Ember of Hope
Chapter 28

Raegan needed to talk to valiance but first she had to make sure her friend came through safely. Once at the veil, Fenrys entered the portal while they stood waiting. Raegan stood beside Nina and behind her were Damien and Valiance.

“Please try not to pounce at her at the first sight Damien. I mean it.”

He just grumbled. Raegan’s lips twitched while Nina was trembling with the effort to not laugh. In her peripheral she saw Valiance shift nearer to his friend.

The veil shimmered and she felt Damien stiffen behind her. Sarah came through; flanked by an amused looking Fenrys who to his benefit was keeping his distance from her. Sarah’s eyes were wide – her mouth open.

Damien made a sound in his throat and Raegan shot him a warning glare.

“Sarah” she embraced her friend like they were meeting after years “Welcome to Evreux”.

“I thought you’d forgotten about me” Sarah grumbled.

“Sorry I was late” she said disentangling herself from Sarah. She heard her friend gasp. “Don’t be scared. I’m here”. She whispered in Sarah’s ear.

“You weren’t kidding” Sarah’s gaze was transfixed on two huge dragons standing like sentinels behind Raegan.

“Sarah! You’ve already met Fenrys. Meet Nina. She is my very good and sweat friend.” Nina hugged Sarah with a wink. “Now – meet Valiance” she pointed towards him. Valiance dipped his head in acknowledgement.

“Ohhh so you are ‘The friend Valiance’” Sarah grinned. “Sarah” voice got stuck in Raegan’s throat and she glared daggers at her shameless friend. Valiance was looking at her with intense eyes so she averted hers hastily pointing towards Damien with a shaky finger. “And this is Damien – Dimi – he is Val’s best friend and a very good friend of mine”

The beautiful golden dragon bowed dramatically low “Welcome to Evreux My lady – our humble homeland” Sarah giggled.

“What a gentlemanly dragon” she whispered in Raegan’s ear.

“And that gentleman can hear you loud and clear” Raegan laughed when Sarah’s eyes got wide with embarrassment. And surely when they turned; Damien was looking at Sarah with amusement.

“We shall go to the fortress. You two must be tired” Valiance said, taking pity on poor Sarah.

A sudden idea struck her “Yeah, I can’t take another step; my legs are like jelly” she winked at Valiance who was fast in catching on her plan “that’s no problem at all I can take you”.

“Oh thank you so much Val, you’re a life saver” she turned towards her friend then smacking her forehead, added “what about Sarah” she looked from one to another “Damien – yes, Damien can you take Sarah to the fortress. She must also be very tired”. Raegan had moved to stand next to Damien and put a hand on his neck to show Sarah how harmless he was.

“T-take me? Take me how exactly?” Sarah stuttered.

“He’ll fly you there of course. You can climb on his back. I’ll show you, it’s easy”.

Sarah’s eyes widened, “n-no, no. I’m okay. I can walk”.

“Don’t be silly. Fortress is a bit far. You can trust Damien. Don’t be scared. He won’t bite. You’ll be alright”. “Right Damien?” she gave him a mischievous look.

“Don’t make promises on my behalf” he muttered under his breath so that only Raegan could hear, “As you wish my lady”. Damien; always the charmer, bowed once again and behind Sarah’s back he gave her a ‘taloned’ salute.

“Here, let me tell you how to do it” she came near Sarah. “Just climb up his wing and sit at the base of his neck. Grab one of the horns there, dig your heels in his sides and you’ll be all set to fly. Watch while I do it”. With that she turned to climb up Val’s back.

“Damien please show her around a bit. We’ll meet back at the fortress for dinner.

“I’ll be going then” Fenrys said and shifted to his blue dragon form, dipped his head in farewell and flew away.

“That was bloody awesome”, Sarah looked at him wonderstruck. And a choking sound came from Dimi’s throat making Raegan cough pointedly.

“Okay guys, I’ll meet you at the fortress later. I gotta go to the village”. Nina also left leaving the four of them behind.

“Meet you in a while Sarah. Take care of my girl Damien”. And Valiance took off leaving Sarah and Damien alone. Raegan hoped all would go well with her friends.

………………………………………

“Where should I take you?” Valiance asked turning his head a little.

“You know; the usual”.

All the way to Pericles, Valiance hadn’t uttered a single word, she noticed. “You’re unusually quiet today Val. Are you not happy to see me?” her fears came back full force.

They had reached the meadow and she slid down his back. She folded her arms around herself to stop their shaking from the fear. She hadn’t considered the possibility that Valiance might not care whether she returned or not. In her mind she had always thought that their friendship was as important to him as it was to her and he might also have some feelings other than friendship towards her. But now she wasn’t so sure.

“Not happy to see you? Raegan you have no idea what you’re talking about.” He paused to take a deep breath “I still can’t believe you’re really here. I’ve waited so long, yet you never came. And now when you’re standing in front of me; I can’t believe my eyes. I feel like if I blink my eyes you’ll be gone like a dream”. His voice was so full of hurt her heart cried for him – for herself.

She felt the wetness on her cheeks then. “Oh Valiance I missed you so much” she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Every day was like a test for me. I couldn’t adjust in my own world. I missed Evreux like this was home – like a part of me was missing. Every night I dreamt about coming back. And when I couldn’t take it anymore, I just packed and came back”. She was almost whispering but she knew Valiance could hear her just fine.

“You have no idea how glad I am that you’ve returned. Do you plan to go back?” there was something in his voice that made her look at him in surprise. Fear? Longing? Could that be? She thought. No it couldn’t.

“I don’t know. I didn’t plan anything. I just wanted to come back. Only Sarah knows about Evreux. And she insisted to come with me and I couldn’t refuse. And now if Damien has recognized her as his mate then I’m glad I brought her with me. Maybe it was fate or maybe it was their mate bond that brought her here”.

“Yes! Now I believe it was the power of the mate bond”. He was staring in the distance. He couldn’t tell her how he had lost all hope. Or that it was their own mate bond that had pulled her back home. This was her true home, if she’d accept it.

“What do you mean by ‘now I believe’”?

“Nothing, nothing. We should probably go back. Your friend must be waiting for you”. There was a strange shine in his eyes that she had never seen before. She wondered why.

“Yes. Probably we should” she whispered. “Let’s go or she’s gonna yell my head off for leaving her alone like that”. She said snapping out of her trance.

Valiance chuckled, “Let’s go”.

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