Episode 166 Fever Dream
Fever Dream
Dragons.
Perhaps drowning would be better.
Rominy coughs as his lungs burn from all the seawater he choked on as Elowyn almost killed herself trying to be stronger than the waves.
Somehow, they both survived that, only to be picked off by a dragon in the end.
Sure, the heartlanding makes you stronger. In a whatever-doesn’t-kill-you fashion.
“Cut the ropes,” Elowyn rasps as the dragon circles lower and lower, its wings fighting to stay aloft in the storm swirling around them.
“What?”
“Trust me!”
Nice. Make this about trusting her and not about choosing the least bad way to die.
He grits his teeth as he asks for a knife, which the diabolical heartlanding happily grants.
“You’ll do that, but you won’t stop the storm?” he cries into the wall of wind and rain and seawater surrounding them. Then the boat lurches again, and the knife flies from his palm, clattering along the deck before sinking into the foaming waves beneath them. “I guess we’re staying put.”
Elowyn rolls her eyes as a knife appears in her hand this time. She struggles to cut them free, as if her muscles aren’t working properly. She was ready to give everything to save him, wasn’t she?
She’ll always save him.
The realization hits him hard.
What is he doing? Of course he trusts her.
He grabs the knife and quickly cuts through the ropes as she glances at the sky.
“Don’t fight it, my love,” she says. “Just relax. It will be all right.”
Just relax. He almost laughs. His words outside the waypoint about not hiding from the danger come back to haunt him. He’d happily hide far, far from this nightmare of an adventure if given the option.
Then a crack rends the air, and his stomach drops. Their boat. It’s breaking apart.
Could this night get any worse?
He tosses the knife away and grabs Elowyn, crushing her to his chest.
Death seems imminent at this point. At least they face it together.
He’s about to start rambling about how much he loves her—not that they’re really in danger of dying tonight, at least he hopes not—when something cold wraps around his arms.
Stars above. It’s the dragon.
Rominy grips Elowyn tightly as the dragon clutches him in its talons, and their boat folds in on itself in a mass of splintering wood and waves.
The flapping of the dragon’s wings sends chills racing through Rominy as the wind drags them down, but the dragon fights the gusting air to fly higher and higher.
It takes all of Rominy’s strength to keep Elowyn in his arms as she clings to him.
They don’t speak. They just exist as he begs this terrifying adventure to be over soon.
Then they break through the clouds as the wind lessens and the rain ceases. Moonlight shines down on them.
Land. Their island. Rominy spots it in the distance as his arms cramp. Hopefully, that’s where the dragon is taking them.
Just a little farther.
The island looms closer, growing larger, and relief fills him.
He just needs to hold on for a little longer.
It feels like an eternity before the crashing of waves on the shore reaches his ears. Hopefully, the dragon lets them down softly. That’s just what they need. To survive this far, only to plummet to their deaths.
But the dragon circles toward solid ground, its wings blowing the sand around as Rominy’s feet land gently on the shore. The dragon lays them in the sand before releasing its grip and taking off again, and half-hysterical laughter bursts from Rominy’s chest.
“Are you all right?” Elowyn crawls over him and runs her hands through his hair and over his arms.
And everywhere else.
It might be enjoyable if he weren’t on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
“You’re all right. Tell me you’re all right,” she repeats as she finds his face again.
He just shakes his head.
“What hurts?”
He laughs harder. He needs to get a grip.
“Fine. I’m fine,” he pushes out. “I’m just...not fine.”
Her expression softens, and she sits up, drawing him to her chest. “It’s all right, my love. You’re all right. I promise.”
“I don’t think we should sleep at the same time anymore. Ever.”
She trembles as if laughing. “I thought the heartlanding makes us stronger.”
“I don’t feel stronger. I feel traumatized.”
“You saved me,” she whispers as she plays with his soggy hair.
“You saved me first. And almost killed yourself in the process.” He clings to her, letting her comfort him with her soothing touch.
“Of course I did, my love. You would have done the same.”
“It’s less scary to think about sacrificing myself, though.”
She laughs but says nothing as she alternates between playing with his hair and rubbing his arm and back.
“Is it ridiculous that I love it when you do this?” he whispers.
“When I do what?”
He looks up at her. “When you pull me close and comfort me like this. I’m leaning toward ridiculous, but—”
She presses a finger to his lips. “Never that. You don’t need to be strong all the time, Rominy. Not with me. Not here.”
He rarely feels strong, but he says nothing as he rolls onto his back with his head in Elowyn’s lap. Moonlight silhouettes her wet silvery hair, making her look almost otherworldly.
“You are so beautiful with your wet hair glistening in the moonlight,” he says softly. “Like a water nymph or a mermaid.”
She smiles as she dips her head. “A mermaid? Do you have fantasies about mermaids, my love?”
An image of her with a silvery tail fills his mind. “Perhaps I do. But only about you.”
“Then look.”
He follows her gaze and almost jumps out of his skin. “Stars above. You have a tail. What just happened?”
Elowyn laughs. “I was curious. So I asked, and there it was.”
“A mermaid. The heartlanding turned you into a mermaid. After it almost killed us. This feels like a fever dream. Am I sick? Are you real? Maybe I’m hallucinating all of this.”
“Rominy. It’s a dream. Don’t question it. Just enjoy the magic. You have what you wanted. What are you planning to do now?”
He glances at her face before staring at her tail again.
Her tail.
“I have absolutely no idea.”
She lifts her fin, her scales catching the moonlight, and he tumbles backward in the sand.
“Shall I get rid of it?” she asks. “You seem to be struggling with this fantasy of yours.”
“Fantasy, Elowyn. Meaning it’s an idea in my head. Not...that.” He pushes himself to his feet as he looks down at her. “I almost drowned, watched you almost die, and then got rescued by a dragon. And now my wife is a mermaid. It’s a lot to process in one night. Just give me a minute.”
“Take all the time you need, my love. I’m not going anywhere. I can’t walk.” She says it matter-of-factly as she lies back on the sand, and he stares at her.
Then he bursts into laughter. “You are kind of stuck, aren’t you?”
“Is that part of your fantasy, Rominy? Your mermaid, stranded here on your private beach, waiting for you to rescue her?”
His throat runs dry at the scene she paints.
Her soaked dress kind of ruins the effect, though. Mermaids don’t wear gowns, do they? Not in his fantasy of her.
A moment later, it’s gone, and her eyes flash open. Then she laughs as she relaxes again.
Stars above. She was born to be a mermaid. She’s absolutely perfect.
“What if I don’t want to rescue her?” he whispers. “What if I want to keep her all to myself?”
Elowyn lifts her fin and flops it back on the sand. “This is your fantasy.”
“If I return her to the sea, will she swim away?”
“Perhaps she’s been watching you walk along the shore every night, loving you from afar, and all she wants is to be yours.”
He lowers himself to the sand beside her again and trails his fingers along her tail.
It feels like actual scales.
“Can you feel that?” He looks at her face, and she nods.
“It tickles.”
“Incredible. You’re incredible. This place is incredible. This night—”
“Have you forgiven the heartlanding?”
He chuckles. “That may be a step too far. But right now, all I can think about is you.”
He pulls her into a kiss, which she eagerly returns.
“I want my mermaid in the water,” he whispers before lifting her in his arms, where she clings to him, her fin flipping against his side. As he wades into the surf, he wishes his shirt away, and once he’s deep enough, he lets her go, but she doesn’t swim off.
“I thought you’d want to experience this tail of yours,” he says as she leaves her arms around his neck.
“I just want you, Rominy.” She presses her forehead to his, and her tail wraps around him as he holds her close.
“You are every fantasy I never knew I had come to life, Elowyn Montarac.” Then he finds her lips once more.