Prince of Dragons

Chapter Thirty-Four

Now, I was used to different levels of pain. Broken bones, due to my carelessness, stab wounds, bruises, busted noses—whether it had come from my long hours spent honing my swordsmanship skills to perfection, or by my own stupidity, I was used to the different intensities pain could have.

This? It was unlike anything I had ever felt before, and I had to enlist both Alaban and Narvi's help just to get me to the cave Narvi had spotted, because I could barely even stand on my own two feet after that entire ordeal.

I felt as if every fiber of my being was currently being melted away in a vault of lava—which was probably true, thanks to me walking into a small lava pool like an idiot—and that kind of agony was not a pain that was so easily ignored. Sweat poured from my face like a river, and I was honestly having a hard time properly breathing as I slid down the cave wall, until my butt was firmly planted on the hard ground.

Alaban spared me a worried glance as Narvi surveyed outside, and sent a few little amber orbs of light deeper into the cave—no doubt wanting to make sure there was no more of those...creatures waiting to turn the three of us into a meal. My vision was swimming at this point, and there was another pulse of sharp, intense pain that had me groaning and curling in on myself.

Seeing the cave was clear and hearing my little moan of distress, Alaban made his way over to me—amber eyes filled with worry as he tried to ascertain the severity of my wounds. Blood caked my entire body, just about, both my blood and the creatures' blood, so Alaban had to carefully maneuver the fabric around to accurately determine how severe my condition was.

Judging by the increasingly worried face of his, I gathered things were not looking positive. And when Narvi came back and saw some of the slices that covered me, he gasped and fell onto his knees beside me—his light eyes starting to water.

"Hurt," he whined, before he turned to Alaban and gripped his arm. "Help."

"I-I-I don't...I don't know how. I-I-I'm not adverse in healing magic, I..." those amber eyes flickered towards me. "I understand it is an incredibly stupid question...how are you feeling? Do you feel like the darkness is trying to take hold of you? I-I'm going to be real with you...t-this is not looking good. We need to get back to our supplies immediately to clean these wounds, or else I fear...I-I-I fear you may succumb to infection, and blood loss." He looked distressed and ran an onyx hand through his hair. He cursed under his breath, dragged a hand down his face, then grabbed the orb that had started this all and all but flopped next to me, glaring at the shiny thing in his hands—as if by glaring at it he could obtain the knowledge to get back to our...

Our what? World? Realm? We still hadn't even established where we were even at, or what that orb even was. Unless Alaban could figure out how to reverse the orb's magic and get us back...we were probably going to be stuck here, and if we were stuck here...

I...I didn't even get to say goodbye to Davian, or Mother, or Father....or Drake, even. Because Alaban was right. I was no doubt going to succumb to my injuries.

Was it weird to say that this felt like it would be more...permanent, than the time the siren had hold of me? I mean sure, I felt like I was going to die then and even almost did...but for some reason, this time...I wasn't panicking. I wasn't struggling. I felt the pain, as it was kind of hard not to...but I was calm. I was tired. And I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open as I lazily stared at Alaban while he turned the orb to, and fro—amber eyes swirling with thoughts and an intensity that man seemed to wield so well. However, it seemed he was having a hard time on where to even begin, and he got so frustrated that at some point he chucked the orb across the cave—the thing slamming into the rock across from us before it rolled across the ground, unscathed.

"Why the hell can I not figure this thing out?!" The sun dragon in question growled as he launched to his feet and began to pace. "It is magic, and I am a man of magic!" He cursed again and covered his face with his hands.

All the while, Narvi had made his way over to me and sat next to me, currently cuddled against my side as he watched Alaban break down—a frown on his lips. His light blue eyes flickered over to the discarded orb, and after a moment, the moon dragon shifted on the floor and rolled it towards him.

Gods, the poor thing probably felt like this was all his fault. But it wasn't—at least, I didn't place any blame on him. He had lived alone his entire life, and that device was something that interested him. Besides—I glanced down at the orb—this thing looked like it was as old as time with all these strange runes or whatever they were that was carved on the rounded surface. So how could Narvi had known what this thing was? How could he have known that we would be thrown into another world, by it?

Alaban probably blamed him...but the man was also panicking. He had so much on his plate, so much baggage for one mere mortal man to handle, and he was no doubt overwhelmed by everything all at once. But...I'm sure he would eventually forgive Narvi, as he wasn't the heartless type to hold grudges like that, especially since it wasn't really Narvi's fault for being the curious thing he was.

I pulled out of my thoughts when Narvi got up and made his way over to the other man in question, his eyes glittering as he held the orb out towards him. "Smart." He said simply as he pushed the orb towards Alaban.

Surprised, Alaban gently took the orb from him and glanced down at it with a frown. "You're putting a bit too much faith in me, Narvi," he muttered softly, before he sighed and sat back down to study it some more.

The cave once again got quiet...and that's when my mind started to drift. Thankfully the pain at this point was no longer an issue, as I had finally become numb to it—which I was pretty sure wasn't a good thing—and my vision ever so slowly began to darken at the edges.

"Alaban?"

Although my voice was barely above a whisper, Alaban's sharp gaze snapped to me. "What is it, Drakell? Anything at all I can help with?"

I shook my head, feeling drained. "I'm tired."

Alaban's frown deepened and he shifted towards me, dropping the orb in favor of grabbing my face. "No you are not Drakell, you hear me? You are not tired. You need to stay awake." His voice then dropped to a frantic whisper. "Please stay awake, Drakell. Just...please. I will figure this damned thing out and will get us back to our world. We'll get you to a healer, Drakell, just don't fall asleep."

I huffed—or well, as much as I could, anyway—and flopped my head on Narvi's shoulder. And my horn was probably digging into the soft skin between his neck and shoulder, but Narvi didn't seem to mind and even brought a hand up to soothingly pet my hair.

When my eyelids started getting heavier, I snapped out of my comfort and forced myself to move my head off of my current perch. If he continued to pet my hair, I would no doubt end up falling asleep, and Alaban told me not to fall asleep, because I was sure if I did fall asleep...I would not wake up again.

A/N: EmOtInAl DaMaGe!!!!! Definitely a heavier chapter, butttttttttt, it'll work itself out in the end. Righhhhhhtttttt? Heheheheeheeeee

Anywhooooo, hope you all enjoy this chapter! Lemme know what you think! I love feedback! :)