Death's Embrace

I awoke with a start, covered in a cold sweat and gasping for breath as the afterimage of Jeton's sad face faded away. I looked over at Drear's sleeping form, one arm still wrapped protectively around my waist. How was he still asleep? Could he not hear my feverishly beating heart?

I took a deep breath and settled back down. Drear pulled me closer, several minutes passed before I heard a whisper, "You okay?"

"Hmm, fine." I blinked and stared at the wall across the wide room. In the dimness I could just barely make out the rug that covered the cold stone floor between the bed and the door. I had been dreaming about Jeton. What did this mean? I couldn't possibly be hung up on life, could I?

"You don't sound fine." I felt Drear shift to lean on his elbows and look down at me.

"It's nothing."

"If you say so." he settled back down.

"That's it?" I turned to Drear with a suspicious frown. Even in the half light, I could see him smirking.

"Why? Don't tell me you wanted me to keep bugging you?" he pulled me closer to him.

"No, but-" his lips brushed mine lightly before he pulled back. I felt kind of quesy.

"What is it then, Lea?"

"I-I had a very strange dream." I whispered, recalling what Jeton had been telling me in the dream.

I could sense more than see Drear frown, "What kind of a dream?" he reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear with a gentle hand. I sat up completely and stared at the foot of the bed, wondering if I should tell him. No, I should leave out Jeton.

"Tell me, Lea?" he whispered.

I closed my eyes, remembering what I had been told. "Shymal isn't dead."

"What!?" Drear stiffened and turned me around so he could look me in the eyes.

"He survived somehow."

"No, that's impossible. It must have been a bad dream."

"No, it isn't." I heard Drear sigh, willing himself to calm down.

"I'm sorry, Lea." he hugged me to him.

"What are we going to do, Drear? I saw it. He won't rest until he seeks his revenge. That, in some twisted way, is what prevented him from leaving." I leaned my head against Drear's chest, listening to his heart beat. I smiled slightly remembering the time he appeared, shocked and slightly outraged that I caused this abnormality in him. Then the sadness of our situation found me once more. Jeton had died to kill Shymal, but it failed...

"I won't let him take you." Drear enclosed me in his strong arms. I nodded, wondering if Drear could really prevent someone as determined as Shymal- not that I cared much still. I felt Drear move as if to get up.

"Where are you going?" I frowned as he pushed off the blankets. He stood up in the darkness, outlined by the faint light coming in from the window. I watched him stretch, fascinated at how tall he seemed all of a sudden. I don't know why, but I was. He walked around the bed and I watched him.

"Drear?" I asked again.

"I'll be back." he picked up his black jacket and threw it over his body.

I sat there, not comprehending what he was doing for a few seconds. "Wait!" I scrambled out of bed after him. I made it to the door just as he walked through.

"Ya?" I stopped suddenly as Drear loomed before me, a soft expression on his face.

"I'm going with you. That is, wherever you're going."

A strange look passed over Drear's face; the look someone gets where they're trying to be annoyed or upset, but they're really amused underneath it all. He turned and walked down the hall.

"Drear?!" I sprinted to catch up with him. He turned and stopped me, placing a hand on each arm.

"Lea, I need you to stay here. I can't take you with me this time."

"The hell you can't!"

Drear fixed me with a stern look, "I can't. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Wait," my eyes sort of went out of focus for a brief second, "You're not planning to hunt down Shymal on your own?" I refocused my vision on Drear.

Drear closed his eyes and sighed. He opened them and fixed me with a pleading stare. "Lea, I have to. He'll never stop hunting you now."

"We'll be in a right fix if he kills you. I'm going."

Drear smiled slightly, pulling me toward him. "Perhaps-"

"And he could very easily attack the manor while you're gone."

"True." Drear conceded, running a soft hand along the side of my face.

"So I can come?"

"I guess you can."

"That was easy."

"You wanted it to be hard?"

I just smiled up at him annoyingly. He shook his head and laughed. "Come on then."

"So what are we planning to do anyway?" I walked along beside him.

"I was planning on finding him." Drear glanced at me sideways.

"Nothing more?"

"Not now that you're with me."

"That isn't fair!" I glared moodily.
__________

Several hours and what seemed like a thousand towns/cities later...

"Drear!" I hissed from behind a dark corner. We were in a strange, dark town somewhere in Albania, just arrived. "Get over here!" I motioned for him to get out of the alleyway.

He strode over and placed a hand on my shoulder, "What is it? What's worrying you?"

I turned him around and pointed. There, in the alleyway, stood a figure cloaked in darkness. This man stood easily as tall as Drear, but there was something else about him. A sinister sort of air emitted from him. Shymal. My eyes narrowed.

"Hello, Lea. I see you got a promotion!" the cold voice echoed around the alley. Drear stepped in front of me protectively. I rolled my eyes and moved to stand next to him.

"She does not concern you, Shymal." he said through gritted teeth.

"But she does!" Shymal laughed.

Drear turned his head slightly so he could see me out of the corner of his eye yet still keep them on Shymal. "Lea, I want you to get out of here."

"Don't bother, sweets. Tonight I have other matters that require my attention." Shymal called.

"What do you mean?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You'll see. You will see."

Drear had had enough. He drew out his sword, the sword he had nearly killed me with upon our first meeting, and strode toward Shymal. Shymal laughed before vanishing into whisps of smoke that melted into a strange wind.

"Damn." Drear flickered back beside me, sheathing his sword.

"What do you think he meant by that?" I asked shakily.

"Hey," Drear pulled me into his arms, "You alright? You're trembling!"

"I-I have this horrible feeling..." I whispered, clinging to him. He rested his chin on my head and pulled me that much closer to him.

"I won't let anything happen to you."

"That's not what I was referring to." I looked up at him.

"Then what were you referring to?"

I looked around as that immense, horrible feeling of hopelessness and despair washed over me, "I'm not sure." The old wish for death erupted from me.

"You've got him, love." Drear frowned slightly, but sort of smiled at the same time.

I sighed and closed my eyes, "I can't shake this feeling, Drear. Something horrible is about to happen."

"Well, something horrible hasn't happened yet. Come on. Let's go back home."

I nodded as he let one arm fall around my waist. Our footsteps echoed down the cobblestone street right until the moment we both dematerialized, him in shadow, myself in light.

The manor halls swam before my vision as I stepped out of that strange stream of light I now traveled through. Drear had already arrived. A soft, slightly melancholic smile washed over his features as he saw my miserable expression.

"It'll be alright, Lea. Please don't worry yourself so much." he said as he walked toward me.

I looked up into his eyes and saw such love that I almost cried. "Drear, thank you." I whispered, closing my eyes and leaning my head against his chest. Death was all I had now.

"What for?" he frowned, slightly taken aback.

"Continously saving me." I looked back up at him. His lips unexpectedly met mine, light and warm, reassuring and kind. A tear escaped my eyes, but my mind was elsewhere.