Dragonborn

Chapter 22 ~ Encounter (OLD)

Akila awoke slowly, last night had seemed like the best sleep of her life. In a night, almost every problem had dissolved. She'd defeated the Shakarakh, controlled her powers, and gotten rid of the poison. Her exhaustion had reflected it though. Heck, I'm still tired.

All that was left to worry about was Fallon. Akila had no idea where he was or even what he was, the answer to the latter likely being 'demon'. There was also poor Gwendolyn. It was like watching a cart wreck in slow motion. Every day she battled with the uncertainty of her brother's fate, and every night that passed her hope would wane.

Akila calmed herself, one problem at a time, Moon first.

She crept down the halls until she reached the seer's door. The only thing stopping her from facing a potentially catastrophic conversation was hesitation. Nevertheless, the Dragonborn knocked. When no answer came, she slowly opened the door and found a lump curled up on the bed. Moon had regained her normal pallor, but her hair still fell in a mess.

Akila was about to shake her awake when she realized that the girl deserved this rest. She simply smiled and closed the door quietly so as not to disturb her slumber.

Breakfast was already in full swing by the time she arrived. The mood was solemn, as usual, but a small ray of light seemed to penetrate the idle conversation. When they saw Akila, confused looks instantly peppered their faces. "Moon and I have been working on it." Was the only answer she was willing to give at the moment. When conversation picked up again, it was livelier.

Until Gwendolyn appeared. Her eyes were bit swollen and her skin sticky, as if she'd been crying. The girl cleaved through the thick silence and sat directly across from Akila, looking up only once to observe her changed appearance.

No more words were said for the rest of breakfast.

While she was walking back to her room, Gwen caught up to her and asked, "Can I help you find my brother?"

She really did feel sorry for the girl. Like most young children, she needed to talk to someone and despite them getting off on the wrong foot, she was most familiar with Akila. This meant that she would have to handle this conversation delicately, so she crouched down the her level before speaking. "Aw honey, look, we want to keep you safe here so that when Fallon does come home it can be to his darling little sister."

"But I know him the bestest." She complained. "Like how he would always clench his fist when papa beat me." The girl instantly shut her mouth and chewed on her bottom lip.

"What do you mean darling?" Akila asked tentatively.

"When Ma died, Papa was really sad so he goes out and always came home drunk. He spends all the money, Fallon says he does something called 'g-gambling'. And a lot of times, he comes home really angry and beats me because I don't fight back. Fallon always tries to save me and now that he's grown up he usually can. So when papa beats me now, he makes sure to do a g-good job." At this point, the girl was in tears. "An-and brother said h-he had a way to make sure that no one ever hurt me again. H-he said that it could just be him and me and we could do anything we wanted. There would be no Papa to spend the money we made. A-and now something has tooken him." Her voice rose to an all-out wail. "And you're the last thing I have of him a-and you tell me that he was taken by the greatest evil ever." Gwendolyn hiccuped. "I can't accept that, b-because if it's true then I won't ever see him again, and the next time someone hurts me he won't be there to clench his fists and stop them. I'll be alone and there will be no one to talk to, or to protect me. I c-can't live without him."

Akila hugged Gwendolyn as she sobbed onto her shoulders. The gravity of the situation finally hit her. "How old are you?"

"T-ten, but I'll be eleven in five months." She answered, the girl was clearly trying to muster as much courage as possible.