Chapter 10: Home Again

Ragnar slowly made his way down the valley road. Harald was unconscious in his arms, his blood vessels already beginning to burst from the babble poison. Unless Harald received a proper antidote to neutralize the poison, he would not survive long.

The sun had gone behind the valley's mountains a few hours ago, and the night monsters would soon be active. Time was running out.

The extra bulk Ragnar was now carrying made it difficult for his wound to heal properly. His thin bandage was drenched in blood and was beginning to soak through his clothes. He was getting dizzy from the lack of blood but he had to push himself forward. Both of their lives depended on it.

However, Ragnar eventually saw the faint glow of city lights. Smiling weakly, he quickened his pace.

"...And then, I said 'What do you mean we're out of stock! If I were you, I'd start running to the hills before I use our wares on you!" The man laughed, as if the comment was meant to be funny. Mary and Flora just smiled weakly. The man quickly realized the joke had failed so he stopped his laughter, looking very embarrassed.

"Excuse me," Flora said, standing up. "I think I should start cleaning these." She gathered up the plates, and headed into the kitchen.

Mary could tell that something was bothering her. Flora's expressions during the dinner with Oscar, a local weapon's merchant, had been distracted.

Mary stood up as well, to see if she could help her friend but Oscar grabbed her arm before she could leave.

"So, what do you think?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?" Mary said, jerking her arm away from the merchant.

"My chances," Oscar said, looking into the kitchen. "What kind of a chance do you think I have with her?"

So, that's it, Mary thought. The 'casual' conversations in the town surrounding Burland Castle, the frequent dinners they had been sharing, and the failed attempts at jokes; all just trying to get closer to Flora.

"You know that she's married," Mary said, protecting her fragile friend.

"Yes, but-" Oscar began but was cut off quickly by Mary.

"But nothing," Mary said, quite definite in her words.

Oscar nodded shakily and Mary went into the kitchen. She heard him mumble, "How long will she wait? I hope she will give up hope so I can marry her." Mary gasped but kept her mouth shut. She would have loved to give Oscar a good verbal thrashing but it wouldn't solve much. Alex was still missing and Flora would just be a target for the next leering young man after Oscar was finished.

Mary walked into the kitchen and saw Flora leaning over the sink, staring outside. The moonlight highlighted her already bright blonde hair, and her pale skin sort of gave off a ghostly beauty that Mary had always been envious of. It was no wonder why so many men in Burland were after her now that Alex had disappeared.

"Are you all right?" Mary asked her friend, gently touching her shoulder.

"Oh, Mary!" Flora said, startled. "I didn't hear you come in!"

Mary looked outside as well. It was a clear night, a rather rare sight in the early spring. The moon was just setting over the mountains and glowing brightly over the forest. There were several stars out. The constellations were easy to spot, none more prominent than the stars that made up the Zenithian god, Master Dragon, taking up half the night sky.

"That's our constellation," Flora said, pointing to a cluster of stars.

"What?" Mary asked, confused.

"Right there," Flora said. To Mary, it looked like two strings of stars joined at the middle.

"One night," Flora explained, "Alex and I were star-gazing and he pointed to those stars. He said, 'No one has named that one there. I think I'll call it Alex-and-Flora.' He said that the stars joining the two represented our marriage vows, unbreakable and everlasting."

"How romantic," Mary breathed. She wished Ragnar would do something like that for her. He really did try to be romantic but often would fall flat on his face. Still, he cared for her as much as his duty. That was all Mary needed.

Mary then heard Flora begin to cry. She quickly grabbed her friend, hugging her close. "Mary!" Flora sobbed. "He's been gone so long! So very long! I lay awake at night, thinking he's going to come through the door but he doesn't! I look outside, expecting to see him come over the horizon but he's never there! Oh, Mary, I'm so scared!" Her tears became uncontrollable then and cried into Mary's chest.

"Don't worry," Mary said, hugging her friend tightly. "He'll come back. Love will find a way. It always has."

"I wish it were true," Flora mumbled.

They stood there for several minutes, Flora spilling her sorrow onto Mary and Mary comforting her as best as she could.

Suddenly, Oscar burst into the kitchen. He stopped short of the two women, unsure about himself. Mary looked sharply at him, obviously annoyed. "Um, sorry," he stuttered, "but there's some commotion at the front gate. Two of the royal soldiers have returned, and in bad shape."

"What?" Mary exclaimed. She instantly feared the worst, a flashing image of Ragnar being carried in on a stretcher, blood soaking his clothes. "Do you know which ones?" Oscar shook his head. She looked at Flora, who had gotten over her brief fit of sadness.

"I'll be all right," she said weakly, rubbing her eyes of tears.

Mary nodded and began to head out. As she passed by Oscar, she saw an anxious look on his face, as if he was waiting for her to leave. "Come on, Oscar," she said, firmly grabbing onto his arm. "They may need some able men to help them."

"But..." he stammered but Mary had already dragged him out of Flora's home.

"How is he?" Ragnar asked the priest.

"He'll be all right," the priest replied, "but the poison did much damage. I'm afraid that it'll be days before he makes a full recovery."

Ragnar nodded and started to walk away. "I'd suggest that you get some rest too," the priest called out but Ragnar didn't hear him.

His thoughts were trained on the problem at hand. The King was asleep right now, so he'd have to wait until morning before he could report to him. The other thing that was troubling the soldier was he had no idea how he was going to get Flora back to Izmit on his own. It was a relatively easy task for him and Harald to defeat the beetle-men in the tunnel but Ragnar did not know how he would do against such a group on his own, all the while protecting a woman.

"Ragnar!" he heard someone call out his name. He turned and saw Mary running from the main hall of the Zenithian Temple towards him. All of his problems instantly disappeared at seeing her. He hadn't realized how much he had missed her in just three days.

As she reached him, Ragnar grabbed Mary and gave her a hard hug. "Ragnar!" she cried, still in his embrace. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

Ragnar put her down gently and replied, "Just a minor scar. The clerics treated me just fine. I'll be in good shape tomorrow morning." Mary smiled and kissed him repeatedly, grateful he was alive and well.