In Lost Dreams the Four Were Bound

30 - Davnian - Dreams Resolution

[You've returned, young one.]

Moments relived had become minutes and minutes hours as Davnian lay ensorcelled within Neris's memories. He had lived through a haze of pain, abuse, victory, heartbreak, and blooming love. But the one thing that he wished to know, what had happened in the vaults of the Delvori, was limited. Frustration was his master as he cursed to himself, annoyed with his pursuits and the selfish curiosity that overlooked the profundity of his lover's feelings.

[So, there's nothing gained then?]

[Nothing more than what we started with,] Davnian replied. In his head, he remembered calling to her Delvori brothers and sisters, to Nerin to halt at the vaults. With Neris's words, he bade them to stop. But they had fallen on deaf ears as Nerin treaded upon unhallowed ground. Everything after that until they emerged from the fortress was blank. Had she dragged him from the rubble? But what happened to the others? [The only thing we can be sure of is that Nerin went into the vault. A vault I presumed dangerous but not with enough conviction to just end them all there.]

[Could Ohran have been freed then? But why would you leave all that to chance?]

[Perhaps. Whatever transgressed is beyond us.]

[What can you imagine?]

[I don't know.] Davnian thought back to the writhing skeletal form of the old mage from his earlier dreams. His body and face twisted, his skin writhing as if a thousand worms crawled underneath his skin. How his flesh and form had shifted. Was it just his foggy brain playing tricks on him? Was it just the horror of the moment? Or was there something else? [Either way, we know that Nerin and Neris emerged alone.]

[As you said, we learned nothing,] the other said, mocking Davnian from its ashen abode in his brain. [And even then, you dismiss everything else. Those feelings you berate yourself for being dismissive of?]

[You have the right of it,] Davnian replied. His body was cold beneath the silk sheets of Neris's bed. His claw rested upon the nape of Neris's neck, his other arm wrapped around her as he cupped her body with his. Her skin was both warm and cold, an inkling of clamminess on it. Murmuring in her sleep, Neris seemed both loving and frustrated. No doubt her mind had run laps as it turned from one pain to another, only to find love, lose it to emptiness, and once more give in to its temptation. [Gods, what kind of monster am I?]

[A monster who knows there are greater terrors than him,] the other said with a voice as flat as shale. [It appears we will need to keep searching. First thing in the morning, we must study those tomes. Worry no more until then, young one.]

[Agreed,] Davnian replied.

Taking a deep breath, he burrowed his face in Neris's pitch-hued hair and sighed as he kissed the nape of her neck. Bringing his claw down around her arm, he gripped her tightly as he drew himself closer to her.