#angles and devils

They sheltered me. Their words tempered with love and concern, seeing through my bravado. Ai and Rook. At my side, they watched as I pretended that I was fine. They saw, even as I pushed the weariness from my eyes, they saw. Easy banter, soft laughter and gentle words filled the evening. Never straying to far, lest I stumble, they were at my side.

I could not tell them, not yet, of the dreams that would once more surely come as my eyes closed. The rest they bid me to seek would never come. Only the dreams. Haunting memories called up from the past or perhaps, the cries of a heart entwined with mine. I know not. Belgoroth. Long gone, dead and yet, I see him every night as the stars cry. He holds my hand, whispering of a time that has passed and yet, I wonder, does he come to whisper of time yet to be? No. The letter told me he was gone. Fallen. His body mangled and taken by those enemies whose faces I do not know.

Days unending, I search for clues. The ring must be found. Whether by the Captain’s hand, which I fear most of all, or by mine. Deals made, hope lingering on the devil. The doubt eats at me even as I hope. He will betray me, this man of the sea, I hear the warnings in every face around me. I was wrong again, or so they say, to believe that he held a place deep within that valued more than gold. Wrong to believe that family could conjure some tie between us. Only time will tell. Only he will prove them right or wrong.

Friends come and go, drifting away or proving false. Only one thing remains constant and true, family. For this, I would deal with any devil.