Beautiful Cries

Chapter Twenty-Two: To Home I Return

Hours later, the soft lull of the boat gently shifted Alena closer into Damari's arms, letting the sweet smell of her flow over him in calming waves.

Inhaling the heavenly scent, Damari brushed a few strands of her hair behind her ear, whispering to himself that everything was going to be all right as he held her even tighter.

The cloaked man had yet to speak to Damari since offering the two of them passage across the steaming river, the clouds of smoke that lifted off of it's boiling surface reminding Damari fondly of the mist that would rise steadily off the ocean's surface in the early morning hours when he would be preparing his boat for another day at sea.

A muscle twitched subconsciously in his arm as he was reminded of the strenuous efforts he would put through his body, day in and day out, and it made his heart clench with sorrow of thinking how far away he was from his family.

Without knowing, Damari had tightened his arms to such a degree that they nearly squeezed the daylights out of Alena as she struggled to grab ahold of the slippery slopes of consciousness.

As one eyelid successfully opened, a deep bellied groan rose up from her throat, her left arm coming up sluggishly to shade her eyes from the unwelcomed light in the underground cavern.

"Alena?" Damari murmured quietly. "Are you okay?"

She groaned again before dropping her hand to her side to stare up above herself, the green tinted mist floating low past her face, tickling the skin under her nose.

"I feel as if I really need to stop passing out."

Damari's soft laughter made a tentative smile come across her face as she felt his hand move from her arm to reach down for hers.

Almost as if time itself slowed down, Alena watched as Damari's hand gradually came into contact with hers, his work roughened fingers encompassing her fingers with care.

The heat that had seared inside her hours before flared up again, flames licking at the pit of her stomach and spreading throughout her body from the top of her head to the tips of her tail.

A look came into Damari's eyes that Alena had only seen once before, which had happened to be when she was missing more than just her dignity.

His eyes reminded her of the ocean in all its magnificence in the midst of a storm, lightning flashing and thunder crashing, waiting for just the right moment to combust spontaneously in a cacophony of wind and rain.

Alena could feel herself melting in his arms, struggling to put some sense into the quickly fading reservoir of restraint.

But just as she felt like she were about to plummet off a rocky edge into the somewhat pleasant unknown, the heat turned into a soothing salve that relaxed all the bones in her body and eased the throbbing from any major injuries she could have required.

She couldn't explain the peaceful air that rushed through her system so quickly, but as soon as she let out a comfortable sigh and looked back up to Damari she gasped aloud.

His face had grown visibly paler and his eyelids fluttered with exhaustion as he leaned against her body heavily while she sat up to hold him close, allowing him to rest his head on her shoulder as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Damari, what's wrong?!" Alena questioned loudly, not caring for the appalling looking man that stood at the helm of the boat, quietly guiding the boat to an unfamiliar portion of land on the approaching bank.

"Just..tired..is all." he mumbled, tugging his hand at her wrist in attempts to pull away from her.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, until she felt an all too familiar twist as Damari weakly struggled to pull his hand form hers.