But he doesn't slow. The distance between us stretches steadily. Twenty paces becomes thirty. Thirty becomes fifty. Soon the jungle is already trying to hide him from view.
My chest hurts. The moment Clyde handed me that message, some part of me understood exactly where this was going. The girls need help. Vyrathion needs gold. Neither of us is choosing between good and evil. Neither of us is being unreasonable. The problem is that we're choosing between two things that are both vital, and they're pulling us in opposite directions.
I wipe at my eyes and immediately feel foolish for it. "Idiot dragon," I mutter.
Ahead of me, Vyrathion reaches a fallen tree and steps over it. Then, unexpectedly, he stops.
Hope flares through me so suddenly that it almost hurts.
The Plood stop with him. The whole procession freezes. Even at this distance I can see the tension in his posture, the rigid line of his shoulders and neck. For a moment he stands completely still, and I find myself holding my breath.
Maybe he's reconsidering. Maybe he's finally realized that I mean it. Maybe he's coming back.
Slowly he turns his head. Not enough to look directly at me. Not enough to acknowledge me. He merely glances back toward the clearing as though confirming that it still exists.
Then he turns and walks on.
I watch him go. The trees close behind him one by one until there is nothing left to see except green shadows and hanging vines. Even then I keep staring at the place where he disappeared, half expecting him to emerge again with some sarcastic remark about my terrible decision-making.
He doesn't.
The clearing feels different without him. Smaller, somehow. Less secure. Dangerous. I hadn't realized how much space he occupied in my mind until he wasn't there anymore.
A rustling sound nearby finally pulls my attention away from the jungle.
Clyde is still standing beside me. So are perhaps twenty of the Plood. The rest followed Vyrathion. These remained.
They're watching me with those enormous black eyes, waiting with a patience that somehow feels stranger than any urgency would.
I look down at the piece of bark still clutched in my hand.
NEED HELP VRGENTLY
The crude letters make my stomach tighten all over again. Somewhere out there are five women who may have arrived on this planet the same way I did. Five women who are frightened enough to carve a desperate message into bark and hand it to a species they barely understand.
I think about Vyrathion disappearing into the jungle. I think about the girls waiting for help. Then I let out a long breath. "Okay, Clyde," I say. My voice wavers a little, but it holds. "Show me where they are."
Clyde immediately turns and waddles into the undergrowth. The other Plood follow him without hesitation.
I glance one final time toward the place where Vyrathion vanished. Part of me wants to run after him. Part of me wants him to come storming back out of the jungle and order me to follow him again. Part of me wants this morning to have gone differently from the beginning.
But wishing doesn't change anything. So I square my shoulders and follow Clyde into the trees.
Somewhere behind me, a dragon is searching for his gold. Ahead of me, five frightened girls are waiting for help.
For the first time since arriving on Xren, I have nobody beside me but a handful of alien creatures who think I'm their boss. And I don’t think this is going the right way.
22
- Vyrathion-
I march through the jungle, furious but not walking as fast as I can. I must give her a chance to catch up with me.
“Silly little female,” I seethe as I pass by trees and bushes. “Can’t she see how irrational she’s being?”
The Plood that follow me have no reply. I would chase them away, but I may need them for when I get the gold. Perhaps they can be trained to at least create a diversion while I get inside the palisade and search for the gold.
I should be planning it, but Morgan annoyed me more than I can accept. “Such nonsense. Shirking her duty as a servant. I should go back and grab her. She would see sense after a while.”
