Bound At Heart

An Unlikely Meeting

Voices filled Ilyana's ears despite the fact she wasn't able to move within the void that was her consciousness, nor did she even try to because her fear still persisted of not wanting to feel the same torture before she blacked out. Dazed, she felt items poking at her and wrapping her from beyond the void and her spirit didn't want to thrash and go against whatever forces from beyond her were doing to her. She didn't want to cause any more pain despite her body being stable yet she was still petrified.

"Is she still alive?" A great voice that spoke in great volumes that practically broke through the barrier of her stillness. This voice sounded like it belonged to a young male around her age yet with the grand size of it, she wasn't completely sure if it belonged to a Human or Elf.

"For the thousandth time, Ryu; yes, she is alive," a softer and more gentle male voice spoke. "Now, I've placed a spell that'll substitute for an anesthetic to keep her at bay, so please don't cause such a fuss nor move around so much or that'll disturb her and the spell with it."

The two kept conversing but it became extremely muffled then Ilyana caught different voices of other men and a singular woman pitch into their conversation. The soft-spoken male replied and that was the last of that set unfamiliar voices.

"...just let her rest," was the last thing she properly heard before the two main voices departed and exchanged silent whispers. She knew they were talking about her but she took the advice and calmed down and slept soundly.

•~○~●~○~•

Ilyana stirred from her sleep, extremely dazed. She yawned and felt a bit too weak to move so she tried her best to open her eyes. When she did, she found herself in a run-down, abandoned stone brick home with a hole through the wooden roof where more stone persisted beyond that. Torches lit up the room she was in and she found herself in a bedroom where an unlikely creature sat beside her. She didn't flinch but was rather marveled by the beauty of it. It was a wolf with midnight colored fur that shone with iridescent blue. Its head and muzzle seemed as if it were painted and decorated like a work of art. The eyes were outlined with black and then later outlined with white over it. Crystals that were implanted within its head shone like a rainbow crowned over the temple in a straight fashion then over the white outline of its eyes. In between the perpendicular crystals, grew horns that journeyed past its head, taking a dip along the way to only rise into glory. The wolf's eyes glowed with such a soft emerald color that Ilyana knew this wolf has been through a journey and has seen many glorious things and tragic times. Besides its experienced and wise eyes, the creature was certainly something that emitted a powerful magical aura, and Ilyana sensed it.

"Good evening," the wolf spoke aloud, surprising her. The age within his voice was surprisingly younger than expected. It was that of a young man, she predicted around his mid-twenties. "It's all right, you're safe."

Ilyana looks around, a bit unsettled in the unfamiliar area, she turned back to face the wolf and asks, "Where's Elmora?"

"Ah, your companion? She is sleeping outside."

"Is she awake?" A great voice familiarly rings within Ilyana's ears.

"Ryu, don't!" The wolf quickly says as a head of a dragon looms over the hole in the roof. Golden eyes meeting Ilyana's golden hazel ones. Ilyana gasped, her eyes widened as she frantically lifts herself up with her elbows as a sharp pain stabs her side, causing her to inhale sharply. She soon freezes, her eyes never seeming to leave the dragon's. This dragon seemed familiar. The same fox-shaped head with the soft smoky brown and orange fur with golden horns growing past his head. His individual whiskers flowing against gravity. Following him were orange, gold, and white sparkles that lit up the room that he was in. Especially the eyes... those same vibrant and warm golden eyes that she too had. It struck her as a peculiar thing.