A Goodbye
"I... I can't believe it..." Darryl responded, wide-eyed, as Roland walked up to him. Ashlyn had shown him the path back to the shocked deer and Seth a little while after his awakening. "I thought you'd perished in that crash..."
From what Ashlyn had explained on the way back, his survival was a miracle. A thick shard of iron had broken off the train and pierced his chest. To his amazing fortune, it had narrowly missed his heart. He wasn't fatally wounded, at least, but his torso still ached with a fierce pain.
He was glad to still be alive. The intense agony was only a small price to pay for his life.
"I'm surprised myself," he said calmly. Seth rolled his eyes but even he looked astonished to see him standing there.
"Where were you?" the brown dragon asked, a little irritated. "We had to look everywhere..."
"In the firebox, believe it or not," Ashlyn answered for him, a small chuckle slipping out of her muzzle. Roland felt like she forced the laugh, though.
"Why didn't I look there?" Darryl questioned himself, playing along with Ashlyn's attempt at a jest. He seemed as if he could tell something was wrong as well. Roland was thankful he wasn't the only one.
The red quadruped felt something wet plummet onto the tip of his snout. There was a crack of thunder before raindrops started to quickly soak the ground.
Darryl happened to already be sitting against a large oak. Roland paced towards the deer, as did Ashlyn, and took a position under the dense branches above him. With nothing to do for now, he took to staring into the distance.
The former dragon city, Warfang, was still just as fiery as ever and dreadwings were still swooping around it, dropping explosive crates on whatever they so desired. But Warfang was only a distant spec on the skyline now. They'd moved pretty far from all the death and destruction.
Roland decided to start a conversation. He usually enjoyed gazing at the sights, but the area around him was particularly drab. Plus, he had a rather important question on his mind.
"Where have you been, Seth?" he asked, glancing over at him. The earth dragon tensed up immediately.
"What's it to you, no-breath?" Seth retorted. Roland ignored the name-calling.
"You've been gone for several days." Roland cast a curious glance at him. "People don't just vanish, Seth."
"I'm not talking about it," he replied firmly.
Roland shook his head in annoyance. "Really?"
Seth only glared at him. The red dragon sighed. If he wasn't going to obtain an answer from him, maybe he could figure it out himself by looking at him... Lando seemed to be able to do that.
The only thing Roland got from Seth's appearance, however, was just how injured he looked. There were tiny cuts covering his tan brown chest plate and multiple scales had been ripped right off his body. His eye still wasn't there, but the angry red from earlier had calmed down and been replaced by a dark, empty hole.
He would've thought the siege on Warfang had such effects on his body, but the wounds weren't very fresh. In fact, they looked several days old. Of course, Roland certainly wasn't an expert on injuries...
If his theory was true, then where had he been for the past few days? The last place he'd seen him was back in Old Maiden's... Roland wasn't able to work it out...
"So..." Darryl spoke up, "what now?"
He didn't have a single clue. Roland was planning on staying in Warfang for a while, but look at it now...
"I'm... not sure..." Ashlyn muttered. Seth shrugged slightly.
Roland watched the rain fall for a while. The sky was illuminated by spasmodic blasts of lightning, followed by the strong echo of heavy thunder. Rain drizzled through the leaves of the oak he sat under; some managed to break free of the foliage above, dripping quickly onto the grass below his paws.
Despite the noisiness of the storm, he felt at peace. The pain that flared across his body started to subside as his mind went blank. He didn't feel himself go to sleep.
Roland woke up at nightfall, a little bizarre as he'd nodded off at practically the same time. He quickly came to realise that he'd slept for an entire day. Yesterday's events must've made him weary...
He glanced at the things surrounding him. By now, Warfang had stopped burning; that orange dot on the skyline had disappeared completely. The storm had, for the most part, ceased as well. There was the occasional droplet, but it was negligible.
He was still curled up around the thick oak tree but none of his companions were there with him. Ashlyn and Darryl were sitting together on the edge of a cliff side that faced the open ocean. Seth was doing who knows what by himself, instead choosing to gaze at the now non-existent city. Maybe he was keeping watch? Maybe they all were? He felt a little guilty for not taking part.
As Roland had only just managed to notice, the dragoness and deer were looking out to sea, chatting away about things that were incoherent to him. Beyond the oceans lay Tall Plains, and even further than that would probably be Mushroom Swamp and the archaic Dragon Temple. Roland grinned to himself, now feeling proud that he knew his geography...
In fact, thinking about Tall Plains gave him an idea...
He remembered the conversation between two visitors back in the tavern. The jungle across the waves apparently held a rare, powerful artefact. An artefact that could grant the wishes of its user...
Those were very greedy thoughts... But they were a possibility. Maybe that's what he could devote his time to? It was huge challenge, but an attainable one.
He saw Ashlyn pace over. As per usual, she looked depressed. But there was something different about her expression. He couldn't quite make out what it was. Soon after her, Darryl walked up as well, casting one final glance out to the sea.
Neither of them said anything other than a quick 'hey'. Ashlyn proceeded to lay on the grass, watching the stars, and Darryl swiftly fell asleep. He cast a confused glance at the ice dragoness; she didn't see it, however.
He still needed to talk to her... But right now wasn't the time. Maybe when she was a little more... alone? That seemed reasonable. Whatever had been making her feel the way she did was probably another urgent thing she didn't want to tell anybody...
Roland felt himself becoming tired once more. Throughout that night he slipped in and out of consciousness, feeling tired yet not very at the same time. Something was setting him on edge and he wasn't too sure of what it was. A growl only a few hours later startled him...
"The hell is wrong with you?"
Roland noticed that a fight of some kind was ensuing. From what he could hear, Ashlyn and Seth were the main combatants.
"What? Aren't you a little suspicious?" Seth snarled angrily. "Deer's don't just talk!"
The red dragon frowned before looking over in the battle's direction. Seth was on one side, Ashlyn and the deer were on the opposite.
"I can assure you, Seth. I'm not a spy!" Darryl yelled. He didn't lose his calm very often.
Despite Seth's almost humorous accusation, Roland knew that he should probably intervene before things get more serious. He got up from his position in the grass and paced towards the squabbling.
"Who's to know that's not true?" Seth responded, growling. "You could just be saying that!"
"Seth, this is stupid and you know it!" Ashlyn glared at the brown dragon.
"Think about it. He just shows up in Warfang and he knows exactly how to get us out!" he continued. "Doesn't that seem suspicious?"
"I was in that city for a reason, Seth." Darryl narrowed his eyes. "I happened to come at the wrong time. And as for your silly accusation about me getting you out, I chose that because it was the only way out!"
"Lies! They're all-"
Roland yelled out. "Stop it! All of you!"
He expected them to continue fighting but everyone stared at him. Roland shrunk a little under their gaze but continued to speak.
"What is this even about? How is Darryl a spy?"
Seth chose to answer that one. "He's a talking deer! What else do you want? Have you ever seen a talking deer?"
He rolled his eyes and was about to counter his stupid argument but Ashlyn beat him to it. "How is that even a reason? Just because he's a little different doesn't mean he's our enemy!"
Roland was able to understand the brown dragon's suspicion and, again, was about to speak up but the deer joined in once more. "I saved your life and this is how you treat me? I should've strapped you to that rail..."
"Was that a death threat?" Seth started to advance slowly towards the deer, his fangs bared. Ashlyn instantly halted his movement by pointing her sharp tail blade in his direction.
"Don't you dare..." Ashlyn growled. He turned his attention towards the dragoness.
"You want to fight me?"
"No, of course I don't... But if you even lay a claw on him..."
Roland was just staring, bewildered. This wasn't going to end well...
"Guys, come on!" he shouted. However, the two dragons didn't listen to him. Only Darryl, the victim here, ran over. Seth didn't bother chasing him down...
The brown dragon's actions towards Darryl were misguided. He didn't really have much of a motive to verbally attack him like that...
Unless he was lying about thinking he was a spy...
But, whilst in his thoughts, he was too late to stop the first physical attack... Seth lashed out with his claws; Ashlyn only barely dodged his slash.
"What is wrong with you?" Ashlyn said defensively. "I never did anything!"
Seth didn't say a single thing in return, putting his full focus on the dragoness ahead of him. Quickly, he took a swing at her with his club-like tail blade. Again, she just managed to dive out of the way.
"Seth... I don't want to hurt you..." the dragoness muttered. He didn't listen.
Roland thought this was getting out of hand. He took a step, about to interfere, when Darryl put a hoof up in front of him.
"Let them do this," he whispered. "She'll come out on top; it might serve a good lesson for him..."
Then he added something else. "I doubt they'll try to kill each other..."
With a low sigh, he reluctantly took a step back and watched the battle unfold. Ashlyn looked as if she was getting sick of slipping away from every lunge and slash. Seth wasn't very happy about missing so much.
Soon enough, Ashlyn decided to take a swing at him. Her tail blade connected with his torso. Seth winced but continued his assault, swinging his club overhead. It slammed into the ground right next to the dragoness.
She took that opportunity to stop him. While he was distracted, she dived towards him and pinned him to the ground.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked, growling.
"You don't need to know!" he yelled out, struggling to get free of her grip. He released a deafening blast of earth energy; Roland felt a ringing in his head. At that moment, Ashlyn cringed and her grip loosened...
That was when Roland knew she'd messed up.
With a strong kick, Seth managed to get the dragoness off of him. He quickly rolled and lifted his paw in a swift motion. Suddenly, the ground seemed to give way to a pillar of earth that quickly rose upwards.
And that column was directly underneath her body. She was sent hurtling into the sky.
Roland expected her to fly it off but when she hit the ground with a resounding thud, he knew she was done fighting. He gaped at the turn of events before him. Even Darryl looked shocked.
Seth seemed to forget the two watching him. He didn't say a word as he leaned over Ashlyn's unconscious body. And with an ear-shattering yell, he flew up into the sky and smashed his tail blade into her ribcage.
Roland gasped at the sight. He... He was going to kill her if he continued...
That was his plan all along, wasn't it?
Roland had already made his decision.
Ignoring Darryl's words, he charged towards Seth just as he was about to pummel her for the second and final time. He leaped upwards and brought his horns down on the brown dragon.
Now on the ground, he shouted noisily at him. "You monster! Are you trying to kill her?"
Seth snarled before easily throwing him off. Roland landed painfully on the top of his skull, his mind spinning.
The brown dragon started to advance towards him. Again, he didn't say much...
Roland glanced around as the brown dragon prepared to hit him with a mighty blast of magic. He noticed a long stick and, struggling, he grasped it within his paws and swung it quickly at Seth.
The dense branch connected with the dragon's muzzle. His earth magic was cut short as Roland took another swing at him. Again, it struck Seth heavily.
He threw the stick away, lowered his golden horns and charged him into the oak tree. Seth cried out in agony.
His breath trembling, Roland fit his jaw around the dragon's neck, still keeping him pinned against the tree. Roland felt a sudden wave of adrenaline roll over him.
"Roland! Don't you-" Seth tried to say something but screamed out when Roland violently bit down on his neck. Seth's blood slithered down his throat.
"What are you doing?" Seth's voice was strained but it still burst out as a yell. He tried to force the red dragon off of his neck. "You're not trying to kill me... are you?"
Roland only tightened his hold. Soon, however, Seth was able to push him away and swiftly followed up with another destructive explosion that sent him careening into a different tree.
He tried to get up but found Seth proceeding towards him yet again, no branch to save him this time. The earth dragon started to cut away at him with frenzied swipes of his claws. Roland felt himself blacking out...
But he wouldn't stop at that. He wasn't going to accept defeat.
Every ruthless strike only made him more hateful towards Seth. When he got the chance, he followed up with a punch as strong as he could muster to Seth's snout. He doubled over, buying Roland the chance he needed.
He reversed their positioning by taking Seth in his back legs and rolling over. He used his maw again to trap him there and, this time, used all of his bodyweight to keep him secured.
"Stop this, Roland!" He started to fight against Roland's hold.
He didn't listen to him.
Instead, he started to gnaw tightly on his scaly neck; Seth's movements started to become more desperate, but he wasn't able to escape the clutch he was in.
The crimson from Seth's body started to roll down his neck once more. It wasn't a great taste, but it didn't matter...
Roland wanted nothing more than for this dragon to meet his demise.
"Roland! Come on..." Seth sounded like he was losing breath. "R-Roland..."
Seth's struggling started to slow down until it eventually came to a stop. "I-I'm... s-sorry..."
He heard the apology loud and clear but it didn't change his mindset. Instead, he bit down harder. Roland could feel Seth's neck collapsing in on itself.
"Please..." Seth's strained voice came. A single tear fell from his eye.
Roland didn't feel anything... Anything but hatred. There was no pity, no mercy, and, oddly enough, no anger. Just... hate.
Hate for the way he'd treated Darryl. Hate for him almost killing Ashlyn.
Hate for so many years of unprovoked attacks, tricks and lies...
He finished the job. Seth's neck snapped under the pressure and, finally, he was gone.
Roland got up from the motionless body, licking his blood-stained muzzle and breathing raggedly. He looked around; Ashlyn – who had awoken – and Darryl were both staring at him and the murder they'd just witnessed, absolutely shocked. He glanced back at the body of Seth.
It was then that he realised the full scope of what he'd committed.
Roland started to panic. What had he done?
"Oh no..." He rubbed his eyes as if to see if that would change anything. Unfortunately, it didn't.
Roland grasped the dead dragon in his paws and shook him fiercely, trying to wake him up. His efforts were to no avail. The death had already been dealt.
There was nothing that could save him now. And it was all his fault...
"I..." Roland felt a wetness reach his eyes. "I..."
"R-Roland..." Ashlyn's quiet tone came forth. He felt a paw on his back but he immediately lashed out at the thing behind him.
"Stay away from me!" he hollered. Ashlyn jumped back in fright but she continued anyway.
Roland felt like fainting from the sheer sight of the body. His neck was mangled; the blood gushed out like a rapid... Ashlyn's voice distracted him from his thoughts.
"It's... okay..." she said slowly. Roland looked back at Ashlyn, astonished by her words.
"This is okay? I killed him! I-"
"I... I know how you feel," she cut him off.
"How would you kn-" he interrupted himself when he remembered who she was. He took another long look at the murder before him.
Roland felt like getting up and running. Sprinting away from his problems... Again, the dragoness's voice stopped him...
"My first was just as bad." She slowly started to walk up to him again. "I felt horrible. But... you have to get used to it. If you keep it holed up inside you, it'll drive you insane."
Roland didn't feel any better about himself but his breath started to regulate and his quickly beating heart slowed. He sluggishly got off the discoloured grass.
"He would've done the same," Darryl spoke up, "I underestimated him..."
Roland's hate had already vanished. He felt guilty. Really guilty for what he'd done.
But he didn't feel sorry. What Darryl had said was right. Seth would've killed him if he gave him the chance.
He remembered his last words. I'm sorry. Please... What if he meant it? What if he really was going to stop?
It was too late to find out now. He would never know. But something told him Seth would just lie again. Lie like he did almost everyday of the life he once had.
"I need to be alone," Roland muttered. After one more look at Seth's broken body, he walked off towards the oak. He felt Ashlyn and Darryl's eyes on him.
Somehow, whether it be a miracle, he didn't feel like the companions he had left hated him for it. Ashlyn had seen and been through the same ordeal before, but what of Darryl? Shouldn't he be worried or frightened? Roland didn't feel like he would get the chance to ask him.
He took a seat so the events from earlier were behind him. He didn't want to look at that horrible affair again. Wiping a paw across his eyes, he noticed just how wet they were.
Roland felt exhausted more than anything. For the third time tonight, he dozed off, anxious.
Even if he wasn't in the best mood, Roland knew a dragon required a burial, no matter how bad a person they were.
There weren't many materials to build one, but there was an oak tree. All earth dragons belonged with the nature. It was said they would live on as spirits if they were buried in nature.
Of course, living on as a spirit was probably not what Roland would've wanted for him. Even if he wasn't fond of Seth, he would rather him be alive. But it was the least he could do to apologise for his terrible actions.
"That should do it," Ashlyn said, wiping the dirt off of her claws. She'd been digging a hole in the ground for the past hour next to the tree.
"Good work..." Darryl muttered, his eyes downcast. He'd never really gotten to know him, but death was always a touchy subject. It was impossible to be happy in times like these...
Ashlyn wandered over to where Seth was being kept. Roland caught another glimpse of his handiwork as she started to drag the body over. He lowered his gaze.
Soon, Seth was laid in the hole; Ashlyn tried to get him into a comfortable position on his back. Roland reluctantly chose to look down upon the dragon once more. Another wave of guilt washed over him.
The dragoness started to top the grave with dirt. And soon enough, he was gone. In the ground, now at peace.
Nobody uttered a thing for a while. A feeling lingered in the air. It wasn't sadness, but more a combination of that, awkwardness and guilt. Roland certainly felt culpable...
Even after the way Seth had treated him, even after trying to eliminate Ashlyn like that, he still kind of cared about him... Maybe it was just how responsible he felt for the murder?
"That's that," Ashlyn said, breaking the lengthy silence. "I, um... I'm sorry, Roland..."
The red dragon sighed. "You shouldn't be... It's my fault."
"I think we're all to blame," Darryl spoke up, "you didn't start that fight. You only... ended it. I guess that's all we could've hoped for..."
Before, Roland didn't feel very sorry for what he'd done. But now that had changed. If there was a way to bring him back to life, he would definitely take the chance...
Unfortunately, there isn't a way to bring others back from the grave...
Roland turned his head to the tree and muttered three words.
"I'm sorry, Seth."
And there we go...
I personally wasn't too sure about writing this book with that in mind, but after thinking about it for weeks, I decided to take the risk...
Also, I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter as a whole. I feel like it's kind of subpar compared to my other chapters. Maybe because it's shorter? I'm not sure...
Oh well. You'll have to tell me what you think. As always, thanks for reading Dragon's Ruin.