His presence is all-consuming. He is so much larger than me that I am a butterfly in his cocoon.
His feet extend way past my feet and even still his head is above mine. This man is massive and the closer I get I realize just how much bigger than me he is.
I would say the size difference is similar to the difference between the human and far horses.
His skin was so smooth again my palm. My head rested on his bulky shoulder, my hands laid on his chest, our legs a tangled mess.
I snuggle into him a little more wishing that we could stay here forever, but I knew better.
Haldis had men he needed to attend to. Men that needed him to lead a war, which was far more important than him keeping guard while I slept.
Given the fact that he is now asleep, and I am the one up.
A blush shines on my pale face at the memory of him between my thighs.
It was so sinful, but it felt like heaven, and I knew I wouldn't be able to quit thinking about it for a long time to come. It was impractical though and in times of war, I needed to think with my head and not what was between my legs.
Seeing that eagle beast tear into Bolt made me realize just what we were about to be walking into, it was scary, but I didn't want to disappoint milady with unwanted fears.
I was to serve my dues in making the planet a better place to live. There was no doubt in my mind that the eagle beast was anything but good.
The blood thirst that it held onto was downright evil. I had felt it running through my veins, it had been all that I could think about while stuck in that horrendous vision. It was a machine meant for killing and nothing else.
The sun was barely up, and I was surprised that I had woken up this early after being so exhausted over the past few days.
The way that the light was peeking through the dark curtains cast a purple hue over everything in Haldis's room. Journals, chest, and even the dust particles that floated around in midair waiting to land on something.
It was beautiful and I wish I could implant this memory into my brain so that I could remember it forever. I'm sure over the years, the memory would fade and all I would be able to tell people was that it was beautiful. I wouldn't remember just how his arms felt around me, wouldn't be able to remember just how the purple hue caressed his black hair with grace.
It was bittersweet but there had been a time that I wasn't sure if I would ever see anything truly beautiful again. This was just that, this was perfect.
Moments like this always made me reflect on myself. Who I was always tended to be the highlight of my thoughts. There was no real answer that ever came to mind. I wish it was as simple as having one sentence to say.
Ayumu, a woman who is on parole for killing a man.
Or if I was being kind.
Ayumu, a woman who saved her sister.
But even that sentence didn't cast a light on who I was. One sentence didn't explain how growing up with a cruel man living in the room next over shaped me into the woman I am today. One sentence didn't explain how I loved fiercely, so fiercely that it blinds me sometimes. One sentence didn't explain to people that I spend a year and a half eating off of the floor and starving to death.
One sentence could not explain anything well enough.
If it was up to me, I would describe who I was in a whole story and if people didn't understand it then so be it because I wasn't meant to be understood.
I was Ayumu, a woman that didn't have a sentence to describe herself. I was Ayumu the woman that was soaking in the warmth of a man that suddenly felt like my second skin.
I felt weirdly attached to him, it wasn't even necessarily just lust. It was something else entirely. There was this crawling under my skin that felt like it needed to move when he did.
Since the moment I saw him at that stream my soul was awoken, riding horseback together seems to have just connected us in some way.
That fact scared me more than the war did.
"What are you thinking about?" His voice was riddled with sleep, and I love the way it grated against the top of my head.
"Nothing and everything." Space. I needed space. "Can I explore before we go?"
I peeked up at him to see his eyes weren't even good and open yet. "Take the girls with you, one of the warriors too. Remember, we are at war for a reason."
His words spoke volumes and I wondered what lurked down here with us. I wonder what had chased the warriors from this beautiful place and into a war camp. Now wasn't the time to ask, I needed to clear my brain and put some distance between me and Haldis even if this tugging string was protesting the idea.
~.~.~.~
"I don't think I have ever seen a place this beautiful in the design department." Clementine gushed at a small waterfall that trickled away on the edge of the cliff.
The warrior's armor clanked around scaring off any animals that might would have peaked in on us to see who we were. I loved wildlife, it felt unearthly watching them, realizing that they didn't care what was going on in the world because it didn't affect them.
"So where did you sleep considering I woke up to an empty bed?" Clementine teased me and my face bloomed with heat, and I hated that it gave me away.
"It's not like that at all," I tell her with a scolding look, Jade looked uninterested as always and I guess that's what shocked me when she spoke up.
"It might not be like that, but it is something." Clementine giggled at the princess's words.
"What do you mean?" I ask, confused. Was she seeing something I did not? What did it look like from the outside looking in?
"There is just this g- ..." The warrior fell to his knees.
The armor clanked in weird noises as it was bent in odd ways. Blood burst from his mouth, leaking down his chin similar to the way the waterfall was falling down the rocks.
Clementine shrieked.
Jade's mouth fell open.
I froze.
When the guard fell the rest of the way down all of our gazes locked on that of a man.
His hair was blonde, and it reached just above his kneecaps. His eyes were blue, like electricity and he didn't look fea despite the pointed ears, he appeared to be something else entirely. His arms were covered in black ink but what stuck out the most was his attire.
He was wearing leathers, but they were way fancier than I had ever seen. Purple, a royal color, gold lining the inside of the neck and sleeve, and most of all emerald jewels for buttons.
His lips grew into a smirk, one that was mysterious and up to trouble.
"Hello, Ladies."