The Dragon's Fight

Chapter 7

-Tylon-

Where was she? She had been right behind us and then suddenly out of nowhere she was gone. Liam was the one who had noticed, and when first he did … we all freaked out, running around the woods trying to search for clues or any sort of sign as to where she could have gone.

“Laelia!” Samuel called.

We had been calling for a long time now, and still had not gotten an answer. It made no sense. How could she just disappear out of the blue? It had me almost desperate, since I knew it wasn’t only her that was in danger, but her child as well. Laelia and Ashes had already lost one. They couldn’t lose another, and Ashes could definitely not lose Laelia. He had been very specific before the journey.

“Promise me you will look after her no matter what.”

“I will do my best,” I said, and was about to walk away.

Ashes grabbed my arm and pulled me close. His yellow eyes were serious and I saw what kind of pain he was in from letting Laelia go on this mission without him.

“I cannot lose her,” he said. “I won’t. Bring her back to me. No matter what.”

I nodded slowly.

“I am taking a huge risk, letting you go. Amaya, even Rathilion are against the idea, but since you insisted and since Mayla is backing you up, I will allow it, but Tylon, even if you have to stop yourself, you must. I cannot lose her, brother.”

I looked at the man I had called brother for years. He and I had shared a deep bond for a very long time, but it was clear his bond to Laelia made ours fade into the background. I didn’t blame him. There was someone who I could sacrifice everything for as well.

“I will stop myself, or make sure someone else does, if something should happen,” I said.

Ashes nodded, looking more relaxed.

“But Ashes,” I said. “If you cannot go, I need to. Laelia should always have one of us with her.”

He clearly agreed, as he smiled a little. While Laelia was the love of his life, she had almost become like a little sister to me. She was family, and I would not let go without me, and I knew Ashes was both worried and relieved that I was going with her. I was not the same, I knew that, but I had gotten better, and I would do my very best to keep her safe. Even from me.

“Laelia!” Liam called.

I sighed and stopped, just trying to calm myself. This was not good. I had made a promise to Ashes, and now Laelia had disappeared.

“Where the hell is she?” Samuel asked and stopped beside me. “Tylon?”

I didn’t answer him, trying to clear my head.

“Tylon?”

I knew I should say something. The longer I waited, the more worried he got. I could even see out of the corner of my eye, his hand resting on the handle of his sword. He probably feared I was drifting away into the past-me, but the truth was, I was just so afraid. How could Laelia have sworn me into secrecy about her pregnancy? We should all know, so we knew exactly what was at stake here!

“Tylon?”

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Liam on my other side. He looked at me worried, but his hands were far from his sword.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I nodded and straightened myself a little.

“I’m okay,” I finally said. “Just … worried.”

Liam only agreed and looked rather sad because of my words.

“We all are,” he said in a dark voice. “I don’t understand where she could have gone. We have searched the whole forest.”

We had, and soon it would be dark. We could not wait here. We should go back to where she was able to find us.

“We should go back to the horses,” I said.

“But we haven’t found Laelia!” Samuel said. “I am not leaving here without my sister!”

“We aren’t leaving,” I said. “But we should go somewhere she can find us. Once the forest gets dark, it will be impossible for us to see where we are going. It will do us no good.”

“So, are you suggesting we just … wait? You can’t be serious!” Samuel said.

“If you have a better idea, please do tell me!”

Samuel looked at me with anger in his eyes, but he could not deny I was right. In the darkness we would not find anyone, and we would most likely get lost. At least, if we got back to the horses and started a fire, Laelia might be able to find her way back to us. She couldn’t just have disappeared into thin air.

“Dammit!” Samuel growled before he started to walk away.

I turned to look at Liam, who still looked sad. He just nodded a little before he followed his brother. I stayed a little longer looking around, hoping to see some kind of sign, but there was nothing but the quiet forest.

“Where the hell are you, Laelia?” I whispered before I followed the others.

As we came back, we quickly got a fire started and, then we just waited and waited. It was a different kind of torture. We had no idea if Laelia would find her way back to us, or if we had to go search for her the next morning.

“Shouldn’t you dragons have good vision, even in the dark?” Samuel asked me.

I nodded.

“Then why aren’t we going to look for her?” he asked again, pushing me.

“Will you let me go search for her alone?” I asked him back.

Samuel got quiet, as he watched me over the flames. He didn’t trust me, and he certainly didn’t like me coming on his mission with them. He was as overprotective as the rest, and while Ashes had said I could be trusted, that did not mean the rest were happy about it.

“Why would I let you search on your own?” he asked.

“Because I am not risking the two of you getting lost as well, because you can’t keep up with me. Besides, I could be searching out there for her and she could be finding her way back here on her own, while I am still in there,” I said.

“Or she could be lying in some kind of hole in the ground with both her legs broken!”

I sighed, shaking my head. That was very unlikely. This forest was different. The nymphs lived here, and since none of us had seen them, I feared they might have made contact with Laelia instead. We could continue to search, but something told me, we wouldn’t find her.

“Samuel, just let us wait,” Liam said.

“Not you too!”

“Tylon got a good point. It is best to just … at least wait for the sun to come up,” he said.

Samuel groaned, frustrated and got back up on his feet. He started to pace, as Liam and I shared a worried look.

“Why does this sh*t keep happening?” he asked.

“What?” Liam asked.

“This! Laelia is constantly disappearing from our sight. This did not happen before you dragons came along!”

I was about to say something, but Liam cut me off,

“That isn’t true,” he said.

“Of course, it is!” Samuel said.

Liam shook his head, smiling a little.

“Laelia would often run off before all of this, and you know it. It drove father insane, and he would often send us out looking for her.”

Samuel sighed and stopped pacing, as he crossed his arms. Liam had clearly been right, but I understood Samuel’s frustration. Laelia did disappear a lot or did things that made our hearts stop inside of us from worry, but she had survived it all. I had a feeling she would survive this as well.

“She will come back,” I said.

“She has a habit of doing so,” Liam just said with a smile.

We nodded to each other, and Samuel joined us by the fire again.

“I still think we should be out there looking for her.”

“And be the ones she had to come rescue again. Yes, we will be the men in distress once again. Good idea, brother,” Liam just teased, placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

Samuel shrugged him off, and he looked like he was about to say something, when suddenly footsteps echoed in the dark forest. We all turned to the sound, as a shadow formed in the darkness. We all got up and drew out swords, but then the shadow finally stepped closer, and the flames gave it color and a real shape.

“Laelia?” I asked.

She looked at us all confused before walking calmly over to us.

“We have a problem,” she said.