The Glorious Flame (#2)

Chapter 26

Annika

     "Annika!" A familiar voice roared in her ear. Annika came to with a throat raw from screaming and eyes blurred by tears. She was sobbing as her husband wound his body around hers. He held on like the universe threatened to take her. 

     "It was just a dream, love," he whispered with a hoarse voice. It worked in calming her short, quick breaths, though she could not soothe the panic hammering at her heart. 

      "Inferno!" she exclaimed, placing her palms on his cheeks and willing him to see what she did. "She's in trouble! She-" 

      "Is alive. I promise. I told you that have been checking often," his stern expression softened, "do you trust me?" His hold loosened and his hands trailed along her hips. 

     He was handsome, but it was the kind of brutal beauty that could only be truly appreciated by Annika. She managed a smile for her beloved. "Of course." Her face fell. "But something was different this time." 

     Soren sat them both up and gestured his hand in the minimally lit room. In response, a pitcher rose off the coffee table by the fireplace. It was crafted by metal, gilded by a beautiful sheen of gold. Annika was always amazed--even with these slight displays of power--at his ability to control metal. He grabbed a glass by their bedside table and tipped the pitcher, pouring crisp water in. She took it with a grateful smile and sipped it. "Tell me, if you want.." he took her hand and squeezed it, "please." 

     Annika inhaled deeply and nodded. "This time didn't feel like a nightmare..." she was trying to make sense of what suceeced in terrifying her, "it felt like a warning. I was in darkness, complete darkness, kind of like I was in a room in my own mind. A voice came to me, it was deep yet so graceful, like a mother's voice." Her eyes teared up. "I couldn't make out the language, but it seemed ancient... But then I saw her, I saw Inferno. At least it could have been her twin, but it could have been Inferno, I swear it. She was draped in water, rather like the water was a living thing. I wish you could have seen her. So, so beautiful. I asked her what was wrong. Her chant become so low and so quick, it was impossible to make out. I tried so hard to understand, and I knew she was becoming so frustrated and angry. She was so angry with me." 

      His hand slid through her locks. "Just be calm, yes?" he nodded. "Then what?" 

     Annika paused and closed her eyes. "Her voice began to change, and it started to resemble Inferno's voice. She was saying something with... 'take' or maybe it was 'sake', but I knew she was begging me, I just don't know what for..." She finished off her drink and placed it on her bedside table. 

     She leaned into his shoulder and found comfort in the man whom she owed everything to, the warrior she worshipped with every fiber of her being. "What could it mean?" 

     He settled them into the bed, constantly playing with her inky locks. "I'm not sure, but I would tell you if something happened to Inferno, you know that." 

     Annika lifted her face and kissed right under his jaw. There she snuggled and embraced the constant security and love he offered. "Yes, of course. I just hate not being there with her, not being there for her." She sighed and ran her hand down his bare stomach. "I wish I could talk to her, but when she left, she made it clear that speaking was not an option while she was away. This whole thing's got me all torn up in side."

     He sighed one of force. "I know, Annika, and for that I am sorry. But I reassure you that none of this is your fault. Just as you have your past, so does Inferno. I think that just as you must battle your demons of your past, so does she. I know that this will be a hard journey, but we will all come out stronger." Soren didn't speak as much or as often as normal people did, but when he did, it was absolutely magnificent. And that was another thing she loved about him.