Chapter 26: Chapter 25: The Dragon, The Bull, and The Mother

Cyrus’ POV

33 Hours Earlier

So this was the moon. She didn’t look like much, but as I knew, looks could be deceiving. Cass had radioed in while I was en route, but by the time she had, I was already very aware of the newcomer to my village. The scent of another dragon was hard to miss, after all, and the moon was especially… distinct.

“Well ain’t this an odd sight, Cass filled me in while I was flying over. Glad to meet you, both of you.”

The bull would have to go, sooner rather than later. If I was going to have any hope of saving the poor thing, I couldn’t allow such dangerously corruptive influences to sink their teeth in her. I locked eyes with the moon as I finished speaking and watched as recognition sparked within her, before I let loose a focused projection of my presence. For now, I just needed to crush her will, so I could separate her from the beast she accompanied.

I should probably explain, shouldn’t I? Presence is a power possessed by all dragons, one that grows stronger and more refined with age. A child barely possesses any presence at all, a younger adult like the moon often radiated presence subconsciously, eliciting disturbed and frightened reactions from those around them, and requiring active effort to suppress, but a mature adult, one like myself, could channel it, focus it, allowing the dragon in question to elicit specific emotions at incredible strength within a single target.

In this case, the emotions were awe and terror, and my target was the moon.

The bull had reciprocated my greetings, not even noticing the moon shaking like a leaf beside it, a much lesser dose of presence keeping its attention firmly on me. It introduced itself as Erica, a name I quickly forgot, and introduced the moon as A. 

I continued to engage the bull in idle chatter, but my focus was on the moon, on A. She was resisting me, to a much greater degree than I’d ever seen before, but that was to be expected. A fellow dragon would be made of sterner stuff, after all, but her nature would also work against her. Even if it was subconscious, a part of her would recognize what stood before her, and that same part would most certainly recognize how hopeless it was to struggle. I just had to wait. Some part of me did pity her though, watching the painful struggle play out within her, but it’s not like I had a choice. I had to save her, and to do that, I had to hurt her, that was my duty. I just wished she’d give in, it would be easier for the both of us then, and I wouldn’t have to hurt her anymore. I stepped forwards, towards this pitiful, squirming creature, when suddenly, she began to fall.

A dragon’s will indeed. Rather than submit, the girl had chosen to struggle, to claw her way past the emotional haze of my presence as long as she could until it finally, finally broke her. This would work, I suppose. I’d been planning on simply commanding her to abandon the bull once she’d been sufficiently cowed (if you’ll excuse the pun), but if she was this determined to be stubborn, I’d just carry her off while she slept. I’d find a plausible excuse to do away with the bull later.

As I ran through about half a dozen plans, I realized she’d fallen about halfway to the floor. I should probably catch her, shouldn’t I? I did so without difficulty, closing the distance far faster than should have been possible, and whispered in her ear before her eyes had closed. I would save her, or I would kill her trying.

Erica’s POV

What happened?

What the hell happened?!?

We were fine, we were safe! We were finally safe after days and days on edge, and then A had just collapsed! Now they were just lying there, shaking in Cyrus’ lap, and I felt like I could hardly breathe. One minute they’d been excitedly dragging me towards the town square, and the next… this…

Cyrus leaned down, whispering something in a calm tone as their eyes closed, and finally the shaking stopped, giving way to the quiet calm of sleep. I sank to the floor beside them, brushing their hair to the side and scratching just above their horns, the way I knew they liked.

“A…”

At the sound of my voice, Cyrus flinched back, staring me dead in the eyes. His eyes flashed with some emotion I couldn’t place before flicking down to my hand, still scratching softly. His voice was thick, and it sounded like he might start crying.

“We should…” He cleared his throat, “We should get her inside somewhere”, standing and taking A in his arms.

A crowd had begun to gather, all bearing witness to the spectacle, A minotaur and their leader, weeping, or close to it in Cyrus’ case, over the curled up form of this tiny, fragile predator. I nodded at him, taking A’s limp hand in my own while Cyrus carried them.

“Yeah, sure. Let’s- let’s do that… I don’t understand… we were both well fed, unhurt, we had plenty of water, what… what just happened?”

He looked at me again, still with that strange look on his face, that emotion I couldn’t quite identify, but I could see tears shimmering in his eyes.

“I don’t know… I really don’t… I can promise you though, whatever this is, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure she gets through it ok. Potions can sustain her, for a while at least… beyond that it’s up to her.”

He was shoving the door to a house open with his shoulder, cradling A’s head as he passed through, I crouched down to follow him, and he called back to me.

“You should get yourself some dinner. I’ll keep an eye on A for now, you need to rest. Besides, this house is a bit small for someone like you.”

“But-”

Something flickered behind his eyes, barely perceptible, his presence suddenly shifted. It felt like he was radiating dominance, command, and leadership in almost the same way that A produced fear.

“Go. You won’t be of any use to her if you can hardly stand. Potions can sustain her, but they aren’t cheap. I’ll want you out there gathering ingredients with the hunters, can you do that?”

He was right. A took priority, I had to do what was best for them, even if it meant I couldn’t stay by their side. I stood up from the doorway and began the walk to the village square.

8 Hours Earlier

Cass’ POV

Everyone in the village had heard what happened. A had passed out mere minutes after walking out of the showers, and now Cyrus had taken personal responsibility for caring for her. He claimed it was some kind of magical disease and was keeping her isolated until he was sure it was safe. Being the two best alchemists in the village, Rob and Cyrus were the only people allowed to see her. Because of the unusual circumstances, Erica had been permitted to remain in the village until her friend’s condition improved, and I had been reassigned to guarding the door of A’s makeshift infirmary. It was here, standing in front of that little house, that Erica and I had our first real conversation.

“Come on Cass, can’t you just let me see them for like, 2 seconds?”

“No.”

“We’ve been traveling together all week, if they’re sick I’ve probably got it too.”

“No.”

“Even if I do catch what they have, I’m tough, I can take it!”

I sighed, this was getting ridiculous.

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“No.”

“Please…”

Fuck.

She sounded so broken. It took everything I had not to step aside, to let her see her friend, but this was for their own good, both of them.

“You two have been through a lot together, haven’t you?”

She was crying now, tears soaking into the shorter fur of her face.

“Yeah…”

“You must care about her-”

“Them. They wanted to go by them, while they figured stuff out… I didn’t bother correcting everyone else, but if you’re gonna be guarding them…”

“Then you must really care about them.” I placed emphasis on the pronoun, “It’s good that they have you looking out for them, but I can’t let you in there. That wouldn’t do any good, not for you, and not for A. You’d just be putting yourself at risk, kid.”

She just sat there, crying on the ground outside the house. Gods, I wanted to open that door. I wanted to open it so bad, but I had to protect A, and right now, I also had to protect Erica, even from herself.

“I’m sorry for how I treated you when you first arrived. That was wrong of me, and I can see that now. I was… afraid, and I let that fear control me… I’m just- I’m sorry.”

She sniffled. She hardly seemed to notice me at all. Poor girl.

“How old are you?”

That snapped her out of it, at least a little. She looked at me, seemingly bewildered.

“Wha-?”

“I said, how old are you?”

Another big sniff, exaggerated by her bovine features.

“I’m uh… I’m 23.”

A familiar pain wrenched at my gut, a pain I’d grown so skilled at ignoring most of the time, hammered out of me by necessity. I let myself feel it now, let it roll through me, it was important to me that I not forget it. Not completely.

“I had a daughter… She passed away a couple years ago… She would’ve been about your age by now…”

Now I was crying, wasn’t I? It was so easy to pretend, to project this facade of strength and confidence, to be the brave warrior this town needed me to be, but Ana… Ana would always be my weakness.

“I’m sorry, I…”

Erica petered out, clearly unsure how to continue. It’s ok, I’d brought this up for a reason. I knew what to say, as much as it stung to do so.

“It’s ok Erica. It’s ok… Her name was Anastasia, and she was my world. In many ways, she still is…”

I breathed deep and slow, pausing to gather myself.

“It was cancer that took her. There was nothing we could do. We just had to wait until the end, and pray that maybe one day, some kind of miracle would come.”

“It never did, did it?”

I laughed bitterly.

“No, no it didn’t… All that is to say, I know what you’re feeling. I know what it’s like when someone you care for is hurting and you can’t do shit. When all you can do is sit and pray and hope that someone else saves them for you. I promise, as soon as it’s safe to visit, you’ll be the first to know, and until that time comes, I’ll do my damndest to make sure nobody has half a chance to hurt them.”

Before I knew it, she was wrapped around me, squeezing the air from my lungs as she sobbed into my shoulder. Poor kid, I made myself a promise then and there, that anyone who hurt her would pay, and that I’d do all I could to make sure it never came to that to begin with. Just as I was about to start worrying over potential asphyxiation, she let me go and looked me in the eyes.

“Cyrus is sending me out to pick a few magical berries for A’s potions, I’ll be back later tonight. Want to have dinner together then?”

I chuckled softly as I patted her on the shoulder.

“Sure Erica, I’ll see you then.”

She stood up fully, my hand sliding from her shoulder down her arm before she pulled away, turning as she did.

“Thank you Cass, for everything.”

She clopped over towards the village gates, meeting up with Rob on the way, before they both  rounded a corner out of sight. 

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