The Loyal

19- Broken Hearts

All night Sirath and Ixrith flew without resting or talking. Dain remained unconscious for the entire eight hours left and didn't even wake when the sun finally emerged on a blood red dawn.  The landscape below them was bland and monotonous, plains spreading out, clueless to an end. Small civilisations inhabited the area, their people cowed in fear as the dragons swept above.

Sirath had heard rumours when she landed to drink that the dragons were coming down from the mountains to conquer all of Haven. How suddenly in a few hours they'd become villains.

Dain was limp in her gold claws. His breathing scare and unpredictable. At every chance Sirath would wash his wounds, but it didn't seem like enough. "Hang in there," she whispered to him before taking off, "we'll be there soon."

As the dawn drew on, Sirath became more and more afraid that Dain would ever wake up. What could they do for him? They had no medical supplies or gods to pray to. Their quest began to seem like a fools errand.

Ixrith flew further away from her, obviously he was hurting just as much as Sirath and didn't really want to do anything other than curl up. They made each other fly on while comments. Sometimes Sirath wished there wasn't any thinking time while she flew.

The birds around them began to sing, their chests filling with excitement for the knew day. It was mostly small birds which inhabited the plains, they gathered on the branches of old trees and sung to their heart's content. But a raptor had been spotted gliding just below the clouds, searching for prey to dive down on. Large mammal strayed on the fresh green grass, mostly grey coated sheep being guarded by timid men who ran at the sight of dragons.

Sirath took several great beats and caught up with Ixrith's pace, she didn't look at his face nor try to speak, it wasn't needed, she just stayed with him, gently carrying the weight in her claws. They spotted a low lying cave around noon and silently agreed to rest.

Sirath landed first, laying Dain down right before she clambered into the ground, her golden claws clicking on the stone. Ixrith fell down beside her, heading deeper into the cave, away from the bright sun.

Dain flinched slightly when Sirath wrapped her tail around him and carried him further in. It was only good luck that there was a cool spring deeper in the cave. She sat him upright in the crystal water and snaked in herself. Sirath didn't know what to say, but she knew she needed to say something otherwise she'd go insane.

"Dain?" she licked his face carefully, "Dain, can you hear me?"

He remained expressionless for a minute. Sirath had nearly given up hope for now when she noticed Dain nodding his head every so slightly. Ixrith was watching from a rocky outcrop, his mouth twitching into a small smile.

Sirath returned hastily to Dain pack which Ixrith carried and tore apart one of the thinnest blankets. She came back to Dain and said what she needed to do. "I need to cover up your wounds. Dain, you need to help me."

He nodded again, his eyes kept tightly shut.

Sirath took several minutes to remove Dain's tunic and shuddered when she finally succeeded. HIs right side had healed but his left side was still a horrific mess. The blue dragon struggled to wrapped the cloth around his chest after soaking the strips. She then moved on to his arm which would be extremely painful to lift.

Sirath then pulled the red tunic back on Dain and stared at his head. How in Haven would she be able to bind his head. They needed at mask. She shivered, not one like Scais's, no, that one was terrifying.

Undecided, Sirath simply lay the remaining cloth over his left-side face and stroked back his hair. Ixrith gave a approving nod and settled down, wrapping his wings and tail around his body to sleep. Sirath left the cave and stared out at the plains, searching for a good meal for the three of them.