LET THERE BE DRAGONS (COMPLETED)

Chapter Fifteen: Blunder

"Where did she come from!" It was Josh, who had just come out of his shack, sleepy eyed. "And what happened to you?" Josh asked, taking in the battle-torn appearance of Shivam.

"It's okay, Josh. The Infernos had attacked her in the middle of the night, and we fought them off together..." Shivam explained, as Josh carefully studied Tiyasha. After a few moments, he beckoned to Shivam to come closer, indicating he wanted to say something in his ear. So Shivam went to him, and bent down, taking his head near the round face of the kid.

"But she's a WITCH! WITCHES ARE...DANGEROUS," Josh wheezed into Shivam's right ear, trying to whisper, but loud enough to be heard from a mile.

"I heard that," Tiyasha said, her tone matter-of-fact. Josh immediately took a few steps back towards his shack, as if he expected Tiyasha to suddenly turn into some malicious, predatory being. 'Good thing he didn't see the transformation of a girl into a dragon,' Shivam thought cynically.

Tiyasha started taking small steps towards Josh, transfixing the kid with genuine anxiety. "I'm SORRY! Don't come near me! I didn't mean to..." He started babbling.

"Listen, boy, I do not know what have you heard about witches..." Tiyasha began reaching out for Josh, whose feet seemed to have grown roots into the ground, "...but I assure you, most of them are not true," she finished, and ruffled Josh's hair. "You're very cute," she added.

Josh blushed visibly, and after a few seconds he muttered half-audibly: "You're cute, too." Tiyasha chuckled and planted a soft kiss on Josh's forehead before he knew it. "Thank you," she said.

Shivam was impressed by the ease with which Tiyasha managed to soften Josh's reservations, considering she herself had told him how people were afraid of witches-- the reason why she had stolen

Josh's fishes, instead of befriending him earlier and asking for some.

And that was how the three of them became friends, with ease: it was almost as if they had been destined to meet, and the circumstances in which they had met only moulded them together--a banished young poet, an orphaned, homeless witch, and an eighteen year old who had come from a different world.

As the clouded, dim morning stole softly towards a bright, dazzling day of sun, the three of them marched towards the river nearby, chattering among themselves as if they were regular campgoers.

"I'm glad it has stopped raining," Josh said brightly, "sunny weather is very good for fishing."

"I highly doubt you can catch fish with that," Tiyasha mocked, pointing at Josh's improvised fishing rod made up of branches and vines.

"What do you mean, doubt. I am certain Josh is very poor at the game of catching fish," Shivam joined in.

"Oh, yeah? Well you weren't complaining while chomping on all those bar-be-qued fish last night," Josh said, offended.

"I had fish last night?" Shivam said, making his tone as sarcastic as possible. "Boy, I can't remember anything about that! All I remember is having kicks and punches and slashes of knives..." Tiyasha giggled at his tone, and then all three of them laughed together. And it felt good that way--even though their lives had mostly gone out of control, and even though most of them had been through sinister tragedies, laughing together as friends, under the azure sky and in the golden sunlight, gave them respite from their bleak worries.

Eventually they came upon the sparkling river cheerfully running through the pine-lands, navy blue in the brightening day. Josh immediately went to work, finding a bait and searching for a convenient foothold to begin fishing. And as he fished and Tiyasha sat and looked at the river's beauty, Shivam told them his story, without hiding anything. He had to trust them--surely he wouldn't be able to find Aparajita by himself. He needed to believe in his newfound friends, and he hoped they would, in turn, believe in his incredible story. He noticed how their expressions changed when he told them about Aparajita's transformation and the Seamstress, and hoped they wouldn't dismiss him off as a madman.

"That's a lot to take in at once," Tiyasha said quietly once Shivam was finished. Josh was looking at him with bewildered eyes, the forgotten fishing rod lying near his feet.

"I know. But you have to believe in me. I need your help!" Shivam said.

"I believe in you, big brother," Josh said immediately. "Although...your girlfriend became a...dragon? Damn! That's frigging awesome...oops, sorry, I didn't think about what I was saying..." Josh said, checking himself due to Shivam's pained expression.

"Trust me, Josh, it wasn't awesome at all. It was my worst nightmare come true. God knows where she is now?" Shivam said, the lightness that he had felt in his heart while walking to the river vanished now. The aching of his wounds seemed to intensify with his worry, too, even though he had eaten some healium leaves that Josh said had magical curing abilities.

"Don't worry, Shivam. Aparajita will be alright," Tiyasha tried to assure. "You say...she's an Imoogi?"

"That's what the Seamstress said. Do you know anything about Imoogis?"

"Not much. Only that an Imoogi is a very, very rare being. It is said that an Imoogi's life is a blessing from the God of Sun," Tiyasha said.

"Then tell me what to do? Where do I begin? Should I pray to the Sun God or something?" Shivam asked, frustrated.

"I wish I could summon a dragon, like veteran witches can," Tiyasha said. "A dragon could have told us what to do."

"Please Tiyasha! You gotto try! You fought those Infernos..." Shivam began hopefully.

"It can't be done," Josh said. "Dragons are dangerous..."

"It's true. We'll have to think of some alternative. But don't worry, Shivam. We will help you," Tiyasha said brightly.

Shivam stood silently, feeling gloomy. Eventually they began trudging back towards their shack, each lost in worrying over the unpromising future that seemed to be lying ahead of them.

They were about to reach their shack when Shivam threw away the fish he was carrying in his hands, grabbed Tiyasha's arm, and yanked her back. Josh stopped walking, too.

"Wha-"

Shivam hushed her and pointed with his finger.

Near their shack, at least twenty Infernos were standing, with ten greyhounds.

Shivam and Tiyasha looked at each other with panicked eyes. It had been a blunder to not leave the area in which they had defeated those Infernos last night.

Now they had come back, looking for them, it seemed.

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Author's Note

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Hi friends. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! If you did, consider giving it a vote :-)

Also, tell me what you think about the Trio: Shivam, Josh, and Tiyasha. Hope you like them?

Also, If you are really enjoying LTBD, maybe you can recommend it to your friends, too? I am posting a picture of my happy face anticipating you spreading the word about LTBD all across the milky way:

(^_^)

My happy face.