Drakkon

Chapter Forty

Weight was applied to the side of the bed, depressing it. My eyes flew open and I turned my head ever so slightly to see Meilin sitting on the side of the bed. I hadn't heard him enter so I must've dozed off at some point. His expression was serious and his eyes were as dark as ever. He reached forward and brushed back my hair.

"I heard from Nikator and Thera that you're not feeling well."

"I-I—" I swallowed, the back of my eyes burning at the thought of him returning to battle against Keung. He hadn't even told me that he was leaving. Even though I wanted to cry, I held back my tears and stared at him evenly. "Tell me about the dagger."

He blinked back, his expression and eyes not giving away what he was thinking. "The dagger," he said, reaching for his waist and yanking his prized dragon dagger. He stared at it for a moment, dragging his finger over the flat of the blade before lowering it. "Why do you want to know about it?"

"You told me you would tell me one day."

"I did."

"I want to know why you care about it."

He sighed and stared at it for a moment before speaking. "Remember I told you that I fought off a dragon and made one of its fangs into this dagger?"

"Yes."

"That's true, that's what happened. It wasn't so much the fact that I defeated the dragon that I had the dagger made. It was . . . It was the first time in a long time that I felt . . . whole. When I met Bohai and Fang when I was seventeen, I was a broken, twisted, and lost person. If I hadn't met them, I probably wouldn't be here today. I've always been happy with them, of course, but I never truly felt complete. There was still something missing in me. When my mother died, I felt like there was something about me that I couldn't ever—"

He breathed out deeply and looked down at his hands, his expression hard to read. The darkness of the room was casting shadows on his face. "We all were camping outside near the border of the Da'al empire and Lebel at that time. The dragon had come out of nowhere and so we had to fight it. I was able to fight it because of my strength and thanks to that, no one was injured. I didn't really care about defeating it but . . . but Nikator had the biggest smile on his face and he was jumping around so excitedly when the dragon finally fell. He told me that he wanted to become as strong as me when he was older. Nikator, the same kid who told me he was nothing in this world, that he was worse than dirt, had some sort of vision of his future.

"Vita was smiling afterwards too. She said that she wanted to be with everyone forever. Minos told us about what had happened to him as a child and how men and women abused him. He was smiling, but he said that he was the happiest person in the world to have met me and the rest of everyone. Atreus said that he would stop thinking like he was still a slave and that he wanted to be together forever as well. Thera agreed and couldn't stop grinning, and I don't think Remus understood what was happening but he was happy too.

"It must've been because of the excitement of beating something so grand that they were all in high spirits. Everyone opened up so much more that night because of all the thrill. Bohai and Fang were cheerful and they were having fun with everyone and I realized that I wasn't lost anymore. For the first time since my mother left, I felt like I was whole. I felt like I wasn't lost anymore. I had somehow changed the lives of six kids that couldn't move on in life anymore. I felt . . . different. I don't really know how to explain it that well." He was quiet for a moment. "It must sound strange for me to be saying these sort of things."

"It's not strange."

He lifted the dagger and spun it around, the black blade gleaming in the dim light of the room. "We all have a dagger made from the fang of the dragon. Atreus, Nikator, Minos, Thera, Vita, Remus, Fang, Bohai, and I all have one. I suppose it symbolizes the moment we all truly came together as a family. I suppose it also symbolizes my gratitude to have met them all."