Dungeons & Disappointment

Chapter 39: Farajaro

As I was making my bed, trying to get it to be as neat as possible, I heard footsteps coming from my left, and I saw BahnBarr coming up to me, looking at the ground.

"You alright?" I asked.

"Yeah." She replied, then sat down on one of the cots and looked up at me. "I'm really sorry about what I said. That wasn't right of me. And I'm sorry for trying to attack you."

"It's okay. I shouldn't have mentioned that about your father, but it doesn't sit right with me. Do you have any issues with him? Like me with mine?"

She paused. "Uhm, can you keep a secret?"

"Sure, what is it?"

She looked over her shoulder, as if making sure that no one else was watching or listening. "I'm pretty sure that my father disowned me after my husband's death." She said. "The marriage was to join our family with another for the money."

"Wait a minute, are you royalty?"

"By property and goods, and some status, yes. But not by crown." She said. "But they married me off for the property rights to the land around a large river."

"Well, that's horrible!"

"Sure. But it just happens." She said. "But, after he died, I assumed they lost the rights to the river, and the fertile land, and the crop rights. If they lost all of that, I can't imagine he wouldn't have disowned me."

"Well, maybe we can see him sometime and clear it all up with him?"

She shook her head with a solemn look. "No, I really don't think so. I'd rather not try. It's just better this way."

I wasn't sure about that, but I decided to not press it. Instead, I pulled her into a hug, and she shuddered, before returning the hug and holding me rather tight.

"Thank you." She said.

I had never seen her be this emotional, but man, this was hard to watch. I was still slightly mad at her because of the fight, but with her being this emotional, I found it hard to stay mad at her.

"Listen, I'll stay with you in Farajaro. Trust me, I won't leave any of you guys, and we'll find out what the royals want, and we'll get out of there, lickity-split."

She smiled, but it seemed a little bit forced. "Sounds like a plan then."

I patted her on the shoulder, then laid down in my bunk, exhausted from the day of fighting an egocentric ice dragon and manning the helm for hours straight. As BahnBarr headed back up the stairs, I felt my eyelids getting heavier and heavier, and finally, I started to fall asleep.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

And just like that, I was in a dream once again, but this time, it was different. I was in a large cave. There were enormous crystals that jutted through the floor, ceiling and walls, cutting the room into different sections. And, as I looked throughout the sections, my heart sank. In the first section, there was Finana, all alone, and she was screaming, with tears streaking her face. I could barely hear her, but it sounded like she was screaming my name. In the next section, there was BahnBarr and Haneen, but Haneen was hiding behind her legs and wizard robes as they stared at a still image. In the image, BahnBarr, looking a little bit younger and in a more simple outfit, was being held down by four laughing, maniacal Alavaarian soldiers. Across from her, another elf, a man, was being held down by two soldiers, while another raised a gladius over his head.

In the final section, there was Ormgaul and I, and it was one of the hardest things to look at. Ormgaul was on the ground, a shard of crystal pierced through his torso, and I was trying to tend to him. On a large green crystal in the background of the section, there was a large, hooded figure that was staring down at Ormgaul and I, and although I couldn't make out any features, it almost seemed amused as it stared down at the image of us.