Imdalind 01 - Kiss of Fire

his whole left side twitching now. He looked at me in agony. “I love you.” He held my hand tightly, the last contact we had, but even I could feel that slip away.
    “I love you, too,” I said, the truth of my words surprising even me. Ryland’s face broke into a wide smile that lit up his whole face. He leaned down, his hand instantly resting on the side of my face. He moved closer and my heart beat faster in anticipation of a kiss. But before he even made it halfway, his whole body twitched, sending him to the ground as he yelled out in pain.
    “Ryland!” I moved to his body as he continued to twitch, my hands moving around him uselessly.
    His body calmed quickly and without warning. He lay still, curled up on the floor. I tentatively went to place my hand on his shoulder, desperate to know he would be okay, even though it was a dream. My hand stopped halfway to him; it hung in the air as my fingers began to shake in fear. There, on his back, resting on the same shoulder he had wrapped during the Rugby game, was a mark; a small raised brand, almost identical to mine even down to the dragon shaped squiggles.
    “Ryland?” My voice was small. “What is this?” My fingertips touched the mark before pulling themselves away as a jolt spun through our bodies.
    Ryland jumped up, his face coming only inches from mine.
    “Still alive, are you?” His voice was a hiss and growl, the words dripping with venom and malice. I jumped away from him. I knew it was Ryland, but nothing about him looked familiar. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, his face screwed up in a wicked grin. His eyes met mine, and I gasped. They were no longer the blue I loved so much, but a deep charcoal, almost a pure black. I stayed frozen to the ground, my mind sluggishly working through the shock to catch up to me.
    “Not for long!” Fake Ryland lunged at me, and I leaped to the side, my fleece pants sliding me across the white space around us. My breath came in sharp bursts as my dream changed to a nightmare.
    “Ryland?”
    He only laughed at me, laughed at my panic. The sound was unlike anything Ryland had ever made before. It was deep and menacing; it ripped through me sending a shiver of panic skipping through my heart.
    Ryland began to twitch again, his body falling to the floor in yet another agonizing scream. He ran his fingers through his hair as he moaned, his white knuckles clawing through his curls. His hand jumped out, so fast I couldn’t move my arm away before he grabbed me, holding on to me tightly, making my heart race. Ryland looked up at me. I breathed a little sigh of relief at his eyes, which were now back to their regular blue. But even through the relief, my heart still beat in fear.
    “I have to go.” His voice was strained between his deep breaths.
    “Ryland?”
    “I can’t… my father…” He leaned forward, his shoulder and arm twitching more and more.
    Ryland reached forward and ran his finger down the side of my face. His face twitched again before he pressed his lips against my forehead.
    “Stay with Ilyan; I love you,” he whispered against my skin, his lips brushing me softly as he spoke. He leaned into me again, his lips burning into my skin. I closed my eyes at his touch, and when I opened them again, he had gone.
    I stared into the white space for a long while, trying to make sense of what was going on. Even though my mind was clear, I couldn’t work through the pieces. Long before I was ready, before I had made any semblance of anything that had happened, the gray and black that had stayed at the edge of the white space rushed at me, sucking me into the darkness.

    Eighteen

    I could hear the TV. I heard the voices of some cheesy commercial chatter around me, almost like I was in the studio. I lay still, letting the sound wash over me as I replayed the dream in my mind, my face cringing at the lingering picture of Ryland’s contorted face. I shifted my weight out of habit, surprised when my body obeyed my command. Unlike the dream, however, the movement triggered a hundred aches and pains. While it didn’t feel as bad as the last pain I remembered, it still was far from comfortable.
    “Yes, Ovailia, I have felt them a few times, but nothing close as of yet.”
    At Ilyan’s voice, I opened my eyes to a dark room. I lay in a curled position on the long couch, a huge pile of blankets set on top of me. It made my body seem overly large and lumpy. Ilyan sat on the floor, his back resting against