I don''t sleep through the whole night. Shiroi wakes me with a warm embrace. My eyes peer around confused. She presses her forehead against mine. I can’t help but feel a longing for her comfort. Even when I’m alone, I sometimes think of those violet eyes looking down at me. Those violet eyes, filled with lust.
"Shiroihana was worried, Shiroihana was frightened for your life,” she says holding me close.
I lean up touching her cheek gently as she leans into my hand. She’s very passionate for a Ruksha. What am I saying, she’s not that. She’s a friend, and a good one too.
"I''m sorry, I was with Umbra, it appears the sword is quite a bit more than just metal,” I say.
She looks at me like she already knows. Why does it seem like I''m the only person who hasn''t heard of a sword named Umbra?
"Shiroi thinks you’ll venture to Caldera to find Crimson Fate next then, it''s what she would want."
I pull Shiroi down onto the bedroll.
"Yes, but we have a couple more hours, why don’t you rest with me Shiroi,” I say running my hand over her scales.
She smiles and cuddles up to me. She might be a Ruksha, but she still desires companionship. I''m trying my best to show her I care. That my heart isn''t filled with hate and rage. It''s easy when everything is going your way, but when something happens. When someone you care about dies. It''s hard to come back from that.
"Dirk please stop," Shiroi yells. I hit Meredith again and her lips start to bleed. Shiroi gets down on her knees. "Please, she''s had enough, please she''s your friend, she had too."
Umbra stands over me.
"Don''t stop, punish her, she betrayed us, she deserves this."
I look down and tears run out of Meredith''s soft blue eyes down her ivory cheeks.
"Umbra, I can''t, she’s, my friend."
Umbra pulls a dagger and tries to stab it into Meredith''s throat.
"She betrayed you!"
"She had no choice!"
Umbra stands and drops the dagger after struggling with me.
"We all have a choice, some of us just can''t live with the consequences."
I grab at the bedroll trying to catch my breath as I wake. Shiroi tries to calm me, her hands may be covered in scales, but they are gentle and soft. She holds me until my breathing slows.
"Shiroi thinks you have another nightmare my lord?"
I grab her and pull her in closer, it''s more than the warm welcome she expected. It’s less than she deserves though. What would I do without her watching over me?
"Shiroihana, you are so concerned about me, why?"
She looks up at me with her violet eyes and gently touches my cheek. There is more than a childish love in her violet eyes. I see a strong compassion. One that has nothing to do with lust. Shiroihana doesn’t lust over me, she, loves me?
"I know to you I am a companion, but to Shiroihana, Dirk is friend, maybe one day, Dirk is more."Stolen novel; please report.
I smile.
"Maybe one day, you would make a good partner."
My romance with Shiroi is cut short by the desperate screams of innocent tavern patrons. We quickly exit the wagon. I put my hand on Shiroi''s chest pushing her back.
"No, not this one, you''ll get hurt."
Shiroi holds her hand out, but I shake my head no.
Whatever the hell that thing is it''s massive, and fully armored. I step forward as it grabs a young boy. He screams for his mother desperately.
“Hey, you came for a fight, well here I am bitch,” I yell.
It drops the boy and turns toward me. Damn I fucked up, that thing must be eight feet tall. If I believed there was a god that would save me. I would be praying right now.
"Kill, destroy."
It doesn''t say anything else just those words. There are more innocent people behind the brute. I should protect them. I should be the hero that saves them. My heart so full of anger and hate, do I really care? I charge in ready for death, or whatever comes next.
Pain, pain is all I feel. I hear Umbra scream as the sword shatters. I scurry backward like a coward clutching the broken sword in my hand. The creature breathes heavily as it leans down to me. My breath escapes me as the monster''s hand wraps around my throat. Air, not so precious before, but now that I have none, priceless. I won''t let go, she’s, my friend. I bang the broken sword against its armor. I can feel her pain radiate up my arm.
My vision blurs and I start to slip in and out of consciousness. I slap at its wrist, but I can''t breathe. There is a flash of light, and someone steps up behind the beast.
"Zurko please, stop."
The beast turns and utters one word.
"Amare?"
I pass out holding Umbra tight in my hand. I don''t know what happens next, but I wake in a cave in Shiroihana''s lap. I can hear Umbra talking to her, she seems distraught.
"Please help him, he did the best he could."
"Shiroi knows this, Dirk is friend, but you shadow stalker, you''re the one that failed him."
I can feel Umbra''s hands on my cheek as her tears drip down on my face.
"I''m sorry, I wasn''t strong enough, please come back to me,” Umbra says pressing her forehead to mine.
Shiroi sighs as she stands.
"Wait, you aren''t leaving him are you, you know I can''t help him, please don''t go,” Umbra yells.
"Shiroi leaves him to shadow stalker, only the gods can save him now.”
Umbra looks up at Shiroi as she steps away.
"I don''t believe in the gods, I believe in you."
Shiroi stops, she knows she can''t leave me to die. I mean too much to her.
"Please, he''s more than his hate and pain, he''s more to you, don’t you love him, please."
"Dirk I''m sorry your father couldn''t be here, I know this is a special day for you."
"Don''t worry mom, you''re here, that''s all that matters."
"He would have wanted, I''m sorry honey we just weren''t safe around him, and I couldn''t live as a warrior anymore, I couldn’t sacrifice time with you for time on the battlefield."
Hours later.
"Mom, they hurt those elves, they clipped their ears, i thought their ears were pretty, why did they clip their ears?"
"Sometimes men can be cruel, just finish your cake honey."
"FUCK!" I yell as Shiroi pulls a piece of Umbra out of my side. I grab at my side breathing heavily. My heart races as my fingers contract. There’s another shard of Umbra sticking out of me.
"There''s another below, pull it out, I trust you my White Flower."
Shiroi pulls hard and I bang my head against the ground, fuck the pain. Shiroi grabs my hand.
"Dirk, Shiroi is in danger, Meredith and Vene went ahead, only Shiroi stayed with you, the enemy approaches, please, Shiroi is afraid."
"If you want to save him, give him the sword Shiroihana, even broken I have much power." Shiroi grabs Umbra and hands it to me. "Now embrace him." Shiroi wraps herself around me and we vanish.
Shiroi sits in the floor trying to cover herself. We are in Umbra’s home now. Of course, our clothes didn’t follow us.
“My apologies, I haven''t figured out how to bring anyone''s belongings with me," Umbra says.
I step out of bed and wrap a pelt around Shiroi.
"Umbra what happened, are you ok, the sword just shattered."
She puts her head down taking a seat at her dining table. I walk over and rub her shoulders. She’s really tense.
"Umbra, what was that thing?"
She stares at the floor with sorrow in her eyes. It seems she knows our assailant well. Perhaps intimately.
"The Destroyer,” she replies.
"You can''t be serious, there''s no way the destroyer is here."
She grabs my hand pressing it to her chest. Her heart is racing.
"It only does that for him, that''s how I know it was him, and when he attacked it broke me, that''s why the sword shattered, I''m sorry, I could have gotten you killed because of my girlish fantasy.”
I run my hand through her dark hair. There is more to her than I have asked to know. We all have our demons. She seems a gentle soul, perhaps she does not deserve hers.
"Don''t worry, we''re going to get your sister back and figure this out."
She gives me an unsure smile.
"There''s one more thing I haven''t told you, it''s about your father."