Dream: Monsterous Lineage

Date: 10/24/2019

I lived in a rocky desert. My town hidden away in a cliff-side. My town wanting nothing more than to keep me from my best friend. They said he wasn't human. The man I had come to admire. The man I had grown up with. They said he was a monster. Because of his lineage. He was able to create fires, move the earth, bend the elements at his will. So he was deemed a monster. Yet I saw the truth of Zakarius. He only ever used these abilities to help others. To keep people from dying from a cave-in. To keep them warm during some of the colder desert nights. To keep them from dehydration during the longer heat waves. No matter what he did, they still called him monster. No matter what they said, I would never believe their words. Zakarius taught me about the world he had always wanted to travel. A world I would love to truly see. The world outside this cliff-side home we'd lived in so long. He'd made trades with travelers who gave him books and told him stories. They would show him pictures of places they'd been. In return he'd give them full canteens with water he'd make of his own gifts. ---------------- I once again had snuck away to see him. Today it felt as if something was off. As if danger was brewing. I began my long climb up the cliff-side and found my way to his home at the top. I made it there to see nothing out of the ordinary. His garden was still blooming just fine, his home was in one piece, and he was calmly handling his fire pit for when night would later come. "Zakarius!" I called out and headed over to him. I made sure not to touch his garden. "Variscite, already back to see my work?" He teased as I came over and hugged him. He hugged me back and just laughed. "You know, you keep that up and the town will think you have a very holo relationship with me." I backed up and huffed. "I'm just hugging my friend. Why you gotta ruin it?" "Because I'm a brat and that's one of the reasons you keep coming back to me." He quipped and my cheeks burned as I looked away. "I was just making sure it was really you." I told him and sat down by his fire pit. He sat beside me and waved a hand, motioning me to continue. I chewed my lower lip but nodded. I took a calming breath. "I woke up with a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something felt off and I was worried… that you might have left…"  "You think I'd leave without taking you with me?" He asked seriously. I looked down and shook my head. "Not willingly but the feeling was more like… something took you away… like you had no choice." He ran a finger under my chin and lifted my head. His eyes pierced into mine. "You're my best friend. I'm not leaving you alone to that crazy town of yours. Nothing will stop me from keeping that promise." I looked away, "Now who sounds like we have some kind of homo relationship?" He laughed at that and leaned back, "So did something happen in your dreams for you to get this idea?" I closed my eyes and tried to remember the dreams from the night before. "I remember a man. He was taller than you with darker skin and eyes like rubies. He said it was time for you to return home. That you couldn't stay amongst the cattle any longer. When I awoke I just felt this need to come find you." I opened my eyes to see that Zakarius was tense and looking into the fire pit. I fire slowly started to form in it. His eyes seemed hardened, almost angry. "Did the man in your dream have a name?" He asked me. I blinked and shrugged at that, "I don't know. I never heard his name." "I see." He said and got to his feet. He helped me up to mine and I felt a shockwave go through my system. My eyes closed once more as images flashed across them. A voice in my head whispering, "You have to let him go." When I opened my eyes it was dark. Zakarius had apparently laid me in his bed before returning to his work. I felt cold and flushed. Like a fever had crossed me and left in some violent manner. "Vir, you awake?" He called as he came back inside. I groaned and sat up in the bed. My head was pounding. I could still faintly hear the voice telling me "you have to let him go" but it didn't make any sense. Zakarius headed over with a bucket of cold water and a rag. He began to wipe the cool cloth across my face. I assumed it was to help with any remnants of the fever. "You need to be careful on your climbs. That fever was a nasty one." He stated as he continued to look me over. I felt heat rush to my cheeks and looked away, "I was in a hurry to make sure you were okay, asshole." "And in turn caused me to have to worry over you." He smirked and put the rag in the bucket. I sighed in response, "Yeah. Sorry." Silence filled the space between us. He leaned in and kissed my lips. Tender. Sweet. Surprising. My eyes widened and I pulled away. My fingers touching my lips as he gave me a very unapologetic smile. More silence as a scooted over on the bed and pat the spot next to me. I didn't know how to handle any of this situation. "That man I saw in my dreams… what is he to you?" I asked as I tried to bypass that kiss. "If I had to guess, it's likely my father. An actual monster." Zakarius said and leaned back against the wall, "I doubt he'd be too fond of me staying amongst his favorite 'cattle' much longer. Let alone wanting to keep one with me when I leave." He winked at me and I quickly looked away again. I fidgeted a bit at that thought. "So you aren't human after all…?" "My mother was. He raped her and she ran away. Using every method to keep us hidden as possible. This was her home. The town below. The town you come from. So she raised me here. Up in this home nearby." He explained and pulled me to him, "He wants me to be molded to his whim but I'm not like him." I felt him bury his face into my back as he held me in his lap. My heart rate sped up a bit as I listened to him. "I think he's trying to split me from you…" I whispered. "I wouldn't put it passed him." Zakarius told me as he pressed his forehead to the back of my neck, "You're the only one left here to make me want to stay." I gulped quietly as he hugged me closer to him.  His voice became quieter, "I'm almost glad that he can't turn you against me like he did those below us. That you're gifted enough to see through it all." "He'll still keep trying." I stated coolly. He smirked as I looked back at him, "You may not accept it but you have my heart. He can't force me to do anything when my heart is already taken away." "That is some really cheesy shit, you know that?" I told him and he laughed. An almost crashing sound came from outside and he tensed up a bit, "Vir… please be mine." I just nodded quietly. I could almost never tell him no. If my dreams were any indicator, I'd never see him again. I wanted him to at least be happy when he left me. Even if I wouldn't be. "I won't let him separate us." Zakarius said as we both got to our feet.  He kissed me once more. Another sweet kiss. A hard goodbye. We headed outside to see a burst of red smoke cross the yard. The garden slowly wilting from it. Zakarius bit back his rage as we saw a walk towards us. The same one from my dream. The one Zakarius thought to be his father. Zakarius held tight to my hand as the man came closer. Then I awoke.