Jaax had stepped forward, following Jahrra as she kept falling back.
“No, no! It can’t be true! I’m not the girl from the stories, I can’t save Ethoes!”
Jahrra suddenly became nauseous. She stumbled to the closest bush and fell clumsily to her hands and knees, becoming sick behind it.
Jaax stayed back and let her get over her fit of panic. He felt guilty for telling her like this, so soon after Hroombra’s death. Jaax would have rather waited, but if he had, it would only have been harder for her to understand what would be coming in the next few months. They had a harsh future ahead of them, and the sooner she realized why the better. Finally, after several minutes, Jahrra stood up, still wobbly from her fit of shock.
“Jahrra, believe me, you are the child of the prophecy. I knew it the moment I saw you, and Hroombra knew it as well. Even the Mystic Denaeh knows the truth, and now the Crimson King will know you are on this earth and he’ll hunt you until you are destroyed.”
The dragon’s eyes shone fierce, and all that Jahrra could do was look up and stare back, her own eyes becoming glazed over. Her head was spinning, and she felt that she just might faint. Jaax sighed and shook his head. I can’t expect her to understand all of this right away. I just hope she can learn to trust me.
“Come,” he said gruffly, “let us go back and send Hroombra off to his afterlife, as the dragons of old once did.” He paused, trying hard not to choke on the sudden remorse that rose in his throat. “You’ll need time to let this all soak in. I know it’s hard, and I know it’s unexpected, but you had to know Jahrra, even if it seems cruel to tell you so suddenly after what has happened.”
The distraught girl nodded feebly and they walked slowly back to Phrym, who looked somewhat distressed at Jahrra’s appearance.
Jahrra felt displaced from her body, like her spirit had left and found a safe place to hide. She couldn’t be human, she just couldn’t be. This was just another one of Jaax’s lies. And Master Hroombra couldn’t be dead.
When they finally arrived back in front of the Castle Guard Ruin, it was very near sunset, and the new storm clouds were beginning to spread over the land. Jahrra and Jaax numbly gathered up wood to pile around the lifeless form of the great dragon that had once cared for them both. Jahrra shed silent tears the entire time, feeling like her heart would give up its struggle and stop beating at any moment. When they finally finished, Jahrra stood back as Jaax let out a great burst of jade and sapphire flame that lit the entire funeral pyre.
“Master, go now to the stars. Go and join Traagien in that honorable place where you belong,” Jaax whispered deeply as the flames licked up at the blackening sky.
Jahrra stood silently beside him, eyes shining from the light of the dancing fire. Jaax looked down at her and let out a small, scorching breath through his nostrils. As the flames grew higher, he watched the young woman before him struggling against her emotions as he told Hroombra’s departing spirit, I will take care of her, I promise you that.
They stood silent watch over the funeral pyre well into the night, and when the coals were nothing more than glowing embers on the bare earth, they both retired inside the Castle Guard Ruin to prepare for the long evening.
Jahrra gasped in surprise once she’d lit a few candles. She hadn’t been inside since that morning, since before the tragic events of the day, so she hadn’t seen the damage done by the Tyrant’s men. The main room where Hroombra had looked over his manuscripts for so many years had been ransacked and destroyed. The men had somehow overturned his massive desk and many of his papers and maps were missing or ruined. Jahrra released a fresh supply of tears as her eyes swept the study, and then she turned and quickly ran to her own room. Remarkably, the Tyrant’s thugs hadn’t touched anything in there.
She came back out into the main room to find that Jaax had started a fire in the great hearth.
“Sit down, Jahrra,” he said wearily, “there is more you need to know.”
Jahrra feared what Jaax would say. Learning that the entire fate of Ethoes depended on her was terrifying enough.
“As you well know, the plan was for you to go on to school in Lidien. Obviously, those plans have changed.”
Jahrra hung her head. She had been so angry when the two dragons had told her this earlier, now she was ashamed at how she had reacted.
Jaax took a deep breath and got right to the point, “We must flee Oescienne. Tomorrow. Before sunrise.”
Jahrra shot her head up in surprise. She opened her mouth to protest, but Jaax cut her off.
“Jahrra, I’m asking you to make a decision, a very hard decision, I know. You can either stay here and await your doom, or you can run with me and escape the clutches of the Tyrant until you are ready to face him.”
Jahrra didn’t speak. She simply stared into the fire that flickered up the carved hearthstone, hoping its dancing flames would give her some sign of encouragement.
“Jahrra,” Jaax murmured, “I’m asking you to trust me, and I’m putting my trust in you as well. You must make the right decision for yourself. You are old enough now,” Jaax paused to see if Jahrra was listening, “to make the right decision. If you remain here, you will be found. Those that search for you now are a real enemy, not simple school children who humiliate you out of sheer boredom. Outside of Oescienne you face real dangers as well, but at least you’ll have a chance. I can’t guarantee that we will evade those who seek us, but I promise that I’ll protect you to the best of my abilities.”
Jaax stopped speaking and looked into the flames with Jahrra. He knew that this had to be incredibly hard for her, so he squeezed his eyes shut and continued on very carefully, “I know you don’t consider me a friend, and I do admit that I’ve been hard on you, but right now we need to have faith in one another in order to survive. So, do you accept my challenge to face your fate, or do you wish to decline and take your chances here?”
Jahrra swallowed back her pain and forced herself to truly consider what Jaax had just said. Leave Oescienne? Tomorrow morning? she thought. That’s what Jaax had wanted all along, for her to leave and go to school, but now everything had changed. Hroombra was dead and she wasn’t a common Nesnan after all. Her life had completely flipped upside down in the course of a single day. She was a human being, the only one of her kind.
Jahrra took a few deep breaths, trying hard to think clearly. She had to admit that Jaax was right; as much as she wished to defy him even now, it was no longer safe to stay in Oescienne if what she had learned today was true. Without Hroombra, she had no idea how to fight off the Crimson King. As much as Jahrra hated pleasing Jaax, and as much as she hated the thought of leaving the only home she’d ever known, she also wished to live, and the only way to do that was to leave. Jahrra closed her eyes and breathed deeply through her nose, a trick Yaraa had taught her. She repeated calming words, over and over again in her head, and after several minutes she had finally cleared her mind enough to allow rational thought.
Jaax watched her intently, practicing his patience as he waited for her answer. His nerves were on edge, and he hoped beyond all hope that this method of the Mystic’s, this idea of offering a choice and not forcing her, would work. After several silent minutes, Jahrra opened her eyes slowly, and Jaax’s heart leapt as she gazed solemnly up at him.
“Very well,” she said in a whisper. “I’ll go with you.”
The night was dark, even darker than usual. There was no moon or stars to lend any light, and Jaax was glad for it. The new storm was finally upon them, not a very strong one, but hopefully the intense dark and the wet land shivering with rain would discourage the Tyrant’s men from returning tonight. There was work to be done, and it had to be done before the mercenaries returned. There were some critical items that Jaax had to destroy, move or secure. That is, if these items hadn’t already been taken.