Here Be Dragons: The Protector

Chapter eleven: Aftermath

While the spear pushed towards the girl, Lukas had once again thrown his sword. But he, too, was too slow. The spear met her flesh precious moments before the creature went down with a weak gurgle, but it was enough. He looked down at the girl, whose pain and fear were evident by the tears streaming down her face. Scrambling over, Mrs. Hart cupped her daughter's face in both hands. She knew they didn't have long left, so she simply said, "I love you so much."
Vaylerie clutched those hands, refusing to let them go. "Please don't leave me." But before she'd finished, the grip on her face went limp. Her mother's eyes glazed over, head lolling to one side.

The wail that tore from Vaylerie's throat was filled with such raw pain. Lukas understood that pain, and as it washed over him, he remembered that pain. Even now, he felt the guilt, knowing the person he cared for most in the world had died protecting him. He remembered the itch of the betrothal band tight around his forearm, the sound of her soft, melodious laughter, the bright flash of the fireball connecting with her back, arms spread wide to shield him from harm. He never saw a point of dwelling in the past. Shaking of the memory, he chose to deal with that the pain and the guilt the way he always had. He retrieved his sword with a savage tug, strode purposefully though the gap in the wall, and scanned the area for something to fight.

Under any other circumstances, the scene laid out before him would have been shocking. Zephyr and Mistral were a tangled and unmoving mass of teeth, claws, and scales. The man and dragon he had never asked the names of were also dead – the dragon was on its side, a barrage of long ice spikes jutting out of its belly, whereas the man was face down on the floor, clothes burned away to reveal blackened skin. In Lukas' current state, however, that was all a blur. His gaze fixated on the five Turned left standing – three stood together near the dragon, one was walking from the burned man to join them, the last was stood above the unmoving form of Jenna. He ran straight at the fifth Turned as it drew back its hand. Against the lightening sky, he could just see the black spike that formed above it. As it brought its hand down, Lukas slid under it, shield held before him. The quasi-real bolt shattered against the solid stone circle, dissipating back into the shadows. The thing fell before it could even widen its glowing purple eyes.

Next, he sprinted after the one walking away. It cried out sharply as his sword found its back. The three others turned towards the sound and started in shock. They tried to summon more icicles to throw his way, but only one of them had the power left – the other two simply ran. Lukas ducked beneath the first, dove to the side to avoid the second, and knocked the third out of the air with his shield. He didn't give it time to throw a fourth. They others had run in nearly opposite directions, but that didn't matter. They were huge and made of stone, trying to flee between trees grown too close to accommodate their bulk. Lukas gave chase.

Tol was visible above the treetops by the time he returned to the cave. On his way past, he had checked to see if Jenna was still alive and was happily surprised. Her breathing was shallow, and she seemed trapped in a nightmare – still, he was sure she'd prefer nightmares over the feeling of being without Zephyr. He carried her inside the cave and deposited her in a corner. Unable to look in Vaylerie's direction, he instead started to remove the dead. He gathered all the dead Turned and dumped them unceremoniously into the larger pits in the battlefield. To the fallen dragons – who were too heavy to move – he offered a muttered prayer, "May you return to the air, from whence you came." Their riders, he laid out in a row just outside the cave. He would have to rest before he had the strength to bury them, and they didn't have the time. The Turned had found them here, and were attacking in greater numbers than he had ever seen; they had to leave, and soon.

Vaylerie had finally managed to tear herself away from her mother, but she was still wracking with sobs when the huge man re-entered the cave. When he saw her, he seemed to soften, slightly. "I know this is hard, Vaylerie, but we need to leave... They'll be coming for us and we're in no shape to fight."
She remained quiet for a while, before blurting out, "Who are you?"
After a pause where he seemed to search for the words, he said, "I know you have a lot of questions, but you can ask them while we move. It would take time we don't have for you to find the answers you're looking for." His face stretched into a small but reassuring smile, "Although, since that's an easy one: my name is Lukas. It's an honour to finally meet you."