Always

the howls of dragons could be heard in the distance as Lance watched the sun setting over his village. It would've been more beautiful if he wasn't so scared. The castle wasn't there anymore, but the memories were.

They were everywhere and it was all because of Lance. His fault for choosing to go back to the place where he'd hurt most. Nowhere else seemed as close to home or as happy as his mother's grave.

But it was too late now, he could feel the weight crushing down on him like a boulder. All that had happened before he'd gone off with the team was a fluke, one stupid decision he hadn't taken into account when making them.

He should've stayed away from the other members of the team at first, even if they didn't mean to treat him badly. And he should've kept his mouth shut and let his friends leave without him instead of trying to stop them.