“It’s fine. I promise, I’m strong. If things go south, you can contact Ender’s group and get me help.”
“But…”
“It's fine. I promise.”
Seri hesitated, eyeing the things in the box. He wanted them. Damn, did he want them all. Seri wanted to pick up where he left off. And his memory would let it happen, as he remembered everything. His photographic memory wouldn’t let him forget a thing, which sucked at times, but not at this moment. However, could he really just pick up and keep going? He wasn’t sure they could get all the equipment he needed.
“I…” He took a deep breath and said, “We can try. But we have to be careful. And maybe put protocols in place, in case something does go wrong.”
“Make a list of things you need and I’ll send it to Ender. Or you can, if you want. Until then, we can set up what we do have in the office space, okay?”
“Okay, let’s do this. But just so you know, you have to be completely honest with me about pain levels and all that as we do this. You can’t lie to me either. Because you lying could end with me severely injuring you. To add on, you’ll have to be okay with me requesting various body fluids.”
“Got it. Honesty is key! And my body fluids are all yours!”
Seri glanced down at the stuff again, a small smile slipping onto his face as he looked back up and rasped, “Thank you…for trying to give me a way to do something about my safety. I mean that.”
Severo’s cheeks turned red, and he cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah. You’re welcome.”
“Now…” Seri’s gaze slipped past Severo to the bags. “What did you buy?”
Severo’s eyes went wide. “Just some…socks…and little booties. Nothing…too outlandish.”
“Severo.”
“It was all so cute! I’m only so strong, Seri!”
Seri sighed.
Severo stoodthere outside of Seri’s bedroom door, listening to Seri cry, his fist clenched so tight his knuckles had turned white. The dreams were worse tonight than they had been in the two weeks they’d been here.
He cursed as another pain filled cry broke through the air, and without hesitation, he dropped into the Shadow Realm, grabbed the door handle and opened it. He stared, not daring to step inside.
Seri laid in bed curled up, sobbing his heart out, still asleep. A horde of Nystra surrounded him, crawling over his form, while some hovered above as they leaked their negativities inside him, turning each thought in his head against him, making each dream a nightmare. No doubt making each second he was asleep full of terror as they fed more and more fear into the sleeping Nymph.
Fuck, he just wanted to march in and pull the Nymph into his arms. His mere touch would drive the Nystra back. But he couldn’t do that. Because he had no right to. He was barely a friend at this point… And his feelings were conflicted.
He found the Nymph both fascinating and attractive. The first he supposed was okay to feel, but the second was out of line. He was there to protect Seri, not be skeevy and hit on him. The man had been through enough, he didn’t need the person who was there to help him to step all over his boundaries.
He eyed the crib near the end of the bed. Skya appeared to still be asleep…which just told him she was either a heavy sleeper, or so used to the noises that she slept through them. He hoped it was the former, as the latter he found too upsetting.
Severo eyed the horde, knowing that what he was about to do was more of a violation than if he’d just held the Nymph. But still, he did it anyway. Severo sat on the floor crossed legged. Hands gripping his knees, he began to emit what his kind called Dweller’s umbra.
Umbra, in the real world, was the darkest and innermost part of a shadow. A Shadow Dweller's umbra was the deepest, darkest part of a Dweller's soul. Even the kindest of Dwellers had darkness inside them.
The sickly-sweet smell of the dark energy had every Nystra in there turning as one towards him. Smirking, he released more, knowing what would come next. Dweller’s umbra was like catnip to them, and they’d try to get it, even to their own demise. And it would be their demise, as the minute they came close enough, his shadow would swallow them down and absorb them into itself.
At once, they surged towards him, and he didn’t hesitate to take them in. His shadow shot out to meet them, leaping into the air. The creatures let out screams that sounded much like crows as they were submerged. Even seeing their own kind fall, they kept coming.
Severo almost toppled over when the first nightmare slammed into him, the fear that Seri felt during it had his heartbeat speeding up.
Heart racing in fear,Seri limped down the hall as fast as he could. There was no color, no color anywhere. There never was, there never would be.
The guards he passed stared on, their lack of emotion as they watched him flee was mocking. They neither moved to stop him, or help… They all knew how this ended.
“NO!” he cried out, when something latched onto his ankle and roughly yanked him back. Landing hard on the floor, his knees and elbows slammed down. Seri yelped in pain as he landed right on his newly sealed wound on his right leg.
Even knowing it was futile, he still struggled, and he kept struggling even when he was flipped over roughly onto his back, the wind getting knocked out of him.
