Rionan groaned his pleasure as he came, his fantasies fading, as his breathing began to return to its usual rate.
He lifted his phone to check the time: 02:10am.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow, he would come up with a plan.
15
The Nightmare
“You’re allowed to have a summer fling, Alianna,” Natasha mused, sipping coffee while she absent-mindedly stroked Shadow, who was curled up next to her. “Lots of people do.”
“I know. I just – I barely know Max. I don’t know where he is actually from; he hasn’t specified at least. He’s told me about his home and his hobbies, I know he’s in a management position at work…”
“Then who cares? As long as he isn’t married and doesn’t have a family waiting for him wherever he is from, knock yourself out. You’re allowed fun without committing to anything else.”
“We haven’t talked about having a family. He would have told me if he had one, wouldn’t he?”
Natasha sat forward. “I’d like to think that anyone who has a family back home, or a marital partner waiting for them, wouldn’t be going for evening strolls on the beach, in the park, or taking you to dinner.But there are some scum bags around. Put the feelers out next time you see him.”
“How do I even reach out to him after last night? We left things…unfinished. In the middle of things. Wouldn’t reaching out now be awkward?”
“No more awkward than offering to get undressed for the guy and then never speaking to him again. Who knows how long he’s in town for, Ali? Go for it.”
Alianna crossed her legs in front of her, sitting back and thinking.Be the girl in the red dress.
The morning air breezed in through the window. The evening had been wonderful, Alianna wouldn’t deny it. She also wouldn’t deny that if they hadn’t been interrupted, then she would have taken things further with Max.
She picked up her phone, checking the time. 09.02am. Cautious of looking desperate, she decided she would message him later on today. She would find a way to ask about his home life, and then maybe they would get back to whatever they started in his suite last night.
***************
Rionan was in a hellscape of flashes through the night sky. He saw the bodies of his friends beneath his feet as he strode over them, looking for something. Something that he could not place.
The trees around him were withering and dying faster than he knew should be possible.
The flowers he looked on so fondly on the perimeters of his grounds were brown and droopy.
The grass beneath his feet was gone, replaced by dirt and ash.
His vision raced through his decaying lands, on, on, until he reached a familiar stone courtyard. Within the courtyard sat the Well. The air had been cold. So cold, and so still. Yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something had been watching him over his shoulder.
He stepped forward, peering into the Well. He was met with a vast, reaching darkness. It seemed to be empty and full of hatred, all at once. As he looked down, he felt tendrils of whatever lay in wait there reaching for him, trying to pull him down.
You left us.
You killed us.
You gave up on us.
“No,” he said, shaking his head, backing away from the Well. His skin buzzed, and he fought the urge to release his magic, to fill the Well and return life to the space around him.
You murdered us.
You drained us.
You ended us.
He now realised the voices he heard were one and many. He heard the strange, ethereal voice of his power, which he had become used to in the last few days. He also heard the voice of Ulreah, husky and full of sorrow. He heard the voice of Thallax, hollow and lifeless.
