The Dragons' Crystal

Chapter Twenty-Four

As they sat me down near where the bonfire had been several nights before, the overload of questions came as the original crowd departed with their talk mainly consumed with Darius. While the three of them sat around me and began talking, my focus dwindled. I focused on a branch that had fallen out of the remains of the bonfire. Half of it was burnt, completely charred and destroyed, while the other half hadn't been touched. Their voices blurred together into background noise despite their attention being on me. My mind was still resting on Darius. I wish I could understand. 

"Odelle?" Finn touched my shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Hmm?" I broke away from my thoughts, unable to hide the red that rose to my cheeks. I tried to smile. "I'm not sure."

"What happened, Odelle?" Dove turned her legs towards me, resting her elbows on her knees. She held her head up with her hands. 

All eyes were upon me. 

I swallowed, nervous of admitting it all out loud. "I wish I knew. When I left the other day, I... I felt the pain again. Darius came running out. I was trying to tell him to leave but we were ambushed. There were too many of them. He transformed before my eyes and single-handedly defeated the bandits." I would tell them everything, no matter how hard. I hoped they'd be able to sense something that I hadn't. If I started from the beginning, surely they'd see something; anything. 

"Hah!" Genevieve began to laugh, throwing her head back. As she moved, I half-expected her to howl. Shame filled my head once she hadn't. Even though she looked like a wolf, it was hard to separate her from what I was so used to what the wolves did. "I bet the ones that could, ran away with their tails between their legs!"

"Something like that." I slightly smiled, remembering how relieved I had been. I missed his smile. "Afterwards, Darius explained everything about his past to me. He told me about his father, the crystal, and how he came here. I told him about my dreams I've been having and he believed that the crystal, Allira, is calling out to me to find her. He pulled one of his father's maps out and marked three places. We traveled to each in search of her, but each time we came up empty." I tapped my fingers against my knee, allowing the smile to widen as I remembered things along the way. "It was so lovely. Darius tried to each me how to ice skate." His smile was something I couldn't shake. His caring nature drew me to him. I would learn anything from this world, or out of it for that matter, if he was the one teaching me. It could have been fun if I hadn't ruined it. "But the pain I felt the night of the bonfire returned to me. We stopped and went to the next place. They played music there, much like the music played here, and-" I hesitated, finding myself aware of how intent they were listening. Would they tease me if I mentioned how jealous I had felt when Darius had danced with one of the servants?

"And?" Dove grinned. "What happened next?"

"I wanted to dance with Darius. He was a lovely partner when we danced here, but he wouldn't ask. He was worried about hurting me again. The King himself asked me, but it wasn't the same. Darius ended up dancing with a servant." I nibbled the inside of my cheek, starting to cross my arms. I hadn't liked how I had felt but it had simply appeared without any warning.

"I sense a hint of jealously." Finn nudged my arm. "Don't you dare say you weren't, either. You can lie all you want to a siren, but I can assure you that I'll still know the truth." He winked, following it with a hearty laugh. I wanted to laugh with him, but instead found myself sinking further into a hole I didn't know how to get out of. 

"I suppose. I hadn't meant to." I looked back down to the half-charred stick, remembering how badly I had been longing to be dancing with Darius. "We went to the next place and simply walked through. There was no sign of Allira there. We traveled to the nearest village and rested for the night. I wasn't in the greatest of mindsets. I'm ashamed to admit that I had given up hope and I was frustrated. I wanted answers but there was nothing. I thought she would be able to explain why I feel this pain whenever I touch Darius. It isn't all the time either, only sometimes." While the group became silent, I felt my heart begin to ache. "I'm tired of not being able to touch him. When I woke this morning, Darius was staring at me in the same place he was last night. He had been crying. He told me our adventure was over, that we were done searching, and that he would finish it on his own." I felt partially relieved to get the entire story out. A weight began lifting off my shoulders as I brought my eyes back to them in search of answers.