The fire and darkness surrounding her.
That feeling of piercing through the flesh of the one you love.
Her companions unconscious not faraway from her.
That gentle smile filled with sadness.
The taste of iron in her mouth.
And the searing pain in her heart.
The heavy pounding of her head as if it was about to burst open any minute now.
"SAPHIRA!!!"
She was shaken awake from that torturous nightmare with sweat covering her whole body.
She breathed deeply as if she was under the water all along and air had not entered her lungs for so long.
"Saphira!!! Are you okay?"
It took a while before her eyes refocused to the person in front of her.
And the people surrounding him.
Drake and Willow weren't around but the rest were there looking at her with worried face.
After that deep breath she was suddenly attacked with continuous coughing.
The air got stucked in her throat after not being able to get any for a long time.
"Here drink some water," he placed a glass in front of her lips.
It took a while but after she calmed down, she was able to drink the water being given to her.
"What happened?" she weakly asked as she leaned in his arms.
"When we came to check on you, you were struggling in your sleep. And when we realized it, you were holding your breath, we could only wake you up."
Stormie was the one who explained it to her.
Saphira held her head, 'This was the second time that this happened. Good thing the first time was me not holding my breath or my mother would have worried even more. That said...'
She looked at the four of them who are looking at her worriedly.
'I ended up worrying them instead.'
"I'm sorry, it was a nightmare," she replied with a weak chuckle.
"Can you leave us alone for a bit?" Hunter said after hearing her reply.
She looked up and noticed how dark his face looks.
Stormie and the other two noticed it as well and so they excused themselves.
"Hun-"
"Stop hiding!!"
She was starteld by his stern voice and the look in his eyes.
"I am not hiding," she replied finally having the strength to sit up on her own.
"I'm begging you Saphira, stop hiding your pain."
He was looking at her with that same pained look he had back in the rain where she told him that she had to pierce her sister's body and kill her on that fateful day.
Saphira covered her eyes with her hand, "You know I am too weak to that look of yours."
"Then am I supposed to have this look just for you to tell me what pains you? Saphira, I am here for you. I have always been here for you but it was you who are trying to stay away. Trying to handle everything on your own."
Saphira lowered her head in guilt.
"You told me you won't back down on this marriage because you wanted to be the one supporting me. Am I supposed to just receive your support without you allowing me to support you?"
Saphira remained silent.
"Fine, if that is what you want. I am not telling you to reminisce the past but I am telling you to at the very least be honest with your feelings when you are with me."
He stood up turning his back on her.
"I just want you to laugh when you really felt like laughing, to be sad when you really are sad. But don't pretend because that is even more painful for me to see than you being in pain."
Saphira raised her hand wanting to reach out to him.
"If you can't even do that when you are with me then maybe we should call off this engagement after all. I am not someone who needs support, I am someone who needs someone who will stand beside me while we support one another."
After that he left slamming the door close.
Saphira had her hand extended but her voice was stuck in her throat.
Very slowly that hand fell on the bed, 'I've made quite a blunder in here. Hurting people I didn't want to hurt.'
Her eyes shifted before her hand clutched on to her chest, 'If even I am confused of so many things, how am I going to explain it to you?'
With a tired sigh she lay down and closed her eyes.
She seemed to be struggling with something for a while and more beads of sweat appeared on her face and the knuckles of her hands clutching on to the blanket turned white.
After about half an hour, her grip loosened and she opened her eyes once again.
'Why must it be me? Because I can accept my own darkness?'
She chuckled bitterly, 'What of it, the more it is hidden the more that the people around me are being pushed away.'
She once again covered her eyes with her hand, "I can't even cry no matter how I felt wronged and in pain."
Laughing bitterly on her own, "What a curse you placed on me. Seriously that curse is too much."
She then decided to stand up and walked towards the balcony, dragging her still tired body.
She climbed up the wooden railings.
The room she was in was at the back of the castle, it is facing the northern side and most of it were nothing but mountains and rivers.
Barely any villages were in there.
'Let's just stay away for now. The looks and gossips are too much for my mind right now.'
With that thought she jumped off the railings and into the lush forests towards the mountains.
No one realized she had left her room until late that night.
"Do you know why I have called you here?" Reginald said to Hunter.
"I am unaware father," he replied.
After confronting Saphira he busied himself with training with the demonic beasts.
"Saphira had left without anyone knowing where she went."