The Daemon's Tale Ch. 03

Vaern took his hand and led him out of the water to the grassy bank on the far side, a place where dappled sunshine played light-heartedly over the ground and tall willows gave shade and privacy. They stretched out languidly alongside each other and the water that had run off their bodies in sensual rivulets quickly dried, leaving scattered droplets to reflect rainbow light over their skin. Like day and night, Gabriel thought vaguely, his eyes trailing the lengths of their prone forms; her golden and soft, him silver and lean. This was not a time for thought or feeling, though. He was tired and he gave in to the blackness without a fight.

Vaern watched as Gabriel's eyes slid shut and his breathing became slow and regular. The Daemons never aged in appearance and as such his face was not lined or weathered, yet the tightness around his eyes and the grimness of his expression had been eased. He looked peaceful now that he was asleep, and free of nightmares. The Elf crushed and rubbed a new mixture of herbs into the wound on his shoulder; the first had been to numb and relieve pain but this one would stave off infection, allowing him to heal. Her attentions were careful and gentle enough that he didn't wake and for that she was grateful; sleep, more than anything else, would help him now.

She reached out to brush a lock of dark hair away from his face and he stirred languorously, graceful even in repose. Her long fingers brushed the purple shadows that lingered like bruises beneath his eyes; these she hoped would fade after a decent sleep in which his mind was free of the tragedy that plagued him so obviously most of the time. For now at least he seemed at peace and for this Vaern smiled; finally she could begin to see the effects of her healing. Little by little, the Daemon Lord was coming back.

Weary and satisfied, the healing Elf finally lay down too and allowed her eyes to flutter shut. The sounds of slow-moving water and rustling trees were as soothing to her as they would be to any of her kind and, warm from the body-heat rolling off the Daemon resting serenely beside her, she too drifted off. And sometime during the warm spring night Gabriel's hand caught hers, weaving their fingers together, joining two magical creatures closely enough that their dreams would be shared.