[The moment Reynir suggests Carlisle might have changed his mind and may want to return to the garden, the frightened clergyman shakes his head, his eyes squeezing shut as he immediately murmurs a series of don't leave me heres and I can't go backs, interjected by the occasional forgive me and I will lose myself. He doesn't clarify what any of those statements mean, curling in on himself further.
The next offer fares much better: Reynir will lead him away, cross the water and beneath the sky that he insists has never harmed him. He once described Reynir as guileless, didn't he? The lad surely wouldn't lie to him, not even to assuage his panic. His breathing slows in tandem with his abating tremors as he convinces himself he must leave, lest he be abandoned by the one aspect of this world that is real. That, as it turns out, is the most terrifying prospect of all, one that reminds him too much of the Land Beyond Living, of his many dreams that trapped him there when he was still alive.
Peeling himself away from the tree, Carlisle gives Reynir one last, desperate look before closing his eyes again. His voice is barely above a whisper when he speaks, low as though the vastness of the horizon would hear them if he were any louder. For as much as he tries to close himself off in the waking world, he is painfully vulnerable in dreams.]
I- I know it is still there, still looming all around us, but- but it is better if I don't see. Please don't leave me here, Reynir. I cannot stay here.
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The next offer fares much better: Reynir will lead him away, cross the water and beneath the sky that he insists has never harmed him. He once described Reynir as guileless, didn't he? The lad surely wouldn't lie to him, not even to assuage his panic. His breathing slows in tandem with his abating tremors as he convinces himself he must leave, lest he be abandoned by the one aspect of this world that is real. That, as it turns out, is the most terrifying prospect of all, one that reminds him too much of the Land Beyond Living, of his many dreams that trapped him there when he was still alive.
Peeling himself away from the tree, Carlisle gives Reynir one last, desperate look before closing his eyes again. His voice is barely above a whisper when he speaks, low as though the vastness of the horizon would hear them if he were any louder. For as much as he tries to close himself off in the waking world, he is painfully vulnerable in dreams.]
I- I know it is still there, still looming all around us, but- but it is better if I don't see. Please don't leave me here, Reynir. I cannot stay here.