Tabitha’s P.O.V~

I sat aloft the stone wall, watching the sun slowly reveal itself from behind the long mountain range nearly surrounding us. A layer of grey clouds moved through the sky, giving way to the blue atmosphere above, and taking with them the rain that had been so constant over the past day or so.

I wrapped my cloak a little tighter around my shoulders and let out a sigh, watching my breath transform into mist in front of my face. The town behind me was quiet, most people taking the chance to sleep in for the first time in over a month. At least… that’s how long I think we’ve been travelling. It was hard to keep up with the day to day cycle. If asked, I probably couldn’t even tell whether it was a Wednesday or a Saturday. Travel tended to do that to you a bit.

There were a few soldiers on the walls, from both Teleran and Lysia. But they weren’t really paying too much attention to what was going on outside the walls. I had even seen one sleeping with his back against the wall. Not say I blamed them. It had been a very long couple of weeks.

I yawned tiredly. I would have been asleep now, but for some reason I just couldn’t get my eyes closed. Being back in Lysia… it kind of shook me up a little. Last time I was here I had been running, desperate to get out. Mother and I had thought we would never see this place again. But even in the couple of months since we left… things had changed so much. I personally thought it was for the better, considering what we were up against. Some part of me wondered whether or not it was just safer to stay here rather than continue on into the wilderness.

But if we stayed here, Garagain would come for us. Despite leaving us alone for the past month I couldn’t help but feel that the demon was simply biding his time, waiting for the right moment to strike. And I didn’t want to bring Lysia into that.

With a small sigh I stood up, picking up my bow and beginning to move down toward the ground again. People were beginning to awake now, for as early as it was, the last couple of months had set them into a routine. That being said, it was later than usual.

I made my way through the town toward Mayor’s Manor once again, vaulting over the closed gates, not being bothered to open them myself. The two dragons were sleeping side by side, their scales sparkling as drops of water slowly slid down and into the ground. I smiled slightly, before heading inside. I grabbed a small meal of bread and cheese, not feeling especially hungry after last night’s feast, before heading back outside.

There was something I wanted to do today, and that was visit my old home. See what had become of it in our absence. Quickly eating the piece of bread I moved toward the gate and went to go over it again when a movement behind me startled me. I looked to see Blu beginning to move. He yawned and stretched.

“Morning Tabby.” he said with a half smile and sleepy eyelids.

I smiled back, “Morning Blu. You look well rested.”

“I feel well rested,” he chuckled softly, “Where are you off to?”

“Aah… I was going to check out our old home… see if it was still here or not,” I said.

He nodded his head, “Mind if I come along?”

“Not at all,” I grinned.

My brother turned around and lightly nuzzled the red dragon, who only murmured in his sleep. It seemed Tyron wasn’t going to be waking up anytime soon. He probably wanted to make the most of this sleep in.

“We should get mum,” Blu said, “I think she would want to come as well.”

I thought for a moment, “Well, I don’t think it would be a good idea to wake her up. She needs her rest.”

“Oh, you two are hopeless, I’m not that old yet,” came a voice from behind us.

We both turned to see Mum standing there with her arms crossed. We hesitated, and she laughed shaking her head. She walked over to us, seeming quite vibrant. Well, there were the usual bags under her eyes and tiredness in her steps, but her eyes were bright and she seemed...content.

“I’m honored you care for me, but I can still look after myself. I was going to visit the cottage as well,” she said.

“Ok mum,” I said with a smile, “you can come along.”

“No, you are coming with me,” she said, before walking over to the gate, “Blu, could you open this for us please.”

The dragon snorted a laugh, before pushing the gate open with his head. It was a lot easier for him to do it than the two men I had seen yesterday. We made our way through the town. Mum and Blu began their own small conversation, while I lost myself in my own head.

Everything was so quiet that morning. There weren’t even any birds chirping in the sky. But it wasn’t an odd silence. It was a peaceful one. But I couldn’t help but think of ‘the calm before the storm’. We needed a peace like this though, just for a little while.

I remembered the way to the cottage, and it didn’t take long for us to find it. An old backwater thing near the wall. It was still there, much to my surprise. The old wooden shack seemed in good order, though there were numerous puddles around from the recent rain… and the roof had a large hole where it had caved in. Other than that though, it seemed in good order.

“I missed this place,” Blu said with a small smile, stepping over the small wooden fence.

We followed him, taking our time to look around the place. The small garden mum had tried to start a while ago was flooded and full of weeds, with barely a hint of any of the plants she had planted. The wooden steps were a little loose, and I was careful as I stepped over them. The wooden walls were still firm though, even if it was out of place amongst the stone buildings surrounding it. Inside was wet, the rain having got in through the massive hole, but it hadn’t ruined much.

The wet smell of mouldy food was present through the house, and the floor creaked with every step. Still not much different to last time I was here. Blu had to wait outside while we walked through, inspecting the damage and what we had left behind. I went to my room, which still had my straw bed mostly intact. My little collection of trophies I had kept from my hunts were still on their shelf. A wolf’s tooth. An antler from a large stag. A strange looking plant I had found and placed in a pot. It had died while I was gone, sadly.

As I moved back to the living room I found Blu’s head looking through the hole in the roof. It startled me for a moment, but I hid my shock. He smiled solemnly at me, studying the inside with sadness.

“It really has fallen down hill since I left,” he said softly.

“Since we left,” I corrected him, “It wasn’t too bad a couple of months ago.”

“Don’t lie to him dear,” Mum walked out from her room, “It was in a pretty horrible state. Barely livable. You were the only thing keeping it together.”

“Mum… don’t say that…” I tried but she just shook her head.

We all knew it was true. She hadn’t exactly looked after the place as well as what it should have been. Sure, recently she had been a lot better, but before we were reunited with Blu everything was… broken. I had done my best to keep the house together, fixing what I could when I had the time, trying to keep the garden neat and tidy, hunting for food and the like, but it had very difficult. Mum… well she had been broken, not willing, or unable, to really do anything.

There was a tear in her eye as she looked at what the place had become. I hesitated, before walking over to her and hugging her.

“Thank you,” I said softly, “For coming back.”

She smiled before letting out a deep breath and trying to say joyfully, “Well at least we know we won’t be living in this dump any more.”

I smiled, but it didn’t reach my eyes. This ‘dump’ had been my home for as long as I could remember. It had been my grandparents home as well. It was a shame we were forced to leave it behind.

Together we walked back outside to meet Blu, who gently nuzzle her with his snout, trying to cheer her up as well. She smiled and patted his scales gently, before turning to the garden and carefully walking from the path toward a stone that was set in the ground.

~Blu’s P.O.V~

The stone was unmarked, the letters that had once been there had long since worn away, but we knew what it was. Father's tombstone. It had been a long time since I had last seen it. As a boy it had been a place I had often gone, just to sit and think, even talk. A place where I could let out my troubles to someone I knew would listen. Well, at least I think he heard what I said. It was always hard to tell.

Slowly I stepped off the pathway and sat beside mum, ignoring the mud that got in between my talons and scales. Tabitha joined us as well, standing beside us. She knew what the stone was of course, but she didn’t feel quite the same as we did. She was only three when father died, and she didn’t remember much of him. However she still felt his loss. It was important to have a father figure in one’s life, and she never really did.

“I miss him,” I spoke solemnly

Mum nodded her head slightly, “We all do.”

Dad had been a soldier, a rather noble one I am told. He followed orders, respected those of higher rank and his fellows at arms, he had been reasonable at a sword and shield, had a sharp wit that others often relied on in the middle of battle. For me back then, he had seemed invincible. At least until that one battle…

His commander had been ordered to take the troup out on a scout through the nearby mountains. Bandits had recently been a nuisance in the area, hijacking passing wagons and travellers on a reasonably popular road. So Lysia sent out the troup. But while they were travelling through the mountain pass the enemy made a preemptive strike, ambushing them. Father was the first to fall, hit in the chest with a heavy arrow, and thrown from his horse. A few others went down as well, but the few left fought hard against their foe, barely managing to win a victory.

When the story had been told to us I had been too young to understand, and Tabitha had seemed rather blink to the whole ordeal, but when dad didn’t return home I understood. It hurt, but I understood, and I had cried for a very long time. It seemed like such a long time ago now, and I had mostly recovered from the loss. We all had. But there was still that small hole where my father had been.

I sighed to myself and looked at mum again. She was silent as she stared at the stone, at the faded words that weren’t even readable any more. It used to say, ‘A good friend, a loving husband, a great soldier. Rest in Peace.’ Years of neglect had seen the stone begin to wear down, until there was barely anything left.

“I should have taken better care of us,” mumbled mother softly, “Or at least tried to… to…”

“Mum,” I said, nudging her again with my snout, “We don’t blame you. There’s nothing you could do. And you must have done something right… cause we came out okay.”

She smiled at that, “Yes… my children… one became a dragon and the other a woman-warrior. And now we have found ourselves trekking through the wilderness to a forsaken place that may or may not exist. Yes… we have turned out okay.”

I stared at her in surprise, a little shocked by what she said. She shook her head and took a deep breath.

“I… I’m sorry. It’s just… when I first married your father… I didn’t expect all this to happen. I thought we could settle down, live life peacefully, but your dad couldn’t quit the force. It was too much apart of him. I guess I just didn’t want you two to be forced into a life of violence and sacrifice as well,” she said.

“Mum, everything that has happened to us so far… it has shaped us,” said Tabitha, gently putting a hand on her shoulder, “And I… I’m quite proud of who I’ve become. Who I am becoming. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Mother smiled and looked at her daughter, “I know. I’m proud of you… of both of you. You’ve been through far more turmoil than any of you deserve, and have come out the other end even stronger than I can imagine.”

I looked at my sister. We both knew that we still had so much more to work through before we could say we had won. It was going to be a difficult couple of months, or even years. It wasn’t over yet. Still, I couldn’t help but feel slightly proud of all I had overcome thus far. It made what was coming seem just that little bit less daunting, less terrifying.

Mum straightened up and let out a small sigh, “He would be proud of you as well. I know he would.”

“He would be proud of us all,” I said with a smile.

Tabitha nodded her head in agreement.

We were silent for a moment more before mum turned away from the grave to look towards us, “We should get back. I haven’t eaten yet… and I’m a little peckish.”

“Same!” I rumbled in agreement.

We all laughed before turning back to the pathway and walking back down the stone road, away from our old home. For some reason, some part of me could almost feel my father watching us leave, with a smile on his face. It was like he really did know what the three of us had become, and was agreeing with our words. That hole in my chest that he had left, for that moment, didn’t feel as empty as before.