Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Dragon Lord ❯ Stronger bonds ( Chapter 9 )

“Stronger Bonds”

     Arthion felt horrible: his side hurt like hell, each breath a painful experience. He remembered talking to Azami and Faeron but, when he opened his eyes, he realized he was in a house. Confused about that, he searched the room, and found Faeron's face looking at him.

 

“Welcome back to the world of living” he said, smiling.

 

The prince softened his gaze but, remembering Azami should be there, he panicked and sat up. “Where is she?” he asked, before the pain of his wound forced him to lie down again.

 

“You mean your human friend? She's here, don't worry… yesterday you fell asleep before I explained… we're in Alassëa's house” the other dragon said. Precisely in that moment, the two girls entered the room.

 

“Yesh, Arthion! You'll have to relax a little or you're gonna kill yourself!” Alassëa said, “I can't believe you don't even remember waking up yesterday”.

 

Arthion looked at her surprised, and suddenly all memories came to his mind. “Sorry, it must have been the medicine” he said.

 

“Aly is right, you were going to kill yourself yesterday… that was not a very wise move” Faeron said, laughing.

 

“And you are lecturing me?” Arthion said, “You forgot you're not very rational yourself, like in that occasion…” the prince finished.

 

Faeron only looked the other way, avoiding his eyes. “Anyway, how do you feel?” he asked, trying to change the subject.

 

“As if someone had given me the worst beating of my long life” Arthion said.

 

Azami, who was listening in silence, couldn't believe her ears `Is he… joking?' she thought, but she said “I'm glad you're much more awake. That night I thought…” she interrupted herself, not daring to finish the sentence.

 

“Don't worry, Azami. Dragons are much stronger than humans… no offense” Arthion said.

 

Azami couldn't avoid noticing his tone was now much kinder; it seemed Faeron was right again.

 

“We must leave soon…” the prince started, but was interrupted by Alassëa.

 

“No way! Even with your strength, you'll need at least a week to totally eliminate the poison!” she said.

“But, Aly…” Arthion tried to protest.

 

“No way, Arthion! You stay here, end of discussion!” she said.

 

Azami then supported her. “Maybe you should listen to her. The king already knows you're here anyway. Besides, we can use that time to discover more about my medallion”

 

Arthion, defeated, looked at Faeron searching for his support, but the red-haired dragon only shrugged in resignation. “Alright, you win” the prince said to Azami.

 

“Wow! You actually listen to her… maybe you've found your `special person'?” said Faeron with a smile; both the prince and Azami blushed intently.

 

“Shut up, Faeron” Arthion said.
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     At first, Azami was worried about the idea of being a whole week alone with a group of strangers, but she latter had to admit she enjoyed the time. Faeron and Alassëa were kind and warm, easy to laugh, and treated her as a long-time friend. Besides, even Arthion changed his attitude after re-joining his friends. Although he still rarely smiled and never laughed, he was more relaxed and kind to her; he answered patiently all of Azami's questions about dragons and, as she realized with wonder, had started to treat her the same way he did with his dragon friends. During those days, she even found herself sitting next to him, talking. He didn't say much, but listened attentively, a quality she had come to like. She also was surprised to discover she longed for his company, and that she blushed whenever he fixed his golden gaze on her. On the other hand, Faeron noticed the prince seemed to feel the same about Azami.

 

When the four of them were together, Azami -and Arthion too, she discovered- laughed mentally at Alassëa's blushing when in front of Faeron… it was obvious she was in love with him but Faeron, as clueless as always, didn't notice it.

 

“¿He's always like that?” Azami asked Arthion one day.

 

“Not really, maybe he doesn't believe she can love him…” he said.

 

“Or he's not interested” she said.

 

“Oh, believe me, he is. He has been for years” Arthion said, a rogue smile on his face, “but don't tell him I told you, he'll kill me if he knew”.

 

“Alright” Azami said smiling, not only because of the information, but also because the trust the prince showed by sharing it.
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     Finally, the week passed. Now the four of them were friends and Azami's relation with all of them -including Arthion- was close; however, they could not discover exactly how her medallion worked, but only arrived to the conclusion it had to do with her emotions. They were now ready to continue.

 

 

 

Autor's notes: Thanks for Reading! By the way, if you're interested in knowing the meaning of my characters' names, just ask! (yeah, the dragons' names are in elvish… I couldn't resist :P)