Here Be Dragons: The Protector

Chapter nine: Awakening

Silence hung in the air after Lukas finished the tale, interrupted only by the crackle of the fire and the drumming of the rain. Suddenly, the flame flickered in a gust of wind. Lukas was on his feet in an instant, sword and shield at the ready, Jenna close behind, wind whirling around her fists. A shout cut through the rain; Lukas couldn't make out the words, but Jenna let her hands drop to her sides – the air around them returning to where she'd plucked it. "It's okay, Lukas. Zephyr is roughly above us, so this must be the rest of our team." She took a log from the fire to use as a torch and strode outside. She obviously put up some sort of barrier, as the rain didn't even come near her. After a few seconds of waving the torch and shouting, three green-clad figures emerged from the woods – one of whom was leaning heavily on the man next to him.

Recognising the man who could barely walk, he hurried over and exclaimed, "Sylas! You're awake!" He tried to repeat the hand motion Jenna had shown him.
"My, my... Lukas volunteering something from Air Element... I never thought I'd see the day." He smiled, ruefully. "But, if you don't mind, I'm terribly tired. I'd like to get back in the saddle soon so I can rest. Is the spark ready to go?"
"Actually, she's still unconscious."
"Perfect, that just means she can't resist while we put her on the dragon." Sylas laughed, appraising the girl on the floor.
"With how powerful she is, we thought it best that we avoid scaring her – if she were to wake up on the back of a dragon with no explanation..." Lukas left the rest unsaid.
Sylas just waved a hand dismissively, "Irrelevant. She's already broken out; no matter how much power she contains, she can't use any of it."
"That's just the thing... From what we've heard, she's had two outbreaks – possibly three. Plus," Lukas added, with certainty, "she can control at least two elements. I think we should be cautious... besides, it's only energy depletion, she should be better by morning."
Sylas mulled that over. It was a risk: the longer they waited, the more likely they would be attacked. However, he knew Lukas would not suggest something so reckless unless he was sure it was the best course of action. He sighed, and said, "Well, rest is rest. If you wouldn't mind making some beds, and something to shelter the dragons from the rain, we'll stay here. But if she hasn't woken up by Tol-above tomorrow, we're setting off anyway." With that, Sylas left the cave to fish around in his saddle packs.

By the time he returned with a tightly rolled cylinder of fabric and some food, Lukas had carved out seven flat surfaces – one of which was under Vaylerie – and added a strut to support the roof for good measure. He stretched his mind outside the now fairly cramped cave to clear a square large enough to accommodate the four dragons, which he raised up on five pillars. Once free of their saddles, the dragons gratefully curled up in their new accommodation. Jenna approached him holding a water skin and some food – this time some of the salted bove in a thin crust of bread made from fido and some ground nuts. She glanced reverently at Vaylerie's sleeping form before telling him, "You were right, she's responded to the fire as well."
In response, he simply nodded and suggested he take first watch. He forced a stone chair up out of the ground, facing outwards into the forest. He lowered himself into it and laid his sword across his knees before biting into his meal.

She felt it again, the wrongness. It tore her from her dreamless slumber. She felt very weak. Forcing herself into a seated position, she looked around her. She was in a cave with six others: one slumped in a chair by the door, and five asleep on the ground around her. Her worry over her unfamiliar surroundings was reduced slightly when she realised that the shape next to her was her mother, and that neither of them seemed to be harmed. In the corner were four men and a woman – their identical boots resting just beside their sleeping forms. She didn't recognise anything about them, but it struck her how large the closest man was. 'If he is a man... he's more like a mountain with a head attached...' The men either side of him seemed like children in comparison.

Satisfied that they were not in immediate danger, she prodded her mother awake. "Ma? Where are we? What's going on?"
Her mother groggily opened her eyes, but when Vaylerie's face came into focus, she snapped to attention. She stared at her for a few moments, tears collecting in her eyes. She embraced Vaylerie tightly and held on, as if to release again would be to lose her forever. Hiccuping into her daughter's auburn mane, she whispered, "Vayle... I'm so sorry I didn't believe you. Maybe if I had..."
Vaylerie drew back to look into her eyes. "Ma. I wouldn't have believed me – it sounded impossible." Then her face split into a crooked grin, "But doesn't the world seem more amazing now you know the impossible is true?"
That drew a tired laugh out of Mrs. Hart, before a she sighed, "You've been unconscious for over a day... the only thing amazing to me is that you're awake again. I love you."
Vaylerie couldn't help herself from pulling her mother into another hug. Tears spilled unbidden from her eyes as she simply said, "I love you too."

They couldn't hear the heavy footfalls through the rain. They could not see the black skin amid the darkness. The man in at the mouth of the cave had but a moment between seeing the luminous brown eyes and having a stone spear pierce his chest. It connected with such velocity that the chair he sat in broke from the floor, flung back against the cave wall and shattered, rubble splaying in every direction. Vaylerie and her mother instinctively dropped to the ground, covering their heads with their arms. When they looked up again, the huge man had run over to the mouth of the cave and a wall of stone rose up before him to close them inside – more spears were thrown at him, but the wall rose up in time to catch them. Looking back at the others, he asked, "Is everyone alright?"
The woman rushed over to the man who had been thrown against the wall. She took in his stillness, blood pooling around his chest, and the pained roar that could be heard through the make-shift barricade. She shook her head. "He's dead." She held her hand over her heart before muttering, "May you return to the Air, from whence you came."
The mountainous man stretched out his hands, and a stone sword and shield flew into his grasp. He attached the shield to his left forearm and grasped the sword in his right hand. Looking at one of the men in green, he said "Sylas, I want you in here protecting Raychel and Vaylerie." Then he motioned to the others and continued, "You two should head for your dragons while I rush them. You'll be doing most of the damage, and I'll do my best to protect you. Got it?" When they both nodded, he turned and sprinted at the wall.