Illuminating the Dark Prince

Dawn of an Illuminated World

~One Month Later~

Soft morning light gently glimmered down upon the rippling abyssal sea, illuminating its misty surface in a shimmering silvery veil. The ivory-grey cumulus clouds gently glowed a pale yellow hue where the pearly rays of the abyssal sun crept through. Seaspray sparkled in prisms of crystalline droplets as it violently billowed up from the waves which crashed upon the sharp cliffs, only to gently trickle back down into the ocean in foamy rivulets. Small dragon-like creatures eerily screeched while their leathery webbed wings flapped across the smokey horizon, occasionally diving below the surface in an attempt to catch a meal.

The misty sea winds played with the twisting strands of my golden hair and kissed my teary cheeks. Green grass thrilled at my slowly stepping feet while my long silky black dress fluttered out beside me. My broken heart was as heavy as the burial stone I held within my hands. Solemnly, I carried it over and laid it upon the small nameless grave at the edge of the seaside cliff. I could barely control my chest-wracking sobs while I weakly tucked the stone into place, trembling with grief as I did so.

I bit my quivering lower lip while sucking in a shaky breath, feeling a raw and empty ache carved deeply into my chest by the bitter blade of bereavement. It was the tangible kind of pain that was both scathing and suffocating, leaving one utterly debilitated in their anguish. As I dolorously laid my palm upon the cold stone, a large clawed grey hand gently rested over mine. Valarendrik crouched down to tenderly hug me from behind. I wrapped my other hand around his arm and began to violently weep, burying the side of my wet rosy cheek against his strong chest. He leaned his crestfallen face down to rest his lips against my hair, with his own black tears silently trickling down his ashen cheeks. Sagacor followed soon after, folding his large legs to lay behind us. He sadly hung his big horse head by our side with a soft woeful nicker. Then Valarendrik gave me a comforting squeeze as we grieved the child we would never know, enshrouded in the silence of sorrow.

The salted wind dragged a few strands of his shadowy hair over my shoulder, tickling my arm while my teary eyes stared blearily down at the empty grave. It was symbolic of our worst fears coming to life. A tomb for the dreams we'd foolishly dared to dream for our future. After the battle had been won, we had returned to Hell to ensure that everything was still okay with the baby. I squeezed my eyes tightly closed in anguish, recalling the world-shattering moment when Doctor Hangatie had reluctantly confirmed that our baby had been lost, having found no traces of life left within my womb. She informed us that we would have had a little girl, which had both brought me joy and felt like being stabbed in the gut.

Warm tears rolled down my cheeks and dripped from my chin, while the grass wavered all around our seated frames. In a mere instant, I had lost an irreplaceable piece of my heart. I'd spent nearly every night after that laying awake in Val's arms, desperately wishing that I could somehow turn back time and change what had happened. And even though I now knew that the lloigor had been playing tricks on my mind and undoubtedly would have killed everyone had I chosen to stay with the group, I still couldn't seem to stop all the guilt, anger, and what-ifs from drowning me in despair.

"She would have been so beautiful..." I brokenly whispered toward the shimmering sea.

Valarendrik tightened his hold around me and lovingly kissed the top of my head. "I would have wanted her to have your smile." The wind solemnly twisted through our hair, while Sagacor began nibbling on the grass. "Then I would have had an extra reason to do my best at filling her heart with joy."

A soft grievous laugh struggled its way out of my chest. "I doubt she would have looked anything like me at all. In fact, if that vision I had was true, then I'm certain she would have inherited your sharp scary teeth." I lightly poked at him.