To the Shadowsinger | Azriel

Chapter 53: Gather around

Wylla would never complain about dreaming of Nyxous. Each time she dreamt of the two of them as older versions of themselves, they were happy and in love. And each time she would wake up with butterflies in her stomach and it would take a whole day before she could look Nyxous in the eyes again.

She had dreamed many dreams of a life with Nyxous. Dreams of them racing each other in the night sky, dreams of him holding her as she read a book out loud, dreams of them dancing... of them kissing.

Wylla's mother had the ability to dream of the future. Her mother had even dreamed of her father when she was just a little girl. She knew they were mates before they had even met. Wylla hoped that her dreams weren't just dreams but glimpses of the future. She was only ten years old but she knew with her whole heart that she loved Nyxous.

Something was different about her dream this time. She was older in the dream, dressed in a thick fur coat to keep her warm as she played in the snow. For some reason though, she was annoyed. The feeling of having somewhere else to be made her anxious as she balled up a handful of snow and hid behind a tree.

She knew it was a dream but it felt... invaded. Someone was watching her. She had the same feeling when her brother would sneak into her dreams as a child to scare her. He was always better at dream walking than her but this time it was different. She was a world away, there was no possible way her brother would be able to find her here.

Her thoughts were pulled back to Nyxous as a ball of snow was smashed on top of her head. It caught her so off guard that she couldn't contain the laughter that bubbled up. To make her laughter even harder to control, Nyxous was doing his laugh that reminded her of a dying bird. It brought tears to her eyes and they clung to each other, laughing, and clutching their stomachs.

It was the most natural thing in the world for their lips to meet. For him to cradle the back of her head as he nipped her bottom lip in a teasing way. They kissed as if they did it all the time. There was no hint of shyness or hesitation.

"Wylla?"

Wylla pulled away at the sound of her name being called from a distance. She didn't immediately recognize the voice but something about it reminded her a bit of her father. It wasn't as deep as his voice but the pronunciation of her name was identical and unlike the way anyone in Prythian pronounced it.

"Did you hear that?" She asked Nyxous.

He gave her a confused look, she shook her head at him and looked in the direction she heard her name called. There was no one there. "I thought I heard someone call my name."

It had sounded so much like her father that her chest ached. She missed him so much- she missed all of them. She shook her head, trying to shake away the pain and forget she even had a life before this. It was easier that way. Believing her life before never happened.

"It's Connall! We're dreaming!" The voice called. She shook her head. This wasn't real. There was no way he could find her and she knew she would begin to cry if she found herself believing it. Connall, her brother, wasn't really there. "Tell me you're safe! Please! Mom misses you!"

The world around her was falling apart as she took a step closer to the voice. It's just a dream, she reminded herself. "Dad misses you!" He called out.

Stop it! Stop it! Her hands went over her ears and the color faded from the world. She had something to do she just couldn't remember what it was, she didn't have time to be crying over losing her family. It didn't matter how much she wanted to go home, she couldn't.

As the snow around her stopped, simply floating in the air, a voice picked a nerve in the back of her head. It told her she could go home. All she would have to do was take her brother's hand and follow him home. It was that simple.