If love was a dream, it was one he didn’t want to wake from. The longer that Metaphor stood in her presence, the more he came to realize that this, in fact, was more than just a dream. She was too warm, too sweet beneath his touch, too vibrant to be just a figment of his imagination. Katniss. Her name is torn from his lips like a combination of a promise and a curse, for it had been too long that he’d lay awake at night wanting for her, wishing she were beside him. Now that he had her, Metaphor intended never to let her go again.
I thought I’d lost you… he repeated, when the Rift tore Elysian apart. For the first time since seeing the mirage that was his lover, Metaphor stepped a few strides from her, pacing as he recalled the loneliness that had befallen him of late. Everything burned, just as it had before. But instead of fire, it was a twisted purple heat – sparks, and magic. And then, it was all just gone. He shuddered at the horror of it all, remembering the anguish he’d felt as he plunged to his knees, begging to any god who would listen to kill him on the spot. But they hadn’t. Metaphor had simply gone on existing, lost to his own loneliness – it was enough to almost drive him mad.
But it hadn’t. She had kept him sane. The thought of her, somewhere, searching for him too. It wasn’t all that strange, that if he had escaped the wrath of dark magic, perhaps the others from Elysian were thrown asunder. It was the only hope he had left to cling to when the rest of the world seemed to darken around him. All he had was his hope, and the glow of Maaemo’s orb like a cruel reminder that light would always shine through the darkness. He supposed in many ways, he should be grateful for this hope now… for here in her presence, Metaphor knew that it would all be alright. I never stopped searching for you…
His words were a quiet promise to his beloved. For months now, he’d had a singular purpose – to find her and right their world once more. Looking around, the red stallion didn’t know much. He didn’t know where they were, what strange magics this place held, even what the land was called. But none of that mattered now. All that mattered is that she was safe. All that mattered is that he’d found her once again. Questions flooded his mind, but none of them were worth asking for now. Instead, the russet knight simply stilled his mind, letting himself relax for the first time in what felt like forever.
For now that he found her, he was home once more.
