The Claiming (Book 3)

Chapter 22

     Rayen cleared his throat, "It's time."

     Everyone looked over at Rayen and stayed quiet. Tarn was the first to move away from the group and walk to the door. He turned and looked at everyone else as they followed. The walk to the cave was completely silent. There were no birds, or crickets, or even the slightest hint of a breeze. Everything had become deafeningly silent.

     As they reached the outer barrier of the mist, Cera caught a glimpse of rainbow colors out of the corner of her eye. She turned quickly and jumped, "Holy geez."

     Brae and the others turned to see what startled Cera. All five of the sister dragons carefully walked up and stood in front of them.

     "I didn't hear you all coming." Cera had her hand on her chest.

     We have been known to sneak up on people at certain times. We apologize for startling you, my lady. Amarundia bowed her head to Cera and then to Brae, My Lord.

     "Please call me Cera."

     "Please call me Brae."

     Brae and Cera smiled at each other after they spoke at the same time, "I still haven't decided. But if I do decide to become king, I would really like for you to continue calling me Brae. He watched as each dragon bowed their head in agreement.

     We have come to bear witness to this moment. Naturally, we shall not intrude, but we thought it should be known that we are watching.

     "Thank you Amarundia." Brae gave a small smile to the white dragon.

     Cera and the others watched as the dragons flew into the air and disappeared into the mist.

     Brae took Cera's hand as they walked into the valley, "They really startled you?"

     Cera could hear the disbelief in his voice, "Five dragons were right behind me. Still getting used to seeing just one of them."

     Brae chuckled at Cera's reaction. He understood her a lot more after she had shown him the difference between their worlds. Brae brought Cera's hand to his lips and brushed a kiss along her knuckles. They all fell into silence once again.

     "We don't have to do this, Brae."

     "Cera," he turned to her just as they got to the outside of the cave, "You don't have to keep telling me that."

     "Don't misunderstand me," Cera interrupted and paused, holding Brae back as Crina, Rayen, and Tarn walked into the cave, "This isn't about me. You grew up in this cave. It's part of who you are. It's part of your family," Cera gestured toward his brother and sister in the cave. "Part of them. We can get there, but are you certain that you want to keep that from them?"

     "No, I'm not, but I will." Brae frowned at the thought and shrugged his shoulders, "They are always going to be my family, with or without the cave. Besides, we're taking the cave with us when we walk away." Brae grabbed both of Cera's hands and held them to his chest, "Never forget that the cave also gave me the part of it that was my family. My mom. You. You are the very essence of this cave. You have only just begun to realize what this cave was meant to do for you...for us. We don't need to be here to find that out. We are its protectors, just like it has been ours. Now it's time for us to protect it. You carry the cave in you just as we do. We'll never lose that, Cera."

     Cera nodded as they both turned and walked into the cave behind the others. They were standing off to the side staring at the tree. Cera walked under the curtain of leaves and stopped at the trunk. She put her hand on the bark and let her fingers meld with the crevices. She put her other hand on the trunk and let both hands caress it softly as she knelt in front of the tree to find the only place the tree had a scar.