Druidic Intentions

I took in the earthy forest air as the needle-covered path before me felt longer than before. I had traveled for hours and the humidity had drenched my clothes, but I was determined to find what I was looking for. Besides, as I admired the green view revealing itself in front of me, what other choice did I have than to be filled with energy?

Even though the deadly Blooming Sea was approaching these woods fast, it was filled with life and different echoing sounds. The leaves swished gently in the wind as the birds and critters of various sizes traveled through the branches older than the destructive flood pouring towards it. Here, one could easily forget how those who ruled were either consumed by greed or sending soldiers to fight wars which meant little in the face of certain destruction of the Blooming Sea. Had I been able to, I would have stayed here, listening to the little stream flowing next to me until the spreading blossoming absorbed it and me, but instead of letting the apathy take me over, I wanted to save what was in front of me and if I could not save it, I’d make sure stop the very thing that had destroyed it.

Small sun wyverns flew over me as I made my way deeper into the forest. To reach my goal I would need a lot more magic than what I now held and I knew just where to find it. Deep within the forest, there lived a man who had killed for his powers and taken his place as the rightful heir to the ancient nature god he had slaughtered a long time ago. Learning from him might give me a chance to save what I hold dearest in my heart and the whole world in the process and even if he wouldn’t grant me his knowledge willingly, I would take it by force if necessary.

Yet, even though I had a plan and I believed in it. It all felt futile at the same time.

The deeper I marched, the higher the trees got and the faint glow of the sunlight barely reached the forest floor. When I permitted myself to rest against an old tree it was already noon and I still had a long way to go.

Not much was known about the man I was looking for, but according to folktales he had once been a mortal human, a hero who was led astray because of his greed for greater power. He had slain and murdered to reach his goal and once he did, he had been so ashamed by what he had done that he retreated to this very forest, never to be seen by any living soul ever again. Due to this, the forest thrived, letting in only those who did not seek to harm it, which had come pretty clear to me when I entered it and saw the long dead bodies hanging in the thorn bushes at the edge of the forest.

I let my mind wander off as I untied my lilac braids and brushed my hair with my fingers before tidying it back up. I cupped some fresh river water into my hands, washed my face, and took small sips. The sunlight which managed to get past the trees hit the water and I could see the shiny scales of the fish lazily swimming in it, not afraid of my presence as I got up and followed the sensation of immense magic coming from deeper from the woods to lead me further in.

Somewhere far above me, the clouds turned into warm colors of the evening sky as I found what I was looking for, or at least the source of it. In the middle of the forest, there was a clearing filled with long, tooth-like rocks coming somewhere deep within the ground. The proudly standing white rocks were covered with lichen, yet nothing grew in the pitch-black ground around them. As I boldly stepped towards them, I realized the rocks were actually teeth, no doubt left by the ancient god the man had killed. In the middle of it, there was a small pond, filled with glowing milky water. The rocks beneath my boots rang like small bells as I walked to the pond.

“ God-killer! I’m here to seek your audience!” I yelled, trying to sound as calm as I could, even though I would be lying if I said I hadn’t been spooked by the view. Yet, the clearing was eerily silent, no animals lived here and even the small gusts of wind felt muted. There was only the sound of the rocks.

The coming night lifted the water under the rocks and pond and settled into a mist, hanging just above my thighs. Everything in the shadows was painted with blue and purple hues as the sky above me turned orange. Small faery lights rose from the ground and lit the surrounding vapor creepily with their pale glow.

“I know you’re in here! I can feel your power!” I shouted, some part of me hoping not to get an answer.

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀎꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤ

“𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙.”

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀎꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤ

A frightening sound echoed around me, bouncing from the teeth so I couldn’t locate its source. It was far older than what I had expected, yet still familiar like I had known it before. I spun around, letting the rock sing as I tried to see him.

“If you know what I seek, then you know I won’t be leaving without it!” I asserted, “I need your knowledge and powers to defeat the Blooming Sea, to save this forest and others like it!”

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀎꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꂦꀎꈤꈤꂦꀎꈤꈤ

“𝙽𝚘 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚍𝚘𝚖 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎, 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏-𝚎𝚕𝚏. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚞𝚗.”

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀎꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꂦꀎꈤꈤꂦꀎꈤꈤ

The disembodied voice answered coldly.

“There is no sense in running, the Blooming Sea will swallow the whole world, if we don’t stop it,” I said, thinking how the man had to know it was going to spread everywhere even if I might die before it reached the last corners of the map.

“You killed the last nature deity on this continent and you have its powers, the Blooming Sea is nothing but a field of flowers, you have to know how it can be stopped!” Anger grew within me as I yelled at the invisible god somewhere nearby.

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀎꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꂦꀎꈤꈤꂦꀎꈤ

“𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎, 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕. 𝚁𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝..”ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀎꀤꍏꂵ

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ

I huffed in anger, now only hearing the pathetic pleas of a once powerful man in my ears. “If you’re not going to do anything, then give me your powers so I can change the fate of this world! Let me prove I’m worthy of them!” I yelled back.

An eerie silence filled the clearing once again. The being was pondering what it should do. During our arguing the sun had set and the shining stars had covered the sky. The air around me was a lot colder and darker, but I still tried to find my opponent. One of the flowing faery lights brushed against my pale skin and the tingling sensation of the touch made me whelp.

The voice surrounding me let out a laugh.

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀎꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꀤꋪ꓄ꃅ

“𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝?”

ꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꂦꀎꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꂦꀎꃅꋪꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟ

It asked with an echoing cackle.

“You’ve wallowed here in self-imposed isolation for decades,” I said, “You don’t know what has happened in the world after you abandoned it.”

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀎꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꀤꋪ꓄ꃅ

“𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎, 𝙸 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚢𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚜, 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚕𝚏.”ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀎꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟ ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤ

“Then I offer you my companionship, you were once human and you must have some still within you,” I answered his mocking with a stern voice and stepped towards the pond, “If you’re so keen on letting yourself die here, then let it at least be with a memory of a warm loving companion.”

All of a sudden I could feel something grabbing me by the ankle and when I looked down, there was a bluish tendril around it, with one swift move it lifted me up and I was hanging upside down. I yelped as the plant around my ankle held tightly with its leaves to it. My eyes followed the stalk into the darkness, where I saw more of its kind pour out, wriggling in the ground towards me, making the rock sing again.

From the same darkness, I saw an emerging large human-like shape that was twice my size. The stars revealed the half-human form to be made from surrounding nature, skin replaced by dark bark, hands like stony claws and back covered by large pieces of white lichen and dark green moss. It had two brightly glowing eyes as it treaded towards me.

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀎꀤꍏꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤ

“𝙸𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎, 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚏? 𝙳𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚑?” ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀎꀤꍏꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎ

His voice was still coming from around us as he spoke. I looked directly into the gods’ eyes  and replied “Yes, but only if I can have what I came here for.”

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤ

“𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚖𝚒𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎.”

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗ꓄꓄

The forest deity’s long slithering tendrils began to climb all over my body, sliding between the cloth and skin as the dewy surfaces of the leaves made me shiver. He wrapped them around my waist, arms, and legs, pressing them tightly against my skin. One of the leaves brushed gently against my lips as the creature drew closer, the faint starlight almost revealing his human-like face.

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀎꀤꍏꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪ

“𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜.”

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀎꀤꍏꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪ

The hollow voice said, holding me in the air like a helpless rabbit on a snare. The vines squeezed tightly every time I tried to move even a little, and a few more wrapped around my groin, putting pressure on it. Two more quickly found my aroused nipples and began to knead them tenderly. Soft moans escaped behind my lips as the creature purred with delight, undoubtedly getting enjoyment from my vulnerability.

The deity dragged his long clawed fingers across my body, easily untying my clothes as the vines took care of the rest. With one sharp claw, he trailed my sensitive skin beneath my breasts.

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤ

“𝚂𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎.”

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꀤꍏ

The voice murmured, his claw softly pushing against my sides and circling my navel. His touch was as cold as the mist surrounding us.

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꀤꋪꉣ

“𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚞𝚜𝚎.”

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꀤꋪꂵ

The tendrils pressing against my groin slipped between the fold and began to rub the clit, drenching themselves in my wetness soon enough. My whimpers were muffled by the vine around my mouth carefully pushing in exploring the insides. It jolted when I gave it a playful lick making the deity laugh in delight. Before long I saw another vine, this one with a bulbous bud and oval bumps in the stem. It caressed my cheeks gently, before dropping down to my hips and pressing its tip against my pussy. Two more identical bulbs wrapped around my breasts, replacing the smaller ones rubbing me, and opened up, revealing stunning purple flowers with glowing white anthers, which attached themselves to my nipples and eagerly caressed them almost like they were sucking them.

The one in my mouth moved smoothly back and forth, yet stayed near the tip of my tongue. The bud pressing against my entrance finally popped in and I gasped as it paused for a while, giving me time to adjust to its size, before slowly moving in with a pumping motion. My body squirmed, but the tendrils gave in only a little. A flow of sudden warm sensation poured within me and small convulsions rippled through my body. The creature desecrating it laughed again and I saw another vine moving between his thighs as he pleasured himself.

Not giving me any time to recover, another vine slid against the bud penetrating me, and began to move in rhythm, both now moving with more haste, the one between my lips matching their pace as well. Even in my euphoric state, I could see the creature’s chest heave from strain. The primal desire refused to let me relax in his touch, my hands weakly trying to grab the vines around me, with my body trying to wriggle itself free as I wanted to be released but at the same time I craved for more.

The deity grabbed my waist and pulled me closer, pushing his vines even deeper, pulling the one in my mouth finally out and letting me gasp against his bark-like chest, his hips slamming against me. I grabbed his coarse husk, giving it small kisses between the gasps for air. Another wave of pleasure hit me and my muscles tightened their grip around the vines ramming into me, making me tremble from the force. I could feel the bud inside me open, spreading my legs further apart and making me let out a strangled cry. The lumps in the stem throbbed as something made its way towards the blooming flower. Without slowing down its pace, the flower exploded from the thick seed filling my insides and the deity I was huffing against roared loudly.

The vines gave a few more strong strokes before stopping, still leaving their length inside me. The deity collapsed to his knees, his vines still binding me close to his chest, gently giving me more room to breathe. Sweat dripped down from my skin against his bark and some of his seed escaped between the vines still tucked inside. Mixing our energies together as they hit the dead ground beneath us, leaving small patches of lush growth where they fell. The mist began to fade and the stars above us looked more bright, but my mesmerized gaze was focused on the man who was as drained as I was. His glowing eyes met mine and we stared at each other in silence for a long time. His tendrils softly cupped me into his arms when he sat down, my fingers following the cracks on his barky body as his claws touched gently my face and body.

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꃅꍟ

“𝚈𝚘𝚞’𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚏.”

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤ

His echoing whispers said.

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀎꀤꍏꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍟꋪꉣꂦ

“𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗, 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚢.”ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀎꀤꍏꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꀤꍏ

He brushed the fallen strands from my face and I smiled at him, worn, but happy that I had sought him out.

“If everything goes according to my plan, that might be a lot longer than you can ever dream of, tree man,” I chuckled.

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀎꀤꍏꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ

“𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔, 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚖.”

ꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꋪ꓄ꃅꍟꋪꉣꂦꀎꈤꈤꍟꌗꌗꀤꍏꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀎꀤꍏꀤꍏꂵ꓄ꃅꀤꋪꈤꀤꍏ

He answered, playfully tapping my nose with his claw as he did so, then pulling me even closer and kissing me gently behind the dark shroud covering his face. The air around us was cold, but here in his arms, I felt tender warmth. I snuggled against him and watched the dark sky now filled with blazing stars and beautiful colors magnified by the darkness surrounding them.

Sitting there I could finally feel the hope for the future.