azrael
He walks in the land of mirrors, lost to his thoughts, lost to his dreams. Around him, they reflect a starless sky, hazy and shadowed like the thoughts which clouded his mind. For Azrael was lost. For several weeks he’d been like a ship at sea, simply drifting about without purpose or meaning. His body had been numb, his mind fraught with all manner of emotions – rage, shock, jealousy, grief. But most of all, regret.
For now, Azrael blamed himself.
If only the shed-star had spoken the words within his heart. Perhaps if she knew the way he dreamed of her, with stars in her mane and the sea at her back, Elena might have given herself to Azrael instead of sinning with the monk. Even now, the thought of Tenebrae lying with her was enough to sour his expression. He imagined the way the man’s lips trembled against her, the way their breath mingled as one, the way she opened herself to his touch. And all the while, Azrael cannot help but feel the twinge of jealousy as he wished their stolen kisses had been meant for him.
Find me again.
Her words echo in his mind. They drive him mad when sleep evades him, when his stars blink with each passing night as he turns from their shining light. In dreams, she comes to him, bathed in white moonlight with a promise of affection on her lips. It is his name she whispers breathlessly, his turquoise light awash on her instead of Tenebrae’s shadows.
But dreams were far from reality, the magician knew. In dreams, Azrael could wrap the outcome in any way he wished. There were no consequences, only fantasy. Not for the first time, he sighed away the hurt, marching onward through the world of crystal and letting wanderlust take him somewhere far from his own thoughts.
Here, there was only illusion which stretched for miles. Where once he had found endless starlight, Azrael now finds something winding and cold. Behind every turn, something new waits to be discovered – mirrors to another world or another dimension of time and space. Many hold no interest to the male at all, so he simply wanders past… but then Azrael comes to one crystal window which takes his breath away.
She watches him, pale as the morning sun, her eyes soft and pleading as they find his. A thousand thoughts jumble in his mind as Azrael struggles to name the emotion which twists within him. Part of him wants to turn from her, warring with another piece of him which longs to wrap her in his embrace. But he gives into neither, simply standing and staring at the her golden form while blinking quietly in disbelief, unable to move for fear that the illusion might shatter like the glass which held it.
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