Ember of Hope
Chapter 22

Valiance once again found himself in the hall of fallen heroes. Beneath the fortress lied the crypts where the hall was dedicated to those who had fallen fighting for their kingdom. In these halls he could hear the din of battle clear as day. The hissing of fire, the wails of injured, the cries of battle, the clash of bodies and the flapping of wings as the air whooshed by. He could hear it all down here. He could hear the whispers of souls that were once alive.

The walls of the hall weren’t just stone – they didn’t just hold names of those who’d fallen – they were blood and bone. They breathed out the stories of soldiers who were larger than life. Who fell fighting for something they loved and became eternal.

What a magnificent way of exiting the world…to die fighting for your people – for your kingdom – alongside your brothers. Yet here he was – trapped inside a beast – bound by a curse – never in his life before the curse; had he felt so helpless. Damn Katherine for her cold heart. Damn her for ruining him – his brothers – his people. And damn her for taking away his shot at happiness – his love.

And damn him for not being able to stop the one who meant everything to him. For not being able to tell her how he felt. Maybe it wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t – but what does it matter whose fault it was? The result was the same – she was gone – to never come back – to never break his curse – to never love him like he loved her.

Someday he would perish – just like so many before him. With only his name adorning a wall – maybe he’d die a hero – or maybe he’d die a nobody. Maybe people would remember him in their stories and praises – maybe there would be nobody to remember his name.

But what does it matter?

What does any of it matter?

Without her…

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After spending weeks in a place where there was nothing like home and everything thing Sarah needed, it was time to go home and face the reality. By cutting the world away she won’t be able to bring Raegan back and she wouldn’t want her best friend to spend the rest of her life in mourning; even though that was exactly what Sarah wanted to do. But she owed Raegan more than that.

Her parents were happy to see her coming out of her shell even though the pain remained like a constant beat in her heart. She could tell they were elated; both by seeing her normal again and by her announcement that she wanted to go back home. She couldn’t blame them. They had left their lives behind to take care of her. She couldn’t ask more of them even though they’d gladly give it.

As soon as they reached within network zone and she turned her phone back on; it started pinging like crazy with incoming notifications. She frowned at the device. She’d told her closest friends that she was going away for a while.

As soon as she read the first text messages her heart stopped. Her fingers flew on her phone as she read one message after another telling her the same thing.

Raegan was alive. She was back

“Mom, Dad” her voice broke as tears found their way out of her eyes once more… but this time for a totally different feeling.

“Honey what’s wrong?” her mother’s face was worried. She couldn’t speak out loud for fear that it was all a dream. So she simply extended her phone towards her mother.

As she read what was on the screen, her eyes grew wide, her mouth hung open. “How is this possible” she murmured. “Oh my God, is it true? She’s really alive?” Sarah only nodded.

She still didn’t know the details but suddenly she couldn’t wait to reach back home.

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After yet another dream; Raegan got out of bed groggily and headed to the kitchen to have some caffeine run through her system. Her cell phone started ringing on a nearby stand and the caller ID finally put her at some much needed relief. It was Sarah and she was back in town. And apparently she knew about her return from the dead. Maybe she got one of her several voice messages.

“So nice of you to finally grace me with your presence your highness” Raegan drawled sarcastically and was about to hang up the phone saying, “I’m coming over in 5” when Sarah stopped her.

“Wow Sonic slow down. I’m with mom and dad and we are coming over. In 5 minutes. Stay put and don’t die again”. With that the call disconnected. Raegan groaned not because she wasn’t happy to be meeting her honorary parents but at the lie she had to feed them.

As soon as she opened the door, Sarah launched herself at her, hugging her so hard her breathing became impossible. But she stay put for her best friend’s sake and only after giving her a moment. Mr. and Mrs. Salvatore waited for their daughter to get her fill before they too took turns hugging her warmly. She felt bad for the heartache she’d given them.

With coffee cups in hand; she reiterated the whole lie again to appease their worries. Sarah’s mom kept asking her if she was feeling okay and her dad kept apologizing for staying away so long.

“You didn’t know about me. I can’t blame you for taking care of Sarah”, Raegan said.

After spending the evening and then taking her out for dinner they finally called it a night and just before they left Raegan took Sarah aside to make plans for the next day.

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The dream filled almost sleepless nights were taking a toll on her. Every night she’d wake from dreaming and then sleep would evade her. Brushing her teeth; she looked at her reflection and winced. Looking back at her from the mirror was a zombie looking girl with dark circles and wan skin. Quickly she got dressed, got in her car, grabbed two coffees and donuts on her way and went to Sarah’s.

“Why do you look like you just died and came back a zombie Ray? Oh wait! You did die and come back a zombie” Sarah greeted her with concerned eyes.

“Hello to you too. I brought us some coffee and sugar but I think we’ll be needing something much stronger than caffeine for what I came to fill you in about”. Cutting to the point Raegan strolled down to the living room and plopped down on her favorite black couch in Sarah’s place ignoring the image of some other black thing that was about to rear its head in her thoughts. This wasn’t the time.

“What exactly is that gonna be?” Sarah narrowed her eyes.

“Trust me you’re in for a lot of crazy shit, so we’ll need it”

“Even more shit than you giving me a major heart attack by dying but not actually dying? Bitch if I didn’t love your ass, I would’ve killed you as soon as you entered that door”.

That made Raegan laugh “just get your ass back here – I’ll let you be the judge of that yourself”. She smirked knowing she was going to sound like a lunatic.

Sarah got back with a six pack in one hand and a bowl of butter popcorn in the other making her mouth water. Sarah always knew just the right food for every occasion. Brilliant, that one.

“So I guess there is no need for sugar coating and there’s no way to soften the blow so I’m just gonna rip the Band-Aid off”.

“Oh out with it already” Sarah was becoming impatient with all the suspense.

Raegan took a long swig out of her beer bottle and said:

“Sarah Salvatore! Dragons are real – and so is magic”.

Sarah spewed a mouthful of beer all over Raegan.

“Come again?”

“Yeah. They are real. I saw them with my own eyes. I lived with them for a whole month”.

“There are Dragons in Tennessee? Raegan, are you out of your mind? Or worse, you’ve started sniffing something without telling me”.

“You know I would never do that to you. Besides, I wasn’t in Tennessee. I was in Evreux.”

“What the hell is that? I haven’t heard of a place named Evreux. And there’s no such thing as dragons or magic. They are just in your fantasy books. Come on.” Sarah was looking at her like she had suddenly grown an extra two heads on her shoulders.

“Sarah I know what I’m talking about. If you’ll just listen”.

“You hit your head hard or something? Because dude… you sound crazy”.

“I know, I know… just listen okay?”

“Okay. I’m all ears”. Sarah rolled her eyes.

So Raegan told her everything. In as much detail as possible. Starting from when she fell and got injured. She told her friend everything except that she was dreaming about one of those dragons. It might get too much for her friend’s mind to handle. That story was for another time. Already Sarah was looking like she was trying to decide whether to laugh or call a mental asylum for her best friend.

“So what you are saying is that you were actually in some other world all this time?”

“Pretty much yes. Look, it’s hard to explain. It’s just like our world, a bit like the older version of our world. It’s like some other dimension which has multiple entrances strewn all around our world. And that entrance is guarded by a magic veil or barrier to stop our people to accidently venture in that world. That barrier is invisible to human eye that doesn’t have magic in them. I know it’s a lot to take in and it all sounds like fantasy but take it as fantasy coming to life. I saw it with my own eyes. I lived there and I still replace it difficult to believe. I wake up every time thinking it was a very long and elaborate dream”.

“I don’t know dude – it’s just so surreal – all our lives we believed it all to be some fantasy where dragons ruled the sky and unicorns and shape shifters ran wild – and the next thing we know, they all came to life? Just like that?”

“Yeah I know. Unicorns are still a myth though. That’s some relief if you ask me”. She sounded serious but her crinkling eyes gave her away and they both cracked up.

Raegan realized just then that she was covered in beer from her friend’s spew.

“Hey gimme some t-shirt of yours to change into while you’re swallowing it”.

“Oh yeah sorry, come on” they entered Sarah’s bedroom and Sarah just flopped down on her bed while Raegan discarded her wet shirt, grabbed one of Sarah’s pulled it over her head.

It went rather well as Sarah took everything Raegan threw at her with such ease. Sarah was just as cool with weird shit as she was, may be that was one of the biggest factors behind their being best friends since age 3. Or maybe she was just in shock because of everything, you dumbass.

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