The First Flame part 20

This is the 6th update this week! ❤️

After finishing her artwork, she cleaned up her room. Somewhere along the line, she fell asleep. Disturbing dreams terrorized her.

In her sleep, Siox was back. His disgusting hold and dark obsession chased her until she woke up, panting and alerted.

“He’s dead,” she reminded herself. “You killed him.”

She splashed her face to wash away the feeling of filth. To distract herself, she went in search of Kira. She needed to know where Brent was staying so she could update him. Hopefully, he was still nearby.

During dinner, she whispered with Neil about their plans. To onlookers, they looked like two youngsters in love. Vrox seemed especially pleased by her acting.

After dinner, everyone went separate ways. Instead of going to her room, Ran followed Terra. She hoped that sleeping beside her twin would chase away the nightmares.

As she followed Terra, she found her staring at a male across the field. He wasn’t old, but not particularly young either. That must be the mysterious soon-to-be-father.

Terra rushed upstairs, and the man watched on. Something was happening between those two, but Ran didn’t want to dive into Terra’s business if she wasn’t ready to talk about it.

She waited ten minutes before going to Terra’s room and knocking loudly.

“Hey.”

“Hi,” Ran greeted. “I can’t sleep. Do you mind if I stay over tonight?”

“Sure.” She opened the door, revealing her large, tidy room.

Ran kicked her sandals off and got comfortable atop her sheets. “How are you?”

Terra shrugged. “Still pregnant.”

“Mom’s going to jump for the sky when she finds out.”

“And dad will fall seven feet under,” Terra added.

They laughed and talked about nonsense until they fell asleep in each other’s arms. No nightmares came for Ran that night.

The next morning, she prepared for her travel. She was bouncing from foot to foot, thrilled that she would see Eon again.

Her father gave her permission to go on another ‘date’ with Neil with no questions asked. He smiled tenderly, grilled Neil in the typical over-protective-father style, and sent them on their way.

They ran through the woods for a good hour as they searched for Brent’s cabin. He had been staying there temporarily, but Kira warned that he would be moving on soon. Hopefully, he was still around.

Smoke from a breakfast meal was still on the horizon. They peeked into the camp and made their presence known when they recognized Brent.

“Hi Brent.”

The male rose from his bench, eyeing her with surprise.

“Princess,” he lowered his head.

“Hi.”

His surprise melted and became sadness. When he saw her, he was reminded of his lost son.

“How have you been?” Ran added and quickly realized that was the worst thing she could’ve asked. Of course he was lonely and hearbroken. Eon was gone.

“I have been alright. What brings you here? Can I offer anything?”

She waved him off and grinned. “I came to bring you good news. Eon is on Ezron. I’m working on setting him free.”

“What?” Brent whispered.

“He’s okay. I’m bringing hin home.”

Brent’s eyes widened, and his arms reached out as if he wanted to touch her. Thinking against it, he lowered his arms.

Ran decided to step over cultural norms just this once and embraced him.

“Is he alright?”

She laughed. “As bossy as ever. Yes, he’s fine. You should return to The Ruins. I’ll have him back soon.”

Brent nodded. “Yes. I will clean up here. Thank you, Ran.”

“No, thank you for raising him.”

She and Neil returned to the road. It took a longer than they expected to reach the spaceship which meant Ran had less time to spend with Eon.

He was already standing by the time she entered, waiting with his hand extended.

She lowered the bag of sweets she brought and walked into his embrace.

“You smell like rain,” he murmured against her hair.

Ran laughed. “Thank you?”

“You came back.”

“I told you I would. I’ll keep coming back until you’re out of here. I saw your dad just now.”

“How is he?” Eon asked as he rubbed the small of her back.

“He’s happy. Excited to know you’re coming back.”

“Hmm,” Eon inhaled her hair.

“What’s with the sniffing?”

“I haven’t seen you in days. Let me consume you in peace.”

Normally, she would’ve replied some innuendo. She was even wearing sexy, primitive lingerie just for him. Something held her back, and she suspected it had to do with the nightmare.

She was afraid she wouldn’t enjoy intimacy with Eon because Siox would crawl out of her memory and into her reality.

Eon had enough going on. The last thing she needed for him was to worry that she was broken.

“Ran?”

She blinked. “What?”

“Where did you go just now?”

She smiled. “Just wondering if you’ve been showing in here, or you’re stinking me up.”

He brought his lips to her forehead. “Yes. The water is running in here.”

“Fates, I wish I could open these cell doors for you.”

He sat and tugged her down. He made sure both of their hands were connected, and that made her chest stir.

“And I wish you were not so hard-headed, but it looks like we can’t get what we want all the time, huh?”

She rolled her eyes. “You’ll be free soon enough. I’ve been talking to my dad. He’s bending, slowly but surely.”

Their conversation remained casual. Sometimes they just stopped and stared at each other. Eon’s hands talked along with his lips. They traveled up her arms in a soothing matter.

She leaned her head against the bars, hoping they weren’t there so she could listen to his heartbeat.

She didn’t realize she fell asleep until Eon gently shook her awake.

“You were having a bad dream.”

Another dream about Siox.

Instead of addressing it, she said, “why didn’t you wake me up? We just wasted a bunch of time. I don’t know when I’ll see you again.”

He shrugged. “You looked beautiful. I got distracted staring.”

She couldn’t stay mad at him. Not when he said things like that.

“Ran.”

“Yes?”

“Why were you whimpering? What did you dream of?”

She didn’t want to tell him about the assault. Not yet, when he was isolated in a cell.

“I don’t remember,” she lied. “So tell me–”

“Ran,” Neil called out from outside. “It’s getting late. We should start turning back.”

She wanted to scream in protest.

“There she is,” Eon said, cupping her chin and tipping her head back. “There’s the hell lion.”

She groaned. “I don’t want to go back.”

“Be patient.”

“Did I ever tell you you’re bossy?”

He shrugged. “Maybe once or twice. Now, kiss me, and go home.”

She saluted. “Yes, sir.” Then, she cupped his face and tried to prove who the real boss was. Eon fought her, of course.

He lived to challenge her.

There will be 5 updated next week! (3 PregNot, 2 TFF)