Chapter II

The village of Druildar was nearly empty, save for a few people clad in armour, stood outside the great hall of the village. The woman, still carrying her beloved wolf, lay him in front of two men then collapsed with weariness, and loss of blood. The two men, who were her two friends Demos and Lucius, rushed to get help. The mage of the village used herbs from the riverside to make the wolf healthy again, and could only wait until the woman, named Kiriha, woke up until she could use the same medicines. Demos and Lucius waited eagerly by her side, with mixed emotions. They were annoyed with her for going out of the boundaries alone, upset that she had got herself hurt, and Lucius himself felt bad for not going to search for his love. They waited, anxiously, for three hours.

Kiriha awoke finally, and gripped her arm in pain. Lucius' sight shot towards her immediately, and he hugged her tightly towards his chest. Kiriha still felt a bit dizzy, and flopped in his arms. Lucius kissed her on the forehead.
'You worried me- I mean us.' He said. Kiriha looked up, her eyes pale with weariness. She didn't smile, although she was the happiest person in the world to be with him. Her eyes started to glitter with tears.
'I'm sorry…' she whispered in a raspy voice. A tear ran down one cheek. Lucius wiped it away.
'It's alright. You're safe now.' He reassured her. 'And Shadow is well again.' Shadow was her loyal wolf. Kiriha gave out a sigh of relief and rested her head on his chest. He was so warm. He was always warm, and she loved it when he was warm. She flopped again, and Lucius lay her down as she fell into another deep sleep. Lucius' gaze fell to her slashed arm, which was still bleeding, although it had been bandaged twice. He was still worried about that cut. They say those who are slashed by a Dragon are forever scarred.
Demos suddenly burst through the door, panting.
'I heard from the Mage that she had woken up.' He wheezed. 'Is she ok?' Lucius smiled and nodded without looking at him. He stroked Kiriha's long, dark brown hair as she slept peacefully. He then turned to Demos.
'When did she leave for the forest?' he questioned 'And why didn't the watchers wake us up to go with her?' Demos held up his hands to calm Lucius down.
'I know you're upset…'
'Upset?! Of course I'm upset! My girlfriend was out there alone and I didn't know anything about it. I should've been there to protect her, Demos, that is my duty as her boyfriend…now I feel as though I have failed her…' Demos slapped the table with his hand.
'Don't talk nonsense! It was just yesterday she was talking to me about you.' Lucius leaned closer. 'When you were in the training courtyard, she told me how she had never been happier in her entire life, and that she would die for you.' Lusius turned back to Kiriha, who had turned over in her sleep. She was now facing him. His eyes welled with tears as he stroked her cheek. Demos put his hand on Lucius's shoulder.
'She will be fine. She won't blame you, don't you worry about that.' Lucius turned his head slightly, seeing Demos out of the corner of his eye.
'She may not blame me,' he whispered 'but I blame myself…'

Kiriha woke, and at first she thought that no one was around. She sat upright, then winced as pain shot through her left arm. She looked around. She saw Lucius slumped in a chair in the corner of the room, fast asleep. She got out of bed and walked towards the door. Opening it a crack, she saw that Demos was chatting to another warrior in the hallway. She heard something about 'being scarred for life', but the rest of the words faded into the stone walls. She suddenly had a spell of dizziness, and stumbled backwards.
'You should still be in bed.' said a familiar voice to her right.
Lucius had woken up, and walked towards her.
'I…don't want to be in bed…I need…to see Shadow…'
'You can see him this afternoon. The Mage said for you to spend a day in bed. Come on.' And with that he led her back over to the bed. When she was under the covers, he asked her a few questions.
'What do you remember?'
'Well…there was me and Shadow in the forest.' She paused.
'Go on.' urged Lucius.
'I knew there was something in the trees. Shadow leapt for it without my command. It leapt at me. Shadow came out of the trees, then next thing I know he is on the creature, and it slammed it's body on the ground, injuring Shadow. When I got a good look at it, I realised…' She gripped the covers. Lucius held her hand and nodded. It's ok.
'I realised…it was a Dragon.' Lucius flinched.
'What colour were it's eyes? Did it have any strange markings?' Kiriha knew by the tone in his voice that he wanted an answer fast. She slowly turned her head and looked at him with petrified eyes.
'C-Crimson.' she stuttered. Then she remembered the unusual black marking on it's shoulder. Lucius was about to get up when she told him. 'It had a mark on it's s-shoulder.' He turned around so suddenly that it shocked her. She buried her face in the pillow. He knelt beside her and asked her what it looked like.
'Sorry…it flew off before I could s-see it properly…' Lucius didn't need to know the full details. He knew what was going on. He turned to stroll out of the room.
'W-Where are you going?' asked Kiriha. Lucius faced her.
'To tell the Mage what really is going on out there.'