Again, I don’t say anything. I have so many thoughts drowning my mind, and I feel exhausted again already. I look back at Daegan once more, who has gone back to blocking the entrance with his body. I look back at Raef. “Thank you,” I whisper.
We walk back to where everyone is sleeping, and Raef takes a spot between Meela and Rhydra. I have so many questions, but I don’t have any energy to ask right now. And I don’t think anyone else does, either. But instead of lying down in the same spot, I reach down, grab Daegan’s shirt that was being used as my pillow, and carry it back toward the entrance around the corner. I sense Raef’s eyes following me, but I don’t look.
I set the shirt down a few steps from the dragon’s side, then lie down. I swear I hear him release a massive, long sigh, but it’s muffled. His head is on the outside and the side of his body is tightly blocking the entrance.
Like a giant swell of water dousing a fire, the sweet relief of sleep overtakes my mind within moments.
Sometime later I feel a large, warm body wrap around me from behind. I scooch backwards into him, trying to get closer than is actually possible. I feel warm, I feel safe, and I feel… too many things.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispers in my ear. “Please forgive me.”
I snuggle even more deeply into his body in response. I don’t know what exactly he’s apologizing for, but my body is more exhausted than it’s ever been, and my mind is the same. I float back into sleep once again.
Chapter 39
Cold, empty, and tired. Still so, so tired.
That’s how I feel when I wake again.
I look toward the entrance and see a dark body still blocking it. They must have switched again in the night.
Hushed voices sound from around the corner. Even though my body is protesting, I stand and walk toward them.
When I round the corner, Raef, Meela, Rhydra, and Gaethri all turn their eyes on me.
“Stop looking at me like that,” I tell them. They’re looking at me like… I’m some hero. I don’t like it.
“You saved all of us,” Rhydra states. “You’re a warrior.” Then she subtly dips her head.
“I can barely hold a sword,” I scoff.
“There are many different kinds of warriors.” She looks at me with something like respect in her eyes. And a look that warns me that I better not argue with her again.
“That was truly badass,” Raef adds, nodding in agreement.
Meela walks up to me, surprising me as she hugs me gently. It’s strange at first, but then I wrap my arms around her, and my hold gets tighter and tighter as I realize I almost lost her. “Okay,” she mumbles against my hair, trying to pull away. I hold on for another moment, then finally release her.
“What happened?” I ask. A very broad question, as there are many things that went wrong, and many gaps I still don’t have filled.
Rhydra starts to speak first, and I notice a large chunk of her hair gone as she looks sideways at Meela. There’s also a large section of her uniform burntoff down the same side along her arm. I see very minor burns on her exposed skin. “Well—"
“Wait…” I cut her off and walk closer, inspecting her. “You need a healer.”
She shrugs. “Put some ointment on it from the medicine bag you packed. It’s working wonders. I should be fine.”
Now that I look closer, it does seem to be starting the healing process already.
“Too bad there’s nothing for that hair,” Raef says, making a face and looking at the very large, singed chunk on half of her head.
Meela smacks him in the chest.
“What? It looks badass, actually. I was just making a joke. Lightening the mood.”
Rhydra has a knife in her hand so quickly I didn’t even catch where she pulled it from, then she holds the other side of her long, wild mane, and she slices it off. She flashes a smile toward Raef. “There. Now it’s even.”
“Not quite,” he says, stepping closer. “Here, let me.” He pulls out his own knife as he approaches her, holding it toward her hair.
“Get that thing away from me.”
