Black Stained

Chapter 29: Judgement Day

The younglings were crying out excitedly, again. The first time Aral hadn't realized it was a cry of recognition. And now, with debris falling on top of her shield, small cracks of light appeared above. Even though they were pretty sure of what they had discovered, Aral reached for Eric. He clenched her hand for assurance.

The cave's ''ceiling'' moved and more and more light streamed in, blinding them both. And with the light Aral could finally make out the scales like the smooth rock, the enormous wings and fangs. And as the mother dragon raised herself up from the mountain Aral could only gasp in amazement. The magnificent dragon's skin like rough rocks itself was the perfect camouflage in mountainous terrain.

Wind started streaming over them. Refreshing and cold. It tousled her hair and made her cloak spread wide.

The mother dragon was very intimidating. Aral had felt small next to the younglings, but this mother was an absolute beast. In all the good ways. Grand and majestic.

She felt Eric pull at her hand. Guiding her to the side, near an opening. Aral realized it must be in case they had to flee. Because no matter how happy they were to see the dragons they might not be as happy to have found them.

The mother's gaze fixed on them. The eyes softly glowing. Aral felt a strange feeling taking hold of her. The dragon started growling deep in its throat. Not a playful purr. It was a warning.

Aral did not dare to look Eric in the eye and kept her eyes trained on the growling mother.

The fresh wind streamed into the gaping opening of the mountain side, where the clear blue sky welcomed them back.

Aral squinted her eyes for the brightness, though. So did Eric.

But then all the brightness disappeared as another dragon climbed up the high mountain side. Its calculating, narrowed eyes watched them. His nostrils moved, hot breath exited his mouth.

The mother dragon, Aral noticed, seemed to shrink back slightly. The second dragon's domination showed clear.

Eric's hand pinched hers again. No reassurance this time. But a warning. Their fate wasn't decided by the mother dragon that had let them out, but by this frightening male.

Aral stepped forward, in front of Eric.

Eric started whispering information to Aral.

'This male has been dominant in this group for a while. One of the biggest we've had for earth dragons in hundreds of years.'

Aral nodded along, remembering the short but concise briefing before all of this.

'It is also known for his aggression towards humans. Death eaters tried to get him.' Eric finished quickly, as the dragons ears perked at the sounds he was making. A deadly growl escaping its throat.

Eric's message was clear. Their course of action: none. Stay docile. Hope for the best.

The earthquake would have made all of them agitated and unsteady. The regular contact with humans had been severed, making it uncertain now in what way the dragon would react to their reappearance.

Even though making eye contact with a dragon, or any other animal, could be interpreted as being a threat, Aral couldn't help but gaze at the glowing eyes of the beast before her.

Its slitted eyes bore into hers as well. For a moment they reminded Aral of a pair of red ones. Filled with hate and darkness. But behind the glowing, golden eyes wasn't hate or darkness. It was pain and confusion. And as their gazes locked, Aral felt a connection growing. A memory floated towards her, but it wasn't hers. She didn't blink, did not look away.

This was how the dragon would test them. She opened up her mind for him. His judgement would decide if they deserved to live or not. She could only hope his judgement did not resemble her own.

Through flashes of memory the dragon showed her his story. Where he came from, how he lost his mother, how he got hunted.

At the same time Aral could feel him sifting through her memories. Fear closed around her heart as she realized he would see her siding with his greatest enemy. A deep rumbling growl told her he had found that exact memory. A moment longer and the link between them dissipated. It had drained her energy and the ground swayed under her feet. Before she could hit the ground Eric held her keep up right.

'What happened?' He asked, concern coating his voice.

How long had she gazed into his memories and the dragon into hers? Had it been seconds, minutes, or an hour? It didn't matter. The dragon's gaze shifted to her friend. For a second she wondered if he would judge Eric as well or if he would decide now if they would live or die. The growing hate behind his eyes told her enough. He pulled his body up even higher, started spreading his wings, emphasizing his immense size. Eric cursed softly and went to pull Aral back towards their only chance of survival. But Aral hardly noticed what he was doing.

The dragon had judged her like she had judged herself. Not worthy of living.

'Don't hurt him.' Aral spoke quickly, dread filling her gut. 'He's different.'

The dragon halted, its calculating gaze again upon her.

'Judge him like you judged me, you'll see.'

Eric stiffened as well.

'Aral... What are you saying?'

Aral wanted to step forward and beg. Beg the creature not to hurt Eric. He had nothing to do with her or her past. Dark spots obscured her view and the ground appeared to be swaying again. She had to take deep breaths, but all the energy and magic she had used in the last couple of hours were taking their toll. Her eyes couldn't focus anymore and all light seemed to disappear.

Don't pass out. Don't pass out. DON'T PASS OUT.

Eric called her name, but the sound only hurt her ears. The fresh cold air that seemed so lovely and welcoming before, now held too little oxygen to keep her steady. The last thing Aral saw was the dragon looming over Eric. And there was nothing Aral could do about it.

BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK

Vague images swam before her. A little boy with messy black hair and glasses, the same green eyes she had. Red and yellow. Green and silver. Silver blond hair. A silver locket. A creaking stair. Another small boy with messy hair and glasses. Darkness.

And then a blurred face close to hers. Brown-ginger hair, freckles. His lips were moving.

She recognized that fiery head of hair. Recognized his kind voice as he asked her if she was alright.

'Char-.' She rasped, not able to finish his name. Her voice had become raw. Pushing up she managed to get into a sitting position, resting her head against her knees. Slowly, she regained her senses, while Charlie patted her back and called to the few other people surrounding them. She blinked a few more times until her vision was clear again. When she saw Charlie kneeling before her, the real Charlie… Relief washed over her like a tsunami and quickly she wrapped her arms around her friend.

'Aral, what happened? You alright?' Charlie asked again, hugging her back.

'Yeah.' Her voice still was still raspy. She cleared her throat, then repeated, 'Yeah, I'm fine.'

They let each other go and a blanket was thrown over her. Looking round, her eyes landed on Tuck. She was glad he was alright.

'Thanks, Tuck.' She smiled at him.

'I'm glad we found you guys.' He responded.

They found us, Aral thought.

Then her mind focused again. Us. Eric.

Willing strength into her legs she suddenly stood up. Not a good idea, apparently, as black spots appeared everywhere in her sight. Vaguely, Aral noticed they were still outside of the mountain, but clouds were hiding the blinding sun. No dragons in sight.

She willed away the dark spots in her vision and looked around. There, a few yards away Eric stood leaning against a rock, visibly trying to recover still from whatever the hell happened.

'Eric.' Aral called. With each step she quickened her pace, despite her legs still feeling like jelly. Eric looked up, a slightly surprised look on his face at first, which soon got replaced with worry when he saw Aral storming towards him.

Raising his hands he started, 'Aral-'. Seeing the look on her face he expected her to slap him or yell at him, like she had the last time they had barely made it out alive.

But Aral couldn't stop herself as her arms wrapped around him before he could say anything else.

'You made it out. You made it out.' It was a statement, and yet a question, coated with surprise, relieve and confusion.

'Yeah, I did. We did.' He mumbled back, not quite understanding.

Slowly, she started to let go of him, before she cracked his ribs. Aral felt a strange emotion wave up and she had to stand still for a moment to keep control over it.

'How did you- How did you get us out of there?' She questioned. 'Did you fight the dragon or something cause-'. Eric interrupted her, before she could ramble on.

'I didn't really do anything. I don't know it was really weird. First the situation looked under control, then the dragon and you started some sort of staring competition and he became aggressive, and you started blabbering in some strange language.' Eric stared at the ground, still processing the situation himself. 'Honestly, I thought you were having some sort of stroke'.

Blabbering in a strange language?

Well, it isn't exactly a first… Aral thought, then shook her head, frowning.

'What kind of language?'

Eric shrugged, 'Merlin, don't ask me, it could have been Japanese for all I know.'

'So what happened next? We're not dead right.' Aral urged on.

Aral felt a hand on her arm, softly turning her round. Charlie kindly smiled down at her.

Merlin's beard, I've missed that face, Aral thought. And then quickly looked away, feeling her cheeks redden.

'Hey, you were out cold, maybe you should slow down a bit?' He shared a look with Eric, before urging her to sit down again. Suddenly, a small fire burned in front of Aral. The warmth it offered her felt like a gift straight from heaven.

Aral frowned, 'Hey, don't go all softy on me, I'm not a baby. How did we find you guys anyway?' She asked Charlie.

Eric couldn't help but laugh at that. 'Just sit still for one minute, 'right?' He practically shoved his flask down her throat, forcing her to take a few sips. 'Good girl'. He laughed, knowing it would agitate her.

'You know better than to annoy me.' She threatened him jokingly.

Charlie simply watch the banter go from one to the other and adjusted the blanket Aral had wrapped around her loosely. He offered Eric a blanket as well, who gratefully accepted it, wrapping it tight around his shoulders. Taking a deep sigh, Aral relaxed her muscles and grabbed the lapels of the blanket. Tuck sat down next to her and offered some food. It felt like he had just offered her eternal joy. She nearly scratched him, taking the food right out of his hands. Luckily, he did not seem bothered by it.

'What happened?' She asked, munching on her food.

Eric stared at her for a moment, and looked down at his hands, which were playing with a piece of bread.

'You were out cold, I thought maybe dead. At least, we soon would be.' He swallowed.

Both Charlie and Tuck listened to his story intently.

'But the dragon seemed to slow down. And then I felt this presence. In my mind. It felt really weird. I saw all of these memories. My own memories, but I wasn't the only one watching. And then I saw you.' He said, glancing at Aral again. 'A memory of you.'

Aral did not want to think about which memory it might be. But apparently the dragon had listened to her pleading. Had decided to judge Eric on his own. But why had the dragon given Eric a memory of her?

She nodded slightly, telling him to go on.

'That's basically it. He let us go.' Eric finished.

'What.'

'Well, he did practically shove us down a certain path, but it ended up leading towards these guys.' He grinned.

Aral sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. Luck. They survived all because of bloody luck.

'That is one hell of a story.' A familiar voice remarked.

Turning round Aral's eyes fell on none other than Cora. Of course, the small but fierce woman would make it out.

'Cora!' Aral called out excitedly.

'What's up, girl.' Cora smirked back. 'From what I've heard of Eric you guys had a pretty interesting detour around the place.'

'If it wasn't for her I would have for sure died.' Eric stated, not hiding his gratitude.

Aral placed a hand on his arm, 'I would have been dead multiple times as well.'

Eric nodded, knowing she meant taking control of her powers, too.

Cora scraped her throat and called out, 'Now this is all fine and dandy, but I suggest we call a meeting. Finish up bandaging and resting, then we'll start.'

Eric prodded Aral with his elbow softly. 'What do you remember from the encounter?'

'Well, I remember the aggressive one.' Aral frowned. 'And I remember him watching my memories. I saw some of his memories as well.'

Both Eric and Charlie looked at her, confusion crossing their faces.

'To judge if we were good people or not he looked into my memories.' Aral looked down, plucking at an invisible fiber on the blanket. 'But I guess he didn't like what he saw…'

'That's why I started begging, or I guess the blabbering you heard was me trying to beg.' She laughed faintly. 'I realized he figured us both dick-heads when he saw me joining the death eaters.' She added.

It surprised herself how openly she talked about the matter. It gave her a strangely good feeling in her stomach.

Charlie squeezed her hand sympathetically.

'I asked him to judge you as he judged me, on my own. I figured once he saw the kind of guy you are he would let you go.' She told Eric.

Eric pulled a face, understanding what it meant. She had accepted her own death. But not his.

'But he let you go as well.' He assured her.

Aral looked away, she hadn't wanted Eric to realize the truth. That she didn't value her own life.

Aral's eyes then trailed the people around them and noticed with how many they were. She started counting, and counted eight people. Nine if she included herself. She looked back at Charlie again. 'Where's-'

Charlie shook his head and averted his eyes.

'What happened to you guys?' She asked quietly.

Charlie sighed and softly began telling his story. Eric leaned in as well, curious.

'Once we scattered I had lost most of the group, only Tuck was with me in the small pathway to the right. Rocks were tumbling down everywhere. I thought we were gonna be crushed, but we got lucky and found our way back to the main path. After a couple of hours of being scared shitless, we heard voices. It was the rest of the group. But we were still separated by debris and rock. Cora sent out some scouts.' He nodded in the direction where the woman stood. 'And they luckily enough found a small opening.'

He scoffed, like he still had to believe all that had happened.

'But not everyone was there. We missed three people.'

Charlie's brows pulled and a sadness crossed his face.

'Us. And…?' Aral hardly dared to ask.

'Theresa.' He breathed in deeply and out again, he continued, but his voice was barely even a whisper. 'We found her later, but…' He cut himself off.

This time Aral squeezed his hand, offering support and condolences.

Eric stared into the distance, grieving the loss of Theresa. He must have known her, worked with her. Maybe even a close friend.

Aral heard Cora behind her assembling everyone.

'Okay,' she started, 'let's make a plan.'