Odd Creatures*

Zariel had no way to describe his predicament but sweet madness. He was stuck. Stuck in a predicament he had not quite grasped. He had done something last night. They had done something, Something wrong. Something that he would hate, but for some reason or another, he could not. If anything, he felt anticipation. 

Anticipation? He should be angry. Yet beneath that mischievous smile, he found his bubbling anger half of what he wanted. 

He was too weak to use the Void of Khaos. No matter how much he reached, they would not come. He was alone today. And it might be until the day he recovered. 

"So tell me," Aurelia was saying. That smile of hers deepened; why was she so happy? "What are you hiding?" 

As if he would cave over a mere inconvenience—he faced hell. What could some woman do?