The Dragons' Crystal

Chapter Twenty-Nine - Darius

The flight over was mere minutes yet it felt like an eternity. I pretended as though Dove was overreacting, not wanting to believe what she had first told me while I followed her through the skies to where Odelle had been taken from. If father had found her from the energy, then all hope I had of protecting Odelle from this awful mess was long gone. I wasn't sure if I was thankful that I hadn't told her the truth. Since she didn't know, there was a chance she might be able to convince my father that she wasn't the crystal. On the other hand, if she had known she might have been able to protect herself. 

Dove flew down to a spot near the river where I noticed a discarded pile of laundry. I quickly recognized one of the jackets as one Odelle had been wearing last I had seen her. The realization that Dove hadn't overreacted settled in as I attempted to keep my cool. Together, we transformed back and hurried to further examine the scene. 

"I don't know what happened! I was just watching her like normal, I didn't think anything would happen. She started crying and then there was this huge flash of light!" Dove bit her bottom lip, hands fidgeting with each other. "I waited until the light disappeared and just as I came down to examine her and bring her inside, this dragon appeared out of no where and snatched her! He carried her straight up!" She shook her head, keeping her gaze down. "It's all my fault."

"No." I said quietly, realizing just how wrong I had been this entire time. "This is mine." I reached out and grabbed her arm, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "If anyone is to blame for this situation, it's me. I should have dealt with my father sooner and I should have kept Odelle at the camp where we could have protected her. I should have known Allira would be impatient." I sighed, having a feeling that Allira was why Odelle had been taken. She wanted to be used. 

"What are we going to do, Darius?" Dove whispered, carefully picking the clothes back up and placing them into the basket. Her eyes briefly flickered behind me, a quick smile coming to her face. 

"Who are you two?" 

I glanced behind me, believing it at first to be another villager that had seen us transform. If they didn't like Odelle, they surely wouldn't like us. Yet as my eyes fell upon the older woman's features, I could clearly recognize her as the woman I had seen in the visions of the past; Odelle's mother. "Friends of Odelle."

"Odelle doesn't have-" She hesitated, looking us over. "The people from the camp?"

"Yes ma'am." I stepped forward, offering my hand. "My name is Darius. I-"

"I know exactly who you are." She glanced down at my hand. "I have no intention of speaking to you after Odelle told me what you did. Do you know how badly you broke her?" An eyebrow lifted while another sunk down. The kind expression I had seen in the vision was gone. Her lips were pouted in a frown. "What are you even doing here? I hope you're not here to speak with her."

"Actually, ma'am, Odelle has been taken by those that would want to cause harm." Dove interrupted, placing her hands between the two of us. "I'm truly sorry, but we don't have time for arguments."

"Taken?!" Her eyes widened, the color quick to disappear from her cheeks. "What do you mean? Where did they take her?"

"It's complicated and I do hope you'll excuse our rush. I wanted to confirm my suspicions and they were correct. We're going to get Odelle back, I promise." As the words tumbled out of my mouth, I briefly thought of the chance that it wouldn't happen. We would have to act fast if we wanted to save Odelle from the clutches of my father. There was no telling what he would do once he finally realized who she was. I grabbed Dove's arm, knowing that Odelle's mother would bombard us with questions if we lingered much longer. "I promise to explain everything when we get back, but right now we just need to get to Odelle." I pulled Dove along back towards where we had first landed. 

"Wait! Don't leave yet!" She yelled, starting to follow. 

"We've got to get back to the camp." I spoke over the yelling, pulling Dove along who easily kept up. "I'll meet you there." As I let her go, we transformed together and headed straight for the skies. I could hear some yelling from down below, though couldn't distinguish if it was out of fear or anger. I wasn't sure how much Odelle had told her mother about the camp and now wasn't the time to find out. It didn't matter. I felt guilty for leaving her mother in the dark about what had happened, but to explain to her why Odelle was taken I would have to go back to the beginning history of the crystal and there was no time for it. Once Odelle was safe and home, then I would share the details if she still pestered for them.  

Plans began filling my head as we flew back. The full team wasn't ready to face the land of dragons yet. If I brought everyone, we would face many causalities. I wasn't about to risk their lives for this. If this failed, I needed another group of people to fight it when I no longer could. If we were lucky, we would never need another group. This battle could have very well been the last in our history between my father and I if I planned it just right. 

The plan began finalizing as we landed. I hurried back into the meeting hut, relieved to see everyone still gathered. There was plenty of talk in the air mixed with laughter and loud voices. It was going to be hard to gather everyone's attention if I wasn't loud enough. There wasn't time to wait around. 

I pulled myself onto the table that rested in the middle of the room, cupping my hands around my mouth. In the loudest voice I could manage, I began to shout. "Attention! Silence, immediately!" A hush fell across the crowd as a wave of silence passed through. It had worked, much to my relief. I swallowed, already knowing of three people I could trust to live through this and be smart about each move they made. 

This wasn't just any mission or battle. Odelle's life was in our hands. I would need people that cared about her enough to know we couldn't lose her. We would have to find a way to either only save Odelle, or end my father and save Odelle. Those were our only two options. 

"Dove, Finn, and Genevieve! Get ready. We're taking to the skies now. Odelle has been taken to the skies. We've got to get her back before they find out what she really is or make any plans on what to do with her. Get ready and meet me in the middle of camp in five minutes!"

As I watched them hurry out the door to get around, I finally paid attention to how fast my heart was racing. I had planned on not attacking for at least another six months. It seemed fate had another plan. 

"Hang on, Odelle." I mumbled as the crowd resumed their small talk with one another. "We're coming for you."