Beyond this World - Dragon warrior (Book 1/?)

Chapter 12 (Part 2)

Earlier Lloyd went the other way. A strange thought occurred to him; although the physician supposedly told Aaron there are living trees guarding the flowers they have not encountered a single one. He dwelled on that though no longer and got up to the flower stem and pulled it out.

The screech of the Kelpie on Aaron's end made him turn. Aaron's silhouette stood opposite of that of an agitated horse; Lloyd understood now that that horse earlier was no regular horse. Sensing the danger he almost threw the orchid and rushed to help. He stopped himself just in time.

A bright blue light appeared near Aaron and the beast staggered and charged him and the blue light erupted spread over the Kelpie's body and it died with a painful shriek. Aaron came over to Lloyd and handed him the two stems he had and told him to run to Elias.

"What are you...? Where are you going then?" Lloyd asked as Aaron increased the distance. His walk turned to a sprint and he disappeared into the fog. On one hand Lloyd wanted to leave this wretched place and the plan was only one needs to make it back, and on the other he felt uneasy leaving Aaron behind despite the two not having a good relationship.

The image of Elias lying and screaming in agony in bed made him turn tail and head for Arkbowel; if Aaron doesn't come back he had to figure out what to tell Elias and Sir Cameron.

Aaron rushed in Tundra's direction, repeating to himself that everything was fine, she can handle herself. He jumped on a tree which has been broken off half way to gain height vantage; He spotted a large heard of Kelpies gathered somewhat distantly to his right.

"Tundra!" Aaron called out to her and his shout caught the attention of some Kelpies and they rushed over in his direction. A fearful aura spread throughout causing Aaron slight unease but placed the Kelpies in a state of frenzy. A faint red glow seeped through the fog and the burning sensation lifted from Aaron's chest. He whispered to himself with a sigh of relief followed by a light smile. "You're alright..."

On the other end Lloyd ran to the main road; his pace slowed down and his wheezed from shortage of breath. His legs slightly trembled and ached. Lloyd looked back in the direction from which he came and shook off the idea to go back; there was nothing he could do to help anyways and his priority was to get the flower needed to cure Elias. His lip quivered, manning up he clenched his jaw shut, took a deep breath and rushed forward to complete his mission.

Lloyd had returned at the break of dawn of the next day, stumbling weakly; he did not sleep nor has he had anything to eat or drink. In a rush to deliver the flowers as soon as possible he didn't stop back at the camp to pick up the supplies (which they left because they would have been a burden within the marsh). He also didn't stop for a moment to look back and see if Aaron was coming up behind him.

He practically fainted at the gate, so the guards had to carry him in and they took him directly to physician Gregorio. The old man was shocked seeing in what condition the guards brought him in. He muttered with almost no voice to be heard "Blue orchids..."

The physician exclaimed a loud ah and discovered that the boy indeed was carrying three stems of blue orchids and on top of that one was extremely blessed with magical properties. He then looked at the boy with a slight concern.

To make things worse one of the two guards that escorted the boy thought it would be necessary to inform the nearest knight which brought Sir Cameron to the ward. He frowned wondering what the squire was doing outside the protection of walls. It was strictly forbidden to leave without authorization.

"The boy brought flowers exclusive to the Dark marsh needed to create a remedy for the boy that was suffering from violent nightmares." The physician explained.