Faith's Short Stories and Terrible Prompts

Short Story #4

Ethan slumped down beside Quillon and the pain all over his body eased. He took in a deep breath but a sharp pain stabbed at his side that made him wince.

He glanced over at Daisy who had fallen asleep against Ashley's giant dragon body. Her dark purple scales glinted in the Moonlight and Ethan prayed that it wouldn't get them spotted.

Quillon rested his head on Ethan's shoulder. If Ethan had more energy, he would've been freaking out at this but he knew all too well that they were both too tired to care. They sat in silence for a bit, both listening to the other one's shaky breathing.

Ethan wanted to hold Quillon's hand; he wanted to kiss his forehead and tell him that everything would be okay but his muscles ached and he worried about how Quillon would react at his advances.

"We'll be okay," Quillon said, more to himself than anything but Ethan found comfort in those words.

After another long silence filled pause, Ethan said finally said something. "I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice shaking. He did not know why he started to cry but he did his best to blink back tears with little success. "I shouldn't have let you come on this quest. Now you're all tired and hurt and-"

"You would be dead already if we weren't here to help you," Quillon said with a weak laugh, "and I think it's better that we're all together rather than never getting to see you again."

Ethan turned his head to look at the leather satchel that lay beside him. The leather satchel that held the scroll. The scroll with the prophecy that had been eating away at his mind for most of the quest.

"Hey Quill?" Ethan said as he wiped his eyes.

"Hm?"

"Can I talk to you about something?"

Quillon sat up and stretched a little before almost immediately wincing and pulling his arms back to his sides. He turned to face Ethan.

"What's up?"

"So..."

"So?"

Ethan took a deep breath. "You know how we got a prophecy for this quest?"

Quillon raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. What about it?"

"Well, it's not really about that. It's about another prophecy." Ethan began to pull the scroll out of the bag.

Quillon's eyes widened in fear and he almost pushed himself away from Ethan. "Where did you get that?"

"Duke- I mean my dad gave it to me before we left," Ethan frowned. "It's about my future and it would make me feel better if you read it."

Ethan began to hand over the once wax-sealed scroll until Quillon freaked out.

"I can't read it! I'll be cursed for the rest if my life."

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

"You can never read a prophecy about another person or else the gods will curse you for the rest of your life. I'm sorry."

He looked down at the ground in dismay.

Ethan frowned but then an idea came to him.

"What if...if I read it to you; you wouldn't be reading it yourself so surely that won't get you cursed."

Quillon looked up, his face a little brighter now. "Yeah, I suppose that would work."

Ethan began to unfurl the parchment and read the prophecy:

(I'm too lazy to make up a prophecy rn so pretend there's a really creative prophecy here about death and destruction where it is foretold that Ethan will go insane and do evil stuff and hurt the people he loves)

Once Ethan had finished, Quillon sat there, wide-eyed, not saying a word.

"I'm sorry, that was probably a lot. You don't have to respond, I just needed to share it with someone, it's been driving me crazy this entire quest."

"No...no. It's good you told me that and I'm glad you trust me enough to tell me about it."

Quillon did his best to make his voice sound positive but his face gave everything away.

"Hey," Ethan grabbed Quillon's hands. "This isn't for you to worry about, it's for me to worry about. I don't want you feeling all anxious about it."

Quillon just sat frozen for a second but once Ethan realised that he was holding Quillon's hands in his, he pulled away.

"Ah, sorry, I didn't really realise I was doing that. Sorry if it made you uncomfortable," Ethan chuckled but inside he was screaming at himself.