Dawn Bringer: Chapter 2 -Grim News-
#2 of Dawn Bringer
Chapter 2 -Grim News-
James' eyes...though he could not see from them...were flooding with tears...staining the blindfold he was wearing over them with dark damp spots....he had just heard the news.... Roland was probably not going to make it through the night.... Through the week they had been laying low and waiting for substantial news of Roland's recovery. The flames were harmful to both the body and soul, having scorched both during the encounter.
James shut everyone around him out of his mind....just focusing on the memories, good and bad, of Roland. He had always had a keen friendship with him, and he remembered playfully fighting over Sarah with him when they were learning how to fight and fulfil their dreams of slaying dragons together... He had kept these childish memories to himself...but they were also the only things that had kept Roland from slaying him when he had showed up on their doorstep, beaten and bloodied to the brink of death. It was also Roland who had encouraged him to do so many of the things he had done...such as learning how to talk to ladies.
He let out a soft whimper...alerting the others of his sorrow...especially Aura, who had brought them the dire report. Cyranuce, the golden dragon had not breathed a word since the night that Sarah had broken down in front of Alex and James, which the group respected as a sign of a mature ally. The others were in a semi-circle around Aura and James, who had to lean up against a boulder in support from the breaking news....it broke him inside to know that one of his best friends was on his deathbed...and he couldnt even see him...
"He told me to give you these...." Aura said, laying a bulging satchel in front of him... "He said they were his most prized possessions....besides his friendship with you..."
Hearing those words, hell seemed to break lose, and he could no longer hold his sorrow back, gasping for air several times as he fell to the ground. He covered his face in his hands, unable to speak.
"James..." Alex said in a soothing voice.
"He wouldnt have wanted you to be like this...he would want you to be strong..." Sarah said. "Remember how he always used to punch your shoulder and call you a wuss when you cried like that...? Well....imagine him punching your shoulder..maybe that would help..."
"He was a strong warrior...now you must be strong like he was...." Alex said warmly, nudging her snout against his head softly as he wept into his hands. "You must let it go...fear and sorrow will only weigh you down...."
"You're right...." James said after what seemed to be several long minutes, and took the deerskin satchel into his hands, giving the twine a tug to release the tie. Inside he spied an elegantly designed hunting knife...which he often used as a throwing knife, a worn oak pipe, his sword...which he held to his chest for several long moments in rememberance, and a small medallion...
James sat there in silence...
"James..." Sarah said, gasping.
"I know..." James said softly.
"What...what is that...?" Alex asked.
"It was a friendship medallion...we were the closest of friends despite our age difference...He was like a father to me...one that was still there..." James said, his voice beginning to crack again in emotional pain.
"No matter what...you will always have us...dont doubt that. If we fall in battle, know that we are still with you every step of the way, guiding your arm and body to keep you out of trouble....never feel like you are alone my love..." Alex said softly to him. "You will always be loved...."
"Thank you....all of you...." James said..taking the medallion and placing it around his neck. "Let it be known, my friend, that you were the closest friend I had ever had... you will be sorely missed..."
"May his soul finally find peace in blissful eternity..." Aura said, slinking into the cave alone...contemplating what had just happened...
"Please...I need some time to think as well...After I have gathered my thoughts we will speak of our plan..." James said, standing once again and placing the second sword back into the bag once again. "Til' next we meet my dear friend..." he said, picking it up and carrying it over his back.
The next two weeks seemed to be blissful...if not torturous... The entire party was sleep deprived, having to constantly change camps due to the abundance of dragons and midnight intrusions by sinister stalkers in the areas around them...the creatures seemingly relentless in their endeavours to keep them from sleeping. It was as if there were spies around them, working for Talon himself...and to their knowledge there probably was. James had wounded one of the midnight creatures with a powerful water blast, but the only information he could gather about the enemy was that it was indeed a dragon-like creature with black scales...
Throughout the week, James was also deprived of sleep not only because of the intrusions, but of the confirmation of Roland's death...having died peacefully in his sleep on the pain reduction spell that the clerics had placed on him. This knowledge plagued his mind night and day, unable to comprehend that the father figure in his life had just moved on... He was happy for him, but also unable to be consoled.
As for travel, they had made it to the mountainous and snowy regions close to the temple itself, surrounding the temple like a crown of white-tipped spikes that seemingly went up for eternity, scraping at the celestial sky itself. Sarah had managed to place a spell that kept insulation in the cave they had created, or that Alex had for that matter, using her control over the earth to create a nice cozy cave, in which they made a fire to keep warm. It was here that Both James and Sarah had placed a ward against evil, keeping those sinister creatures away from them and finally allowing them to rest easy.
James had begun to feel strange....his scales slowly beginning to turn brighter and brighter in color and his powers over water were beginning to be replaced with that of the light. It was all too new to him given his current state of grief...At least they were closer to their goal....James would see that they fulfilled their quest once and for all....
"You know its not just going to be as easy as getting all these dragon clans together right...?" Sarah asked, a look of concern spreading across her peaceful face.
"It definately wont be...but I will show them what I have been through...who I am...and who is with me on the inside...they will have to understand..." James said, reclining against the cave wall and his mate, who was sleeping next to him like a giant pile of green scales, softly purring.
"Indeed...you have a point there...but what about after they are gathered...is there any plans on what to do then...?" she asked again.
"I....I never thought about that.... I will definately need a plan of action afterwards....." James said, nodding.
"Well then tough guy....I suggest thinking up another one of your dream plans then... I'll see you in the morning..." Sarah said softly before reclining against Cyranuce, the golden dragon. It was such a glorious feeling...to feel the weight and warmth of sleep creeping through you once again...to feel your body beginning to recharge....to renew itself without the worry of having intruders in the night....something that James soon succumbed to, slipping into a blissful and wonderfully peaceful sleep against his mate. There was much to be done...and he knew it...but the burdens of such stress simply melted away as he let his mind fog with exhaustion and dreams.... On the flip side... Alex's belly had begun to grow slightly....