June 22nd
I awoke sometime later. Airys was shifting slightly as he stirred, slowly waking up. I coughed and felt relief. My lungs no longer burned and ached and I released his hand. I was on my stomach, still below the overhang. My clothes were damp, not wet, so the tide hadn't been out for too long. There was shade below the overhang and the sun shone brightly, high in the sky, on the crystal-clear ocean. Glittering. In my haziness, I thought it was beautiful.
The smell of salt was strong, as was that of burning wood. I rolled over. Stalactites greeted me, their dangerous points seemed threatening, like they could kill us any moment.
Airys groaned and sat up. Soot still covered his face where the water hadn't washed it off and his clothes were charred in some places. If I were to guess, it was probably a little before noon. Then, it occurred to me that I didn't know where we were. I asked Airys my question.
"A little south of the city," he said and got to his feet, walking towards the water. He turned, facing away from me, facing South, "Those are the mountains near Aethel. They are directly south of Dolonde. Aethel itself is southeast of them so we need to go," he spun in a circle, "that way!" he pointed northwest from our current position.
"We should get a move on. The others are probably missing us," I told him, getting to my feet slowly. My head spun a little as I got my bearings.
Airys nodded, face serious, "Wait, you're bleeding," he said, grabbing my arm and pulling me closer, inspecting the bright red gash on my shoulder. It must have happened the night before. His thumb gently touched the skin to the side of it and I felt my body telling me to pull away. But I didn't.
His eyes, so focused and intense while they inspected my injury, were beautiful in the natural light. I hadn't seen them like this before. His eyes found mine, green staring into blue. They were soft and gentle now.
"I'm sure you'll be fine...Just fine." A small grin was curving his lips slowly and I saw his body momentarily lean in towards mine.
Then, he shook his head slightly and took a step back, "We need to go," he mumbled, not looking at me. He turned and set off, down the beach, heading towards the city. The smell of charred wood was heavily surrounding the area and the sky was still gray from the smoke as the last bits of the fire died out. Blue skies were on the horizon but hovering above the city, the cloud hung low and ominous.
The Dolonde dragons were carrying large buckets from the ocean to the burning forest, slowly putting out the fire by dumping water over the parts still smoking. The dragon that reminded me of the ocean was carrying water in its mouth and spraying it over the trees in a great arc. It must be an Aqua species, able to carry water in its mouth.
We walked through the blackened remains and Airys looked around, "Gossamer won't be very happy. She loves trees," he said, putting out a hand to touch a trunk and inspecting his hand, now covered in blackened soot.
It was all so surreal. The ash fell as if in slow motion and lay upon the ground like a sheet of gray snow. We marveled at the damage, walking in stunned silence. The pine forest was thousands of years old and had burned to the ground in a manner of hours.
"It's terrible," he whispered.
"Yes, but these trees lived a beautiful life. The fire is only the start of a brand-new generation. The saplings will grow and replace their parents and grandparents and great-grandparents," I said. He chuckled as he looked at me and smiled.
We moved on, the statues of the great kings flanking the gates, grew ever closer. We made our way around them, towards the west gate and the rock that hid the secret entrance into the sanctuary.
I crawled through the hole in the rock and climbed down the ladder, far below the ground. Airys came down right after me and we ventured together down the dark passage. We rounded a corner and saw light. As we entered the tunnel that intersected with the training room, we heard voices coming from second Commons.
"No! They're still out there, probably dying or hurt somehow and they need our help!"
"That's Bayah," I said to Airys.
"You're hurt, you can't leave," Flax's voice was attempting to calm the frantic she-devil with reason.
"I'm gonna hurt you if you don't—"
We opened the door from the training room and cut Bayah's threat short. Flax was attempting to help her get back to the Infirmary by blocking her escape. She was leaning against a stone support beam, trying not to put weight on her leg but attempting to push Flax out of the way with her limited balance.
They both looked at us, Bayah's eyes brightened and she cried out, "I knew it! They aren't dead!" she limped towards me and I moved to meet her halfway as she threw her arms around my neck and leaned into me, putting most of her weight on my shoulders.
"All right, they're alive but you need to get back to bed." Flax took Bayah's arm and supported one side of her, "You're going to destroy that ankle of yours. Atla, you look terrible, we need to fix that shoulder. You too, sir. Just so we can get your lungs all cleaned up," Flax said. I helped him take Bayah back to the infirmary, as she wasn't ready to let me go just yet. As we turned, I caught sight of a slight smile from Airys.
Sygnet and X suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs that led down to the Infirmary.
"We thought we heard your voices." X grinned.
Airys laughed slightly, "Glad to see you didn't lose faith in us."
Sygnet led the way downstairs and pointed to beds, "And no more escape attempts," she snapped at Bayah. Kodi was in a bed, Briar leaning over him and applying a white paste to large burns that covered most of the changeling's upper body. He was asleep.
"Is he going to be okay?" I asked as Thorn directed me to bed.
"He'll live. The burns are the worst part but those will almost completely vanish. Your shoulder, however," he didn't finish his sentence as he trailed off. He had me removed my shirt for easier access to my injuries. Thorn pulled up a tray of medical supplies and went to work, washing away ash and dirt and sand from the gash. It stung slightly but not as bad as a training session with Bayah. When he disinfected it, I gasped with pain and said a lot of nasty things out loud to no one in particular.
Sygnet was tending to Airys, who had a small burn on his left arm. She was rubbing the weird paste on it. I averted my gaze as he pulled off his shirt to let Sygnet check for other ones. He threw the charred piece of clothing into the trash bin.
Thorn hunted down every burn on my body, but it was mostly a large one stretching my back. Then he stitched up my shoulder, he proudly told me that it would leave a gorgeous little scar and wrapped it up in a white bandage. "What is this?" he asked me, pointing to the three long claw marks that raked my right side.
"It's a memory," I said.
"May I touch it?" he asked.
I nodded and his cool fingers gently touched the skin. I winced and did a swift intake of breath. I heard Airys' bed creak as he shifted, almost as if he made a move to stand up.
"Sorry," Thorn removed his hand, "It healed well, we could probably get rid of the scar if you wanted," he said.
I shook my head, "No. I want to keep it. I was seventeen when wolves swarmed the village I was staying at during my travels. I was with this lovely family up in Polahrys, you know the abandoned village up North?
"Yes, we do. You were in that massacre?" Bayah asked.
I nodded, "The wolves were," I paused, "intelligent and driven. We didn't stand a chance. Women and children...including the young girl who I was taking care of, were slaughtered. So, I ran. I ran far away from it all. I later realized that I'd been hurt. Almost died but a kind stranger helped me." The room was quiet and still, "I found out that it was Alekai who ordered the attack, under the premise that the small town was inhabited by bandits. No one tried to stop him and the King didn't know. I hate him and I'm gonna kill him." I realized I was shaking with rage, my hands clenched into fists, nails digging into my palms
"Atla, I think you can do anything you set your mind to, but I know what kinds of thoughts go through your mind, so maybe hold off on that for now," Airys began, his voice apprehensive as he didn't know how volatile I was. He gave me a kind smile at his attempt to diffuse my mood.
I took a deep breath and laughed gently, my shaking ceased, and unclenched my hands.
Thorn finished doctoring my wounds and let me leave the infirmary with the promise that I would return for a new bandage in a few hours.
I walked up the stairs, intent on finding Gossamer to see if she had a clue on how the fire started. I wanted to know why it happened and how something like that could occur.
Miles away, a young womanawoke in the middle of a blackened and burned forest.