The Restless Rest

I was becoming numb to the thunderous stomps and slams to the ground. Not even the yelling voices were reaching my ears. My eyes were open, but all I saw was a blurred image. When I tried to focus, I saw a giant skeletal owl, hanging from a redwood across the clearing, staring into my eyes with its empty sockets, aglow with cool grey in its right, and red in its left.

Am I dying?

My head was growing weak, my eyes weaker. Everything was getting brighter… unbearably so.

So Morana's actually real… Everyone's okay… right?

Just when my head was going to fall and I was going to give in, a resounding snap shot through the area, echoing through the forest, shaking everything, waking me up in a sudden jolt. I looked to the sound to see Abraxas, standing with one foot on the neck of the now motionless Gerickst.

Inowyn's chant nervously repeated in my left ear. I turned my head to see everyone standing over me. Mi was holding my right hand which I hadn't realized let go of Last Resort.

"What?"

"Are you okay?!?!?!" she shouted, almost falling over herself.

I looked down to my hand. She's touching me?

I looked over to the redwood. The bat was gone, as if it was never there.

"Don't move," Inowyn said to me, in between chants.

Lili was being held up by Karik as she leaned into him. She looked spent, though she still sent me a tired smile.

Lili lightly pushed off of him and planted her hand on my chest. My ribs cracked and bent inside me, painfully, bones of other areas doing the same. The wind was knocked out of me. And then suddenly the pain lifted.

"What the…"

"I moved your bones back in place, and removed your pain. You're not healed, but it will help. Just be careful when you move." She stood back up, almost falling into Karik's arms.

"Thank you… Thank you all."

"N-no problem, Ladon," Inowyn responded. "Just don't move for a second." She resumed her chanting.

Despite her words, I leaned forward slowly, using my newfound energy to stand. It still would've been impossible if Dannas and Gin-me weren't helping me.

"What did I just—"

"Sorry… I need to get some things done before I can rest."

I looked past my right shoulder, where Gin-me was. "You came."

"Did you really think Yara would sneakily overhear your conversation with Captain Felror? I was worried about you, you dumbass. Also you still owe me a rematch."

I chuckled weakly.

"You were right though. There wasn't shit I could do." She looked at the ground, angrily smushing some grass with her boot.

"Moral support still counts if you ask me," Dannas said.

"I bet you do that a lot," Gin-me responded.

"Hey!"

I chuckled more. "Seriously… thank you all. I wouldn't be alive right now if you didn't come."

"And he wouldn't have died, the fucker,"

Dannas smiled, somewhat nervously.

I saw Mi realize she was holding my hand and let go. "I'm just happy you made it. That was really scary for a minute."

"Yeah!" Dannas exclaimed. "You fell from the sky! And lived!"

I stretched my back, feeling a small amount of pain with every knot. "Oh I remember."

Abraxas's heavy, slumpy footfalls made their way to his nest where he laid down. Half the nest was destroyed, but he found a way to have comfort.

Dannas and Gin-me helped me walk over, my arms above their shoulders. Inowyn kept chanting, her hands firmly pressed on my back.

Worry and weariness plagued Abraxas's eyes.

"Abraxas… are you okay?"

"Ladon… my boy…" His breath was as heavy as himself. "Answer me first… How are you?"

"Alive… I think."

"Good… I will be okay, though I may need to slumber."

"So, it's over then?"

"I am afraid not, my boy. As of just recently, Gerickst had control over this entire region. From the western mountain coast, past the eastern side of this very forest, from the northern line between the ever-snowy north, to just south of the same forest. Undoubtedly, the other dragons will find out he has perished. When they do, they will come to investigate, and they will find him here. There will be many arguments over who should gain this land, and like air to a vacuum, they will fill the space. But before that, a punishment for his death must be tolled."

"Nothing's ever over."

Gin-me left me to go somewhere else.

"Indeed. It pains me more than anything to have to say this, but you must leave, my boy. You must leave and not return until many things change."

"But I've barely been here since I left to join the rangers. I don't want to leave you."

"I told you, so long as I will it, you can stay. I can no longer will it… You must leave. It likely will never be safe for you, or Mi, here again."

"But this is my home…"

"If they find out you helped end his life, they will hunt you down. I killed him, so if they only know of me, then I'll be the only one to get punished."

"I'll protect you again—as many times as I have to."

"Gerickst was undoubtedly the weakest of them all, though some come close. Any of the others will likely be twice as powerful, at least. You can not."

"But…" I looked to my cabin. The roof was destroyed, what left of it caved in around the edges. My home was in ruins. All my words were lost.

"You have awakened, my boy. If not for that scream, I fear I would not have been able to finish it."

"You heard that?" I asked.

"We all did," Mi answered.

"Yeah, we heard that crazy scream, and all of a sudden you were knocked into the stump," Dannas added.

"Even I didn't see what came in between," Abraxas answered. "Your awakening must have affected your physical capabilities, or at the very least, that was all you used, and perhaps more was enhanced."

"That was just speed?"

"Perhaps. Your strength most likely was enhanced as well."

"I cut his ankle, and severed a toe."

"All in an instant, I might add."

"How's that possible?"

"That is the power of the demidragon awakening. It seems yours was particularly potent. In the future, it will not be quite as hard to use."

I knew I moved that fast, but I could barely believe it still. I knew what I saw, but it didn't feel real.

Inowyn stopped her chanting and fell on her rear, breathing heavily, and sweating.

"T-thank you, Inowyn. Please rest for now," I said, coming back to reality.

"Y-you're not better."

"I'll see Yara: the medic at camp. I'll get better."

She laid on the ground, taking in the sunlight.

I saw Gin-me stabbing Gerickst's dead body, exploring for weak points.

"Hey! How'd you get the scale off?!" she asked from the distance.

"I pulled it open and cut under!"

"Smart!" She went back to exploring him with her dagger.

With the help of Dannas, I walked over to my cabin, entered the front door. It was a mess, a hole from the roof into the cellar. The chair was gone, whatever pieces of it unrecognizable. Somehow, the bed was alright.

"I never got to make that table."

"Oh yeah. You only made a chair, right?"

I nodded. "Can you grab my tool bag from under the bed?"

"Sure!" He rushed to it as I walked to the cellar hole. Half-buried under wooden rubble was Gerickst's scale.

"Hey, Ladon!!" Gin-me yelled.

"What?!"

"Found your cloak!" She entered the cabin, holding my ruined cloak, burnt halfway up. The pin was still intact; probably weighted its fall.

I put it on anyway. "Thank you."

She peered into the hole. "Is that it?"

"Yeah. You can have it if you want."

"You tore it off, not me. I can carry it for you."

"Sure." I unwrapped my elven rope. "Use this. It'll help."

She took it and hopped down, fiddling with the scale and rope.

Dannas helped me walk out. "Are you okay?"

"Well, I almost died, same for Abraxas, my home was destroyed, and I have to leave. No."

He didn't respond.

Mi stood out in the open, a worried gaze beaming at me from her wobbly standing. Her arms were crossed, the same self-comforting habit. She looked like she didn't know what to do.

"This is… This is it…" I said.

"I'm sorry…"

"For what?"

"If I never entered your dreams, none of this would've happened… You could've stayed at home."

"Mi… I have no regrets on this matter. I wish I could stay, that much is painfully true… but… if the price to pay is to leave, then it has to be paid."

"..."

"Besides, the rangers are good people. A couple of them are annoying, but they're good nonetheless." The world spun for a moment.

"Are you okay."

"Yeah… I just… I'm not feeling great. I think I should rest."

"I would agree, my boy," Abraxas added. "Between the punishment your body withstood, and your awakening, I am impressed you can maintain your consciousness, even with the cambion's, and Inowyn's help."

I sat down, before the feeling returned. My consciousnes began to slip. "Abraxas."

"Yes, my boy?" His blurry, amber eyes were furrowed in concern.

"I… g-goodbye…" I knew this was the last I'd see him.

I saw his face tremble. "Goodbye, my boy."

Everything went dark, the warm feeling of hands on my back lingering somehow. Once again, my eyes opened to the emptiness of the dreamscape.

The original Ladon's heads returned, ten this time, floating around each other, glowing brilliantly in the darkness. "You've done it, boy. Good riddance to that grunt who called himself a dragon."

"Abraxas also said he was the weakest."

One head chuckled. "Even that may be an overstatement."

"Then how'd he kill you? Weren't you the most powerful?"

One of his heads scoffed, before another wrapped around and turned to me. "I was. I was the most powerful dragon on this continent. Before the cull, every dragon lost the desire to fight me. Life grew quite dull for a while…" A different head replaced the last. "That grunt was at the very end of a long list of dragons I fought that day. An opportunistic weakling. And that is why he managed to… kill me. He never could've hoped to so much as scratch me on his own."

"So you were really weakened."

"Yes. It was the battle I'd always dreamt of. It was the largest battlefield, largest number of enemies, and the smallest odds of victory. I got to see the best warriors fight. I got what I wanted, ended countless lives..." He scoffed at himself. "And I died because of it."

"That's sad."

"As is everything."

"Do you regret it?"

"What?"

"Fighting in that battle. I assume you would've lived if you didn't."

"No, I don't."

"Why?"

"Kin."

"Like family, or the good dragons?"

"Sure."

"So you fought for others?"

A blue head came from the left. "Fought with others. I fought for myself."

"I see."

"You're on a path."

"What?"

"The path of the warrior. The true one."

"What does that mean?"

Two heads spoke at once, one deep red, the other orange. "You don't fight for glory, blood, or the sake of it. You fight to protect, even though you hate giving harm. One day, when you truly become in tune with the world around you, life, nature, and its inhabitants, you'll be a force to be reckoned with."

"What?"

A now purple head spoke. "I see the potential in you Abraxas spoke of. Before, my actions were to preserve your life, and by extent mine. After the first time you confronted Gerickst, I gained an interest. When you met the tree of life, I saw a potential for a purpose grander than mine ever was. After today, I must say, I believe in it; in you."

"..."

"When you were told you have world changing power, what did you think?"

"I don't know. I didn't know what to think. It's not everyday you meet the tree of life, whom I had no idea existed, and get told you could be her champion like you're in some godly chess game."

One of his heads scoffed lightly. "What do you think now? Now that you awakened, and beat a dragon."

"That I want a break; to relax, and spend time with Mi, and the others."

"You danced around the subject, boy."

"Well it was intentional. I don't want to think about power, or potential. None of it matters if everyone's okay."

"Very well." The heads slumped down.

"Do you even need to sleep?" I asked.

"Maintining a physical form is tiresome, somehow. I don't get it. Abraxas was the one who knew everything, not me."

"I see."

"We'll talk later… I'm sure," he said as his flames dissipated into the nothingness.

I sighed.

A warmth from behind, hugging my back, gave a drastic contrast to my front. I turned around and saw a brown wooden door, a halo of light in between it and its frame. A familiar door. A familiar scent. Flowers and porridge. I entered the main hallway of the orphanage, sconces aglow, warmth aplenty. It was calm; quiet. I walked through the hall. One kid, a boy, ran from the left of the T to the right, giggling.

An old and frail voice spoke, muffled slightly by the wall. "Rory, could you fetch Foz?"

"Yes granny." I saw him run from the left way to the right. "Foz! Come on!"

I made my way to the end of the hall, took a left, and saw the open door to the boys room.

"Mosz, dear, could you find Red and Dawn? It's story time. They're probably by the tree."

"On it!" Little Mosz ran past me as if I was never there.

So that was her name?

I entered the room to see all the girls and boys, minus the others, scattered around granny in a circle. She sat on her rocking chair, swaying slowly. She always did. I sat down on a bunk close to her.

"This book is called "The Kind Dragon Boy".

"Awwww you already read that one…" one kid complained.

"There's a good lesson in this story, so please listen."

"Fine…" he pouted. "I wanted to hear about the hero."

"The dragon boy is a hero, little Kahny."

"No he's not. Heroes win."

She sighed. "Being a hero isn't winning; it's doing what's right, no matter the cost."

"Hmph." He crossed his arms.

Suddenly Rory, Foz, Mosz, myself, and Mi walked in, giggling all the while.

"I see you've all finally returned. Where were you two?" She looked at little me and Mi.

"We were at the twee," little me said.

"You must really like that tree."

"It has nummy applews," Mi answered.

The old lady chuckled. "That it does, little one. That it does. Come, sit down. It's story time."

Little Mi and me sat down towards the back, close enough to listen and far enough to be behind everyone.

"Anyways, where was I?"

"At the beginning," a young girl answered.

"Right. The dragon boy was a good boy. He helped people on the streets, gave food to the hungry, and gave aid to the ill. He travelled the world, helping everyone he could. Eventually… he had to help the world."

"How'd he help a whole worwld?" Finn asked. "It's like this big." He stretched his arms as far as he could. "That's too big!"

"I'll tell you. The world was met with a danger. Many many evil people came to take it over. The dragon boy led an army of men to face the evil head on. Half of them hated him for what made him a dragon boy. The other half knew the deeds he did, and would help him without a second thought. They all followed him regardless, for he was a great leader."

Little Rory yawned, tears of tiredness streaking his face. "Wha' happen nest?"

"A great battle was fought. The dragon boy, wielding the greatest sword in the land, fought braver than ever; braver than anyone. In the end, he and his army sent the evil people running away."

"Yaayyy!" one kid cheered.

I laid down on the bunk, slowly getting more tired with every breath.

"But that was not the end. The half who hated him—betrayed him."

"Why would they do that?!"

"Because, they did not understand the truth of who he was. He happily forgave them, and though others blamed them, he did not. Even in the end, he was kind; he was kin to everyone, and everyone was kin to him."

"That's wheely sad," Mi said, crying slightly, next to little me who cried quietly.

"It is, little Dawn. But the important thing is he was always kind, to everyone, no matter what. It didn't matter who did or didn't deserve it. He was kind to all, and a warrior for all."

Little me stopped crying, replacing his sad expression with that of determination—a clear path.

"That is all, sweet children. Now it's time for bed. And remember: always be kind."

Slowly, darkness overtook my sight; coldness overtook my body as though the warmth of the boys room never existed. I felt a flash in my body, and a new warmth came through. It hugged tightly against a cold wetness of discomfort. Soreness, like no other, washed over my body like a crashing wave.

"Woah woah, don't move yet."

I slowly opened my right eye, my left refusing. Yara was leaning over me. I saw blood on her clothes, a long stretch of cloth pulled by her hands.

"Y-yara? Where… am… I…"

Darkness took over again.

Time felt like a sprint and waddle all the same. I was nowhere, and everywhere. Nothing made sense. I had no thought to try. Voices echoed in my head.

"How is he, Yara?"

"Not well, Captain. Not well at all. Neither is Mi, though she's not injured. Thank the gods for that odd girl. Where'd she go anyway? I could use her assistance again."

"She's either gone or resting away from sight. Considering her fret wasn't too unlike Mi's, I'm sure she'd want to see him recover."

I coughed, a taste of iron on my tongue.

"Easy, easy."

"Mi… She's… okay?"

"Yes. Rest, Ladon. Rest."

A headache creeped into my thoughts, blocking out what little I gained. Darkness stayed. Eternity passed in a second and a second passed in an eternity.

A warm, wet rag softly pressed along my forehead.

"His fever is passing. He made it back through the threshold. Tell Captain Felror!"

I felt my consciousness slip once more. Voices and sounds all mudled together in a haze. All of them were familiar, yet no clear words were heard. No longer than a heartbeat later, my mind returned to me. Thoughts, aches, pains, and all. My eyes slowly opened to see Yara, not far from my left, washing her hands in a basin, her sleeves rolled up.

"Yara?"

She jolted to look at me. "Ladon? How are you feeling?"

I groaned as I tried to sit up. "Terrible."

She pushed me back down, though I didn't have far to go to re-meet the table. "Did I say you could sit up yet?"

"Sorry. I wanted to see Mi. Is she okay? Is everyone okay?"

She chuckled. "Worry about yourself first. Only you were injured."

"Abraxas?"

"Do you not listen?"

"Is he okay?"

"He rests. Captain said he probably will for a long time. What did you think would happen while you were out? Gerickst is dead."

"I don't know. I just know I wasn't awake to know what's happened. How long's it been?"

"Since what?"

"Since I passed out?"

"Which time?"

"Before camp."

"About a week."

"A week?!" I sat up instantly, ignoring my pain. 

"Hey!"

"You all haven't left?"

"No. Traveling would've killed you in your condition. And lay back down!"

"It was that bad?"

She placed her hand on my shoulder. "How badly did you think it wasn't? I stayed up for five days in a row to keep you alive. When your fever finally broke, it was the best news I've ever got. You were on the brink, more than once. Mending bone and internal wounds is a deathly practice."

"Oh. I see. I looked at myself. I was practically mummified in bandages. I felt them on my head, and under my pants that were thankfully still on.

"You're lucky to be alive. Maybe the luckiest."

"There's no way I'm the luckiest."

"Well how many people survive having their body cut open to have their broken ribcage corrected?"

"Fair… Wait, I thought Lili's magic put them back in place?"

"They didn't stay in place when the magic wore off. And she spent the whole week recovering from her magic, so she couldn't've exactly done it again."

"I see. How bad is my body right now? "

"You have a ton of stitches. You'll have to move like a statue until I say otherwise. It'll take time for your bones to heal, but luckily they've already mended enough to stay in place, so no bumps either, or else you'll ruin that progress. Y ou should stay off your left leg too; it got hurt pretty bad. It might be a month until you've fully recovered. I'm not totally sure on that estimate since you're a demidragon, but a month is a safe bet."

"Is Inowyn here?"

"Who?"

"The one with healing magic."

"Oh her? I don't know. She kind of disappeared after the operation."

"I see." I turned to the flaps of her tent. "I need to talk to everyone."

She thrusted a crutch into my view. "Not without this, and me, you're not."