I turn and lick my lips. He’s right. Glancing out the window, I feel the warmth of the now-rising sun. A new day has come.
“What if,” I mumble, “I make the runes temporary? Some could last a day, while others could last longer. Like the dragon riders, whose runes last during their lifespan. Then the dragon is free for another rider to claim.”
I whirl around when I’m greeted by his silence.
“It’s a good idea,” I insist, nodding as I close the distance.
His eyes sweep over the clean floor as if he’s trying to find the dirt within my suggestion. “The others gods won’t go for this.” He reaches up and cups my cheek, his eyes full of a deep ache. “They don’t know you drew the dragon rider rune. They will fear anything you create, my love.”
My heart skips a beat. They are right to fear my hands. “Any tool can kill. It’s the responsibility of those who wield it,” I whisper as a tear slips free.
He tips my chin up and presses his forehead to mine. “I know.” His inhale is deep. “And that is why we won’t tell them.” He pulls back. “My magic slumbers; I can’t fix this, but your runes can. And the others will never suspect it. They think the rider’s runes manifested naturally as our markings have.”
He pushes up his sleeve, revealing the symbols that cover his forearms. I glance at the empty spot where he sacrificed his core magic to make the book for me, the gift we kept secret from the other gods.
I blink in surprise. “You… you agree?”
“I do. They will keep battling until one prevails, but equipping them with the same tool will leave them with no option but to reconcile. But more wars will come before peace.Humans will seek vengeance on magic users. Blood will be shed.”
My throat tightens. We knew death would follow us, but we wanted to survive. It’s selfish, but it’s also survival of the fittest. “I understand,”I force out.
Peace will come. I have to keep repeating that. It’s what happened in our world. Every god commanded legions of devoted elves. We realized we’d have no kingdom left to rule if the battles raged on. We made peace; everyone was happy, or so we thought.
It was an ignorant belief that those who served us loved us.
We used them, but we also loved them. We learned the hard way that love is not equal.
“How do you intend to share these runes? The other gods can’t know they are coming from us.” He plucks the book out of my hand and sets it on the bed, then rubs my shoulders.
I bite my lip as I ponder. “We need those with pure hearts. I will teach the riders how to redraw the runes and use them.Theycan share the runes to everyone. Our fellow Gods will assume it’s part of their magic, like the rider’s mark.”
“Power taints pure hearts, my love.” He adds more pressure to melting the tension on my shoulders.
“When you cast a stone into the water, it’s bound to ripple, but eventually, calmness will be restored.” I grasp his face, willing hope into my touch. “This has to work; they must ally.”
“I have no doubt it will, but remember, my love, alliances are only signed after much blood has been shed.”
Two centuries later.
Swollen lips caress my blushed cheek. Erevan’s warm breath stirs a purring in my body, but it can’t erase all my tension. We made love all night, both of us filled with a deep anxiety and emotion over what the new day would bring.
I still think about what Erevan told me. He pressed a palm to my stomach and vowed that one day he’d find a way to give me a child of my own. A creature made of his magic and mine. I told him the book was that, for it was made of both our magic and love for one another. He promised to give me flesh and blood, not pages.
It’s a lover's dream that can never be born into reality, but I will cherish the idea.
Dream.
Am I still your dream, Lucian? Are you able to dream where you are now?
I keep my eyes closed as the sunrise warms them, coaxing them out of hiding. My trembling hands grasp the balcony.
From this height, the world appears to be at our fingertips. A home above the clouds in a castle so high only our insight could have provided the creatures here the knowledge to build such a wonder.
Now, they build castles like this all over their lands. Eventually, all the wooden homes will be replaced with monuments that mimic our world.
They have come so far; I’m so proud of them.
Yet, just beyond these clouds, everything is about to change again. The castle we built here is surrounded.
