The Dragon Bane

I was lying on the blanket, watching the trees above us through the soft blue shimmer of the barrier that hid us from view. As she’d promised, Fenlar had set up our camp, summoning our belongings. She’d even cast the barrier and all the protections by herself, even though she’d always roll her eyes whenever I did once the war had ended.

I’d realised too late what usually followed after I set up camp, and I rushed to my blanket while she was still busy casting her spells. It was a weird habit to rub her back every evening, sitting on her bed so close to her. It might be fine that I did it to her, but the thoughts of her hands stroking my back were too much.

She was Ynquirelle, DragonBane, a title given to her by the Council of Sages after creating a spell that could kill a dragon with one shot and had changed the course of the war. While I was just someone who’d sworn to serve her as I would serve my people if they were still alive.

I stirred in the bed, my body too tired to fall asleep no matter how exhausted I was. I turned to her, and my heart skipped a beat when my eyes met hers.

“You cannot sleep again?” she asked softly, and I sighed.

“Is this how it was for you…? People looking up to you wherever you went, hoping you would help them?” I asked, remembering the gazes of the people that had followed me ever since we arrived.

“It was… even worse than this," she said after a moment of silence. “Kings bowed their heads, Generals asked for my opinion on their plans and old prophecies were dusted off and new ones made… Some in Ias-Anar saw me as their goddess coming back to save them... Everyone saw me as someone I was not,” she sighed.

“But at least you always knew what to do," I smiled, remembering how confident she’d always been and how lost I felt when those villagers looked at me for help.

She chuckled and shook her head.

“I was as lost as you were today. I didn’t understand most of the questions they asked me. Even dragonbane… I needed to do something different because I was too exhausted to take to the sky and pummel the dragons with a meteor strike."

“I'm sorry, I didn’t know… I should…”

I looked away.

“It’s okay, you did more than you can imagine…”

She smiled.

“But…”

“I wouldn’t have made it this far without you…” she said softly and reached out, and I dared to take her hand.

“Is that why you wanted to be Meve when the war ended?” I asked suddenly, realising how she must have felt.

“It was one of the reasons…" she said and gently squeezed my hand.

“And the other ones…?”

“I will tell you another time. Try to get some rest. You will be too tired tomorrow if we keep talking through the whole night.”

I woke up when the early light shone through the barrier. I sat up and stretched myself with a yawn. She was sitting on the grass with her face turned to the rising sun, and I watched the rays dancing on her hair before I looked away. She must have noticed I’d woken up because she got up and started packing our camp. I wanted to help her, but I knew that any offer from my side would be met with a frown. At least that’s what I did when she’d tried to interfere, and I expected similar treatment.

We had a quick breakfast and, after checking on the villagers, set out on our path, walking upstream to find the source of the venom. To my relief, she walked by my side rather than brooded through the water, but I was sure she only did it for me. After all, such small contamination wasn’t dangerous if someone wasn’t exposed to it for too long.

They must have used this stream for a long time before they realised something was wrong, and when they did, it had been too late. I shivered at the thought. How many other places like this were there in this world, hidden from the Trumvirate, hoping that someone somehow would come and help them before it was too late?

We left the path and followed the stream, walking through the ancient forest when my RuneSphere suddenly flashed with a warning.

“Do you feel it?” I whispered, and she nodded.

“It’s big," she murmured and put her hands on my chest, summoning my armour. “Be careful," she added, donning her armour, and I shivered at her serious tone.

I hadn’t seen her so concerned since the war ended, and a pang of fear shot through my chest.

“What is it?” I whispered.

“I don’t know."

She put a hand on my shoulder.

“But it will be okay, E'rin. It always was okay…”

“It was…” I tried to smile and put my hand on hers

We continued walking, and soon we found our way blocked by massive trees uprooted by some enormous force.

“Let’s go up," she murmured and took my hand before leaping high into the air and above the thick canopy of the forest.

Then we saw it. A dark metallic shape half buried into the ground between the fallen trees. Its front had been crushed on impact and its massive wings torn from its body, stuck between the trees.

“A dragon?” I whispered as my body tensed with fear.

“It’s dead."

She glanced at me and gently squeezed my hand. I cast a detection spell, but only the dragon’ cold, broken body came back with the resonance, but that didn’t dispel my fear.

“It’s huge," I whispered, and the memories of the dragons attacking my village flashed before my eyes.

First, the sound had come, but back then we hadn’t known what it meant. A low roar that grew louder and louder, and everyone got out of their homes to see what had caused it. Then the fangs fell from the sky, and the city erupted in flames, and the screams echoed in the mountains as the dragons’ fire consumed everything in its way. I ran…

My body convulsed, knowing what I would see in a moment, and her arms wrapped around me.

“It’s okay, it’s okay…” she whispered as tears flowed down my cheeks even though I tried to stop them.

Why did it have to happen now…? It was stupid. I’d seen dragons before. I’d even killed them… We’d won… Everyone was safe… We’d won… But my body refused to listen.

"I…I'm sorry…" I whispered through the tears.

She landed us gently between the trees, still holding me in her arms, and sat down on a fallen log. I sat next to her, resting my head on her shoulder.

“Did you ever regret coming with me…?” she asked, avoiding my gaze.

"Never..." I whispered and took her hand.

“I hoped that when the war ended you would...” she sighed and gently squeezed my hand.

“Would what?”

“I don’t know…be different…be like you used to be before…"

“I don’t remember much from before," I murmured.

“Me neither, and the memories I have are slowly fading…”

“I remember your face when you picked me up from the snow…”

I smiled and touched her cheek.

“And I remember a girl telling me in a very serious manner that she would stay by my side even if I didn’t like her."

She smiled.

“Did I really say such a thing?”

“You did," she chuckled, and I looked away, trying to hide my flushed face.

“Shall we go and have a look at it?” I asked.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah," I nodded. “The last thing I want is to camp around this thing."

She smiled, and I got up and gave her a hand. She was Meve….