A step forward

Aurelia

I wish none of this had happened. Life became too hard too fast and I wished that I had never left Elnora's house. I should have never begun this journey. Kairios and I should have gone on to live as simple life as we could, we could grow old together and watch our children grow. We wouldn't have to fight and the fate of too many futures wouldn't be on my shoulders. That was one reality that seemed impossible now.

I was worried now that I had been seen by Saira's brother, that the kingdoms would be on the lookout for a large dragon with two companions. My Aunt would know that I was free and she would do anything to stop me to keep her role as Queen. We were three against an army.

My Mother's map could help us a bit, but we would need more than just that if we wanted to win. I needed people that I trusted to be by my side and my mother was not someone I would put in that category. After I had some time to cool off, we got back our original track. We were late to arrive at Elnora's friend’s house that we would be allowed to stay at, and I was worried what would be assumed from our late arrival. Hopefully we would be able to get there in the next few days

On the first night that we left my Mother’s cave, Kairios found and held me for a while. I took comfort in his arms, as long as we were together, I could keep going.

"We should go back soon. We stopped for too long, and I feel any further delay will be unwise. We should rest and get moving back to our original plan."

"Alot has changed in a short time. How are we going to do this?" My fears were starting to become unmanageable.

"I don't know how, to be honest. We just need to keep moving forward. We will need as much help as we can get. We really can't afford to turn anyone else away." He was agreeing with me and in a way scolding me as well.

His words were true and very upsetting to me. I didn't want to admit it, but I knew I was in the wrong in some ways. I could have let my Mother come with us; it didn't mean I would have to trust her. We would have had more of the help that we needed.

Again, I found myself wishing that none of this had happened to me. I was so overwhelmed, my mind felt out of control. I couldn't seem to connect what my thoughts were saying verses what my heart suggested. What did he expect me to do?

I turned to walk back and Kairios followed me. When we got back to Saira, she was asleep. She looked so adorable the way she had her book cradled against her curled-up body. She had a small fire lit to help keep her warm on the cold hard ground. I laid down on the other side of the small fire with Kairios behind me. It was surprising how fast I fell asleep.

I was in a strange place that felt unfamiliar. There were three women sitting around a table talking about something. I couldn't hear them so I moved in closer. One of the women was crying, one was holding a book and the other was holding her stomach in one hand and had her other on the crying woman’s shoulder. It was an uncomfortable sight.

I took a closer look at the book the older woman was holding. It looked like Saira's book! I looked up at her face and realized she was familiar looking but I couldn't place where from. After looking closer at the other woman who was crying. I realized she looks like my Mother, but years younger. The final woman was very similar to Saira and I had to assume it was her Mother.

Then it hit me, this was about my Mother not being able to a have a child with my Father. They were planning out the spell that allowed my Mother to have me. I yelled at them to not go through with it, they could stop all the pain that would become my life. They couldn't hear me just like I couldn't hear them. It was all so devastating.

The scene changed again, now I was in the air. The sensation of falling grabbed me and I screamed. After a moment I realized that I was going forward not downward. Looking over to my side I saw a beautiful dragon flying. She was smaller than my dragon, but looked strong. The scales were two-toned. They started as a cream color at the base and ended with black tips. Her body had a few spikes on her back, but she wasn't overly menacing, more beautiful and elegant.

I could see tears falling down from her eyes. As they fell down her scales, they turned to steam. She was so sad and it seemed to pour into me. She flew on for a while, tears still flowing. All I could do was watch her; the feeling of helplessness burned into my heart.

While thinking about what she was going through, I could feel my anger melt into understanding. She wanted a child so bad that she was willing to give up half of her identity. To give all that up then to have it all taken away in a short few years, seemed too horrible to be real.

And look at how I reacted to her. I told her to leave me alone, that I didn't want her in my new life. This understanding didn't take my pain away, it was still there. Now I felt regret added onto that. I should have acted differently. I didn't trust her or even really want to spend time with her but I needed her help and she needed this journey as well. I had to go back for her.

I woke up after that and the others were still asleep. I decided I needed to do this alone and wrote them a note that I would be back soon and that I would get something that I had left behind in the mountainside cave. I didn't plan to be too long and hoped I would be back before they woke up.

It didn't take me to long to get back, I ran as hard as my legs would allow me without putting my side in too much pain. When I walked in, I saw my mother was sitting by the fire. She looked surprised to see me. Again, regret filled me as I saw that she was crying.

"Why did you come back?" Her voice was shacky and small and her eyes wouldn't meet my own.

"I realized we needed your help and Saira told me about what you gave up to have me. We need to win this fight together, then maybe we can talk about a relationship. But that will happen after this is done." My tone was final. If this was going to happen, then it would be entirely on my terms.

"Ok that's something I can respect. I had packed a bag in the hopes you would come back, so I'm ready to go."

"Good, we have to hurry, I hope you can keep up." I turned and walked back out.

We ran all the way back. She was able to keep up with me but by the time we got back my side was in quite a bit of pain. I hoped it would heal fully soon and no longer hinder my actions. By the time we got back, Kairios and Saira were awake. Saira was glad to see my mother with me. Kairios walked over to me with a small smirk on his face. He gave me a quick kiss before saying,

"We have a long way to walk to get back to Scorch and Blackfire. We have been gone too long, hopefully they haven't wandered away or been taken."

I hadn't thought of my horse Scorch since leaving her to fly into the Warlock capital. Overwhelmed with worry about them, we packed up quickly and began our way back to them.