Wildfire | tog one shot ~ eng

Wildfire

Rowan was watching sleeping Aelin. Six months passted since the end of the war, but yet Aelin was rarely granted with long, uninterrupted sleep.

Rowan couldn't help but admire how beautiful his mate looked in the rays of the rising sun. Her hair shone like gold and her serene expression made his heart melt.

He reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. Something was wrong, he knew as soon as he stroked her cheek. She was on fire.

Aelin was as hot as a thousand embers, and Rowan could only indulge her with an aching heart in cold breezes and icy hug. Once again, she will not have a peaceful awakening.

Soon, his queen was trapped in clutches of nightmare. He held her tightly to him and whispered her name softly. Sometimes it was harder to pull her out of bad dreams full of horrible memories.

Flames intertwined between Aelin's fingers and soon her whole palms were on fire. Her golden hair burned fiercely as well, and the flames grew.

Rowan tried to wake her up while concentrating on not burning himself and making sure no furniture was on fire.

This wasn't usual, and Rowan felt an ominous foreboding.

Aelin awoke steeply, gasping for breath, wrapped in flames, her expression a mixture of horror, disbelief and utter helplessness.

"I'm here, everything's fine, Fireheart," Rowan whispered calmly, cupping her face in his hands. Aelin was shaking and her eyes were filled with tears.

"It's back, my fire is back."

It was a single sentence, a single silently spoken sentence. But it turned Rowan's world upside down. It could have meant anything, but Rowan already knew...

"The lock is broken..., the gate is open...," Aelin continued with a broken voice. She stared into Rowan's eyes as tears dripped from hers.

Rowan had no idea what to do, his mate had been through so much pain... How could anything go wrong again after all this?

Will they never be able to live happily? Don't they deserve happiness?

"Rowan..., Rowan...,"

As much as Rowan loved it when Aelin said his name, it hurt incredibly now. Aelin's terror and despair hurt him.

"I can't do this again, Rowan..."

Rowan's own tears rolled down his cheeks. He pressed his forehead against hers, reassuring himself rather than her: "Together we can do anything. To whatever end."