DG was dreaming again.
Her eyes fluttered beneath their lids and Wyatt sighed, his head resting on his elbow on the pillow beside hers as he watched her worriedly. She wasn't telling him about whatever visions they held and it only deepened his concerns. On some nights she would murmer and cry his name, the desperation in her tone and tears on her face letting him know this was the dream of Zero and the witch...
But other nights it was something different entirely. Something new.
She would lay so still that it sent ripples of fear to his heart, the image of her motionless form after she had been attacked still plagued him and he would instinctively check her pulse, attempting to ease his panic.
Adding to his worry was the fact that on those nights she would be cold and damp to the touch, just as she had been on the morning of her never-again-mentioned-argument with Jeb...
And it was only in the past two nights of these motionless dreams that he had become aware of the soft swirling glow of magic surrounding her. Her expression was one of supreme concentration, her arms cradling something unseen, shielding it protectively.
He felt that same helplessness he'd experienced months earlier when DG had started having her dreams, like he couldn't make it better if she wouldn't let him in. Then again she didn't seem to be rattled by whatever this new vision entailed...just haunted by it.
She murmered something under her breath and tossed her head to the side, her face taking on a stricken look and he bit his lip wishing he could help her with whatever was tormenting her.
Cain wasn't sleeping much any more.
He couldn't silence his mind knowing there was a war just around the next bend; couldn't get himself to take his eyes off his sleeping Princess...his wife...his heart.
The fear he felt for her safety crushed his chest and threatened to break his sanity, the realization that her gift was now growing stronger than ever and her dreams were sent by her magic as warnings tormented him horribly.
It meant that the scene of Zero attacking her wasn't hinged on the question 'if', it was simply 'when'.
That right there was enough to bring the darkest parts of him creeping to the surface, his eyes swirling with madness as he watched her sleeping and imagined being placed in the suit as she'd once described from her dream, being left to watch her death over and over while unable to bring about his own so that they could be together...
He held her a little tighter when they embraced now. The love they made was slower, more heartfelt. Every time she smiled at him he found himself freezing the moment in his mind and storing it away for safe keeping...he'd need it later, as he'd learned when he lost Adora.
The rational, strong side of him refused to give up when the battle had yet to even begin, but the broken bits of his soul had already accepted defeat and decided to cherish every moment they had together as if it were the last.
The papay had settled in to the surrounding land and grew more restless with each passing day, sensing the impending threat which they were unable to accurately express for Raw's translation. It was only emotion they sent, scarce and random images of faces and fire, no exact details to help prepare them for what type of attack was coming, merely that it was.
They had nothing to go on regarding Zero and the witch; there wasn't so much as a hint to their location aside from the occasional decimation of a village and he'd grown weary of hearing the council hall filled with men voicing their theories.
The mood of the palace was tense around them and Cain struggled to ignore it as he moved closer to her, reaching out and brushing his hand over her face...she was cold to the touch again and his brow furrowed as he looked her over appraisingly.
It had always been one or the other, either murmering or cold, never both as he'd learned in the past week of watching her dream.
His eyes searched her expression for any signal as to what was going on inside her mind, for the millionth time since he'd left that warm little world shielded by her magic he wished for her to take him with her.
For so many nights DG held the child to her chest as she slept, just as she had promised...
Jeb had insisted this little girl was dead, but she just felt so real in her arms...
The possibility that she was linked to this child as she wandered through some terrible pergatory was disturbing...
But what else could she do? This child needed her. It was the only truth DG knew and was all that mattered. Her identity and whether she had a pulse was irrelevant.
No one would understand that this was more than a dream, yet different somehow than a vision. And with the only person who recognized the child swearing that he'd seen her death it would be difficult to convince anyone otherwise.
So she didn't speak of it, she stayed with the little girl whenever summoned; kept her safe from harm and provided a brief refuge from her loneliness when exhaustion was threatening to overcome her.
But tonight's visit was different from all the rest...
She'd been watching the vision of her own death when suddenly ripped from its horrible familiarity and thrust into the child's world with all the jarring impact of being thrown into icy waters. That had never happened before...
She didnt just sense the usual grief and loneliness from the child...tonight it was blind panic.
The world, usually so monochrome and deadened, was now difficult to see and feel for the white light of the child's terror, as if the link was threatening to break between them under the stress.
DG's pressed on despite her fear, struggling to see the child...
But there were faces now, men and horses...an ominous looking wagon...its sides made of cages, instantly reminding her of a dog-catcher...
Only it wasn't canines these men were rounding up...
She couldn't make a sound as her mouth opened to call out, couldn't make her legs move fast enough watching the men grabbing the child as she screamed and fought against their grasp.
All at once the surroundings changed and she sobbed as she opened her eyes finding that she had been returned to her bedroom, the concerned face of Wyatt greeting her, the child left behind in that cold, lifeless world.
She was hysterical as he pulled her into his arms, her heart breaking as she wondered what had just happened, when it had happened...
Had she just witnessed the events that led up to the child's death? Was this little girl reliving it? Perhaps she was trapped by some spell of the witch, her spirit unable to move on...
Or was what she saw real? Was it happening right then? But even if it were, she had no idea where it was happening...
It tore her apart knowing that there was nothing she could do to help, this child had called out for her, the desperation of her plea drawing DG to her instantly and it had all been for nothing.
She wept inconsollably for hours, Wyatt holding her to his chest and kissing her hair as she tucked herself away from the world beneath his chin.
His chest was aching to see her in such a state. He couldn't make it better, couldn't stop the visions of her dreams from tormenting her, but he could damned well be there for her when she needed him and it would have to do for now. It only comforted him slightly that he could tell her tears weren't for either of them. It left him to wonder who else she was seeing harm befall.