Silver Soul

Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Hope

                 I leaped up to hide behind a large boulder. I was hardly breathing thinking maybe it was an intruder. I had my back against the boulder facing away from the footsteps, counting them and listening to the tread hoping I might recognize someone. I thought for just a moment when I jumped up bow armed and poised to be released. I was shocked with surprise when I saw exactly who it was. It was Zane. I slowly lowered my weapons but still keeping a careful hand on each. He had frozen right as he entered the rock clearing that I had discovered. I could see confusion swimming in his pale eyes wondering what the heck I was doing. For maybe once in my life I was sorry I had reacted in defense. Even now I still beat myself up about that night where if I had acted differently things might have turned out differently.

“Um, sorry if I’m disturbing you,” Zane said cautiously still afraid of what I could do.

All I did was shrug and go back to sitting on the ground watching the moon sucking up its gaze as it rejuvenated me. I was very aware of the fact that Zane was right there and when he sat down next to me I was on edge the entire time. I knew that I should say something about that day when Zane had saved me and we both knew it.

“Thanks,” I said.

“For what?” he asked in a voice that clearly said that he knew exactly what.

“You know, that day when I fell from the sky and you…….” I let the sentence hang.

“Saved you from certain death?” this time it was serious.

“Yeah, pretty stupid of me to go off on my own, right?” I asked trying to joke of the seriousness.

                A stead silence started to grow between us as Zane thought his answer out carefully in his head.

“I don’t think it was stupid for you to have done that,” he said in a quiet voice.

“Why?” I said. I was shocked by his answer.

“There just was something that you needed to do, and I for one saw that when Kilau told us about your note. I actually tried to get them to understand that if we delayed an hour or so that it would actually help you instead. I convinced them so we waited an hour before setting out at a fast pass,” he explained. When I stayed silent he continued.

“It was a good thing we left when we did, so I could save you,” I turned to look at him for a moment searching his face for a smirk.

“That’s one thing I’ve been wondering, why? I mean anyone else would have just had their dragon catch me. You out your life on the line to just catch me,” I finally realized that was the thing that I had needed to say.

                    Again silence enveloped us and before I knew it a couple minutes had passed by before Zane started to speak, but slowly.

“I did it, because…………….I think that you’re worth the risk,” and I knew that he was serious and had never been more serious in his entire life.

“Really?” I asked trying to mask the hope in my voice of something that had long been thought lost to me. Zane laughed.

“You don’t know do you? I’ve thought that from the first day we went to school together and I saw you,” Zane replied.

“I’ve always thought that no one on earth could do that for me,” I said

             Even though I didn’t say it in so many words Zane knew exactly what I meant. I felt something slip into my hand and when I looked down I saw Zane’s hand in mine. I smiled and curled my hand around his.