She grimaced as that thought hung heavy in the air. Once upon a time she did have a way to fight off the bad dreams but he hadn’t shown himself since Hroombra’s death. No, the hooded figure who often gave her comfort in the world of her subconscious had been strangely absent these past several weeks. She briefly recalled the strange dreams she’d had just after her old guardian’s death, the dreams concerning the fall of the Tanaan humans, dreams that belonged to another.
Could the invasive memories of the stranger be a reason for this? Had someone infiltrated her mind, feeding her horrible recollections that had somehow managed to chase away her green clad savior? Jahrra shivered, hoping it wasn’t true. She had feared the recurrent figure when she was a child but as she grew older and faced sorrows she couldn’t deal with in the waking world, he had given her comfort, helping her through the worst of it. She hoped dearly that he wasn’t gone for good, just absent for the time being.
Sighing, she stood up and walked the dozen steps or so to her guardian. “Should I try to find something to eat?”
Jaax shook his head, his eyes still trained on the endless stretch of water that began several yards ahead of them. The sun was setting and its bright rays had turned the dark water to gold.
“No. I’ll hunt in just a while. It’s been a week since I last ate so I’ll catch something big and you can have part of it.”
He turned and glanced at her, his mouth quirking in a small smile. Jahrra frowned. He looked weary, as if their struggle through the mountains of the Raenyan had taxed him more than he was willing to admit. It had been harrowing, she had to admit, but it had been two weeks since they emerged at the base of the eastern Elornn Range to find the ocean of a lake spreading out before them. But maybe it took a dragon longer to recover when they over-exerted themselves.
Jahrra nodded, then turned back to sit beside the fire.
“You should try to get some sleep,” Jaax called over his shoulder. “We traveled far today and we’ll need to travel farther tomorrow. I hope to make the headwaters of the Saem River within the week and we cannot do that if we are over-tired.”
Jahrra didn’t argue but fetched her bedroll from beside the log where Phrym had settled for the night, trying not to wonder if her nightmares would return now that she felt a little more relaxed on their new path. She hated the idea of being helpless against her dreams. To be so overtaken by fear felt like weakness and Jahrra knew she had survived too much to become weak now. Jaax had assured her many times she was the farthest thing from fragile, that she had no control over her dreams, but she couldn’t accept that. There had to be a way. For now, she would try to get some sleep and pray to Ethoes and all the other gods and goddesses that her dreams would remain untarnished. But if they had to torment her, then the least the goddess could do was send her green cloaked companion along to help.
A few minutes after settling into her blanket, Jahrra heard the rustle of Jaax’s wings as he left to hunt in the dim twilight. She must have dozed off, because it only seemed a few moments later when the sound of her name startled her. She looked up, blinking away bleariness from her eyes as the dim firelight danced in front of her.
“I saved a haunch for you. It’s roasting over the fire,” Jaax said quietly.
Jahrra craned her neck and caught sight of the deer meat, skinned and nearly ready to eat. Jaax had let her sleep and she hadn’t dreamed. Feeling somewhat rested, she sat up and yawned, reaching for the dagger she always kept beneath her bedroll when she slept. She murmured her thanks and gingerly cut off a piece of the meat. It would be too much to eat but they could leave the remainder of it behind for wild animals.
The night drew on and Jaax took his spot at the opening of the stone cairn, curling up and resting his head upon the ground. Jahrra watched him as he fell into sleep, wondering, not for the first time, who he really was. She thought she knew him well enough and Hroombra had trusted him completely, but there was still so much about this strange dragon she didn’t understand.
She reached for her dragon scale pendant once again, her mouth quirking into a smile as she recalled her thoughts from just a few weeks ago. Would she and Jaax ever be good friends? Would she ever trust him as much as she had trusted Hroombra? She thought about that for a while as the sky grew darker and the fire burned lower. Trusting someone was not examining all of their flaws and secrets and then deciding whether or not they were dependable. Trusting someone was to accept them as they were, follies and all, and to know that, despite their misgivings, they would do their utmost not to let you down.
Jahrra shook her head. Now was not a good time to have such philosophical thoughts. She was willing to admit that she didn’t know everything about Jaax and she was comfortable with that for the moment. After all, he didn’t know everything about her even though he thought he did. Jahrra grinned. In a way she felt like she had the upper hand, for Jaax may find himself surprised on several occasions, but Jahrra had braced herself for truths she may not be able to handle.
Besides, what could be more shocking than learning you were the only human being in Ethoes and destined to free a world from its curse?
Nothing, she thought as she smiled and allowed her mind to wander off into sleep, nothing could ever surprise me more than that.
-Chapter Three-
Crie
A few days later and just before it was time to make camp for the evening, Jaax, Jahrra and Phrym turned from the main path that followed the lake and began traveling beside a great sluggish river.
“The Saem River, Jahrra,” Jaax murmured over his shoulder. He motioned his head to the far side of the bank, hundreds of feet away. “On the other side is Felldreim.”
Jahrra thought he still looked weary from their weeks of travel but a spark of excitement lit up his silver-green eyes.
Tilting her head and cocking an eyebrow, Jahrra pursed her lips and waited for him to say more.
Jaax smiled. “We’ll follow this river for another day and then we’ll be in Crie.”
Jahrra twitched in the saddle, causing Phrym to glance back at her in inquiry.
“Crie? You mean, the village where I was found?”
The Tanaan dragon smiled more broadly this time and for a fleeting moment Jahrra thought it suited him but in the very next breath the apprehension she felt returned. The place where she was found, abandoned and parentless, beneath an oak tree. No, beneath Ethoes’ sacred Oak. The wood bead bracelet wrapped snuggly around her wrist seemed to tingle, but Jahrra was sure it was all in her head. She thought about the time she’d touched the sacred Apple Tree, almost a lifetime ago, in Ehnnit Canyon. What would brushing her fingers against the Oak do to her? She shivered and swallowed hard, urging Phrym to move up next to Jaax. When she bothered to look up at him she noticed he was no longer smiling.
He sounded slightly troubled when he asked, “You don’t fear going back, do you?”
“No,” was her automatic response, then she shook her head slightly. “Yes. What I mean is, I don’t know. I’m not afraid, but it, it–” Jahrra seemed to have lost the ability to think.
“It’s daunting nonetheless,” Jaax finished, casting his glance out over the wide river once again. “Returning to a place of great significance after a long absence often causes that exact feeling.”
Jahrra tightened her jaw and nodded. It was precisely as Jaax had said. Though she could not remember Crie, it had still played a major part in her life. It was the very place where her life had begun.