The Dragons' Crystal

Chapter Twenty-Two

I didn't know how long I had been awake for. I had been staring at the wall for some time before I realized I was awake. I yawned, rubbing my eyes as I sat up to stretch my arms out above my head. For the first time in a while, I didn't have any dreams that I could recall. I didn't want to think about it too much, worried that it would already shift my mindsight to be miserable. Today was a new day, which meant another day for Allira to be found. I was ready to try again. I wasn't sure if my hope had been restored, but it felt like it was. 

I crawled out from under the covers, glancing over to the other half of the room. I had been expecting Darius to still be sleeping, or to make some silly comment about how long I had slept, but I was met with something entirely out of my expectations. 

Darius sat on the edge of his bed, towards the middle, with his feet resting upon the boards underneath. His arms rested on top of his knees while his eyes stared directly at me. They were nearly bloodshot, single tears falling down out of them. More fell as our eyes locked. 

"Darius? Are you alright?" I made my way to him. I wanted to wipe his tears away for him, but I restrained my hand. The last thing we needed was to be delayed by my eruption of pain. 

He swallowed, not breaking eye contact. It took a while for him to reply. 

I almost asked again, concerned that he hadn't heard me the first time. Before I could restate my question, he replied. 

"I miss the camp." Darius whispered. "And I miss the people within it." Finally, his eyes looked away from mine. He looked to his pillow, which was the opposite direction of me. 

It was then I noticed how neatly his bed was still made. Either he was talented at making beds or he hadn't slept last night. "Darius, did you sleep last night?"

Silence. Then, he shook his head. 

I couldn't understand what had caused the sudden switch. When we arrived at this inn last night, he hadn't been in the greatest moods but he hadn't been crying over his second home. I tried to be understanding. Last night, I had been the one crying for my mother. I knew I needed to cut him some slack on the matter. "Why don't you lay down? I can take the map while you sleep and look over it again. I think we might have missed something at some point. That, or Allira is in another location that your father didn't foresee." I reached towards his pack that was hanging on the post of the bed and opened it up, about to reach in and grab it. I could already see the damaged parchment.

"No."

"No?" I hesitated. Had I done something wrong by reaching into his pack without asking? "I'm sorry. May I grab the map?" I held still, keeping my hand hovering over the opening of the pack. I had every intention of pulling it out.

"No." He repeated. Darius stood and reached into his pack, pulling it out with a force I hadn't seen him use before. He opened it up, quickly glancing over it. "I've decided something."

"And that is?" I tried to peer over his shoulder, unsure why he was suddenly acting so cold and distant to me. It made me rethink my actions from the previous night, starting to feel guilty. I hadn't acted properly. "I'm sorry, Darius, for the way I acted last night. I was just exhausted and drained. I was frustrated. I didn't mean to act that way towards you. I look forward to finishing this out with you." 

"You didn't do anything." Darius said quietly. "It was me. I was foolish for thinking finding her would be this easy. This map means nothing." In one swift motion, he had ripped the map into two.

"What?! Darius, what are you doing?!" I pushed on his back, reaching a hand under his arm to attempt at freeing the map. "That's our map!"

"I know." He kept readjusting his back so I couldn't reach around him. He was using my pain against me. I couldn't touch him. He placed the two halves together and ripped them again. He kept ripping until there was only shreds of the map left. 

"What have you done?" I asked, completely in disbelief. Darius had been the one to put the emphasis on using the map. That was our way of finding other landmarks Allira might have gone. I could feel the hope of finding her begin to dwindle again. 

"We're done searching, Odelle." He threw the confetti-like pieces of the map onto the ground, starting to remove his pack from the post. 

"Done? Darius, you can't give up like this. Your people need you to find Allira! I... I need to find Allira." Finding her was my only hope of solving why it was painful for Darius and I to touch sometimes. With her being the powerful spirit she was, I had no doubts that she'd be able to figure out what it was in seconds. 

"I'm not giving up." Darius said as he slung his pack over his shoulder. "I'm going to do the rest of this journey on my own. You're going back to the camp."

We're done searching, Odelle.

I all-too soon understood what he had meant. He was removing me from this mission. I was no longer going to be working by his side, helping him search for answers for the woman that had been calling out to me. "Wh-What?"

"You heard me. I'm taking you back to the camp and I'm continuing this journey on my own. This isn't your battle. You say you need to find Allira, but you don't. She isn't yours to find and she isn't of importance to you." Darius stated, glancing towards my boots and winter gear that were scattered across the floor near my bed. 

"What are you talking about? What did I do last night that has made you like this? I thought we were a team on this. I thought we were going to do this together!" I hesitated, but slowly began putting on my winter gear. 

I saw a glimmer of the Darius I knew. His eyes softened as he looked upon me. He clenched his jaw. "Things change, Odelle. Sometimes, for reasons we don't quite understand. I can't keep putting you in pain like this." He had lowered his voice to a whisper. 

Whether I was supposed to hear it or not was unknown to me, but I replied nonetheless. "That's why I want to find Allira! I'm thinking she can be the one to figure that out!"

"She can't." He said quickly. "Just-" Darius hesitated, then shook his head. "Come, please."

How did he know what Allira could and couldn't do? I swallowed my pride and quietly got ready to leave, not being able to understand what I had done to make Darius act this way towards me. I missed his smile and his laughter. I missed my friend. I held onto the hope that I could convince him otherwise once we arrived back at the camp. 

I followed him out of the room and back to the innkeeper. The room was more lively than it had been the previous night. Men were scattered across the wooden tables, some playing cards and others simply drinking their problems away. I had never tasted alcohol before, but I felt the need to now. I wanted to wish this entire situation away. 

An older woman sat at one of the tables by herself. There was nothing on her table, leaving me to believe she was waiting on something. Her eyes lingered on me while she offered a smile. I politely returned her, but hers lingered on. Darius finished up with the innkeeper and walked between us. He spared her a glance, then shook his head. Had they met before?

I followed Darius outside the inn and back towards the front of the village. I assumed he was going somewhere he could safely transform without needing to worry about bystanders. I didn't enjoy this new silent treatment I was getting, nor did I believe I deserved it. I had reasons to believe that once we were in the comfort of his home at camp, I'd be able to convince him otherwise. Even then, I debated bringing the others into it. Genevieve, Finn, and Dove were all quite smart. What if they saw something that Darius and I didn't?

I clung to the shreds of hope I had left as we left the village. 

This couldn't be over yet. I wouldn't let it.