Chapter 14

It was an hour before dawn when Drayden came in and woke up Varden. He was still quite tired and wondered what was wrong.

Drayden said, " Nothing is wrong. It's just land has been spotted and we will dock at daybreak."

Vardens face lit up with excitement. Just the thought of seeing his parents again did the trick. Even though his father was close to dying from being sick it was nice to be coming back home. Varden thanked Drayden for waking him and he told her that he couldn't wait for her to meet his parents and his parents to meet her.

As soon as Drayden left, Varden quickly got dressed and when up to the deck. He had almost forgotten how beautiful his homeland was, but as the sun rose and lit up everything, he noticed that it didn't seem the same to him. It appeared to him that everything was now dying. It was like life was just being sucked out of it. The leaves were falling off the trees and the grass was turning brown as if it was drying out. But this was the middle of summer, everything should be green and growing not brown and dying. It looked like somebody had poisoned everything even the land itself was quickly dying as if had been poisoned.

As the ship pulled into the harbor Varden noticed some of the men he had known all his life looked like they had aged ten years in the months that he had been gone.

When they finally docked and Varden was able to leave the ship, he got a close look at some of the people, and he couldn't believe how they looked.

Varden started to leave when he heard Drayden's voice. That brought him back to what was going on with all that was happening he had forgotten about her. Which was a first for him since he met her, she has been on his mind constantly. He was going to make sure that that didn't happen again.

He went back to her and took her by the hand and said," I want to take you to see my parents.'

She smiled and nodded her head. She was hoping that he would want her to meet his parents and thought that is why she was here to meet his father and maybe help him.

As they walked along Varden told her about the town and some of the adventures that he had in each place. He couldn't help but mention how much things had changed in such a short period of time that he had been gone. As he got closer to his home, he noticed things were steadily getting worse. Soon they were by his neighbor's house Varden noticed them and he waved at them. Then something weird happened once they saw him; they turned around and locked their doors. Varden was wondering just what was going on with them and why would they be scared of him. He has known them since he was a small child.

When they passed the neighbor's house, they came to the path that he had played on so many times as a youth. Then he noticed the field and there was nothing left in it except for dust, it looked like someone had taken a huge sponge and sucked all the life out of it. From where they stood, they could see the cave where he had his first adventure.

Varden pointed out the cave to her and told her about the whole adventure that he had. Then he realized the forest had gone completely naked and all the life had been erased from it along with the meadow. Varden wondered what was going on with this place and how it happened to change so fast.

They finally made it to his home. He knew that it was his house, but things were a lot different the house needed painting and it even looked like there were holes in the roof.

Varden started to open the door, but it was locked. This was very strange his parents never kept the door locked unless they were sleeping. Even if they locked it, they usually were up and moving around by this time of day. He knocked on the door and it took a couple minutes for his mother to come and open it.

She quickly gave him a hug and kiss. He could even see tears in her eyes and a smile came to her lips. Varden asked her, " Why are you crying?"

She looked up at him and said, " I'm just so happy to see that you made it back home in time. Your father has not been doing well."

Varden said, " Mom, this is someone I want you to meet." He pulled are forward and said, "This is Drayden she has been helping me. She is a healer, and she has come to see if she can help Dad."

His Mother went over to her and kissed her on the cheek and gave her a big hug. She could already tell that Drayden meant a lot to him."

Before anything else could be said Varden asked, " Where is father?"

Varden saw her smile quickly fade and she said, " He's in the bedroom but I must tell you. . ."

Varden cut her off and started for his parent's bedroom.

She tried to stop him, but he just ignored her and continued on his way.

Drayden took her by the arm and told her that it would be all right.

She pulled Drayden close and cried on her shoulder. Drayden did her best to comfort her but knowing that there was nothing she could do to help her.

As Varden reached the door he heard his father coughing, and he sounded deathly ill. Varden prepared for the worst as he opened the door. But he couldn't prepare himself for how bad his father really looked. Varden did his best to not show the shock of what he had seen.

Varden knelt beside his father and took a close look at him. He looked as if he were 80 years old now but when Varden had left last month he had looked like a man of 38 a young 38 at that.

His father noticed him and said, " Boy, is that you? Is that really you?"

Varden answered, " Yes father it's me."

He seemed to gain some strength just by having Varden there. The pain seemed to ease, and a smile came to his face some of the years seemed to roll back.

Varden asked, " What has happened here?"

Just then Varden's mother and Drayden entered the room, his mother spoke up and said, " No one should be bothering him right now. He needs his sleep."

When he looked up and saw Drayden he said, " It's her! It's her! I can't believe it is really her. That means it all must be true." Just then another coughing fit him but after a minute or two and a few deep breaths, he was able to get it under control.

Varden asked, " What is true?"

His mother spoke up and said, " Leave him alone! Can't you see how sick he is.?"

Then Father spoke up saying, " No. They need to hear this. This all started about two and a half weeks ago. When there was a strange snowfall. We thought it was strange for two reasons. The first was that it came from nowhere. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it only lasted 3 minutes. The second was that was in the middle of summer, and it was a very hot day before it happened and then later it got hot again melting all the snow almost instantly."

At this point, Varden's father seemed to weaken and Varden had to move closer just to hear his voice. After a couple of minutes of resting his father continued and said, " Our time is short and it's the thing that you're hunting that is destroying this place. I have had a repeated drain that went like this. I saw you, my son with three others inside the crystal ball and there was a dragon holding it. The dragon was laughing and then when it showed the ball again it was your mother and me only, we were aging quickly. I know it's all true and that is what is happening because the girl that is right there is the one from my dream."

Now it was a lot more personal for Varden and he was furious, he knew that it was the dragon that was punishing his parents for what he was doing on the island. Since it couldn't find a way to hurt Varden it attacked his parents and the rest of the town. That is why his neighbors had when inside shut and locked the doors as they passed by.

Varden didn't want to tire his father out any more than he had to, so they called it a night. But before they left the room Drayden tried to help him and as she started, she passed out quickly and fell to the floor.

Varden ran to her and checked to see if she was okay. She was fine but she saw that she couldn't do anything for him. She couldn't even use magic to put him to sleep but she had some powder in a pouch that had been prepared for her that she gave him to ease his pain and helped him sleep.

Varden's mother told her that she could sleep there tonight and that she should get some rest and she looked like she really needed it. Varden nodded his head and then escorted her to the guest room. It was a nice little room with a bed, a stand, a small dresser, all the things that she would need to wash herself and get ready for bed and have a good sleep. But he could see that even inside the house things for aging very quickly. Varden was so glad that his mother and father had approved of Drayden.

As they stood in the doorway they'd look deeply into each other's eyes and shared a passionate kiss Varden told her thanks for trying to help his dad, and that he really appreciates everything that she's been doing in everything she has done in the past.

She nodded her head and told him that she understood. When he left, she looked around the room scene where it was thoroughly cleaned and everything had been straightened, you could tell that she kept it ready to receive guests all the time. As she got ready for bed, she thought to herself how nice it seemed to be here and wondered why the dragon was destroying this town.

Varden went down and sat with his mother. She needed a strong shoulder to lean on. At this point, she was feeling so very helpless and so very tired. As he tried to ask her some questions she burst into tears. So, he just wound up telling her it would be all right and he would fix things no matter what it took.

After comforting her for an hour they both went to bed. In the morning Varden a will to the smell of a home-cooked meal that he thought of as home every time he had the smell it reminded him of his childhood and everything that meant comfort. This was something that he had been missing for a long time, ever since he started his journey, he didn't realize it until now when these smells brought back all the memories and feelings.

As soon as he was dressed, he went down to the kitchen. He saw Drayden and his mother talking while they were making breakfast. He knew how much his mother wanted a daughter and now it seemed like she could have one in Drayden. He could tell that the love that was between them was growing already.

He heard them talking about him and he wanted to stay and listen, but he didn't because he knew that it was not the proper thing to do so he left them to chat. He decided to go and check on his father while they were preparing breakfast. He went to his parent's room and looked in and saw his father was looking a little bit better than he had the night before, but not by much. It looked like he was not in as much pain and he did get some sleep.

His father saw him and told them to come in. Varden entered and sat next to him. Then his father said, " Son our time is short unless you kill the dragon, we shall surely die. It won't be just me and your mother, it will be this whole place that will be wiped from the face of the earth. Then it will go after every other human wiping all of them out as well. In the vision I had, I saw the dragon was in the dungeon under a humongous castle bigger than anything I had ever imagined existed."

Varden knew that he had to get back to the castle and find the dragon and get rid of it quickly. If he didn't, he knew not only that his family would put all his friends and everyone he had ever known just like Argus had warned him about from the start.

Then his father said something that was even more disturbing to him. That was that everyone knew that he was responsible for what was happening there and if he didn't do something soon someone might try and kill them just to stop him from making things any worse or to save themselves.

Varden wasn't happy about all this at all, the people he grew up with were turning against his family. He didn't like the idea of them killing his parents or trying to kill him very much either.

In a few minutes, breakfast was called, and he went down to the kitchen. He passed his mother in the hall on her way up to his father with his breakfast. She could tell they he had been talking to his father by the look on his face and how worried he seemed to be now. She didn't know what to say to comfort him. So she tried a warm smile and a brave look on her face but nothing she did helped him at all just made him more determined to see things through.

Varden's mother and father eight together always taking their time in caring for each other the best they could, which left Varden in Drayden alone together in the kitchen to eat their breakfast. While they were eating Varden filled Drayden in on everything that his father had told him. She agreed with him on how important was to get back to the castle and finish the dragon and anything else that stood in their way. There was no time left just to search about and just to gather treasure. They would have to go after the dragon directly in keep at it until it was dealt with.

When they finished breakfast and his mother had returned Drayden went to his father to see if there was anything she could do that she hadn't already tried. And while she was doing that Varden took his mother for a walk so that they could talk. His mother knew exactly what he was going to do and say before he even said the word so she said, "I know you must go to save us, but try to take care of yourself and return quickly. We miss you terribly and we worry about you the whole time that you're gone."

Varden replied, " I'll do my best Mom."

She gave him a big hug and kiss and said, " I know you will. You always do."

When they return to the house Drayden was there and waiting on them. Varden knew that they had to get going so that the ship could leave with the tide, or it would cost them another whole day. He wanted to spend more time with them, but he knew the only way to save their lives now was to leave and deal with the dragon. He said his goodbyes to his parents in the two of them left to go back to the ship.