In Defiance Of The Second Sun (MxM)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“If all the storms came today and chased away the night sky…would you still brave the red waters for me? Would you still chose me?” The question hung above Yoru like an axe, awaiting his last breath, awaiting his answer.

Yoru wanted to reply but his mouth wouldn't open, he felt like he was floating. His body weightlessly falling into nothingness. He felt comfortable with it, his hair spraying all around as if in water. Finally he dared to sleepily open his eyes and saw nothing but pink clouds and a reddish sky swallowing him up.

   He smiled in a drunken haze and allowed himself to fall deeper. Just as he was about to close his eyes he spotted something strange in the corner of his vision. He turned his head to see blonde hair surrounding him…attached to him.

Raising just one hand he saw his skin was pink. He was not a Lunarin, this was not his body. He began to regain himself and panicked, arms flailing in the nothingness.

The feeling of impending doom blanched his stomach and he knew he would hit the ground soon. And he did.

   With a start he sat up in bed and screamed, his chest shocking him with pain at the movement. He clutched the wound and looked down to see it neatly bandaged, his bare chest as grey as the day he was born and with a sigh he lay back down. He was alive, he was still Lunarin and he was somewhere safe- for now.

All thoughts of Baytree left behind, wherever he was now was warm and comfortable. He fell back asleep far more easily than he had done in weeks and dreamed of happier times in Pyre.

   The next time he woke up was far less shocking, he lifted himself slowly and took his time adjusting to his new surroundings.

   The room had huge vaulted ceilings with arches reaching into them. The walls were adorned in gold relief work along its carved inlays. The miniature statues all along the wall all seemed to be praying to something and Yoru felt an odd sense of familiarity  with them. The room was sparse, with just a four poster bed and plain chair against the wall. 

   He took it all in and the first thought in his mind was ‘this is just like a monastery’. He sucked in a breath and shook his head. This was a monestry, but something was off about it. The little statues had no heads and the furniture was dusty and old, the very sheets he was lying under had the smell of decay on them. 

“Awake is the living life but asleep is to travel every thought and every feeling. When you sleep, dear elves, you live in the space between” A voice startled Yoru and he craned his neck to look around the corner to see a woman sitting on the ledge of a window. He sat back down and sighed.

“Lerath?” he queried, already knowing the answer. She didn't respond and so he slowly and carefully pulled himself to the bottom of the bed to better see her.

   She sat casually resting her head against the stone frame of the bay. The window sat glassless, staring out into a swirling purple sky. She wore the same leather apron on brown worn robes. Her hair free and falling to the floor, as black as the night. She finally turned to him and winked. Her eyepatch still shocking against white pale skin.

“And so we meet again, Yoru of Pyre town. Glad to see you're awake…it was about time” She gave him an appraising look and shrugged.

“For better or for worse you're alive. Welcome to Helios''  

“How did I get here? The last thing I remember was passing out in the forest?”  

“Well you did do that, but it just so happened that you were on the outskirts of Garrel. I also just so happened to be passing by and picked you up. You were half dead, it was quite taxing but I thought you might feel better here” She waved her arm out to the open sky beyond the window.