Ember of Hope
Chapter 51

Two more days passed and Sarah still lay unconscious… barely breathing… stuck in limbo between life and death. These days Adriel had been a constant source of comfort for Raegan… a good friend… and a much needed company. Nights brought nightmares with them… nightmares where she was still a captive and Titan still tortured her day and night. And days brought endless wait… wait for Sarah to wake up… wait for her mate to come back to her.

The only solace was the news of Valiance’s expected arrival. It wasn’t like Raegan didn’t appreciate Adriel’s company, which despite being busy with his duties as the chief of town, he made sure just for her sake. But being away from Valiance was taking its toll on her. The kidnapping, the torture, the shift, loss of Tristan, and now watching Sarah struggle for her life… it was all too much for her to handle without him.

She’d told Adriel all about her wild adventure and how she ended up in Evreux in the first place… and how she came back with Sarah to seek peace and a home for her restless soul. “The mate bond pulled you back”, Adriel had said, his eyes shining no doubt with the memory of his own mate who was currently out of town to visit her family.

Footsteps sounded outside her bedroom door. There was something like urgency in those steps that made her hurry out of bed and out the door in a minute. She found Adriel along with Sarah’s healer coming towards her.

“Is she awake? Tell me she’s alright?” her voice wavered.

“She is still unconscious but Raegan she is not doing very well. We’ll need to inject her with dragon blood as a last resort to help her body in healing itself. And we’ll have to do it soon. It is risky because she is human but we don’t have any other choice. If we wait any longer we risk losing her”.

She inhaled sharply, fear tearing through her gut.

“Only if she had a dragon mate”, he continued, “It wouldn’t have been risky then. The mate bond would’ve made sure of it”. He tsked.

“She has a mate – Damien. He’ll be with Val”, she hurried into the explanation, “she hasn’t accepted it yet, but I’m sure she feels the pull of the bond. Can it still work Adriel?” hope bloomed inside her once again.

“I’m sure it will” he reassured with a smile.

“When will they be arriving? It’s more than two days now”.

“They’ve crossed the border through the woods of Anador. Those woods join our kingdom to yours and are the fastest and shortest route possible. They should be here within hours” he patted her cheek “Don’t lose hope Raegan. She’ll be fine. She has fight in her still”.

She nodded and they headed towards the healing quarters with the healer in tow.

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An escort was sent to fetch Raegan from the healing quarters Sarah was in; when the dragons from Evreux finally arrived in Astoria. Adriel had gone to welcome the guests and to bring them back to his home. Her heart was beating so fast it was probably going to break out of her ribcage and kill her before Valiance even arrived here. She had run outside before the escort had a chance to finish his sentence. She didn’t need him to tell her that Valiance had arrived. She could feel it… feel him nearing with every breath she took.

As soon as her eyes landed on a black figure high up in the sky, her soul filled with a relief so profound that it knocked the breath out of her. Her knees buckled and she landed hard in the doorway. She couldn’t see the others flanking him… only him… only her mate… as he tore away from the others; his mighty wings flapping strong and his lightening dancing on the tips of his wings.

Valiance shifted even before landing hard on the grass of the front garden; ruining it and blowing up a small dirt storm in his wake and bounded towards her. She wanted to get up to meet him half way but her legs weren’t cooperating. Valiance fell to his knees in front of her and pulled her to his chest with a bone crushing intensity which she didn’t mind one bit. His fighting leathers bit in her body but she didn’t care and returned his embrace as fiercely as she could.

She wanted to say so many things to him, I love you and I missed you and top of all, How the hell did I turn into a fucking dragon overnight but words failed her. Everything was insignificant in front of the onslaught of emotions that her mate’s embrace had brought forth.

The others had landed near the steps, breaking them out of their little bubble and Valiance stood pulling Raegan up with him. She ran down the steps and threw her arms around Dimi’s neck, squeezing with all her might. “I missed you too sweetheart” he chuckled. She stepped back sheepishly and greeted Fenrys. Now that the high of seeing her mate and friends again had dissipated; dread filled her once again. She looked towards Adriel; now in his human form and he nodded back gravely.

“Dimi, Sarah is not well. She got injured on our way here and…” she trailed off before continuing, “It’s a long story and I’ll fill you in later but right now she needs you. We need you”. He reared back in alarm and then his eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared… and the beautiful golden dragon became death incarnate in an instant. She had no doubt that he’d kill the ones responsible for his mate’s suffering… kill them slowly, painfully and he’d enjoy every second of their agony.

The healer took Damien’s blood and started preparing to inject Sarah; who was still unconscious. He had warned them beforehand that the treatment was going to be extremely painful for Sarah so he had to strap her unconscious body to the bed with the help of leather belts. Damien’s agony was drowning her heart in sorrow along with her own fear for her best friend’s survival. And despite their need to be together; both Raegan and Valiance stood on either side of Damien in silent support.

“She’ll be alright Damien”, Raegan murmured, her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “She’ll pull through. She has to. We won’t let her go anywhere… you and me”.

“No we won’t” his voice was guttural, almost feral with fear and rage and a broken hope.

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