The Dragon Lady

Treaties and Furies

With all the haste they could manage, Zaria was taken to the emergency treating room. "We are sorry, sir, but this is as far as you can go." One of the healers told Ryker. "She is my wife and I'll stay by her side!" He protested. "I'm sorry, but you can't. Let us do our work. The faster we do that, the more chance your wife has of recovery." The healer told him and shut the doors behind her.

Sitting down in utter defeat, Ryker struggled to deal with his emotions and feelings. "She'll be alright, Ryker." Viggo tried to comfort his older brother. "Who knows if she will be? She has been stabbed in the back with that bullhook, her injuries are pretty serious, not even thinking she has been out for over a week! How much blood must she have lost? I can't believe I almost cremated my wife alive..." Ryker told Viggo.

"She is a strong woman, Ryker. She has always been the strongest woman we have ever met. First, she was taken away from her home island to marry you. Then the people started to pick on her, then she was taken away from you for fifteen years in which she has been through a lot as well, and she still walks among us! She is someone who could never be broken by anything." Viggo tried to give Ryker some encouraging words.

"Just leave me alone." Ryker retorted. "But..." Viggo stuttered being upset his brother didn't want him to comfort him. "Just go! I want to be left alone!" Ryker shouted out angrily. With pain and sadness, Viggo left Ryker be.

Walking down the hallways, Viggo was sunk deep in thoughts. Being completely absentminded, his feet brought him to places without even thinking about where to go. The people around him, wherever he went, stepped out of his way, seeing Viggo wasn't doing well.

When passing the farming fields, Viggo noticed someone was following him. He quickened his pace and went down alley after alley, trying to lose this mysterious person. "Out of my way." He pushed one or two men aside when he got through crowds standing around in the market place.

Coming to the stables, Viggo stepped around the corner and waited for the person to pass by.

"Excuse me, sir, but are you Viggo Grimborn? The chief of the Dragon Hunter tribe?" She asked him. "Yes, that's me. Why?" Viggo answered a little harsh as he let go of her.

"My name is Tahlya, I'm from the Defenders of the Wing tribe. I will be honest and straightforward to you. When I first saw you, I only realized then that you are so handsome. You are very different from the stories I've heard about you." She said. "What stories have you heard about me?" Viggo asked as if he were curious, but honestly he just wanted this woman to leave him alone.

"That you are a horrible man with no sense of mercy, empathy or even being able to love someone. But during the battle with the Dragon Trappers, I saw those stories were false. I saw you care about the people closest around you, like your brother and his wife." She explained.

"Yes, I do care about them, but I will never care for anyone else in the way you see me." Viggo turned her care down. "How come? I see you as an amazing and caring man that shouldn't be alone in life." Tahlya tried to convince him. "Forget it. I'm a married man, and there is no one that will be able to take my heart away from my wife." Viggo sneered hurtful, feeling the grief rise up again.

"Are you alright?" Tahlya asked him as she saw the tears form in his eyes. "No, I'm not alright! For weeks I have to witness my brother finally being reunited with his wife again after fifteen years, see him be happy while I'm left alone!" Viggo shouted as the pain finally came loose.

"But you just said you are married..." Tahlya said confused. "I was married once, but my wife and son are dead! An awful plague haunted my village and they died because of it. I should be with them in Valhalla as I fell ill too, so why have the Gods spared me while they should've spared my wife and son?!" He shouted out as the tears flowed down freely over his cheeks.