The First Flame part 29

“Do you miss The Federation?”

Ran nodded. “I do. I learned a lot, and I led great men. I don’t think it’s time to reach out to them. Things between Ezron and The Federation are still shaky after…”

After the death of The Federation’s prince. That bastard Siox. 

They stared at the stars and thought about the past. Ran touched Eon’s hand and leaned into his shoulder.

“I should take you home. It is getting late.”

She groaned.

Eon chuckled. “Spoiled princess. We will do the same sight-seeing tomorrow. I promise.”

“Alright.”

They got off the blanket and walked home. It was so dark she could barely see ahead, but the darkness didn’t intimidate her. Not only because she was a warrior, but because Eon would annihilate any threat.

They parted with a kiss, and she watched him go until she couldn’t make him out from the darkness.

She fell asleep with a smile and woke up to the smell of her mother’s cooking. Still tired, she rolled over in bed and got more rest. It was rare of her to sleep in, but she had been dreaming about swimming. The serenity had been so realistic that she wanted to dive back into it.

“Ran!”

She jumped up, not sure if she was still dreaming, or if this was reality.

Ni’ev was standing on her door, which was odd, because he never came into her room without asking permission.

His face was spooked, and that was even stranger because it took a lot to scare a man like him. Ran instantly knew something was wrong.

“It is Eon.”

She shoved her blankets aside and jumped to her feet. Her head felt pressured, as if she was still underwater.

“What?” she whispered.

Did her father fight Eon again? Did Eon lose this battle?

“He is injured. Very badly.”

She ran out, her hair a mess, her feet bare, and her clothes crumbled.

Ni’ev led the way downstairs. Finding Eon was easy enough. He was being carried in a blanket-like tarp by four men. His arms and legs dangled off as he laid unconscious, and blood was dripping onto the dirt.

“No!”

Ran pushed past the older women that were trying to calm her, and touched Eon’s cheek. He was cold. Unreachable.

“What happened?” The question roared out of her. She picked up a side of the blanket and helped the men rush inside. “Was it father?”

“A hunting accident,” one of the men answered.

A hunting accident? The injury on Eon’s side was devastating. He had a horn of some animal sticking out. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Hunting parties had specific formations to distract and conquer animals and protect the group. No animal was supposed to get this close to someone without getting killed first.

They went up the stairs and placed Eon on a bed. 

Lamara– Kyros’ wife, had the best medical training amongst them, so she dove into the room, washed her hands, and began throwing orders.

Ran only hovered in horror as Eon bled out on the bed.

“Give me some space, sweetheart,” Lamara said as she worked to stop the bleeding.

Ran pressed against the wall, feeling useless.

The horn on Eon’s side needed to be removed to sew him back up, but the removal process was delicate because it could cause further damage.

Eon was medicated, and then he bled more intensely when the horn was pulled out. All hell was raised when he woke up, kicking and howling from the pain. 

The dosage hadn’t been enough.

Ran threw herself on the floor and took one of his hands as two men pinned him down to stop him from ripping his side open. 

Eon’s eyes found Ran’s. He was confused, angry, and in so much pain.

She was rambling words of encouragement to him, but she didn’t know if he could hear her. He was the one drowning now.

He slumped asleep when a stronger dose of sedatives were pumped into him.

“Alright,” Lamara sighed four hours later, clanking her utensils down. She looked down at Ran, who was kneeling beside the bed.

“Go take a shower, hon. You look worse than he does. I’m done for now. The blood loss wasn’t too bad, but we’ll have to keep an eye on him until he wakes up.”

Ran looked at her with gratitude. “What about infection? Is it a threat?”

“I’ll need some things from Vrox.”

Ran allowed her shoulders to relax a little. Eon was still a long way from recovery, but at least he was in a stable condition.

She looked to one of the men that helped carry Eon inside.

“Tell me what happened,” she demanded.

He shifted his weight from one leg to another, probably because she looked murderous.

“We wanted to hunt what we usually do, but Eon has a habit of splitting from the team to hunt gontro.”

Ran nodded. gontro was a delicious, but rare meat. Killing those fierce, huge animals was just too troublesome since they were always in pairs. They were a luxury.

“Everyone appreciated him. He liked seeing us happy, although we told him it was not necessary. Something must have gone wrong today. We heard a yell and went looking. We found him bleeding out and took him here immediately.”

Ran sighed. If she knew that for the past two months he had embarked on dangerous solo trips, then she would have spoken up long ago.

Did this have to do with his obsession with exercising?

She stood up when Vrox appeared on the door.

“I need your help,” Lamara spoke.

Vrox took Eon in and then nodded at Lamara. “Need something for infections? I will bring them to you.”

They got lost in discussion, so Ran returned to her kneeling position. She skimmed a gentle hand down Eon’s chest and stopped at the top of his bandages.

She could only pray to the Fates that he was strong enough to survive this.

•

Ran took a shower only because Terra swore that she wouldn’t leave Eon’s side.

Not much progress happened that first day. Eon remained unconscious, but Ran was willing to wait a century if that was what it took. She had dinner outside the infirmary and slept in a bed that she rolled in.

“It’s night already,” she spoke, although she didn’t know if he could hear her.

“We can’t miss the stars.”

She opened the small window and was sad that only a few stars could be seen. This would have to do, though.

She told him about her day until she fell asleep. Throughout the night, she woke to check on him. Eon remained in the same position.

It was day three when he shuddered awake.

“Hey,” she smiled at him.

Eon tried to sit up with a gasp, but Ran pinned his shoulders down to stop him from hurting himself.

“What happened?” he croaked.

“Hold on. Let me call Lamara first.”

Eon groaned when all the pains in his body registered.

Lamara looked him over and gave him more pain medication. He became woozy, but he was still conscious.

“Eon…”

“Yes, princess?” he chuckled. “I feel… strange. This medicine. Or maybe it’s you, Ran. Maybe your beauty finally broken my head.”

“Are you okay? Do you need water?”

“Water… I was so angry when I saw Neil close to you in the lake. Jealous.”

“So do you want water?”

He frowned. “No.”

“Eon… why do you keep on hunting by yourself? It’s dangerous. Look what happened.” She looked at his fresh bandages.

“It is worth it.”

“Getting torn up is worth what? We’re not starving. There’s more than enough food here.”

Eon shook his head. “You do not understand, Ran. Vrox will never let me have you if I do not prove myself. That’s why I must become bigger, faster, better.”

Everything came together, and she facepalmed.

Eon wanted acceptance. His obsession with exercising and hunting had to do with his feelings of exclusion.

“Mothers, Eon,” she whispered. “You’re already worthy. You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone.”

He laid his cheek on her palm and smiled, liking the comfort.

“You’ve been lonely. Haven’t you, baby?”

He groaned and cupped her arm to keep it in place. He fell asleep quickly after that, and Ran stared at the man with the realization that she loved him.

finallyyyy the smut is coming in about 10 hours
Preg-Not will also be updated on Monday