by B. C. Sirrom
~*~
Two Years Earlier
Ava waddled about the room, gathering essentials into the one bag she could manage on her own. Deciding what to keep wasn't the hard thing, she thought. It was deciding where to go. Her birth families had been sparse to begin with and the ones left were so old and decrepit that none of them had much to do with her during her stay with the clan. None of them would consider defying the Elders by offering her shelter. Ava swallowed the rising panic down and continued to gather what she knew couldn’t be left behind. At least she still had the social security card and birth certificate she had been issued when she lived with her adoptive parents. A tap at the door brought her back from another wave of terror.
“Come in!”
She looked up from her task to find her Sentinel, Dwys, entering with a worried but determined expression. “I really don’t have time to talk right now, Sentinel Dwys. I was told to be gone by first light and that gives me very little time to pack and then rest.”
His wrinkled hand landed gently on her shoulder. “Tywyll…”
Ava spun away from his grasp, her breath expelling in a sob. “You can’t call me that! If the Elders hear you…”
Dwys grasped her arms and firmly guided her to sit on the side of her bed. She looked up at him and felt her lip quiver. “What am I going to do, Dwys?” The first tear fell and she swiped at it angrily. Ava hated to cry and lately she cried for no reason. She clenched her hands together and inhaled deeply. Releasing the breath slowly, she was able to regain control and looked up at her mentor. “Could you come with me, Dwys? Just until I have the baby? I don’t expect you to stay forever, but how can they just expect me to either give up my child or go out into the world they separated me from with nothing but what I can carry?”
“Ava, you know I cannot go with you. The human world is no place for this old dragon. But this is not why I came to you, against the wishes of my Elders. I must tell you something. It will be painful. But I know you are strong and that you will persevere.”
“What else could you say that would be as painful as being banished from the only home I have?”
“According to the report I found, dated three years ago, Margaret and Walter Drake were still alive and living in Nebraska.”
The lead in her stomach dropped painfully to her toes, her heart beginning to pound so hard that she felt faint. Her sight grayed for a moment before she realized she wasn’t breathing and she gulped in a huge breath just as Dwys pounded her back with the palm of his gnarled hand. Her vision cleared only to go red as the meaning of his words sunk in. She lurched up from the bed, certain that if she didn’t put some distance between them there would be an unfortunate replay of her infamous meltdown. Ava whirled to face him, oblivious to the shame on his face. She felt the burn in the back of her throat and swallowed hard. There was no doubt Dwys could protect himself from her fire, but no matter what he might have been a party to, she refused to give in to her anger and hurt. Calling on all of the training she’d learned from Dwys, Ava calmed herself and asked in a tight voice, “Have you always known?”
Dwys face tightened, the scales that made the crest on his head bristling, reminding Ava of one of the main reasons he could no longer travel in the human world. He simply couldn’t hold his human shape anymore. “I suppose I deserved that, knowing how betrayed you must feel. I had my suspicions, no evidence, only my instinct that the Elders had held back full disclosure regarding your adoptive parents.” Ava opened her mouth, unsure of what to say and he held up his hand for quiet. Since she really didn’t know what to say, she nodded and sat in the chair by her desk. He continued, “I knew, when the Elders gave you their verdict concerning your child that you would refuse. You are rarely one to fall in line with what is expected. So I finally gave into my suspicion and made some quiet inquiries. Your parents were told that you no longer wished to live in the human world and they were encouraged to relocate.”
“Were they threatened?
Dwys scowled at her and shook his head. “No, Mr. Drake was offered a promotion which included a transfer to another branch of the company he worked for…”
“One the Clan just happened to own?”
“Not owned, but is influenced by. The Drakes were encouraged to accept the generous offer and, as I understand it, they reluctantly acquiesced to the transfer with the condition that you be allowed to contact them if you so choose at a later time.”
Dwys pulled a large manila envelope from his robe and stepped forward to place it on the table by Ava’s elbow. He set his hand on her head, a gesture of Blessing from an elder of their Clan to a younger member. “No father could be more proud of his progeny than I am of you, Daughter of my Heart.” His voice cracked and he left quickly, not giving Ava a chance to respond. Trying to process this new knowledge, she sat for some time, unaware of how much time passed.
Harsh words and accusations whirled throughout her chaotic thoughts, but they were overshadowed by the fact that Dwys had risked everything to give Ava and her daughter a chance to live in the outside world after the Elders’ banishment.