From the way the mages so carefully avoided one another, an outside observer might have thought they couldn't stand each other. Only the pair of Oblivionites themselves and the long-suffering khehora they traveled with knew the truth of what was going on, and none of them were willing to be the first to speak of it.
Leyn and Eanah had been more than amiable as they had exited the cave, but as they ventured back to their sandy campsite, the reality of what had happened sank in and the silence between them spread until it was all they had. There had been kissing, touching, laughter, all clear indications of feelings they had kept locked away for so long that they didn't know what to do with them now that they were free. The very world itself felt too good to be true, and it was easy to imagine there was something just out of sight that would send everything crumbling if they dared to acknowledge that things were perfect.
They spent a little over a week in denial.
Eanah ventured away from the tent more and more often as she healed, but her isolation brought her little in the way of solace. When she was alone, it was so easy to recall the heat of his mouth against hers, his smooth skin under her fingertips, the noises she'd made, and how she wanted more. She had snapped at Thren the first and only time he'd made fun of her thoughts, and after that the khehora had left her to hunt alone. She could only assume that he spent their time apart with Leyn, sharing every one of her secret wishes with the only person she hoped to keep them from.
This day was relatively cool and dry, the perfect desert afternoon, and Eanah sat on the open sand with no obvious fear of succumbing to another bespelled arrow. An invisible shield surrounded her petite form, a shield enhanced by her very visible leather breastplate. It felt rather awkward, despite its maneuverability, but she wasn't about to take it off any time soon. She might have appeared fearless, but inside, she was anything but. Eanah sat up when she heard Gaili in the distance. If they were being so flashy about their presence, they were clearly looking for a fight. Luckily, so was she.
The first beast winged over the nearest dune in a spray of sand, and Eanah hopped to her feet to meet it. Plumes of dark magic shot from her scepter, bringing it down easily, and even though a part of her longed to rush forward and challenge the next dragon directly, the mage held back, a much needed flicker of confidence forcing her to stand taller instead. She certainly was surer of her physical fortitude now that she had lived through an attack that had been meant to kill her, but until now, that invulnerable feeling had only been skin deep. Her heart had remained closed off and unsure. She knew now that it didn't have to be. He was all she wanted, all she could think about, and if giving in to her desires hurt her in the end, at least she hadn't been afraid to try.
A second bolt, fire this time, seared a second dragon's wing as it sped toward her, sending it spiraling toward the ground below. Eanah caught it with a gust of wind magic, gasping with the effort as she held the beast in place and burned it as she had its brother. In that moment she wasn't herself, she was a conduit for something much greater, and as the dragon screamed and died, everything finally seemed perfectly clear.
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