Eddie woke up to a strange warmth on his chest. He blinked groggily and turned on the light at his bedside and realized that Eclipse was curled up on his chest.
The dragon was not at all pleased when Eddie groaned and pushed him off, hissing in the process.
"I didn't say you could sleep on me," Eddie said with an eye roll. "Go cuddle with Bill if you're so needy."
Eclipse snarled again and jumped up into Bill's bed, curling next to Bill's chest and closing his eyes.
Eddie rolled his eyes at the dragon, looking around the room. There was no clock in the room, which meant Eddie had no clue what time it was, since there were no windows. All he knew was that he'd be on a ship back to Luceat when he was finally let out, and he needed to find a way to postpone that.
He absolutely refused to go home until he knew Richie was safe.
Bill grunted in his sleep, and Eddie turned to see that Eclipse was trying to climb on Bill and find more warmth.
"Come here," Eddie said, glaring at the lizard. "Leave him alone."
Eclipse gave Eddie a disgusted look but obeyed, flying over to his bed and sitting down irritably. He was only pleased when Eddie lifted up the blankets slightly and allowed the dragon to climb under them to stay warm.
Eddie couldn't really blame him; it was cooler in the room they were trapped in. The only thing that Eddie was happy about was the fact that Henry had stated he'd be sleeping outside the room, since he hated being in the same place as what he called "ungrateful Lucantians."
Eddie sat in the bed for a while, Eclipse purring next to him, while he tried to plan his way out. He knew that he couldn't run; there were too many guards hellbent on keeping him away from any form of danger. He couldn't force Eclipse to fight, and he wasn't going to kill unless it was a dire need for his or a friend's survival.
Unless it was Henry. Eddie was pretty sure he could easily find it in himself to kill Henry, but his main setback was the fact that his mom might overhear. He'd be in deep shit if he was caught killing someone who was supposed to be watching him.
"Richie, I wish you were here right now," Eddie whispered to himself.
He and Richie had been inseparable when traveling from Pona to Konilla and other time around then. He loved Richie with everything he had, and he wanted nothing more than to be holding him and know that he was safe from any form of harm. Unfortunately, the world didn't work that way and there was a war between their mutual safety.
That didn't stop Eddie from feeling too cold without Richie being close and too lonely without being able to feel Richie's lips on his own. He missed Stan, Bev, Ben, and Mike too. He also missed the triplets and all of the other allies he'd made on his journey.
He hated knowing that some of them might die in the upcoming war.
The door to Eddie's room opened and he looked over to see Henry in the doorway. Light was streaming in from behind Henry, showing Eddie it was morning in Pona.
Eclipse growled at the sight of Henry, jumping in front of Eddie and trying to seem bigger than he really was.
Henry chuckled at the sight. "Richie isn't around to protect you so you chose a lizard?" he asked, clearly amused by Eclipse's attempts to intimidate him.
"Leave me alone," Eddie responded, shooting Henry a dark glare. "My mother is supposed to collect me for our journey home."
Henry smiled again, but there was another layer beneath the look. Something darker, more menacing.
Something that made Eddie's hair stand on end.
"There's been a change of plans." That's all Henry said before waking up Bill and ordering that he and Eddie follow right behind him.
Eclipse held onto Eddie's back, letting out growls of disapproval every time Henry looked at them.
They were lead to a small building in the center of the village, where Henry escorted them inside. Both Eddie and Bill exchanged confused glances, not understanding why Sonia or Frank hadn't come to collect them yet.
"In here," Henry said, opening a door to a different room.
As they were walking inside, Eddie felt a terrible pain in his neck.
Eclipse had clawed him, trying to hang on since Henry was trying to pull the dragon off.
"H-hey! What the f-fuck?!" Bill screamed, ripping off the sleeve of his shirt to help with the blood on Eddie's neck.
Henry threw the dragon into a small cage in the room, making the animal shriek angrily and slam himself against the walls of the cage to get out.
Eddie's neck was in a lot of pain, his head throbbing and sticky, hot blood dripping all over his shirt. It wasn't a terribly deep cut, so Bill was able to cover it up, but it hurt like hell nonetheless.
"Wh-what the fuck?!" Bill screamed again, trying to help Eddie to his feet. "Wh-why the hell w-w-would you do that?!"
Eddie blinked and held the ripped shirt tighter to his neck, his head throbbing the tighter he held the cloth. He looked up at Henry who had a disgusting smile on his face.
"What was that for?" Eddie asked weakly, sitting up and leaning against the wall. He didn't feel strong enough to stand.
"I don't need your lizard getting in the way when we hang you both," Henry said plainly, making Eddie's blood run cold.
"H-hang us?" Bill asked, sitting next to Eddie and checking on his wound.
Henry nodded with a smirk. "Klais knows you two are traitors, and with Richie and the Konillian escaping, it only makes sense that you take their place."
"Our parents said that we have to go back to Luceat," Eddie said, knowing that both his father and mother would fight for them.
"Your mother will be unconscious until later tonight, and we can always kill your dad if he puts up a fight."
Bill stood up and swung a fist at Henry, only to be knocked down. "Y-you son of a b-b-bitch! They're going t-to kill everyone on T-Tenebris!"
"It's not my problem. I'm doing what I have to in order to keep myself alive," Henry said, picking up the cage with Eclipse inside and walking to the door of the room. "Hanging you two is a benefit."
When he left, Eddie turned to Bill, tears in his eyes.
"We have no way to contact Richie or Edwin or anyone to let them know what's going to happen," he said, tears already falling down his cheeks. "What're we going to do?"
Bill shook his head. "I don't kn-know if there's anything w-w-we can do," he said, pulling Eddie into a lose hug. "All w-we can do is h-hope that Richie or Edwin s-somehow figure out what's going on a-a-and save us."
