The Sentinels

16: Darkness

The landing was rough, to say the least. It had been hard getting onto Tyrion's back in the first place, considering we were six people instead of just three. We'd just scrambled on while he was flying. With a small jump creating a huge wave of anxiety, fear and panic, I made it.

Now, climbing off of Tyrion's tail and jumping the last few meters straight into solid ground, I bit down the pain that shot from my knees by impact. The adrenaline rushing through my body numbed the pain—all I could think about was getting to Reagan. He'd crash-landed just moments ago and now he wasn't moving. I didn't care about Dante, about Ryker, about everyone else. I didn't care about anyone but him. I ran towards the black dragon, the one I could hardly see in this darkness for he blended into it as if he'd been born in it.

Rain still drizzled down on us, my hair slapping in and out of my face. The cold bit through my bones, chilling me to the core. Running this fast seemed to heat me up from the inside which made the cold bearable. My muscles ached and running felt like it lasted forever. I couldn't get to him fast enough. Pushing myself to the limit, I ran faster, feeling the muscles in my legs burn. The slope I ran down was soaked and muddy—squinting my eyes, I could see Reagan in the distance on a small hill. Had I the time to groan, I would have in that moment. There was still such a way to go, and I could barely keep myself together.

The rain continued mercilessly to hit my face like thousands of small needles, numbing my skin until I could barely feel anything at all. The darkness of night began to envelop me, wanting to consume me. To suck me into it so I could finally rest. But I forced myself further. My lungs burned, my muscles burned, my knees burned. My whole body was on fire.

But I didn't give up. I didn't stop. I just kept pushing myself further—to my limit and far beyond.

Maybe the strength I was using was partly coming from him. Maybe the bond was helping me—pulling me towards him. I was insane with worry, clouded by panic. There was nothing that could have stopped me. No one could have made me rest or pause or take a breath.

The black dragon just lied there, motionless. I thought about checking for his emotional signature to see if he was conscious, but that would have required energy and time I did not possess.

Someone shouted in the distance—crying my name.

Maybe it was one of my brothers. Maybe someone else. It didn't matter. Though the sound reached my ears and I halfway processed what was being shouted, there was still something about it I didn't register. Was there urgency in the voice? Concern? It could have been anything.

My sights were set. I wouldn't turn around now. I needed to go further, push harder. Even my stomach churned, as if purposely forming a knot to make my run more difficult. I almost stopped to bend down and crumble up like a ball of yarn, but I would not let my threads come undone. Everything in my body screamed to stop, to slow down. My heart pounded furiously against my chest and every breath I took burned down my throat like acid.

And then I finally reached him and completely broke down, utterly exhausted.

My knees slammed into the ground. Although the ground was muddy and therefore slightly softer than normal, the impact still felt like I'd fallen onto concrete. The pain that electrocuted my body certainly indicated it. Tears shot into my eyes instantly and I bit onto my lip, trying to refrain from howling.

"Reagan", came from my pulsating lips and I threw my arms around what I could—which was the front part of his muzzle.

He did not move, did not speak. I looked at him and for a split second, the thought of him being dead crossed my mind. But he wasn't dead, he couldn't be. I would have felt it in the link otherwise. Even if Promised's didn't know the other existed, if one died, it was always felt on the other side.

Reagan was still here.

He hadn't left me yet.

"Reagan, you've got to wake up", I pleaded, feeling another wave of worry blaze through me. I couldn't let him lay here, in the rain. He would get sick. He'd be in more pain than he probably already was!

But I could hardly move the beast—I couldn't even move his front leg if I tried.

It was then that I finally looked around, seeing if anyone was around that could help me move Reagan. Where would I move him to? There was nothing, far and wide! There were lone trees scattered across a seemingly endless land, a sea of hills stretching out before me as far as the eye could reach. There was no forest nearby, no stream I could see. Only hills upon hills.

On any other day I would have stopped to behold it's beauty for I had never seen such a landscape. Now, I couldn't hate it more than I did.

What were we supposed to do with hills? They barely provided shelter, there was no food because there were no animals, barely any trees. This could not have happened in a worser setting.

I tried to wipe the rain out of my eyes and squinted—yet still I could only see mere silhouettes of the people standing around Dante and Ryker. I was too far away for them to hear me and too exhausted to run everything back again.

I thought about standing up again, waving for someone to come.

Just the mere thought of putting myself in the pain of needing to carry my weight caused little jolts to shoot through my system. My knees burned, my feet felt swollen. My heart was pounding hard and rapidly against my chest.

"Reagan", I whispered, my voice carrying the pain I felt. There was no energy left for me to do anything but worry.

"Reagan, please get up."

But he didn't. He just laid there, his eyes closed. His snout was covered in mud.

I leaned back, only for a moment, to see if the rest of his body was injury-free. Something I should have done first and could have smacked myself for, had I enough will and energy to move my arms. I didn't.

Leaning back was already hard enough—the muscles in my back screamed, protesting for me to stop using them. I needed to see if Reagan was hurt in any visible way. I needed to know before—before darkness would come and get me.

I knew it would. It wasn't far away. I could feel it's presence at the back of my mind, slowly slithering to the surface.

Again, I squinted my eyes in hopes of seeing better, which didn't do me any good. But at least he was close enough for me to see most of him and when I saw how awkwardly angled his foreleg was, the darkness rushed to the surface like an angry wave crashing to the shore and I was out within a flash.