Heaven's Light (Book 1)

Chapter 12 - Jeriah

"Oh, my dragons! You must be that Legendary from the Greenwood incident! The one who bested Criminal Cache! I heard you single-handedly downed half of their guild with one swipe of your hand!"

"You're a part of that group that bested that dragon! I thought you guys were myths, but you're really here! Right before my eyes!"

"Heaven's Light must be raking in the dough with a team like you four around! Especially with that newbie? I heard she saved the entire city by driving away a dragon! And you guys helped destroy Criminal Cache! You guys are my heroes!"

"I want Heaven's Light to help me out with all my problems now! You can kiss my ass, Hell's Quasar!"

"Oh, what I would give to meet that fire wizard! I want her to train me in using magic!"

I was about to rip the hair out of my head.

"Hey, can I have your autograph?"

An entire crowd of people from both Greenwood and Forthbrook surrounded me, praising and fawning over Heaven's Light and our feat.

The thing that really bugged me...

"Jeriah? You're the Legendary shadow dragon's son!"

...was the fact that I was two steps outside of the guild hall.

"Everybody, move your asses out of the way!" I exploded. "I'll feed your souls to Satan if you don't leave me alone!"

Reluctantly, the crowd gave way to my impatience. As much as I loved getting attention for being part of something so monumental, everything was starting to get on my nerves. The press, the people, the dragon. I needed a break from my own brain, much less everything else. I hadn't gotten a good night's rest since that day. It was starting to take its toll.

The last thing I wanted to do was send a hundred people to the shadow realm to live out their days solely because I was in a bad mood. Master Caelestis wouldn't particularly appreciate that.

I was almost in tears when I burst through the guild's doors and locked them behind me. I had escaped the crowd! Finally!

"Oh, sweet freedom!" I muttered, resting my back against the wooden entrance.

"Look who finally made it!" Yura exclaimed, walking up to greet me.

"Yura!" I celebrated, getting tackled in a huge bear hug.

"It's been two days since your big quest and this is the first time I get to see you. I'm so happy you're okay! I heard all about what happened down there and I was really worried."

I looked down at her curious brown eyes and relaxed. Talking to Yura was definitely a way to help me realize that I was back from that nightmare.

"Yeah, I was worried, too," I responded, sighing.

She gave me an inquisitive look. "You must be exhausted. All that stress..."

I nodded. "There's nothing like nearly puking your guts out, taking out some criminals, and leaving a comrade to fend off a dragon by herself to really stress you out." I looked down at the ground. "I really feel bad about letting myself leave her there to die."

Yura was quick to say something. "Oh, Jeriah! Don't let things like that get to you. She made it out alive, didn't she? She knew she could handle it. All you did was trust her like she wanted you to."

My shoulders slumped. "Doesn't mean it was a good idea to leave her there."

I suddenly felt a hand clap against my left cheek, sending a ringing sound throughout my skull, catching me off guard for a minute. The slap shocked the crap out of me. I couldn't believe Yura just slapped me! That wasn't characteristic of her at all!