A sound escapes me that I can’t describe as I fall against his chest, sobbing, and the world blurs around me.
Chapter 82
The stars, the moon, and the sun don’t matter.
Nothing matters anymore.
I don’t know how long I’ve been lying here. The night keeps getting brighter as the haze continues to clear far and wide, and the sound of dozens of wings are like a taunting nightmare surrounding me, haunting me.
Raef has remained nearby, still and quiet. I finally glance over at him and see him holding his knees, studying the wonder of the sky above him. A thin, dried streak trails down his cheek, carving a path through the blood and dirt, illuminated by the light from above. He’s wanted so badly to fly his whole life, but right now he’d rather stay here, with his friend.
He pinches his eyebrows suddenly, focusing intently on something. Numbly, I follow his gaze. In the distance, with the stars as a backdrop, it looks like the faint shadow of a large dragon flying high. I’m mesmerized by it for a moment, before it flies higher and disappears into the stars.
I glance back at Daegan, who appears to be sleeping peacefully since I closed his eyes, and then at Raef. “Did you see…”
“Yeah. I did.”
We share a look, but we say nothing more about it.
“We have to go,” Raef says gently.
Dread fills me. I can’t leave him yet. I don’t want to leave him ever.
“Just a little longer,” I plead.
“Okay.”
And he sits with me most of the night, along with Kezra, who’s mostly silent.
But eventually, she speaks. “He never even got to fly,” she says with a mournful reverence.
Eventually, I somehow get myself up.
I place a kiss on his forehead, promising to see him again, and I go. Walking down the mountain, away from him, is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Harder than escaping a deadly fire in a cave, facing a thousand spiders, or even a thousand elves. Raef says he’ll take care of everything, and we’ll have a proper ceremony soon.
Along with all the other deceased dragons from the battle. Apparently, there weren’t many. That’s good.
Dragons come and go overhead throughout our journey down. Some are still on the ground, hesitant to fly, and some fly so far, they disappear.
It would be an incredible, majestic sight to behold any other time, but I genuinely can’t bring myself to care about anything happening around me.
I walk through the village with the moon shining on flying dragons, neither of which has been seen in a thousand years, and all I can think about is reaching the palace, crawling into Daegan’s bed, and smelling his scent on the sheets.
And that’s what I do.
~
Nothing matters anymore.
For days and days on end, I don’t leave our bed.
Not until his ceremony.
Dragons burn their deceased bodies and carve their names in stone in a place that’s special to them. Daegan’s special place is on a beautiful hill by the palace, with white and gold stones laid down in an intricate pattern. My tears fall freely during the short ceremony. I barely have it in me to look around, but I do see Yara there for one brief flash. I don’t register what her expression is.
Afterwards, I speak briefly to Raef before disappearing to Daegan’s chambers once again, trying to figure out my next move.
I can’t stay here.
