Page 17 of Darkening Truth
“Me too,” Mayhem agrees.
“Should we wake them to eat?” Reaper asks with a slight frown, clearly not liking his own idea.
I shake my head, “I think we should leave them. They’re probably going to be too tired to eat anyway, and this is the first time that they’ve managed to fall asleep easily, definitely for the guys, and I’m just going to assume for Farren as well. She was passing out from pain, not sleeping.”
“Fuck,” Kill growls, his eyes glued to Farren sleeping peacefully on the guys. “I mean, I knew. It’s not like they would have let her sleep, but hearing it is . . .”
“Really fucking hard,” Reaper finishes for him with a growl.
Kill swallows thickly and nods, “Yeah.”
I consider my next words carefully, but I think it’s important that they know, “The things that Ren has been through would break anyone else. I didn’t see it, but I felt her pain. She is insanely strong in every way. She’s fucking incredible. However, there is absolutely no way that she is going to come away from that completely unscathed, and we need to make sure that we’re there for her if she begins to crumble.”
Hades nods, “Agreed. I think we can all agree that’s something that we can do for her easily.”
“Absolutely,” Storm says.
We all take a moment. I don’t know what the others are doing, but I’m watching Farren, making sure that she’s still here and that she’s okay. I have never felt this protective over anyone, not even Hades, and it was my job to protect him.
“Alright, let's eat and then get to bed,” Hades suggests after a moment.
“I’m going to sleep in here, just in case she needs us,” Reaper tells us, Ryu’s growl in his words.
“Me too,” I say, earning a smile from Hades.
“It’s agreed then, we’ll all stay here,” Storm says with a smile.
I don’t think it was really up for debate anyway. It never crossed any of our minds that we would be sleeping elsewhere. We all need to be close to Farren, and if I’m being honest, right now, having just come from where we have, and endured what we have, I want to keep the others close as well.
“I’ll make sure that the food has a spell on it to keep it hot, so if the others wake up, then they can eat,” Hades says.
“Good idea,” I agree.
We tuck into the food, and I have to say that although the meal is relatively simple, nothing has tasted so damn good. It’s the first proper meal that we have had since the pub and the stew. It does make me so much more sleepy though, and it’s not long until we’re lying down at various locations throughout the room, and Hades is conjuring blankets for everyone.
Sleep comes surprisingly easily.
Farren
Ihave no idea where I am, but I’m not panicking, so it can’t be a nightmare. At least I really fucking hope that it’s not a nightmare. Haven’t I had enough nightmares in my awake life recently? Do they really need to follow me into the dreamworld too?
For a moment, I wonder if I have been pulled into a dreamscape with H again. He will always be H in my dreams, but I have to admit that Khaos suits him more. It’s a pretty fucking awesome name, and I would rather call him that while we’re awake. Although I do hope that he carries on calling me Ren. It feels special, and I love it.
I quickly dismiss the idea of this being a dreamscape with him though, this doesn’t feel the same as one of them, and H would have appeared by now if it were one of our shared dreams.
Suddenly, the blurriness of the scenery lifts, and I find myself on a winding cobbled path. As the scenery comes more into focus, I quickly realise that path is not quite the right word for what is before me. It's broad enough for two carriages to go past each other comfortably, so it's definitely more of a road than a path. Lining either side of the street are tall trees with twisting trunks embedded with a dark green, swirling pattern that matches the colour of the leaves that stretch far above me.
Huh.
I have never seen trees like this before, they’re beautiful.
Continuing to look around, I am instantly enchanted by my surroundings.
It’s absolutely beautiful.
The sun is setting, painting the sky beautiful purples and reds that are so vibrant I can’t help but stare in wonder for a few moments. As I continue to look up, a winged beast flies past, silhouetted against the sky, and I have no way of knowing what it is or what it really looks like, since I am not able to see anything defining about them. It’s big though, and I would assume that it was a Dragon since it looks to be about the right shape and size.
Maybe that’s where I am? The Dragon Realm. It’s a lot prettier than I thought it would be. I honestly thought that it would be a lot more desolate-looking. Jagged mountains, and wet and miserable, or maybe super unbearably hot. That’s the impression I’ve gotten from the way that people have spoken about it, although I suppose that no one has actually described the place to me, just the creatures who live there and the way that it is run, so there’s no reason why it can’t look like this.
