by Dane Bagley
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Aiden’s healing art was successful. The boys were stronger and more capable. When the next winter ended, they reached the corner of the dark forest. They had chosen Cardsten as their destination, but the vote was not unanimous.
Whether Dromreign hibernated or not they were not certain, but they had had no sight of the beast during their second winter’s months. They had not met another soul during the dark of the winter and had not heard any news. On the evening of their last night in the dark forest they heard the excitement among the wolves again. Aiden recognized this activity like when they had initially entered the dark forest, and he remembered catching sight of the hideous dragon. He feared that the dragon had awoken and was hungry.
“We shall camp tonight in or near a small village called, Golopse. It is midway between here and Cardsten. I think that they will be friendly towards us. We leave at the break of dawn.”
Civilization seemed like a pleasant and distant memory to the young men. Terrence, however, was still in a dark and quiet state. He had changed from the time of the battle with the wolves the winter before, the one that took his older brother’s life. Marcus had been dead for over a year, and he was leaving the dark forest, his brother’s final resting place. The finality of his loss sickened him.
Aiden hardly slept that evening. He watched and listened to the wolves. He searched the sky for a sighting of the great beast, but saw and heard nothing. At daybreak, they left the forest, well fed and stronger than ever. It would be an easy, and hopefully, quiet walk along flat earth. Aiden’s greatest fear was sun exposure. They had been within the forest for so long that they had not acclimated their skin to hours of the rays of the sun. It was still cool, however, and he had everyone dress with long pants and shirts.
Daxton and Terrence had never experienced concern upon being exposed in the wide openness. When they entered the dark forest, it seemed more frightful to be inside than outside. But here their instincts called for being quiet and hidden. They felt naked and isolated, and fully visible. Never before would they have considered the dark forest a place of protection; nearly everything about them had changed.
The sun was setting and a beautiful sunset was on the horizon to their right. Everything was still and peaceful. Golopse was near and they were both excited and nervous to interact with other people.
Aiden stopped short and sniffed the air. Jashion turned and looked at Aiden with deep concern. They picked up their pace towards Golopse. As Aiden and Jashion feared, there was no village to be found. Rather, still smoldering remains of homes and people covered the ground. Dromreign had made this village his feast after its long winters nap.
Sickness filled the pit of Jashion’s stomach. He had left Dargaer before he had seen the total demolishment of his home, his village, and his people. Upon gazing at the ruin of Golopse, he felt as though he was looking at his own people the morning after. Perhaps inside of him a small hope remained that it was not as bad as it seemed, when he left. At that moment, he saw that his escape was miraculous. Dromreign left no survivors. It ate all that it could and consumed the rest with fire. They looked for anyone whom they could help. None were found. They found nothing edible. Still they slept there on the edge of the village. They had enough provisions to get them through breakfast. On the morrow, they would complete the journey to Cardsten.
Chapter 10