Then another one came, my own screams a new string to the ballad of wails coming from the burning faerie children.
“NO! Please, stop it, it hurts!” I tried to tell them, to shout at anyone who would listen, anyone who gave a damn and had the power to save me. To save us.
“Please, let them go!” I tried again, hoping that, if they couldn’t gather enough mercy for all of us, they would at least spare the other children.
The smell of burning meat wrapped around my nose, inundating my chest as more pain came crushing on my back.
“STOOOOOOP!”
“Muffin!”
My shoulders started jolting, forcing my throat to bob.
“Muffin, you’re okay!”
I heard a voice calling from a different universe, from a different life, forcing my eyes to open. “You’re safe,” Galenor’s soft voice told me, his emerald eyes shining in the darkness.
“You are safe,'' he repeated, calloused fingers pressing deep into my shoulders to ground me to reality.
“I’m…” A sharp breath hitched through my chest, forcing me to understand where I was. Who I was with.
It had been a nightmare. One I thought long forgotten, one I had fought to keep from resurfacing for many years, now finally gaining strength and piercing through my brain to wreak havoc. “I’m…sorry,” I swallowed hard, my chest still heaving from the image, from the need to take my brain out and wash the memory until it faded into nothing.
My hands shook, my body twitched, muscles trembled with shock and exhaustion, my skin dripping in cold sweat.
“Hey…” Galenor spoke again, his tone of voice the softest I had ever heard it. “You are okay, muffin. It was just a nightmare,” he voiced with tenderness, his fingers sliding gently across my shoulders as if to make sure I could support my own weight.
“Ellyana,” I murmured.
His gaze lightened. “A faerie name?” He looked both surprised and excited to uncover this new information about me.
“I was born in Wind,” I sniffled, trying to pull the dripping snot back into my nose and avoid giving the faerie more opportunities to make fun of me.
“Me too,” Galenor grinned, displaying a true smile to me. Probably for the first time.
Instead of bringing me the comfort he might have hoped to spread in me, my body locked, pinning my muscles in place. My bones dissolved into nothing, unable to keep me upright, forcing my back to fall, my head losing balance and following the drop.
“Ellyana!” Galenor’s voice followed me, his body tugging me closer, pinning me to his chest. How was he even here? I could have sworn I locked the door. I was grateful for his touch, even if it was the only one I had.
I was not alone, like I’d been hundreds of times when this nightmare returned to rip my sanity away, each time lashing deeper at my consciousness.
Someone was here.
Hewas here, caring for me.
At least for a moment.
Offering me a dash of kindness through the darkness of the night, of our situation, of our souls.
“Breathe…” his voice urged, letting me follow the sensation caressing my body, to follow the waves of calm and protection his closeness offered. Galenor’s hands were wrapped tightly around my body, his calloused fingers caressing the lines of my back with patience and dedication, as if he already knew what caused me to end up like this.
Shouting in bed, trembling and sweating from years of guilt.
“Let it go, Ellyana. Come back to me,” the fae male urged, his hands lifting to reach my cheek and caress long lines down my skin. His thumb stopped right at the bone of my chin and pressed against it gently, lifting my head to him, forcing my eyes to find his own.
Instead of finding anger or reprimand, I spotted compassion and care.
The heaviness in my chest started to crack, hues of air suddenly bursting into my lungs to allow my raised pulse to settle. My breath to ease. My hands to find Galenor’s skin.
