Moon Glade

Recovery

The sound of high-heeled boots on a wooden floor woke me up, but when I slowly opened my eyes, nobody could be seen or heard. 

Sunlight flooded into the room through large windows which displayed the sunny, blue skies. The light hurt my sensitive eyes as I looked around and I felt like I had been asleep for weeks. I seemed to be inside the guild infirmary, the same dark wooden flooring which floored all the guild estates was below me and the walls were painted white, heavy wooden doors were on each side of the infirmary and above them, the universal sign of the healing mage. Lined up on one side of the room was singular white beds, I was in the first bed next the door, somebody was in the bed next to me and the rest were empty.

I sat up slowly, trying to assess myself. I thought I had died. 

Testing my weight on my feet, I stood up. Along my arms, were I thought I had been burned and blistered, there was nothing. Same old arm, same old draco scales. I was no longer dressed in my clothes and the staff I had been carrying was nowhere to be seen, instead I was dressed in a white gown. 

On the table beside the bed I had woken up in was a small mirror. I didn't look like I had just been through a near death experience, in fact I was glowing. 

My light blond hair, which had previously been tied up in a pony tail, was now loose and flowing down my back. No blisters or burns marked my skin, in fact, old marks and scars were no longer there. My white draco horns and scales were all clean and showed no sign of burning or soot. My light green eyes had a slight glow to them, this usually happens after using or being exposed to healing magic. In contrast, when using magic that doesn't heal, eyes go darker and blacker.

Slowly, I made my way over to the bed next to mine. To my surprised, Luca lay there, also unharmed with a slight glow to his skin.

The images of Balin's death flashed before my eyes and shocked, I fell to the floor, knocking over a small table and causing a large crash. 

"Clara..." Yawned Luca, sitting up slowly. "You finally woke up!" He smiled, the same cheeky smile I had seen when we first crossed paths outside the interview room. 

"What happened? How long have I been asleep?" I questioned, pulling myself back up and steadying my feet. 

"You have been asleep for about two days." Replied Luca, stretching and standing up. He was wearing the same white gown as myself. 

"And well, apparently just after we left for our... adventure... the farmer who posted the job request came running into the guild, crying about giant rats and his home burning down. The receptionist tried to catch up to us but we were too fast. She alerted some veterans from the guild and they came for us." Exclaimed Luca, with the same excitement a child shows when talking about their favourite hero. 

"We had both passed out when they found us. The carried us back to the guild and healed our burned and bruised bodies.... now I feel great!" He continued. 

"Balin..." I trailed off, looking towards the floor, I couldn't save him. 

"He didn't make it." Said Luca solemnly, the smile and excitement gone from his face. "It was too late for him" He finished, silence now taking over the room. 

The large wooden door next to my bed swung open and Alex, the interviewer, strode in to the room.

"It's excellent to see you awake Clara!" Stated Alex, his loud voice echoing around the room slightly.  I smiled slightly in response, trying to hold back the flood of tears that threatened to fall if I even spoke a word.

"Tonight, there will be a honouring for Balin's life." Said Alex, looking at Luca, then at me. "You're both new so I don't expect you to know what that is." He continued. "The whole guild will gather in the courtyard this evening and our guild leader will say a few words in memory of Balin, then, out of respect, we will all pray to the elven Gods that Balin may rest peacefully. After this, our guild will hold a feast in the main hall, to celebrate the life that was. Alliance guild's will also attend the feast and offer their condolences." 

"Must we go?" Asked Luca, looking down towards the floor, his ears bright red. 

"Now why wouldn't you want to attend?" Inquired Alex, leaning forwards slightly. 

"The guilt..." Whispered Luca. 

Alex smiled sadly and placed a hand on Luca's shoulder. "You know, they say runes were the first race to make friends with the elves when we came to these lands." Said Alex, patting Luca slightly. Luca let out another cry and nodded, understanding that he had to attend. 

"It's customary to wear the eleven colour at an elven honouring. You will both find outfits of the appropriate colour in your private rooms." Mentioned Alex, before turning to leave the room. 

_

I had been been sat in my private room within the veteran house all day since leaving the infirmary. Richard had lit the fireplace in my room and I spent all day looking into the flames, looking out of the window or looking into my hands and crying silently. 

Three taps on the door startled me and wiped away the tears from my cheeks. "Who is it?" I shouted in a weak and rasp voice. "Richard." They shouted back. "The honouring is in an hour, meet me at the front door when you're ready." I heard the tapping of his talons on the floor as he walked away.

I glanced at the mirror hanging on the back of the door and realised I was in no state to see people. I had bathed in the small bathroom attached to my room earlier and my hair was now frizzy and messy and my clothes were more like pyjamas. I walked over to the wardrobe and found the dress that Alex had told me to wear. It was a long dress in a beautiful deep green. The back opened up slightly and showed the edge of my draco scales, the front had a deep chest line and a fragile green lace that covered my cleavage. Around the edges of the dress was small patterns of leaves and flowers in a fragile golden thread. I lifted the dress to my nose and breathed in, it distantly smelled of fresh flora and old books. 

The draco looking back at me in the mirror didn't look like myself anymore. I had brushed the mess out of my hair and left it down in it's natural waves and the dress was fancier than anything I had ever worn before. Growing up, we had only wore clothes that were practical for farm life. The draco in the mirror looked sophisticated and glamourous, the opposite of how I felt on the inside.

Richard was waiting for me at the entrance to the house. "The others went ahead without us." He stated as I walked carefully down the stairs, the dress material was long and threatened to trip me up. 

"I know this will be hard for you, but keep your chin up." Smiled Richard, outstretching his hand to help me down the stairs. 

"I'll try." I said quietly, taking his hand. Richard closed the door behind us and we started making our way to the guild courtyard. 

It was a warm evening, the sky was a dark blue with pink tinges from the setting sun. The stars were just visible in the sky. There was no wind and the air felt heavy and warm. 

"I actually have something for you." Said Richard, reaching into his pocket and stopping on the path just before the opening to the courtyard. Richard pulled a golden feather from his pocket and handed it to me. 

"It's avian custom to gift our friends our feather in hard times." He smiled, his cheeks slightly blushing. A smile let loose on my face as I ran my fingers gently over the soft feather. 

"Thank you." I replied, genuinely happy and touched than he was thinking about me. Richard nodded and lead us into the courtyard. 

The courtyard was a sea of green. Every guild member wore the same colour as me, they were seated on wooden benches facing the guild hall. The benches must have been moved here today, as I hadn't seen them earlier on my walk from the infirmary to the veteran house. Lining a path down the middle of the benches were candles in tall stands. At the end of the middle path was a podium with a candle on each side. The set up almost looked like a wedding, but it was darker, the faces of the guild members told a sadder story. A story of loss and exhaustion. 

Richard walked over to a group of people at the front of the benches, they looked at me as I watched Richard walk to them, with smiles of sympathy on their faces. I turned and spotted Luca sat on a bench towards the back so walked over to him and sat besides him silently. 

In silence, we waited for the honouring to start. More and more guild members flooded into the courtyard and every bench was filled up.