Page 14 of Drakhana's Secret
“Gallant? Is that really you?” I ask, amazement in my tone.
“How long has it been?” he asks back. “I barely recognized you.”
“It’s been too long if we hardly know each other anymore,” I say.
Gallant and I grew up together in the village that’s no longer there. Even if he’s nine years my senior, he still took me under his wing and we became best friends. I was smaller than most whelps my age, which made me prone to teasing and bullying. When Gallant became my friend, that all stopped.
He was popular with everyone in the village, even the elders. Yes, he did get into mischief occasionally, but he always found a way out of being punished. I think it has to do with his smile. Although, right now, he doesn’t have much to smile about. We’re all pretty troubled.
“How have you been?” I ask, clinging on to the hope that having at least one friend survive all this brings.
He shrugs his broad shoulders. “I wish I could be better. This isn’t exactly the homecoming I expected.”
“I don’t think we expected any of this to happen.” I inch back closer to him. “Can you remove your jacket and roll up your sleeves so that I can tend to your wounds?”
He does what I ask quickly. “I’m sorry for pushing you off earlier. You caught me off guard.”
“That’s fine.” I bring the disinfectant cloth to his neck again. He hisses but doesn’t move. “We’re all having a bad day.”
“I’d say this is more than a bad day.”
“I remember when you’d always come to me after you got into a fight or fell down and scraped your elbows or knees.”
A small grin stretches his lips. “Even then you were already great at patching me up and making me feel better.”
A brief smile mirrors his as I say, “Right now, I wish we could be back to those days.”
“The innocence of youth.”
He looks beyond the fire to the whelps and fledglings eating dinner together. They’re like chicks huddling close. I know they will bounce back from this experience all the better for it.
We all will.
I cling to that thought as I continue tending to Gallant’s wounds. There is so much to be grateful for. Chief among them is the fact that he’s here. Hopefully, we can share the burden of leading together.
Ten
Gallant
Sleeping on the hard ground isn’t the most ideal circumstance, but the earth will have to do in a pinch. I’m an earth dragon. We’re born to be one with the soil we walk upon.
In this case, I have too much on my mind to actually find a comfortable spot. Even rolling my jacket into a pillow doesn’t do it for me. I turn to my side, try to get some shut eye, then in a few minutes, I turn to my other side.
Sleeping on my back doesn’t work either. In fact, I think I’m wider awake on my back than in any other position. So, I try my side again. The cycle continues until I finally get too tired tossing and turning to know any better and fall asleep.
The next morning, after a meager breakfast of what was left over from the night before—mostly vegetable stew and eggs—I make my way to the river and wash away as much of the dirt on my body as I can. I can’t think when I’m dirty to the point that when I walk actual dust falls to the ground from me. Unable to do much of anything with my clothes, I discard my jacket and keep the sleeves of my not so white shirt rolled.
Once I’m fully awake, I get on to business. Knowing that there isn’t a chance of a good signal beneath the forest’s thick canopy, I call on my dragon. I take to the skies, not so high up that I could be spotted by others in the distance. Don’t want to call any unwanted attention from the fire and ice clans should they still be in the area.
About a mile out, I spot a small hill on a clearing. That should do nicely. I land and shed my dragon as fast as I can. I climb up the hill and fish out my phone from my pocket.
I lift it toward the sky. It takes a few seconds for it to catch a signal. I’m not at full bar like I would have liked, but I can certainly work with what I have.
I turn on my data coverage and sign in to the private serves of the earth clan’s company. I check on our city holdings. My gut plummets.
It’s gone. It’s all gone.
What was once a thriving business is laid to waste. I don’t even care who did it. I’m pretty sure this is a joint venture between the ice and fire clan.
