The Dragon Prince Oneshots and Other Things

Decoined

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for the votes and comments. They definitely motivated me to get an update out as soon as possible and I’m so glad people are enjoying these!

For so long, all Tiadrin had known was timeless pain. She wanted Lain, she wanted her daughter Rayla who she should have spent more time with, she wanted Ethari and Runaan, her best friends. She wanted to feel weapons in her hands again, smell the clear air around the Silvergrove and stand at the top of the Storm Spire feeling the wind in her hair.

Then it was like someone had pressed play on her life, because suddenly she was sprawled on the ground somewhere and there were voices around her and hands on her and she tried to launch her assailant across the – room? – where was she?

‘Tia!’ She’d know that voice anywhere.

‘Ethari?’ she whispered.

‘Tia, come here, get up,’ he said. ‘Sit up, we’ll get you water. Are you hurting?’

‘No, I’m fine.’ She actually was. It was surprising, considering how she’d been frozen in a coin for what felt like forever, how completely unaffected she felt.

As Ethari helped her into the chair, she cast a glance around the room and her gaze locked on her husband and – Runaan? – in similar positions to the one she’d been in moments before, being helped up by Ethari and Rayla. Rayla, who she hadn’t seen since a brief trip to the Silvergrove for her thirteenth birthday. She looked so much older, grown into her features where at thirteen she’d been all wild, lanky limbs. And Runaan’s arm was in a terrible state, an assassin’s binding lying beside it, and Lain... he looked just as he had when they’d been put in those coins, still bearing the bruises from their fight with the dark mage.

It was too much to take in all at once.

Lain looked up, helped by Rayla, and blinked in her direction as Rayla brought him over to take a seat next to her.

‘Tia,’ Lain whispered.

‘Lain,’ she replied, a slightly wild, breathless laugh crawling its way up her throat. ‘Rayla.’

‘Hi, Mum,’ her daughter said, smiling as tears began to gather in the corners of her eyes. ‘Hi, Dad.’

‘What happened?’ Lain asked.

‘There’ll be time to explain everything once you’ve rested and had something to eat,’ Ethari said, coming over supporting Runaan. A strange look passed between him and Rayla; it almost looked as if she tensed away from him a little. ‘It looks like you could all use healing as well.’ At this, his gaze fixed on something behind them, and as they turned to look Tiadrin finally noticed the human standing by the wall as if he were trying to disappear into it.

Her gut instinct was to reach for a weapon – beside her, Lain did the same, but neither of them had one and Runaan hissed, ‘You!’ with such venom in his voice she suspected this human had personally offended her friend.

‘Wait!’ yelped Rayla. ‘The first thing you should know is that the war is over! Humans are our allies, and Callum is definitely with us. He’s the one who freed you and returned the Dragon Prince to his mother!’

‘The Dragon Prince?’ said Lain.

Rayla nodded. ‘You saved him. The egg wasn’t destroyed, and we found it and brought it back.’ She gave Runaan a strange, challenging stare.

‘You... returned the egg with him?’ asked Runaan slowly.

‘Yes we did.’ Rayla raised her chin and set her jaw, looking at Runaan defiantly.