The Tale of Dragons and Dungeons

Chapter 10: The End?

Isaac relaxed as he watched his little sister off playing in a field, chasing butterflies. It made him almost jealous of her imagination. He was enjoying his favorite oak tree, which he and her had grown up playing near. He moved his hand along the trunk, feeling around. He found a carving he and her had made, the classic heart with names inside it, saying

"Isaac + Eve

Brother and Sister"

all in a big heart carving. He felt himself dozing off in the perfect temperature of the day when a shadowy figure with a light blue sword appeared. Isaac got up immediately after catching a glimpse of the figure and finally remembering exactly what the scene was. It was just a memory. Given to him by his own cruel mind, it was a memory of exactly why he hated hearing his own name. His name was one of the last words Eve spoke before her death. He ran through the field, forcing his legs to move as fast as they could. Yet, it seemed that with every step he took, the scene was getting farther and farther away. The figure walked over. Eve greeted the shadow as if she had known it her whole life. The dark void where a man would be standing rose it's sword. Eve's eyes widened in surprise, and finally mortal fear. The blade began moving downwards. Isaac reached out his hand. "NO!" He called. "Big brother Isaac!" The blade cut her neck. Isaac finally reached the scene. It was too late. She was losing too much blood too quickly. The only thing he could do was pick her up in his arms. She was still awake. Tears began falling onto the body Isaac was holding on to. Her weak hand reached up, and rested itself on his face, she felt the tears coming onto her fingers. "Why are you... crying?" She said in a weak voice. Her hand fell from his face. He caught it before it fell all the way. She managed to smile, despite obviously being near death and in great pain. "I love you, Isaac." Her eyes closed and her hand went limp. Isaac looked down at the body in shock. More tears fell on her body. He rested his head on the corpse and spoke in a voice shaken by grief. "Eve... I love you too..." He stayed there for a full minute when the blue blade came down on him. He caught the blade in his fingers, causing them to bleed. "You monster... I'll kill you YOU MONSTER!" He turned over to glare at his brother and he unsheathed his old sword. The two clashed. Hissing from steel on steel filled the field as sparks rained from the strikes they dealt. They both attacked at full force, Azazel and Isaac. Both brothers were striking with intent to kill, no holding back. They clashed and clashed. Isaac was the one who fell. It was quick, Azazel dealt a strike to Isaac's gut and then vanished.

Blader woke up when a raindrop fell onto his face. He sat up, looking around and regaining his bearings. He was sitting on the roof of the Rook where his friends were sleeping. It was around midnight, there were storm clouds above him, and above all he was alone. And he felt weak. Weak, and powerless against his brother. He had been powerless to stop him back then, and he's powerless to stop him now. Drops were falling in a cold drizzle now. He stood up, thinking back to how vivid the dream was. He sighed. "I'm so useless." He heard a sound, and didn't even react. It was raining hard now. The water was soaking through his clothes. He didn't care. He didn't even feel it. All he could feel at that moment was emptiness. And pain. The sound of the bells was deafening.

Lucy woke up to notice something wrong. She knew something was off, she was so warm in the bed. After a half an hour of thought, she finally realized what was wrong. Blader's cold skin wasn't regulating the temperature. She got out of bed dressed in her nightgown and tiptoed out as to not wake anyone. She looked around to see if Blader was drinking in the tavern, sitting outside, or just stalking around, watching over them as they slept. She found no signs of him. She decided to go up to the roof, despite it raining, and seeing if he was up there. She found him staring blankly into the sky, soaking wet. "Blader!" She called out. He looked over at her, his gaze holding a heavy look. "What are you doing out here?" He could not hear her. She called out louder. "What are you doing out here?" No dice. She walked over to him, "What're you doing out here?" Blader finally got the message. "Hmm? Oh...nothing in particular... It's just, the bells..." Lucy raised an eyebrow and listened. She only heard the sound of rain dropping on the roof, and on them. "What are you talking about? I don't hear anything..." "You can't? It's been ringing nonstop all morning. Church bells. Probably a wedding... or a funeral..." Lucy looked at him like he was crazy. "Well... don't listen to me, I'm just spouting nonsense..." Lucy smiled. "Well, that is kind of your specialty." They stood in silence for a while. Blader looked out into the sky again. After what must have been half an hour he finally broke the silence. "We should probably get inside, we're both soaking wet." "Well that's your own fault!" They smiled and walked inside. Blader hung his jacket near the fireplace in the Rock and helped himself to a glass of water. Lucy walked out, having set her stuff up to dry too. She sat across from him. "I haven't seen you this relaxed in a while." Lucy told him, glancing at his wings. "Well, that's because I'm the one who properly coordinates this team. I like it whenever I can get a rest from dealing with their stupidity..." They heard a knock at the door which was boarded up by Stinell in preparation for the storm. Blader looked back at it. "I've got it..." He got out of his chair and tore some of the boards off the door. What he found was a family outside the door. Well, more a group of children with similar appearances. He assumed they were family and looked over them. 3 girls, 2 boys. One of the girls (who looked to be the oldest, he estimated 17) was in the lead and was quite obviously guiding the kids. "Hello, um, can we come in?" He thought it over, and then nodded, opening the door wider. They all walked in and sat down near them at the table. Blader sat back down after shutting the door and put his hands together. "So, what's the story here?" He asked the girl. "Um, so uh... ummmm..." The girl looked terrified. Blader noticed she was looking at him. More specifically, his stitches. He sighed. "Lucy, talk to her, I'm gonna go wake Oznerol up." He stood up and walked over to their room. The girl looked at Lucy. Lucy smiled. Woww, this girl is pretty! The girl thought as she began telling their story. "So, my name is Stephanie, and these are my brothers and sisters." "And what brings you here?" Lucy inquired. "Well, our parents were killed, and they sent us here with a small sack of gold and whatever we could grab before running." "How much gold?" Lucy asked. "50." Stephanie answered. Blader came back out with Oznerol, retaking his seat while grabbing another for Oznerol to sit. "Fortunately for you, that's just enough to put you and all of your siblings up for a night here." Oznerol said as he downed a mug of apple juice.  "A-all of it!?" Blader smiled. "You do realize this is a legendary inn, right?" She groaned and handed him the small leather bag. "Enjoy your stay!" He said cheerfully as he dumped the money into his coin purse. He left Lucy and Oznerol to make small talk with her while he sorted out his thoughts. This did not last long, seeing as one of the children were curious and thought it would be fun to grab onto Blader's wing. Needless to say, he freaked out a bit. His wings are very sensitive, and a child's grip doesn't feel very pleasant at all. Shockwaves were sent throughout his body as he reacted to his wings being touched. "Aghh! Let go!" The child complied and Blader settled himself with a sigh. "Sorry... My wings are just really sensitive..." He relaxed again. Another grabbed his wings and his body stiffened. "Relax your grip please..." More children's hands darted to the wings and held on. "SERIOUSLY? GET OFFF!" He shook them off and ran to their room to find something to distract the children. He came back about half an hour later with Lightning Heart the puppy. "Okay Heartbeat, you do this and I punch Gene in the face and give you his cookies." Lightning Heart nodded and leapt from his arms to distract the small children. He dropped down into his chair and decided to start thinking through exactly what happened that day. He remembered his original home life. The reason he left his parent.