Flaming Eclipse

Chapter 11 - Heroes & dreams

We flew over the Backstabber island. Beryl was right beside me, with that familiar anguished look on her face.

"Don't be so glum. This time our plan will no doubt work!"

"It's not about that. I miss the thorn dragons.. and I miss Gold. Where is he? You never told me where he had gone", I felt my heart skip a beat. I hadn't told Beryl what had happened to Gold and Garnet. I hadn't told her that they had both gotten executed before King Blade Fangs' death. I felt so bad.

"Oh, I'm sure he's doing alright.. where ever he is", I couldn't bear to look at the sapphire blue hatchling for much longer. She had suffered through so much in such a short amount of time and I was only prolonging that suffering. But I knew that once I became Queen, I'd pay it all back to her.

"If he's alright then where is he? Why hasn't he come back to me?" Beryl bawled. I wanted to tell her so badly, but she was just a child. She probably didn't even know what death meant to a dragon. Would she hate me if I told her? I had been keeping it from her for two months now.

"..I'll tell you", I nodded at a grassy patch on the ground and swiftly spiraled down and landed. Beryl came right after me and winced as she pressed against the ground. Her other hindleg had a false knee and it hadn't gotten any better as she had grown.

Beryl looked at me expectantly. "So? Tell me! Where's Gold? And why isn't he back? Have you been talking to him-?" I shushed her gently.

"Gold is far away from the Frostbitten isles with Garnet. Very, very far away. He's there nursing his and Garnet's battle wounds. They got hurt very badly", I explained gently. 

"What? Oh no! When is he coming back? Are they alright?" I saw worry flash in Beryl's eyes and I sighed deeply.

"They're alright. But they aren't coming back", I tried to find the right words to explain to Beryl what death meant.

"What? Why not? Why aren't they coming back? Does.. does Gold not love me anymore?" Sorrow filled Beryl's eyes and I could see a small tear run down her blue cheek.

"No, Gold loves you very, very much. And he always will. Nothing will change that. Nothing", I assured her as gently as I could.

"Then why isn't he coming back?" Beryl had begun sniffling. I curled my tail around her and pulled her closer to me. I shielded her with my wings.

"They can't come back. They're in a sacred place. A place where every hero goes after they've completed their mission. That's why you never see heroes roaming amongst our midst anymore".

"..Is Kals there too?"

"Yes, Kals is there too",

"Are Gold and Garnet going to meet him?"

"Yes, yes they are. And Kals is going to be very pleased to meet both of them".

Beryl stayed silent for a while. She was no longer sniffling.

"Do you think I'll ever be a hero and see them again? Do you think I'll ever see Gold again?"

I pressed my snout on Beryl's forehead and whispered: "I know you will",

Beryl smiled softly and pressed her head against my chest. I hugged her and let her rest for a while. Feeling her warm body resting against mine reminded me of when I had hatchlings of my own. The way they were so fragile, the feeling of wanting to give up everything so they could grow up healthy and happy. The need to make sure they were safe.. That was how I felt about Beryl. She was like a daughter to me, but I knew better than to form strong emotional bonds with other mortals; I'd just end up heart broken like before. Losing someone and knowing you couldn't have done anything to help them hurts more than knowing you could have. 

I was distracted from my depressing thoughts by Beryl sniffing: "Thank you, Eclipse Moon. I feel a lot better now", she pulled herself away from me.

"Of course", I wanted to add something else to that sentence, but a lump got caught in my throat; I just couldn't tell her how much she really meant to me. Maybe I was still trying to convince myself that she was just another mortal who I would exploit until she was of no use for me anymore.

Beryl sat silent for a moment and I could tell from her eyes that she wanted to ask something from me:

"..Have you ever had hatchlings of your own?" she asked finally. I sighed.

"Of course. Many, many hatchlings. Many grand-hatchlings and so on", I shrugged. "But the ones that meant anything to me have passed away already. A long time ago, in fact"

"That must have felt terrible. Did they go to the same place as Gold and Garnet?" Beryl's turquoise eyes gleamed with a curious shimmer.

"I sure hope so", I looked away from her. It has been a while since I had ever thought about my children or spouses. 

"Could you tell me more about them?" she asked. I smiled gently and nodded. I enjoy talking about myself, although not so much about my past, but maybe I can skip over a few minor details.

"Well, I'll begin at my first mate. Her name was Ophelia. At this point in my life I was still a male and I wasn't aware of my immortality. Well, it's not true immortality but I've explained this to you before", my immortality isn't true immortality. True immortality doesn't exist; everything dies at some point. I just live for an insanely long time, although I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to live for even longer that. We, immortal dragons, are also very resilient; our scales heal faster than any other dragon's and our skin is way tougher than other creatures.

"What a strange name.." Beryl tilted her head. I must agree with her, but back then it was the norm to name hatchlings strange things. 

"Anyway, we had three beautiful daughters and two sons", I dug my claws into the soil beneath me; I couldn't remember the names of all my children. "Well, uhm, I think one of them was named, erm.."

Beryl's eyes widened: "How can you not recall the names of your kids?"

I sighed, "When you've lived this unreasonably long you start to forget things" I shrugged, "But, I think one of them was named Sunshine.. or something along those lines"

"Wo-o-ow. I will never forget the names of my future hatchlings!" Beryl declared, thumping her small tail against the ground. 

I chuckled and spent the rest of the day reminiscing about my youth with Beryl.

Author's note: Yes, this chapter was made to fill in on about what happened to Gold & Garnet and more about Eclipse's backstory. Although this won't be the last time you'll hear of Eclipse Moon's backstory ;)