To fall asleep

“I miss you.” He whispers to the cold air atop the branch where he’s resting.
 
Authion waits. Seconds, minutes, hours. Nothing comes back. His voice is gone. It has been for a very long time.
 
“Where are you, my human?” He whispers again to the bright stars above him. This time his voice betrays him. It lets out just a hint of his pain on the last two words.
 
The elf decides to trust that the forest will keep as quiet about the tears streaming down his face as it had been about everything else.
 
“I need you.” He whispers yet again to the bright blue moon in the sky. The wound in his heart starts to bleed again.
 
The cleric without faith. That’s what they should call him. He doesn’t trust his god, his family or his companions. They don’t understand.
 
“Why did you leave me here?” He whispers to the earth with the weight of three centuries of pain and four months of desolation.
 
Authion is exhausted. Life weighs on him and it feels so heavy. He’s terrified to close his eyes though. No fight is as hard as the one that happens every time his body asks him to sleep.
 
“Do you still love me?” He whispers to the silent trees around him.
 
The elf looks pale now. There’s a cold sweat running down his back. He knows he has to close them. The cold tentacles of that dreadful monster lock around his chest and his throat. He can feel the terror, the hopelessness, the despair.
 
“Come back! Please!” He whispers to no one. “Don’t leave me!”
 
The cleric begs to his god. Don’t let him go! Bring him back to me! He knows he can’t stop him though. He never can. His lips are soft. They always were. That’s his last gift as he moves away.
 
“Someone! Please help me!” He whispers to his empty soul.
 
Authion can’t move. Can’t see. Can’t speak. He’s gone, he’s gone. Why did I let him leave?
 
His eyes snap open. They’ve been close for a fraction of a second, but it’s more than he can bear.
 
“I failed you.” He whispers to his lost love. “I should’ve done more.”
 
Guilt and pain feast on his soul while a monster made of memories locks him in place and nightmares prowl in the dark corners of his mind.
 
“Run Authion.” Saudron whispers to the confused and heartbroken elf.
 
He does as he’s told. That old fool always knew what was best for him. The elf runs until he reaches what he’s looking for. Their room.
 
It’s dark. They always spoke in the dark.
 
“They think I’m crazy, you know?” He whispers to the shadows while he listens to his love’s heartbeat. “I’m not crazy, human. I’m broken. Like you. I thought the forest, my sister, my mentor, your brother would heal me but they can’t. No one can. Only you.”
 
This is the only place where they can’t reach him. The nightmares, the monster, the pain. He’s safe here, in his memories of him. It’s the only place where he can rest.
 
“Khrystian.” He whispers as his consciousness finally slips away and he falls asleep in his human’s embrace.