks within the opal caught the last rays of the amber sun and flared like a hundred sparks. This gem was a constant reminder to him of that deathly day; the day he thought she had been lost.
