Chapter 35

“So, how’s the search going!?” Rose asked cheerfully.

“...The search?” I repeated. I wasn’t sure what she was talking about. Even for a dream I felt like I was in a haze.

“What, did you find it already?” She chuckled. “That was certainly quick. But that only means closer to setting father free!”

“Father.” I rubbed my head. Something was wrong. Father was alright. Was I alright? “And we were searching… for him?”

“What!?” Rose tilted her head, looking at me with confusion. “I’m talking about the dragon! You did find out what kind of dragon was there, right?”

I jolted upright, more awake than one should be able to feel in a dream. “The dragon!” I shouted. “Rose! It went bad. Like, really really bad,” I rambled. “Brontus, they got him, there was two of them, and we’re in a cave, not their cave, or maybe, but I think it was too small, or I don’t really know, and I couldn’t do anything, and Sarah’s out of magic, and Brontus, oh goddess, Brontus—”

“REN!” She slapped me, her palm swiping clean across my face. It worked, shutting me up from continuing my frantic ramble. “You need to snap out of it! You’re ok. You’re alive, which means you’re ok. You’re safe, you understand?”

I nodded, my eyes darting around anxiously, wondering where the attack would come from.

“No, say it!” Rose insisted. “Tell me you’re ok.”

“I’m ok,” I repeated, my voice mechanical and convictionless.

She held my cheeks, gentle this time, and fixed my focus onto her. “Tell me you’re safe, Ren. Tell me you’re ok. Take a deep breath, and tell me who is with you.”

I nodded, opening my mouth to speak but I simply breathed instead. Then again. And a final time. “I’m… I’m ok. I’m safe,” I told her, keeping my eyes on her. I’m safe now, I thought, and she nodded, hearing it. “I’m in a small cave with Sarah and Christopher. He looks… shocked, I think. And she might be bleeding and out of magic.” I sighed, slowing my anxious mind as I gave the report.

She nodded again. “Ok. Good, that’s good. Listen, I’m going to wake you up.” Her words came slow, accented to a point. “You need to take care of them, alright? I can’t talk to you there but if you channel mana I'll be able to understand the situation.”

“Alright,” I said, pulling myself together. “Send me back.”

~~~

“Sarah, are you ok?” I asked her. I gently took hold of her shoulders, turning her towards me. I started channeling my mana, putting some focus into simply moving it around, pushing it through my magisoul and letting Rose see and hear and feel what I did.

Sarah kept crying but at least looked me in the eyes. “H-he’s dead,” she sputtered between tearful sniffles. Her chest heaved and she shook in my grasp. “I… I couldn’t save him.”

“No, no no no,” I quickly said, trying to console her. “He saved us. And we tried to help. There was no way out. You gave it your all.” As I spoke, I slowly turned her arm toward me. The light was fading, already early evening, but I carefully touched the potential wound. The blood wiped clean, no scratch underneath; it was only the dragon’s blood on her. “Sarah, he knew the risk. He knew it would be him or us. He chose to save us. And it was the dragons that killed him. It wasn’t our fault.” Those words seemed like a cruel parody as I made sure to mean them. “Are you hurt? How is your mana?”

She wiped her eyes. Her hands were fists, clenching at her cloak. “I’m ok… And exhausted. I can’t use magic for a while,” she slowly admitted.

“Ok. Sit here. Do you have any food?”

She reached for her side but only the torn top of her food bag hung from her belt. The water bag was pierced as well, the bottom ripped and empty. Apparently the dragon hadn’t completely missed while swiping at her.

I handed her my water, which was still half full. “Save me some, but drink up.” She nodded, opening it and sipping while I shuffled over to Christopher. I took a deep breath, not sure if I should go through with the words I knew I should say. “He’s dead,” I told him. He looked up at me, shaking his head. I kept going, “This is not a dream, it’s reality. We’re on our own now and need to figure out what to do.”

He slowly nodded. “Alright… You’re right.”

“You’re the most experienced of us. What should we do?” I asked. I prayed that we could rely on him, whispering to Rose that I really hoped he would keep it together.

“Dragons aren’t weak,” Christopher said. I almost gave a sarcastic response, the abruptness of him saying that after we so clearly witnessed it was surprising. But then he got to the point: “We shouldn’t assume either of them are dead. Those bones and knives didn’t pierce very deep and a dragon’s organs are larger than a human’s. The most common way to kill them is to hit their vital areas with something big or exhaust and bleed them out.” I was impressed by his analysis and he didn’t stop. “The kite dragon has strong leg bones which Brontus wasn’t able to break, but between the damage to the membrane from Sarah and the fragmentation of the wings, it shouldn’t be able to fly. None of the external wounds were deep and should begin clotting soon if they haven’t already, but I don’t know if the internal injuries were as significant. He spent most of his energy on the kite before the fire dragon showed up so it’s likely in better form. Therefore we can’t escape while at least it is potentially patrolling the area, sir.” He gave a stiff salute, completely sincere by the look of it, and I just rolled with it.

“What do you suggest then?” I asked.

He sighed. “Protocol recommends wait, recover, escape.”

That didn’t exactly sound like the quickest plan but it did sound far more likely to get us out alive. “Ok then,” I sighed, “we wait.”