Ember of Hope
Chapter 4

Every time Valiance’s father went to visit his mother, the days became more desolate and agitated. The longing to see his mother became unbearable… to just sit with her and listen to her talk about her little garden she worked so hard to keep beautiful and blooming. It wasn’t fair for his mother to be banished from her own home. And for what? Someone else’s sins? It wasn’t fair… after all his father had done to keep his people from despair and to fill the shoes king Alexander had left… it wasn’t fair to him to be away from his mate… and for Valiance to be away from his mother. She was the most beautiful soul he’d ever met… even better than his father.

Valiance might have been banished along with his mother because of her side of heritage, but he hadn’t shown any sign of having any witch magic as was expected of a male born to a witch. Witch magic only passed to female offspring. And he was also the legion commander in the army with unique abilities… not so easily replaceable. But all the witches had been banished from Evreux because of that black hearted demoness who had cursed them.

Fifty years it had been since they last shifted to their human forms. The witch had bound them in their dragon forms with a fairytale way to end the curse. Though through the years, some of them had found their fairytale endings, many still remained cursed. Fifty years since Valiance had last enjoyed his soft bed or set foot inside the library of the fortress to read a book… fifty years since they started sleeping under the open sky.

Once Evreux was the most revered amongst the dragon kingdoms and now they were barely holding it together. They couldn’t go to the outside world to see to their affairs or businesses. They couldn’t do what a human body could. In her blind rage and selfishness, Katherine Vidarr hadn’t just cursed them; she had cursed their whole kingdom’s good fortune.

And he couldn’t even go to meet his mother in the human world because he, unlike his father, was still bound by the curse. And there seemed no way out of it either… or any hopes.

After a night spent drinking, she couldn’t get out of bed in the morning. But her bladder won out. Not wanting to die in a puddle of pee she got up and padded across her room to the bathroom. Taking care of the nature’s call she started her shower. She had plenty of time to get ready before she had to leave for the meeting point. Sarah would be arriving in an hour to drop her off.

She threw on a faded black jeans and a plain black high neck sweater with her favorite black leather jacket. The last item to complete her dark attire was her black biker boots. She went into her kitchen to make herself some coffee while checking one last time that she hadn’t left anything in the fridge to rot. Sarah was bringing over breakfast so she had nothing else to do now but wait.

If her parents were here, they would’ve been happy for her. They would know what this trip meant to her. They were always supportive of her passion for long lost civilizations and travel. Isabelle and Noah turner were two of the most beautiful people to ever be born on the earth. And they had left more than enough for her to just take time and try to replace herself. And she planned to do just that.

She had packed a day before so she revised her mental checklist to see if she had missed anything. She was just about to grab a book when the door to her apartment banged open and in came Sarah like hounds of hell were chasing her. Raegan rolled her eyes at her best friend’s antics.

“Damn it’s cold outside today”. Sarah plopped down next to her after dumping the breakfast bags on her kitchen counter.

“Dude I think I need to confiscate the keys from you. I thought it was a thief. If I was anywhere near that door, I’d have clocked you”.

“Hah. Even if it was a thief, what’d he have found in here? Books?” Sarah laughed.

Raegan punched her in the shoulder. “How’d it go? What did your parents say?”

“Well, they weren’t exactly happy about you going with a bunch of strangers by yourself, but I managed to convince them that you’re a big girl, you’ll be alright. Besides, your parents would’ve let you go. They just care about you, you know.”

“Yeah I know. And I love them for it”. She sighed.

“Hey. Come here”. Sarah leaned forward and hugged her tightly. “Now you owe me Vegas”. She said in a singsong voice making her laugh.

“Yeah I know, I know”.

“I have something for you. You’ll love it”. Sarah said, reaching for her purse near her feet.

“Oh yeah? What’ve you got me?” Raegan grinned broadly. She and Sarah were almost telepathic in some matters. They always knew what to get each other for birthday gifts or what the other wanted to eat.

“Here, see for yourself.” Sarah extended a small gift bag towards her. And as soon as she peeked inside Raegan squealed with delight.

“Oh. My. God. This is perfect.” She said examining the Nordic locket with a dragon’s head dangling on an antique long chain. She already had one with a wolf’s head and that too was a gift from her best friend. “You are the best”.

Sarah laughed, “Yeah I know”.

“Let’s eat. I’m starving”. Raegan grumbled.

“Yeah let’s”. They didn’t bother for plates and dug in the boxes of food Sarah had just brought.

Raegan looked at the time and stood, “I think we should probably head out now if I want to be on time”.

“Let’s go Bilbo. Let’s get you to the company of James Hunt”. Sarah said; quoting The Hobbit. And off they went.

Once Sarah had dropped Raegan off at the coffee shop where she was to meet with Chris and Taylor, the two with whom she’d then be going to the airport, she ordered herself another dose of caffeine because she believed in “you can never have too much coffee”, and waited. Chris was a new yorker like her while Taylor was actually from Texas but had been living in NY for 6 years now.

They had been introduced on a Skype conference call to get acquainted with one another before the trip. And now it seemed the wait was over as she saw Taylor entering the coffee shop with her luggage. She waved to let her know she was already here and the girl came over and sat down in the seat opposite her. She rubbed her hands together and blew into them; “It’s really cold today”.

“Yeah it is. How are you Taylor?” she inquired politely.

“Good, good. Chris isn’t here yet? We don’t have a lot of time before we have to head out for the airport, do we?”

“Nah we don’t so he better hurry”. And as if summoned, Chris entered the cafe and found them in no time.

“Hiya ladies”. He chirped.

They greeted him in unison. “We were about to leave you behind, you know”. Raegan grinned at him.

“Nah I don’t believe you. You couldn’t possibly leave me behind or you’d have been too bored on your tour without me. Besides, I’m too pretty to be left behind.” he grinned, flashing perfect white teeth, “Right Taylor?” Chris winked at her and she blushed. She actually blushed. Damn girl. Raegan looked at her phone to check the time and they only had enough to grab a coffee and hail a cab.

Chris was fun and Taylor was a shy little goat with big, thick rimmed glasses. She was pretty in a nerdy way. The flight went well with Chris cracking jokes and Taylor laughing shyly at every one of them, good or not. That girl had a massive crush on him but Chris was most definitely more interested in talking to Raegan about their journey ahead than being asked what his hobbies were aside from traveling to archaic sites. Too bad she wasn’t looking for a guy right now.

Their first stop was Jamestown. There, the whole group was to meet at the hotel where they’d be staying for the next three days and then travel to Jefferson via Richmond before heading for Shenandoah National Park at the end of their fortnight tour. They had settled in their respective rooms and now all they had to do was wait for the remaining team to arrive.