CHAPTER 64

“Titan?” he scowled, “Velar’s new king Titan?”

“Yes, he kidnapped us from Evreux. He is an evil man.” A shudder ran through her body before she continued with her story, “We escaped somehow but he came after us. So, Tristan; his younger brother tried to help us by fighting him. He bought us time to run. I didn’t know how to save both Sarah and Tristan because I didn’t know how to fight a dragon. Before I could do anything, he had grabbed ahold of Tristan and I panicked and flew as hard as I could with Sarah. I didn’t even look back once because I was scared that if I looked back for even a moment I’d be next”. Sobs raked her body and Adriel put a comforting arm around her, yanking her close.

“Do you see how I left him to die so I could escape? I didn’t even try to save him when he gave his life saving us”.

“If he is dead, he died honorably. He wouldn’t want you to blame yourself. Don’t take his honor away by blaming yourself and belittling his sacrifice. He gave his life knowing that you’d live. Let him be free and happy in his next life” he smiled then, “Oh, and you still haven’t told me your name”.

“Raegan”.

“Ah, a lovely name for a lovely lady”. He smiled his easy smile again. He really was beautiful despite his odd personality.

She’d almost forgotten about Sarah. “Can you take me to see my friend now?”

“Oh yes yes, but let’s get you something to eat first. You look a bit peaky”. He called out and a servant girl appeared in the door with a tray laden with steaming food.

In normal circumstances she would’ve attacked the tray full of delicious looking sea food and soup as soon as it came near her. But her appetite had left her as well. Tristan was gone because of her. There was no hope left in her heart about him. She couldn’t bring herself to even look at the food.

“I’m not hungry” she said pushing the tray away.

“If you want to see your friend you have to eat this”. Adriel said, pushing the tray right back towards her.

She scowled at him but he looked like he wouldn’t be swayed. So she took the tray and starting eating.

………………………………

“So, I wanted to warn you in advance that she’s still unconscious, so don’t get your hopes up. I’m not trying to be an asshole here.” He said as he watched her scowl, “I just don’t want you to get hurt if things go south. She hit her head pretty damn hard and her body took a beating when she hit the water. She is not in a very good condition but the healer thinks she’ll get better by tomorrow”. He said while walking her towards the healing room Sarah was in.

“I can’t lose her too Adriel. I can’t lose her”. She whispered miserably, tears once again blurring her vision.

He stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, “You’re not going to lose her Raegan. She’s going to pull through. I can just feel it. So keep your faith a little longer”. She nodded her head. She had to keep hoping.

As soon as her eyes landed on her best friend, she gasped in horror. Almost all of her body was wrapped in bandages. Her face was blue and purple with bruises and the little bit of clear skin left was so pale that it made Sarah look like a wax figurine. A sob escaped Raegan’s lips and she turned away. It was because of her that Tristan was dead and it was her fault that Sarah was fighting for her life… only if she could’ve held on to her dragon a little longer.

“Did you send the message to Valiance already?” she asked in a hoarse voice.

“Yes, I did. We’ll be hearing from them soon. Or if I know Valiance at all, he’d be on his way here as soon as he got the message”.

………………

Every lead had turned into a dead end and Damien was about to rip his hair out. And then there was Valiance who was slowly going out of his mind. Initially the king had suggested to keep Valiance sedated but Damien had declined. But now seeing the pain and frustration in his best friend’s eyes had forced him to start thinking it as an acceptable option and he’d thought about sedating Valiance too many times to count now. But he couldn’t go against his friend’s wishes in the current circumstances when he was already in too much pain.

They had to bind Valiance in chains infused with dragon’s bane to attend the funeral of the border guards. The very air after the funeral had turned gloomy and the roars Valiance let loose to break out of his binds were enough to bring everyone to tears. For, like Damien, he wasn't just in pain of losing his mate, but he was mourning the loss of his brothers-in-arms too.

Late into the night Valiance and Damien stood deep beneath the city in the hall of fallen heroes and the only sound that could be heard was the scratch of Val’s knife against the stone while he carved the name of their fallen brothers. Damien had asked their king to let Valiance have this because he knew Valiance needed it. He was still in shackles though and there were sentries at the mouth of the crypts. Even though Valiance had given up trying to convince Damien to let him loose, he still wasn’t taking any chances.

A commotion sounded from outside and one of the guards entered with his head bowed and hands respectfully tucked behind his back, “I’m sorry to disturb but there are dragons from Videen claiming to have some news about the Prince’s mate”.

And it was like hellhounds had attacked Valiance the way he bolted towards the exit.