His Hands (56)

Coruscare insisted that her likelyhood of waking on her own was great as she had done so recently. He insisted that Lucius give her time and wait for her to wake on her own, fearful of the possible repercussions of forcibly doing so.

Raven, although impatient, knew that Coruscares fears were not without foundation. It could be dangerous for Caeli and Raven both.

Raven agreed to only attempt to access Caeli's mind if she had not woken by nightfall. They had little time to waste and waiting for her to wake on her own could mean days, if not weeks. Waiting was a luxury they could not afford.

She continued to sleep soundly through the hours, he sat at her bedside, still as a statue. Refusing food or rest, he watched, and he waited.

It was strange to see her this way, thin and frail, her face ensconced in silver white hair. Her beauty all the more astounding and ethereal in her diminished state, the combination gave her the look of a Folk. Like a mythical creature.

*She looks like a star child more than ever.*, he thought sarcastically to himself.

*What would it be like to live in the night?*

Isn't that what she had said? Dozing at the waters edge under the night sky.

Raven was sure that her inquiry was nothing more than any other young persons, their life spread widely in front of them. Boundless possibilities lying in wait.

But a small part of Raven dared hope, dared dream, that in Caeli's heart she truly wondered, and that, should she ever come to him in his empire of night, she would find joy there.

So many others, friends, family, and romantic interests alike, could not bear the absence of light. Their fear and their loneliness to real, too alive, in the darkness.

But Caeli was different, she was afraid but not in denial. She was accepting but not out of fear of being alone.

She had been kind to him even after all she had been through, all she had seen. She treated him with civility and solidarity. Things Raven had hardly experienced, but knew enough of to recognize.

Night fell and some hours passed. Caeli continued to slumber.

"It's time.", Raven said suddenly standing and startling those in the room. He hardly spoke all day and certainly hadn't moved.

Coruscare had just arrived to visit Caeli, Syll close behind, when he saw a room full of grovelings staring opened mouthed at Lucius.

The black shadow body began to vibrate in a rhythm similar to his heart beat.

*It is his heartbeat. It is Midnight.*, Greedy said with envy and delight inside of Coruscares mind. The power he could feel coming off of the Lord of Midnight was astounding.

*It is Midnight.*, Coruscare agreed internally.

The time in which the Cursed One was at his most powerful.

And being the First, and the Beloved One, he was the strongest of them all.

Coruscares gritted his teeth in both involuntary envy and anger.

Raven bent at the waist to be close to Caeli's face.

A long tendril of shadow emerged from his back.

Syll took a step back. She felt a shiver down her spine. Something about Lucius had always been strange, different, dark. The sight made Syll feel some pity for the creature. Of course he had been easily made the villain after that fateful Reconciliation day. Many would describe him as a monster, his face a lifeless skeleton with only glowing orbs for eyes. His body transient; seemingly shifting between solidity and shadow made him seem all the more nightmarish.

The thought of being without sunlight was blasphemous to Syll, a Druid, a soul of an ancient and powerful Willow tree given a physical body. The sun had nurtured and sustained her. Life without light wasn't life at all. It was a death sentence.

The tendril gently caressed Caeli's cheek, Syll shivered again, and then Lucius went still.

The black dragons body was as motionless as a statue, the tendril suspended in the air, gently touching the side of Caeli's face.

Coruscare heard rapid steps behind where he stood.

A moment later Brego and Aurum were at his side.

"Pray to the goddesses, for it is in their hands.", Syll said precariously.

"In HIS hands.", Coruscare corrected the druid.

He blew steam from his nostrils then turned to one of the grovelings.

"Inform me of any change.", he said briskly but not unkindly, he then exited the infirmary.