Dragon Riders

Chapter 18: Illuminating the Darkness

Aspen POV:

We watched Serafina and Orion disappear over the treetops.

"I hope she isn't too hard on him!" I stated.

"Me too!" He agreed. "I kind of need my Teff!" I stole a fleeting glance at him and saw that he looking at me too.

"What?" I asked staring into his deep, enticing, blue eyes. He turned away from me.

"Nothing!" He asserted. "You want to go on a walk?"

"Definitely!" I stated. We started off down a trodden path in the woods. The light danced on the trees and plants. A peaceful silence hung over us. Birds chirped and leaves rustled. The trees swayed back and forth waving their branches at us. The penetrating light sparkled on Cade's shirt, reflecting the shimmers into the woods.

"You want to know why Orion and Shade were fighting?" He asked me.

"Of course!" I told him.

"Well, it was about Serafina!" He confessed. I stopped, threw out my hand, and slapped it onto his shoulder.

"They were fighting over her!" I gasped. "No!"

"Yes!" He winced. "Ouch!"

"Sorry," I apologized. "Well, she won't be mad at all then!"

"Won't she be a little upset that she was some kind of prize to them?" He worried.

"Maybe," I shrugged. "But she will be too overjoyed with the fact that Orion loves her to do anything about it!"

"Wait!" Cade grasped my hand, making me blush, and stopped me. "Serafina is in love with Orion?" I swirled around and he gave me a confused look. "Why are your cheeks red?" My hands flew to my face to cover up the redness.

"No reason!" I explained. "But, yes, Serafina is in love with Orion." I paused and lowered my hands. "He is in love with her... Right?"

"Irrevocably," he assured me.

"This is great!" I shrieked. We grew silent for a moment, then he broke it.

"Hey, uh, Aspen?" He caught my attention by taking my hands into his. My cheeks flushed an even deeper red.

"Yes," I squeaked. His deep blue eyes penetrated my very soul.

"I know this isn't proper," he began, "and I should ask your father first, but I was wondering..." He paused.

"Yes..." I urged.

"If you would be my lady?" He asked.

"Of course, kind sir!" I squealed. I thrust my arms around his neck and hugged him as hard as I could. He wrapped his arms around my waist and we stood there, intertwined, for quite some time. My mind raced. We're courting! If all goes well... We could marry in a few years! I could hear his heartbeat against my chest. It was as fast as mine. Finally, we released one another. It had grown dark and only the starlight illuminated the dark forest. He took my hand in his and we strolled casually down the path. My focus was no longer on the upcoming battle or on Serafina and Orion; it had all shifted to him. Apparently, this wasn't such a good idea.

My foot caught a tree root and I began to fall. Luckily, Cade was paying attention and thrust out his arms to catch me. I landed perfectly in his outreached arms and he raised me back up to a standing position. We were face to face, nearly nose to nose. He inched closer and I filled the gap, until we both stood there an inch away from each other. His head moved forward slightly, but a light suddenly flashed beside my eye. I leapt in surprise and our heads conked against one another. I toppled over on impact and he stumbled backwards. I sat up in the dirt, rubbing my temples and saw the source of the glowing in front of me: a firefly.

Cade chuckled at my fear of the tiny insect hovering between us. He offered his hand and I took it. For the second time tonight, he helped me up. We examined the surrounding area and found it flooded with little specks of light. I turned to Cade excitedly. "You want to catch some?"

"We don't have anything to put them in." He reminded me.

"Oh really?" I dug around in my bag until I found what I was looking for, a small glass jar.

"Why do you have that with you?" He was taken aback by my preparedness.

"I always carry it in case I find anything interesting!" I explained. "I started this after we found some syrup in a tree but had nothing to put it in!"

"But we did put it somewhere!" He reminded me. "In our stomachs!" He reached out and tickled my abdomen playfully. I cackled hysterically, he knew my weakness. I was extremely ticklish. I pushed his hand away and calmed down.

"Yes, but we wanted to bring some home for your family!" I countered. "We couldn't however, because we didn't have anything to put it in!" He nodded in submission. "So, you want to?"

"Of course!" He enthused. I took out one of my daggers and stabbed ten small holes in the lid. I handed him the jar and he unscrewed the lid. We turned back to back and leapt forward, spying our targets. I cupped the small insect I honed in on between my hands. I smiled as I opened them up slightly to reveal the glowing bug. I turned to see Cade admiring his catch, already enclosed in the jar. I rushed over to him, showing him my find. We worked together to cage the small creature. He unscrewed the lid slightly so I could I quickly force the firefly into the containment unit. We placed our faces on either side of the jar and examined the two insects dancing around and shining in the space allotted to them.

"Let's get some more!" I rhapsodized. I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a small light bouncing about in the dark. I pounced at my prey and stood, dumbfounded, to find I had lost it. Then, it lit up once more just to my left and I clapped my hands together, trapping the little animal. I then went back to Cade and transferred my newest catch into the jar. For quite some time, we continued this game of finding, following, and finally catching the fireflies. After an hour had elapsed, we had twenty one fireflies in our possession. Cade put his arm around me and placed the jar in my shaking hands. I transferred the glowing object to my right hand, and carefully unscrewed the lid with my left.

A burst of light surged forth as half of our captives raced to freedom. The next few followed just seconds after the initial rush, and several more trickled out after them. After a minute had passed, only two remained. I turned over the jar and tapped the bottom gently until they finally left their cage. We watched as our fireflies danced and played in their newfound freedom. They lavished in the wide open space and shined brightly. I turned to my kind sir and found him looking at me.

"What?" I wondered. "Is there something on me?"

"No," he chuckled at my concern, waving it off. "I was just admiring your beauty." Blood rushed to my face for about the millionth time tonight, as I smiled,

"Very funny!" He shook his head. He was being serious. He suddenly took my hand in his and led me down the path, we remerged in a deserted meadow. There we laid down next to each other and drifted off beneath the uncovered, starry sky.