fandomania | The Adventure continues...

“PATRA Aδ JUMS PRABUSTI!” [PATRA AWAKE!]

“Kurie komandas mane? Saugokitės!” [Who commands me? Beware!]

“ORLANDO KOMANDOS JUMS. POWSTAÑ!” [ORLANDO COMMANDS YOU. ARISE!]

“Viskas gerai.” [All is well.]

I opened my eyes to see both Donal and Orlando kneeling next to me and holding me down. “What is the matter? Has something happened? What is going on?”

“You don’t remember?” Donal asked incredulously.

“Remember what? I remember taking the potion you gave me. I remember dreaming about my wedding day. I remember waking up because someone was saying something to me in Old Tongue, but I cannot remember what was said…”

“LITTLE ONE, I AM NOT ENTIRELY SURE WHAT HAPPENED. THERE IS MUCH TO THINK ABOUT AND EXAMINE. AFTER YOU TOOK THE DRAUGHT, YOU WENT TO SLEEP AND YOU STARTED TO DREAM AGAIN, BUT THIS TIME YOU PROJECTED, OR SHARED, YOUR DREAM WITH DONAL AND ME. I HAVE NEVER SEEN OR HEARD OF AN ORDINARY HUMAN DOING SUCH A THING. A WIZARD WITH DECADES OF LEARNING MIGHT BE ABLE TO DO WHAT YOU HAVE DONE. YOU WERE SO SOUNDLY ASLEEP THAT I HAD TROUBLE WAKING YOU UP. WHEN I STARTED TO USE MAGIC, YOU STARTED TO GLOW A SHADE OF GOLD THAT TOTALLY ENVELOPED YOU. THEN YOU STARTED TO DISAPPEAR. IF DONAL AND I HADN’T BEEN HOLDING ON TO YOU, I THINK THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE TOTALLY VANISHED. I THINK THAT WE MAY HAVE ANCHORED YOU HERE. WHEN I ORDERED YOU TO WAKE IN OLD TONGUE AND IDENTIFIED MYSELF, YOU STOPPED GLOWING AND WOKE UP. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU WERE DOING OR WHAT WAS HAPPENING?”

“No, none whatsoever. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. Do you think that someone was trying to enchant or place a spell over me?”

“NO. I SENSED NO OUTSIDE FORCES BEING USED. IT FELT AS IF SOMETHING WAS COMING FROM WITHIN YOU. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TESTED BY THE COUNCIL OF MAGIC USERS?”

“When I was made Dragon Ward of Freedonia and it was found that I could speak freely with any and all dragons, I was given some sort of test. I believe that the test was inconclusive and I was deemed an anomaly.”

“WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?”

“Let me think… A little over six years ago. I remember now. I was pregnant with the twins at the time.”

“WHAT? THOSE BUMBLING IDIOTS!”

“Why? What makes you say that?”

“BECAUSE A HUMAN WOMAN WITH MAGICAL POWERS IS USUALLY AT HER LOWEST EBB WHILE SHE IS PREGNANT. HER BODY TAPS INTO THEM TO KEEP HER BABY HEALTHY AND SAFE DURING HER PREGNANCY. THAT IS WHY THE TEST IS ADMINISTERED BEFORE CONCEPTION OR AFTER SHE HAS GIVEN BIRTH. A WOMAN ALWAYS TESTS POORLY DURING PREGNANCY.

“WHEN WE GET TO RAWN-DEVU, I AM GOING TO SEE TO IT THAT YOU GET PROPER TESTING. TOO MANY UNEXPLAINED THINGS ARE HAPPENING NOT TO HAVE YOU TESTED AND TRAINED.”

Our hatchlings:

Our eggs:

I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t find the words to express how scared and helpless I felt. I felt like a pawn in the story of my life.

I was afraid of going back to bed. I didn’t want have dreams or nightmares ever again. I tried pacing the camp, but it was very late at night and I couldn’t see well enough to walk around without falling over something. I soon gave up and sat staring at the campfire. Donal joined me. We sat quietly for a long time. I didn’t know what to say to him. What I really wanted was for him to hold me and tell me everything was going to be okay. But after what happened earlier, I knew that would be an unwise and unfair thing to ask of him.

“That dream. That last dream. Was it just a dream or was it a memory?” Donal asked softly.

I hesitated for a minute and then answered him. “It was a memory.”

He started swearing softly to himself. “How badly did he treat you?”

“You don’t want to know.” Donal swore some more.

“If you ever need to talk about it, I will always be here for you, willing to listen.”

“Thank you.”

We continued to silently sit by the fire until dawn.

When it was fully light outside, Donal and Orlando went back to the site of the massacre, to wait for the authorities from Riverford. I kept myself busy with the babies, the children and the hatchlings.