A month later, Eli watched the footage of the wildlife camera he had set up.
Since that first letter, he had received 3 more. All elaborate poems in blue ink, and in such a beautiful way the letters seemed to capture the flow of water.
There.
Movement on the camera.
Everything in the footage was all blurry as the rain had been lashing down last night, beating against the windows with such force he grew afraid the glass might break.
It was definitely a man, he could be certain of that, but something was wrong.
The person was dragging their body over the rough ground, the bottle held firmly between their teeth. Each pull forward seemed to pain them.
The pain was so great, in fact, that Eli could feel it through the screen.
And then, like a gift from the gods he didn't believe in, couldn't believe in, the rain thinned enough for him to make out the man.
His breath caught in his throat.
He had waist length hair that was the most beautiful shade of deep blue, and features as delicate as the dew on spiderwebs. But what drew Eli's attention the most was the tail.
The man had a tail, covered in iridescent scales. Even with the grainy footage brought on by the rain and the low light conditions, Eli could see the power it held.
And it was bleeding.
This beautiful man who held such divinity it stole his breath, was injured.