The Shadow Over Lockland

Rose's P.O.V

I felt relieved when Sir. Foy finally let Damien and I be on our way to Damien’s place. On our way over, Damien and I began to talk.

“So, Sir. Foy told me that you’ve been warned about the….” he trailed off and I looked at his face, and I saw the puzzlement spread across it.

“The griffins?” I asked trying to help him to finish his sentence.

“ Yes, the griffins. You’ve been warned about how dangerous they can be, and what happened today is proof of that. So why put yourself at risk?” He finished with a slight worried expression on his face. I pondered on his question for a few moments thinking to myself.

    “Well… They fascinate me… and as I can guess you saw me helping Glory.” I looked down at my ankle slightly smirking at the irony that I now had injured and was favoring my leg.

“Rose I can understand wanting to help and to care for someone or something. I have a feeling that it’s just your nature. But it's not safe or healthy for you to put yourself in these positions to get hurt.” Damien sounded genuinely worried for my well being, even though we had only met officially a few minutes beforehand. I couldn’t answer before he began to speak again.

    “Rose just promise me this. That you will be more careful next time. You have somany creatures here that I’ve never seen but only heard about in what I thought were fairy tales. But, there is something you have not seen, and I warn you to be more careful.” Damien sounded so serious as he said this it sent a shiver down my spine. Through the short time that we had known each other he seemed to be a very kind and sweet person. Not someone I would expect to hear such serious words from. But almost as the serious look on his face came it melted back to a smile as we approached a house with the husband and wife from earlier sitting outside.

    “ Hello son, you were gone for quite some time.” His father said.

    “Who is this with you Damien?” his mother asked getting up hurriedly to help him with carrying me leaving her spot at the flowerbed, where she was tending to the newly planted flowers.

    “Mother this is Rose she is the reason I wandered off.” He chuckled a bit as his mother helped him set me down on the chair they had set up outside. As I finally got a look at Damien standing with out my weight on him, and I noticed his limp and apparently so did his mother.

    “Damien, your limping! What did you two get yourselves into?!” she said noticing that he was not tended to, my dressed head wound and ankle. I nervously laughed and answered her question as Damien’s father went inside to grab something.

“Well Mrs. Demlocklen, I can explain. You see, I’m sort of the reason we’re both injured. Damien, was just sort of there at the wrong place but at the right time. Without him being there I would not be here.----” That’s when Mrs. Demlocklen cut me off to talk to Damien.

“Damien? Is this the girl you keep seeing?!” Hearing these words confused me. What did she mean? Damien and I had only met that day. Why did it sound like she was asking if he had seen me in a dream or something? But that’s when I see Damien shake his no, but something in his eyes said yes. But I dismissed this as wishful thinking that caused me to see this.

“Well I guess the important thing is that you both are ok.” Mrs. Demlocklen said with a smile at the both of us as her husband came back with a medical kit and began to wrap a now revealed cut on Damien’s leg, that had been covered with a flap of his torn pant leg. That’s when I heard approaching footsteps. I quickly looked around but saw no one other than us, well no one close enough to cause me to hear their individual footsteps. Damien and his parents must of heard this too.

“Rose? Are your parents coming?” Mrs. Demlocken asked me.

“Umm… yes my mother should be on her way, I’m not sure about my father though.” I answered.

“Well then I see no harm in waiting for your mother inside.” she stood up and gustered for us all to follow her inside. Once in side for a second I thought I heard Mrs. Demlocklen give a sigh of relief but I once again dismissed it as my imagination.  

As I gazed around the room, I saw many things that I knew of from the mainland, but never truly seen outside of a book. I heard Damien laugh with amusement as he saw my face fill with wonder at the sight of odd swords mounted on the wall.

“What kind of swords are these?” I asked in amazement. I examined their thin long blades as he began to explain.

“Their fencing swords, Rose. Their not used in war combat though. Their used in sport.” He explained to me. His parents had left us in the room together to go get some snacks prepared for when my mother came.

We looked at each other as Damien helped stable me. Damien seemed focused on my forehead as he slid back the lose hair that covered the wrap to my head wound.

“How does your head feel Rose? If you start to feel light headed we can sit down.” There he was again sounding fully concerned for my well being again. It was cute in a way.