Ember of Hope
Chapter 49

Raegan blinked open her eyes and found herself in a strange unfamiliar place. For a moment, disorientation kept her mind addled, but then everything came crashing back. She tried to sit up but her head swam. It felt like déjà vu, except Sarah was with her this time. She turned her head from side to side but found herself alone.

This place was not the hellhole she had fled God knew when. The smell here was different… a salty sea scent which apparently she could smell very easily now thanks to her shift. It wasn’t a dream. No, she could also see very well. And the fall she took should’ve killed her, but here she was, merely disoriented. Holy dragon balls.

Raegan opened her mouth to call for Sarah but no sound came out of her burning throat. Her whole body felt like she was trampled by a hoard of wild beasts. Slowly, she managed to sit up and checked herself for any new injuries, but except the old bruises from titan’s torture, there was nothing new and those too were now almost healed… thanks to her dragon self.

The soreness must be due to the incomprehensible shift into a dragon and back again; she thought to herself. Panic started to settle in her gut as she thought about what might have happened to her friend. The fall she took, what if she had hit something? What if she wasn’t found along with her? What if she was captured again? All the ‘what ifs’ were driving her crazy. She didn’t even know her own whereabouts, much less Sarah’s. She needed to replace her friend and she needed to replace a way back home, before anybody came back for them.

Gingerly, she got out of the unfamiliar bed and fought against the wave of nausea that tried to take her back under. Taking a step towards the door she stumbled, catching the iron bed rail to stop her fall. The bed squeaked and she cursed. There went her stealthy escape. The loud screeching must have alerted her hosts, so she prayed against it. Apparently, luck wasn’t on her side this time around and the door to her new lodgings opened. In came a strange man. He was wearing loose pants and was bare-chested. His very long silvery hair were parted in the middle and tied in two tight intricate braids dangling on either side of his face. Every visible body part of his including his face was tattooed with weird symbols in white and black; most probably an ancient language by the looks of it. But the most striking part of the man was his eyes – his very purple eyes.

Sensing her eyes on himself he grinned, displaying beautiful white teeth.

“Hi, I’m Adriel Astrov; chief of the town and your host. It’s good to see you alive and on your feet”, he said in a very… unique accent.

“Where am I?” she wanted to ask about Sarah but wasn’t sure whether they were friend or foe.

“You’re in Astoria. You’re safe as long as you’re here as my guest. May I ask whatever you were running from? My city guard saw you falling in the Astor”.

She ignored his question and instead asked, “Is Astoria in Velar?” He started laughing then made a face like he smelled something nasty.

“God no, Astoria is not a part of that wretched place. It’s a city of Videen. Were you living under a rock?” He mocked.

Raegan scowled, “No, I was a captive in a dungeon of Velar and I had no idea I had crossed a border”. She hesitated for a moment but then steeled herself and asked, “Did you replace someone else too?” her heart was beating in her throat.

“Yes, we did indeed. I’m assuming she ran with you?”

“Yes, where is she? Is she ok?” She couldn’t bring herself to ask about Tristan. Maybe, through some miracle he had survived his vile brother. But if she asked, all hope might shatter.

“She is alive”. He said mildly.

She had to know. Not knowing about Tristan was killing her. “Was there someone else? A boy?” dread was like a living wire inside her.

He frowned, “No, not that I’m aware of. Only you two girls were found by my men. They rescued you from the river”.

Her knees gave away but before she could hit the floor, Adriel was there; holding her upright. He helped her sit on the bed and stood in front of her. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks… the pain too much to breathe through. She had lost another brother. She couldn’t save him, just like she couldn’t save her little Max.

“Who was he?” Adriel asked.

“My little brother… an innocent who died because of me… because I couldn’t save him.” Her voice broke, “I killed him… I left him and ran to save myself. I killed him. I killed him. I killed him”. She said again and again.

“Listen to me! You didn’t kill him… he might still be alive. Tell me what happened”. He asked her in a gentle voice, sitting beside her and rubbed her back soothingly.

“No, you don’t understand. He was no match for Titan. I know he is dead. I can feel it. He is dead because he wanted to save me and Sarah… to buy us time to escape”.

“Titan?” he scowled, “Velar’s new king Titan?”

“Yes, he kidnapped us from Evreux. He is an evil man.” A shudder ran through her body before she continued with her story, “We escaped somehow but he came after us. So, Tristan; his younger brother tried to help us by fighting him. He bought us time to run. I didn’t know how to save both Sarah and Tristan because I didn’t know how to fight a dragon. Before I could do anything, he had grabbed ahold of Tristan and I panicked and flew as hard as I could with Sarah. I didn’t even look back once because I was scared that if I looked back for even a moment I’d be next”. Sobs raked her body and Adriel put a comforting arm around her, yanking her close.

“Do you see how I left him to die so I could escape? I didn’t even try to save him when he gave his life saving us”.

“If he is dead, he died honorably. He wouldn’t want you to blame yourself. Don’t take his honor away by blaming yourself and belittling his sacrifice. He gave his life knowing that you’d live. Let him be free and happy in his next life” he smiled then, “Oh, and you still haven’t told me your name”.

“Raegan”.

“Ah, a lovely name for a lovely lady”. He smiled his easy smile again. He really was beautiful despite his odd personality.

She’d almost forgotten about Sarah. “Can you take me to see my friend now?”

“Oh yes yes, but let’s get you something to eat first. You look a bit peaky”. He called out and a servant girl appeared in the door with a tray laden with steaming food.

In normal circumstances she would’ve attacked the tray full of delicious looking sea food and soup as soon as it came near her. But her appetite had left her as well. Tristan was gone because of her. There was no hope left in her heart about him. She couldn’t bring herself to even look at the food.

“I’m not hungry” she said pushing the tray away.

“If you want to see your friend you have to eat this”. Adriel said, pushing the tray right back towards her.

She scowled at him but he looked like he wouldn’t be swayed. So she took the tray and starting eating.

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