Chapter Fourteen
Eial had a dream that night. It was storming in the dream, the clouds a deep charcoal, wet drops puddling the fields, thunder vibrating beneath his little feet. He was young in the dream, but with the consciousness of someone older.
"Mom?" he called out. And for a brief moment, he saw he saw the tall woman in the distance. When the lightning flashed, her face looked over to the side. And with another flash, she walked forward, away from the little elf. He ran for her, his tiny fingers outstretched, desperate to make contact with the floating shawl that drifted behind her. So close. He swung his hands, and the shawl disappeared just before contact, along with the rest of her.
The next moment, he was under a damp cave, staring at a moldy loaf of bread resting on his palms that grew excruciatingly painful to look at, turning into green goop and dripping past his fingers onto the ground. The goop filled up the floor, grabbing his legs, luring them in. He felt resigned to the movement, his shoulders drooping with a blank stare.
When a shadow crossed his peripheral, he looked over and found a tall figure of a male with familiar horns standing there. A glimmer of hope grazed the elf's green eyes, and he tried to call out with an empty voice. But the man just stood there, his face dark, amber eyes glinting. Spreading his wings wide, he flew away, without turning back once. All the way until the elf sank beneath the filthy, bubbling goop.
Eial sprang back up in the darkness, a darkness similar to the one in the dream. As his eyes adjusted, he found himself in the underground hut, the demon's breath shifting steadily across from him. Bringing his knees to his temples, he tried to steady his breath, whispering the comforting lullaby he always sang to himself with dampened eyes.
Trying to go back to sleep, he crawled back into his cape, feeling protected. Although sleep did not make its presence as much as he would have liked. And a daunting feeling hovered over him.
His worried feeling came to actuality. That morning, as the three tried to eat, the air was filled with a muddy thickness as they were lost in their own thoughts. Well, except for the demon who eyed the other two with a questionable stare.
The elf, unusually quiet and empty minded, stared into the flame. The demoness, also quiet, picked at the shell of a seed unsuccessfully with her long nails. Frustrated, she finally bit harshly into the shell, spitting out the shell and swallowing the seed. Probably swallowed a bit of the shell, as well. With a husky breath in, she grumbled with a, "Fuck!" and continued to make irritated grunting noises until she rapidly stood up and announced:
"I need to leave for a bit."
"If you need to shit, you don't have to announce it." The demon looked at her disgusted.
The demoness bared one side of her teeth with annoyance, glaring down at the demon. "I need to see someone back in the demon territory," she clarified grudgingly.
A panicked foreshadowing of beats started to take over Eial's chest. "Is it safe? When should we leave?"
The beats quickened with the look his mother gave him, eyebrows curled up and softness in her gaze.
"I need to go alone," she said gently, "but don't worry, I'll be back."
Quickening heartbeats, an empty swallow. The silhouette of her walking away into darkness with a floating shawl.
His mother crouched down in front of him and took his hands in hers. "I... there's some information I need to know. It's safer to get inside demon territory without a crowd." She paused, breathing in slowly and examining the elf's face. "I promise I'll be back. Just a little while. And I'll stay here with you today, how about that? And I'll leave this evening."
A deep uncertainty shadowed the elf, his thoughts seeming to be too much and too little. He turned his head to the right to see the demon, making eye contact, and fluttered his lashes as he brought them back to face his mother's torso, avoiding her face. Lightly, he lowered the weight of his head to rest on one of his mother's shoulders. "Okay." After a pause, he said, "Please come back."
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The Demon and the Elf (Book 1)
Fantasy[mlm] The lonely Elf had waited many years to meet his bonded mate, but reality was harsher than he would have liked when he finds out his mate is not only a Demon, but the Demon wants nothing to do with him. [Part 1/Book 1 complete. Follow the stor...
