Princesses, Dragons, and Elves, Oh My!

Princesses, Dragons, and Elves, oh my! pt7

~*

Gill moved swiftly until he was certain he was finally out of earshot before he took his time exploring. He marked a trail so he could return more easily before abandoning it because there was really no way he'd get lost. He measured his breathing, and tried to find some sort of equilibrium.

That dragon! That stupid Effing dragon! Glen knew his fear and it was so humiliating!

No, calm down. He didn't mean to make that happen. Just forget it. Focus. The air, the trees. The birds...

He couldn't shake off the anger and tremendous aching misery. To be so helpless after being picked up, to be so weak! To be so vulnerable and unable to just shake it off. Why did he have to be this way? Born this way? Why did Glen have to find out? Why the hell did he pick him up the first time!? He couldn't even steal Lana away in his condition anyway! That was obvious if that dragon had just used common sense!

Stupid dragon! Stupid tribe! Stupid riders! Stupid everything!

Gill walked, the shame and embarrassment stewing. He wished he could be anywhere but here. To not have to deal with this whole insane adventure.

As a certain tightness returned to his chest, he paused to sit on a fallen tree. He wanted to both scream and curl up into a tight ball and just block everything out.

Glen didn't just know his fear, he had seen what it reduced Gill to.

Sobbing. Sobbing in front of another person, especially this dragon he had tried so hard to appear stoic to and not show emotional weakness to.

He had taunted him. That dragon taunted him for it.

So humiliated and frustrated, Gill rested his elbows on his knees and cupped his face in his hands. He didn't know what to do anymore. They were free to go but they had to get back, and preferably as quickly as possible. If he wasn't so irrationally afraid it would be a simple flight to cover a good deal of the distance.

He also had to pick up his steed again. At this point her leg would be fine. She would have taken care of herself and even now be waiting for him to meet back up with her.

He hadn't planned for the return journey. There were other more important things to deal with.

"Alright so plan," he mumbled in an effort to distract himself. He went mentally over the map he had drawn for Glen, remembering where the rockslide had happened, seeing the countryside in his mind's eye.

Alright... If he supplied Lana then Glen could take her partway and Gill would meet up with them again...

No, Glen couldn't really just hang around waiting, and Lana couldn't be left by herself...

She had those decent riding boots. It would be slower going but they could make their way back following the easier way more or less. If they met people on the road then...

It was a two-edged sword there. Maybe he was being too paranoid, but Gill just didn't want to meet any of the people heading to rescue Lana. He didn't trust them not to pull something dishonorable like just sling her over the saddle and leave Gill in the dust while they returned to claim they had rescued her.

It's irrational. You know it. Not everyone is the enemy.

"Hnnnng..."

Deciding to leave it alone, Gill got up and walked again. He picked a direction that would bring him circling around the cave. He didn't want to go further out in case of predators, but figured they would keep a certain distance from Glen's home. He did have his hunting knife so he wasn't completely unarmed at least.