Chapter Eight: Hofkiin

Dagonett looked up at Jarvan sitting beside the dragoness the two of them talking quietly and snorted shaking his head.

Conners and hart were already fast asleep snoring in their bedrolls and Garett was sitting at the fire side his head bobbing up and down as he tried to stay awake.

"Go to bed lad, it's alright Il make sure the dragon doesn't go an eat the prince" Dagonett said rolling his eyes at the young man.

Garett sat up and tried to pretend he wasn't sleeping looking at Dagonett sheepishly before nodding. He got up and started making his way to his bedroll before he turned to Dagonett

"You think its safe Dag letting Jarvan sit up there with that dragon lady?" he whispered covering his mouth with his hand stifling a yawn.

Dagonett snorted and waved him off. He watched as Garett crawled into his bedroll and turned to look at Jarvan and Shyvana. The two of them were talking and he smiled shaking his head. He watched as Jarvan leaned over the dragoness said something to her and got up to make his way back to the campfire. Dagonett sat in silence waiting for Jarvan to return.

…

"the dragon that killed your father what will you do when you find him" Jarvan asked leaning back onto his hands looking up at the night sky.

Shyvana clenched her teeth and balled her fist digging her nails into the soft flesh of her palm. "I will avenge my father by killing that bastard I will rip out his heart as he has ripped out mine" she hissed closing her eyes.

Jarvan looked at her watching her face contort with rage then slowly fade to sorrow and he felt ashamed. He left his family of his own free will in the middle of the night never stopping to think of how they would feel when they found him gone; and here sitting beside him was some poor young woman who had her father stolen from her for her very existence. He looked away from her to the corpse of her father and frowned.

"I want to help you" he said the words coming from his mouth before he could think

Shyvana blinked and cocked her head at him narrowing her eyes "Why would you want to help me kill the dragon that slew my father" she said.

Jarvan locked eyes with her.

"Your determination and your courage to face down a powerful foe alone to avenge the death of your father has moved me. I came into the wilderness to seek my own atonement to prove to myself that I am worth the title given to me but I understand now that killing creatures who were simply defending themselves does not make me a great man. A great man fights for what he believes in for what he loves. I love my nation and I would fight to protect her at all costs. I was hoping to find something during my time here something that would make me feel alive again but I don't know stop me if I'm rambling" he said looking at Shyvana sheepishly.

Shyvana smiled at him and laughed the sound soft and sweet.

"You are not rambling its fine, let me ask you something if you don't mind" she said looking up at him.

He nodded and she continued "You said you left to seek atonement what made you leave?" she asked looking up into his eyes.

Jarvan turned away as his eyes glazing over and took a deep breath trying to steel his emotions.

"I left because I failed my nation my father myself. I was young and foolish I thought I could never be defeated in battle but I was wrong. My enemy Swain was a master tactician and lured me into a trap I was to blind to see. I ended up leading a company of my men to their deaths. I ended up at swain's feet as I watched my brothers and sisters in arms, my friends being slaughtered and I was unable to help them unable to fight back. I accepted my failure and welcomed my death at the hands of a noxian butcher but was saved by my longtime friend before the axe fell. My friend was celebrated as a hero and everyone tried to turn a blind eye on my failure but I carry the guilt every day. And so, I left in the middle of the night with the few people I knew I could trust with my life vowing I would not return until I could prove to myself that I deserved my title again" he said exhaling pinching the bridge of his nose.

He turned and looked at Shyvana expecting her recoil with disgust but she looked into his eyes and held his gaze. She nodded slowly and placed her hand on his breast plate.

"Mu wo trah los ni naalein, mu engein wah lahvraan ko pah lein lahvraan do joriin wo lost aus" Shyvana whispered to him offering him a small smile.

"What does it mean?" Jarvan asked smiling back at her.

"Something my father used to say to me. We who grieve are not alone, we belong to the greatest gathering in all the world. a gathering of people who have known suffering" she said her smile falling as she looked down at her father's body.

"He was a wise man-er dragon" Jarvan said following Shyvana's eyes to the corpse of her father.

They sat and talked for several hours enjoying each other's company. the night sky illuminating everything around them. Jarvan caught himself staring at the dragoness and blushed looking away. In the starlight, her skin took on a soft glow her hair although matted with blood and mud fell about her in waves of silk. Her horns were a deep violet and they glistened in the moonlight framing her delicate face. Her eyes were large and bright and glowed a soft purple color tiny violet scales crept around her temples. She had a small nose and perfect round lips. She had a long elegant neck slightly broad shoulders and ample chest and long shapely legs. Jarvan coughed and looked away when Shyvana caught him staring at her. She laughed at his discomfort and stretched her long legs.

Jarvan decided that he need a distraction and began looking around his eyes falling on Shyvana's father.

"Would you like us to bury him?" he asked gesturing to her father with a turn of his head.

Shyvana looked at Jarvan and blinked several times shaking her head.

"No, I would never want my father to spend eternity underground his place is amongst the stars of our forefathers" she said sweeping her hand towards the sky.

Jarvan looked to the sky and back and Shyvana and raised his eyebrow.

"I'm not sure what that means" he said trying to not sound mocking.

Shyvana rolled her eyes and stood wincing.

"Dragons unlike mortal men were not born of valoran. The very first dragon was born from pure starlight and when we die we return to the stars. Be it from old age or untimely death it is our kins duty to return us to the stars. My father was a celestial dragon one of the oldest and rarest creatures to roam valoran but he was banished from dragon kind when he took my human mother as a mate. I am the only remaining kin that he has left and it is my duty to send him home" she said wiping away hot tears looking down at her father.

"I didn't know that dragons had funerals" Jarvan said trying to be funny but the look on Shyvana's face shut him up.

"We are not as savage as you might think, just because you don't understand us does not make you better than us. We form the same family bonds you do and we honor our dead just the same" Shyvana said stepping down from the cave top to approach her father. Jarvan turned and began to walk towards the campfire.

"Where are you going" Shyvana asked him.

Jarvan turned around and looked at her, and then pointed to her arm that hung at her side and the blood that trickled from her wounds on her side.

"I'm going to grab something to patch you up before your wounds fester" he shrugged and walked away.

Shyvana watched him go and turned to her father clutching her wounded arm and considered the starry sky.

It won't be long now father; I'll send you home. I won't be long behind you. She thought to herself.

She could hear the humans talking behind her and she turned to look at them. A large man was talking to the prince the others sleeping soundly. He was smiling at the prince and she could tell by Jarvan's body language that he was uncomfortable. She could hear his heartbeat quicken and she giggled only imagining what the other man was saying to him.