At one time my vigor for life had been admirable and now, I felt it was certainly less than such. What had I truly acquired since coming into my skin- the skin fit for a warrior and had only been used to heal? Yet, who or what had I healed; nothing of importance that I could ever come to recall. I wear the coat a lion and yet I bark like a lamb. Sometimes I wondered what adjacent universe I currently occupied, because the rest of my companions seemed to reside here on earth while I danced around imaginary lights made for fools in some distant fairytale.

My reveries are interrupted, and rightfully so considering I knew that I could not resume life without accompaniment after hiding so long in relative silence. However, Lace is not the creature I had expected to see after so many days in the dark and quite a creature he is. It is strange to find the light in his eyes when all I had been accustomed to were shadows, but it is enlightening all the same. For a moment, I allow myself to revel in his appearance and admire the way the sunlight falls over his shoulders and enhances the deep charcoal lines that embrace his hardened curves. That’s not to say I admired him for any good reason at all other than taking delight in being able to see him apart from the darkness that formerly plagued Helovia. Only days prior I would have dealt with the crude outline of his body alone without even the moon’s light to guide my mind’s eye.

However, the mood shifts dramatically as his eyes fall loosely across my face. I can read not only the way his lips draw tight and the way his eyes seem to narrow that he is immediately weighed down by my depressive state of being and though it’s hard not to smile at his concern, I realize that it is only out of friendly obligation that he is forced to care about the nature of my pessimistic attitude. I do not intend to keep him from his celebration and instead nod lightly to encourage his presence at my solitary expense. “It would appear that it is as great a day as any to be alive.”

As I ponder what to say next, Lace is more than apt to fill our silence with quiet apprehension and though I do not want to impart him with every gory detail about how I have fallen from myself, I do intend to be truthful when the face of a lie would have been easier to kiss. “I suppose I’ve just lost my way… or perhaps I’m still trying to figure out where I stand in the grand scheme of things. Though I must say that I’m proud to hear of how well the everyone has done in the recent Invasion.” My tone is light and perhaps a little sickly optimistic, but when faced with two sides of the spectrum, I’d have rather comforted my friend in arms than enchant him with such negativity that it would make even a child run wild with tears.

For some time, we stand side by side before I am aware that we seem to be short one member of an otherwise reliable threesome. Had I not met Lace before, I wouldn’t have known that he was absent one precious item- an ivory dragoness that for all intents and purposes completed such a wise creature as Lace himself. As if to ask him silently, I glanced atop his shoulders hoping and yet knowing that I wouldn’t find the little winged sorceress there. Questioningly, I gazed back to my newfound acquaintance, knowing that my curiosity would turn the conversation away from such seriousness to simple, mindless small talk.