Prince of Dragons

Chapter Thirty-Nine

We held one another for...well, I would say for five of so minutes before Alaban finally—yet reluctantly—pulled away from me. His eyes were puffy and red from crying, and he could only stare at me with a mix of relief and perplexity, as Narvi came up to me to have his go at hugs.

"H-How?" The sun dragon stammered, after another minute of just...staring at me—as if he still could not believe I was here in front of him...alive. "How are you alive? I-I...you were...you were dead, Drakell. Y-You were gone for four days, your body was a-already in rigor mortis. I-I was going to..." he fell silent—tears pooling at the corners of his eyes. "You were dead."

My heart clenched tightly upon hearing the pain in his voice, and I felt...I felt guilty for inadvertently causing him to feel such heartbreak and that he had to go through all this turmoil because of me.

And I know that, realistically, none of this was actually my fault, as I didn't try to die, or anything...however...I was the cause of his distress...or, well was. He wouldn't have had to go through this if I had been better at deflecting those creatures' blows.

Then again, it was stupid for me to blame myself. I was merely a mortal, and while I was good at defending myself, I was still a mere man. There was only so much that I could do, and even the most decorated of veterans made mistakes in battle.

I needed to remind myself of that fact, and not push the blame onto myself.

"I..." I cleared my throat—briefly noticing that Narvi was still hugging me, refusing to let me go—and looked towards Alaban. "I don't know how I'm here. I...I remember this dark place, I remember knowing that I had...died. There was a-a conversation at some point, but...I-I...for the life of me I can't remember who it was that I talked to, just that it had been important. I-I...whoever it was...who they were...they were powerful, and that's...honestly all I know."

My heart then tightened in my chest, and I looked between the two men by me. "I was gone for...four days?

Alaban's amber gaze lowered and a couple of stray tears slipped down his onyx cheeks.

It was Aerylin that ended up answering me, her eyes remaining on her brother. "Yes you were. After a day...Al insisted you be treated as one of our own and be buried with our traditions. The third day was spent preparing for a ceremony...and today was the day it was meant to commence." She nibbled at her bottom lip, her gaze finally flickering over to me. "This miracle could not have come at a better time."

I was silent for a moment after the revelation, my heart beating harshly against my chest. He...did all of that...for me? He wanted to bury me with traditions he held dear to his heart?

I felt my eyes beginning to burn as tears began to form. However, I managed to hold them back and cleared my throat, eyes meeting Alaban's. I searched that amber gaze and saw only honesty and...love, and I felt the pain in my heart morph into warmth, and I just...I wanted to tell him just how I felt about him. He went through so much pain to make sure I was treated right, and I wanted him to know it wasn't in vain, that I cared so much about him. He deserved to know just how loved he was.

So I cleared the phlegm from my throat and gently pulled from Narvi before stepping towards Alaban. "I-I...you did all that for me?" I gave him a small smile and risked lifting my hand to his cheek, causing him to flinch and tense, before relaxing—almost...nuzzling his face in my palm. "Thank you, Alaban. Truly. I-I honestly don't know where I would be at right now, if not for you. During my...death...while I was in that darkness...I came to a realization, you know. One I should have come to terms with long before we were...teleported to that place. Alaban...I-I..."