In this chapter, every paragraph in italics will emphasize the letter that Zing is writing to Alan. If it's not in italics, then it is happening to Zing outside of the letter. He isn't writing it, so Alan doesn't know it's happening. I just love Zing, so I want to include him more haha. I hope this isn't too confusing and if there is, don't be afraid to ask questions!
Several years ago.
Zing's POV
I had the first dream when I was 18 years old. Beneath the roof of my father's old cabin home, his snores shook the floorboards and rattled my brain as I tried desperately to fall into sleep. In the dream, my father and I were walking to do our work at the local mine. We had been workers there for years, and nothing bad had ever happened. So, I wasn't nervous as I watched my father put on his gear and make his way into the cave. I continued to do my tasks for the day outside the mine, which consisted of counting our stock and cleaning out barrels that would be wheeled back down once a miner came back up. However, not too long after our shift started, a rumbling shook throughout our bodies. And, before my eyes, the cave collapsed. The moment I saw that cave collapse, I was awoken by my father. His brows knitted in worry and his wrinkled forehead downturned. He had woken me up from the nightmare to get ready to go to work. Despite how uneasy I felt about the entire situation, I chalked it up to just being a strange dream, and my father and I went to work without any further problems.
However, just like the dream predicated, I watched the cave collapse before my eyes. Trapping my father beneath its surface forever.
Despite that strange incident occurring, I never thought I had prolific dreams. That was the only one I had for a long while. I got one every few months after that, all revealing different forms of disasters that would happen close to me. It would take about three of these dreams to come true before I started to believe that they were real. That they were showing me the future for some reason. I prayed to everything in my knowledge at the time to tell me why I was seeing these dreams. Why I was the one to suffer through these tragedies every time? What did they want me to know? At that point, I had always believed that they were bad. That they were only there to torment me due to something horrible I had done.
Until I met him.
"What are you doing?" a soft voice called out from in front of me. At the voice, I felt myself smiling, my grip loosening around the pen as I turned to look up at my lover. His platinum blond hair shone until the bright sunny afternoon, bringing out the color of his green eyes even more. As my gaze met his, the ears on his head turned downward in embarrassment. And a path starting from his neck and over to the edge of his cheeks, turning them a bright red. His gaze shifted from mine to stare at a space slightly beside my head and his arms crossed over his chest to shield himself.
"What is it?" Romand pouted. I shook my head softly.
"Nothing," I stated back, "I just think you look beautiful." He did indeed look stunning. He wore a shirt that I had on the previous day and a pair of loose-fitting pants. He stated that he only wore my clothes because he was too lazy to put back on his outfit, but after watching him relish in my attire over and over again, I knew that it was an excuse. Either way, it never bothered me. It felt nice seeing my lover in my outfits, especially after a night of passion. The loose-fitting material allowed me to see the markings I had created along his collarbone and dipped towards his chest. It made my heart flutter to know that he was hiding those from everyone but me, that I would be the only person to see them.
He warmed my heart.
"You didn't answer me," he mumbled again, clearing his throat and making his way to my left side. I was sitting outside my father's cabin, leaning against a tree, a couple of papers laying in my lap as I wrote a letter. Romand sat down next to me, and I shifted slightly so he could lean against the tree as well; his eyes drifting over to my paper. "A new code?" I nodded in response, letting him take the page still slightly running with ink in his hands so he could get a closer look at the letters written there. I knew they were English, but to him, it was probably a mountain of gibberish.
"Yeah, one day I'll teach you," I told him as he finished handing the letter over to me. He nodded, his ears quickly shifting so that they were flat against his head as he yawned, his eyes dropping slightly with drowsiness. I smiled at him and lifted my left hand to rub against his ears. His eyes shut in happiness, and he leaned against me. "However, that'll be another day. Get some more rest, I'll wake you up in a bit for lunch." He nodded slightly before completely drifting off to sleep against my shoulder, allowing me to write more of the letter.
I first saw Romand in my dreams. He had platinum blonde hair and bright green eyes. He also had cat ears, a signifier that he was a mage and could use magic like us demons. In my dream, he tripped in front of me, tumbling forward and landing on the ground harshly, somehow managing to break his wrist in the process. Which would enable a long list of things that would hinder him in the future. When I first saw him, I thought he was absolutely stunning. However, I wasn't sure if I would see him in real life, considering it wasn't a major disaster that would affect tons of different individuals. However, the next day, I saw him. Romand was walking toward me and carrying a book in his right hand. However, unlike in my dream, he was walking on my left side, not the right. Due to that, I didn't really know if the same situation was going to happen. Luckily enough, he did trip and was sent flying into my arms.
It took a long time, but after continuous sessions of meeting him, we finally were together as a couple, and it was the happiest I had ever been.
Then, I had another dream. In this dream, I saw chaos. The world seemed to burn as I saw the demons, my race, scampering throughout the streets, trying to get away from humans as fast as possible. Some demons were rounded up and thrown into cages, and some were killed on the street, their eyes lifeless and their families sobbing as they hovered over their bodies. And I saw him, Romand. The look in his eyes was full of fear and devastation, something that I had never seen before and never want to see again. I thought my dream would end there, however, it kept going. In the dream, I took Romand's hand, and we started running through the streets, dodging humans and not stopping to help demons. All that was on my mind was getting Romand to safety.
However, it never happened. As I rounded a corner, nearing a forest line to head back to my father's cabin, there was a human. He saw us coming and before my very eyes, I watched as he stabbed Romand.
I woke up in a cold sweat then and tried to explain to Romand about my dream. I knew it was going to happen, I just had no idea when. However, Romand didn't believe me. I don't blame him, I wouldn't have believed myself, especially because at the moment, demons and humans were getting along. We were even going to have our annual celebration for all to show our unity. Because you see, demons allowed humans to live on Ekalen.
We only have fables that let us know about our past. But I'm positive that no one will tell you now about what happened let alone share this tale. Humans came to Ekalen eons ago and demons already occupied it. However, we demons allowed them to live in our world because they were desperate and needed help. We slowly started to teach them the ways of magic, but humans couldn't quite grasp the concept. As demons, we couldn't teach them much. However, it wasn't long until mages started to be born. Mages were humans who were accustomed to the magic of our world. However, with their magic, came the price of an animal characteristic. Some had scales, some had tails, some had different colored eyes, and some had different feet. However, they were most certainly human, they just had an extra feature that showed that they could do small amounts of magic.
All demons look like humans, with animal characteristics. The only way you can tell the difference between us and them is through the eyes. All demons have red eyes, just like most humans have brown eyes. Though, that also means that there are differences like some humans have blue eyes or green eyes. The difference for demons is that eye color responds directly to the amount of power you have and what suited you best in your line of work. If you had bright red eyes, you were suited more for work that relied on your magical powers. Dull red eyes meant work that didn't quite need to use as much magic. But there was one set of eyes that was the strongest.
Lilac eyes, like what we have.
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Hey guys! Saph here. Thank you for reading another chapter and I really hope you enjoyed it! Was the Romand reveal a little shocking? I honestly wanted them to be together for a long time but I didn't know how I was gonna do it! I love Zing so much that I want to include him in so many different parts. I hope you guys love him because I honestly do lol
Anyway, I've been pretty overwhelmed recently so I'm trying my best. I recently got a job and I haven't quite allowed myself to settle in yet. Also, my mental health has not been my bestie recently so not doing so hot. However, writing about Zing helps a lot lol
I hope you all are doing great! As always thank you all for reading. I know my mental health hasn't been the greatest, so please remember to take time out of your busy days to focus on yourself and your own health. See you all next time!