(((Posting my 2nd fic I’ve done here too👉👈 Again, no editing, )))
Dream Eater
Cold.
So cold.
It’s all Thakur can feel as he comes to. His head feels heavy, loose, and his mind dizzy as his senses work overtime to return to him. Orienting himself is priority number one.
He rolls onto his side, having been on his back, before standing up. His feet threaten to give way, shaking like a newborn foal as he finally looks around.
Grey, but not. Familiar and wrong. He’s on a rooftop he knows well. One that’s different. As a mage, Thakur knows the Fade when he sees it. As his senses fully collect he can feel the hum in his veins. It’s a relieving warmth against the cold of it.
The Treviso rooftops offer a sense of comfort, though he knows better than to let his guard down. The mage’s hand hovers over his…
Looking down he realizes his blade is missing.
Alright. Fine. Fantastic. Thakur can just use his magic instead. Channeling the magic within, he summons his orb. Or not. the electricity just sparks and fizzles out at his finger tips.
At this point fear is the enemy, it’s best to calm himself, think of what to do next. Fear makes you an easy target for demons and Thakur wasn’t eager to go fisticuffs with one. Certainly that would be a losing battle without a weapon or usable magic.
Despite his outward appearance, despite how he tries to calm himself, he feels the wrongness in the air. It’s thick, a tar-like ooze that drapes itself over everything around him.
Thakur’s nerves tingle as he pushes them down. Show no fear. He’s a Crow. These rooftops are his. Treviso is his home.
But this isn’t Treviso. Not really.
He finally starts moving, walking with a familiarity. He knows this place like the back of his hands. Then… a feeling.
The hair on the back of his neck stands up, following the hairs on his arm. He doesn’t turn around as he focuses his steps, lest he fall into the chasm below where the streets would be busy with vendors and people eager to spend. The abyss almost felt inviting, a pervasive pleading for him to make a wrong step. Its pleasing would go unanswered.
In the quiet the only sound was Thakur’s steps. Boots against tile. And the feeling grows thicker.
He tries again to calm himself. Show no fear, but his skin itches and his palms begin to sweat.
A second set of footstep ring out behind him.
The shiver that rushes up his spine threatens to freeze him as his body goes cold. The steps are slow, easily outsped by a leisurely walk, until slowly they pick up pace. Thakur picks up his as well.
Faster.
The Crow begins to run. He can feel it. Fear. He doesn’t look back.
Faster.
Nerves and muscles begin to scream as Thakur breaks into a sprint. He feels it getting closer to him as he navigates the rooftops blindly. They’ve changed, no longer familiar.
Closer.
He’s lost but he doesn’t stop. His feet carry him, fueled by adrenaline. The sound of footsteps is deafening. Against every sensible bone in his body, Thakur chances a look back.
Nothing.
He snaps forward again, urgency not diminished in the slightest. It hounds him.
A gap in the rooftops comes into sight. The gap is large. He could jump, but a sloppy step or a miscalculation would send him plummeting into the void.
By the time he reaches the gap there’s no time to think.
Behind you.
Thakur puts his everything into that jump. Wiping out as he clashes with the tiles. His chest aches as it begs for air.
The footsteps have stopped. There’s only silence.
He doesn’t move. Or more so he can’t. He stares back at where he jumped from. Still. Watching. Waiting for something.
More silence. Agonizingly silent.
Thakur gets up after what feels like an eternity. Rattled and shaking, he doesn’t look away as he rises up.
The sound of a running start.
Thakur doesn’t hesitate. No longer can he tell if the rapid sounds of steps are his own or his hunter’s. It doesn’t matter. Go. Go. Run. Run and don’t stop. Whatever he does, do not stop.
He feels its breath on his neck.
A screech rings out, loud against the shell of his ears before suddenly-
His back collides against the ground.
Thakur can feel the hard wools flooring beneath his hands. Sweat drenches his body almost as if he’d just gotten out of a bath. His lungs take in air like a starved animal swallows a fine meal. Desperately. His heart threatens to leap out of his chest.
The ceiling above is a familiar and welcome sight. He’s at home, safe, and on the floor. Soreness spreads through his left shoulder, as if he’d been hit hard by something. It’s only then that he hears the retching from the bed, fingers clinging to the sides, fistfuls of blankets. Lucanis.
Still shaken up Thakur hauls himself off the floor, ready to help, but he’s not prepared for what he sees.
Not Lucanis.
Spite props up on Lucanis’ elbows, shaking violently, salivating, fuchsia eyes wide as tears flow over the curves of their face like a river.
He pants heavier than Thakur, as if every breath was a fight in itself, only stopping to swallow between that and the retching. He mirrored Thakur’s own sweat coated body. He’s partly sprawled across Thakur’s side of the bed.
Suddenly awake, the mage reaches out, one hand on the demon’s shoulder, grounding, comforting, and the other on his forehead. Heat flares up beneath the palm on Spite’s forehead.
Thakur’s about ready to rush for aid when one of Spite’s hands snatch him by the wrist. Uncomfortably tight.
Thakur almost protests, but Spite speaks first, almost choking as he finds his words. “*Your. Dream.*” the two words alone are labored, but the demon forces himself to continue, “Bad. Wrong.”
“Spite, what did you do?” Thakur questions cautiously, the worry in his voice betrays any semblance of calm he fronts. If Spite gripped him any harder it’d likely break bones. Thakur could live with the bruises from the current force just fine.
“Wanted. To help.” He groans as he turns his head to wipe some of his drool onto Lucanis’ shoulder. “*Hurts.*”
Thakur frowns, using his free hand to caress the demon’s face. Spite’s nose wrinkles, but leans into the touch, eyes closing even as he pants.
“Ate it.” He states, almost whimpering.
“Spite… I was having a nightmare,” Thakur says gently, watching as another wave a shaking rip through the demon, “you shouldn’t have done that. It’s not good for you.”
Closer to a growl when he speaks, Spite’s brows furrow. “No! Not. A. Nightmare! Too vivid. Too. Wrong.”
Thakur doesn’t know how to respond. “Should I get someone? Maybe wake Lucanis?”
“No!” Spite pulls the mage closer by the wrist, “Stay. Stay. Here. With me.” he shudders again, and presses his face against Thakur.
Thakur hesitates. The creatures of the Fade have always targeted mages. Is that what that was? Or simply a nightmare? What could’ve been so wrong that it had Spite intervening to stop it? Thoughts swirl in his head, overwhelming and loud. Each one begging for attention, each a starved beast begging to devour him.
“Rook. ”
The demon’s voice calls him back, and he damn near deflates. Spite looks so small and it breaks his heart.
“This,” Thakur starts, “this will pass, right? I don’t need to get help?”
Spite nods, short and fast. He doesn’t seem to be lying.
Thakur hums, his own brows furrowing. “Scoot over.”
Spite does and Thakur slides into bed next to him. The instant he’s fully on the mattress Spite practically wraps Lucanis’ body around the mage, clinging onto him like he’d disappear if he let go.
Thakur sighs, returning the embrace.
The two stay like that well into the early hours of the morning. After two or three hours the shaking subsides, Spite remaining firmly in control despite his condition. Thakur infers that he doesn’t want Lucanis to experience it, or that he wants the physical comfort, or even both. Most likely the latter of the three.
Mentally, Thakur takes a note to look into things. This cannot happen again. For the three of them.
My finger is better enough that I can build my next Gundam! Z had gotten started on this one eons ago, and I was able to finish up the torso and arms pretty quickly 🙂
also when i mean im really good at bullshitting essays and writing i mean like. last year i put a kinda less than average amount of work into my romeo and juliet essay throughout a few days and it was sorta messy but it was good and i got a 95% and then for my frankenstein essay i finished it in one night through like 10 pm to 2 am and got a 96% so whatever i guess
