Light and the Night Sky

Riven

Daphne understood enough to know that they didn’t plan on trying to save the female fae but brought her here for her last rites. Her frustration got the better of her and she walked toward the trio before she thought better of it.

Unfortunately, she did not get far. Riven snapped around at the sound of her footsteps and growled at her in warning. Barely glancing at him, she kept her eyes locked on the woman. He did not take that well and swiftly grabbed her by the neck, slamming her in the thigh of Hecate’s statue.

“You will not touch her.” His words echoed through her mind with surprising clarity.

Pain radiated from his grasp around her neck but she gasped around it. To her surprised, she was able to respond with perfect clarity. “Let me heal her.”

A growled so menacing rippled through his throat, something sharp broke the skin on her neck before she was released and dropped to the ground. Gasping for air, Daphne looked up at him.

“You cannot fix this.”

Maybe the desperate nature of what happen allowed her more access to understanding, maybe it was survival. She didn’t care. “Let me try.”

Looking down at her, his eyes never changed. The rage never dimmed. However, he took a step back enough for her to stand and walk pass to the female.

Kneeling next to the panting fae, Daphne questioned whether or not she was stupid. She was seeing energy surging from the fae but it was dark, tainted with something wrong. She looked poisoned rather than sick. Either way she had to try. Reaching down, she rested one hand on the female’s forehead and the other on the stomach.

With that, she dove in. She traced the nervous system lines, following the energy lines and protected them. Then did the only thing that she could think of and pushed in a little good light while pulling out the bad. She did this repeatedly until she could not see any more of the dark energy swirling around the female.

Then went about healing the damage left behind, Daphne traced along the damaged walls of her heart and supplied energy to those parts. She was not the strongest at healing, this was the first time she had done it. But Hecate gave very clear instructions. Put energy where the body is broken and force it back together.

She followed the next broken line to the lungs, to the liver and then to the spine. So much damage was left behind but she had no more energy to give it. Daphne would have to come back tomorrow and do a second round, if she survived that long.

Pulling back, the young woman opened her green eyes and breathed deeply. The weight of how much energy she used hit her then, but she refused to show it. Slowly standing up, she turned and met Riven’s angry gaze. “More tomorrow.”

Before letting her pass, he motioned with his head. “How?” Daphne briefly wondered if the lord had spoken to him about her language skills and was deliberately keeping his sentences short.

Smiling slightly, she met his gaze. “Light.”

Staring at her for a long moment, he stepped out of the way. Daphne left the shrine, not waiting for her ever-familiar escort, and returned back to her room. As soon as the door shut behind her, she let the exhaustion pass over her. It was like she hadn’t slept for three days. Pulling off her regular red dress, and was down to her undergarments and just simply did not have enough energy to do anything to her hair.

Stumbling over to the bed she collapsed into the soft folds of the bed. She was unconscious before she even realized what happened.

A deep growl startled her awake, night had descended and somehow this terrified her more. Jolting to her feet, Daphne was met with sharp gaze she was quickly growling used to. “You are in my bed.” Glancing behind him, she saw a fae with distinct birdlike features. He was bowing to him looking panicked.

A wave of nausea washed over her and the pain hit. A mind splitting migraine made its appearance, nearly knocking her to the ground.

“My Lord please, we moved the light bringer here. You have new rooms.” The words echo through her head, rattling around sending ripples of pain behind.

“I did not ask where my new accommodation was, I said this is my room. Why is the human here?” His voice deep and grating, Riven’s storming eyes never leaving hers.

The nausea grew, she stumbled forward to grab the bed post.

“Forgive me, my lord. These rooms have always belonged to the light bringer, as demanded by the Goddess Hecate. You, as a High Lord may use them when the light bringer is not here.” Fear laced the lower fae’s words as he spoke them.

“The light bringer is not here.” Riven’s words were cold.

“Stop talking. You can have the room. Just please stop talking.” Those were the only words she was able to say before she lost consciousness.