Calathus

Chapter 28 - The Taste

Deneck's yells blurred in the background as Reth saw the curtain of fire descend on Sianna. He ran toward the emerald flames only briefly wondering why there was no heat and why the smell of wet grass was so prevalent. Deneck and Calera sprinted next to him, one sported a crazed sense of worry while the other was following through with her duty.

Iari.

He was also in those flames. Reth would have to save him too. The thought of anything happening to him set a weight of dread over Reth's shoulders. But why the user wasn't utilizing his own magic against the attack was puzzling. He had shown he was more than capable of taking down an opponent even Reth hadn't been able to damage.

But when the other Rhokin reached the flames, they bounced away as if swatted by an invisible palm. The three slid and stumbled across the ground sprouting baby stalks of green. Panic seized Reth's chest and he couldn't remember how to breathe.

Sianna!

The fire stopped, and Reth inhaled. Everyone was standing, uncharred. But how? He cautiously saw as Sianna scowled at her hands and body. She caught his eyes, silently asking what was going on.

"We're alive." Iari's words were quiet but heard by all.

Lycin frowned. "That's one way to put surviving a dragon breathing on you."

"No!" Iari pointed at his neck which was mended of the wound Kota had inflicted. "I mean we're alive!"

Sianna's hands went to her throat as did Aldermeck and Lycin's to discover the same thing.

"We are." Aldermeck smiled as she rubbed her eyes.

Lycin audibly inhaled and exhaled. "I can breathe!"

"Are you alright, ser?" Reth asked as he approached Sianna.

She nodded. "I just feel a little funny. When I was dead, it was hard for me to feel sensations, and now I feel like everything is spilling over on my skin."

"And everything is so bright to me," Aldermeck said, the heel of her palms still pressed to her eyes.

"Are you going to need me to hold your hand and guide you, Meryl? Like an old lady?" Deneck laughed.

She smacked his head. "Shut up, Deneck."

Reth studied Sianna. Aside from her neck, she didn't look different, but her actions were a bit hesitant like the air itself startled her. When the wind picked up, she recoiled. Though he knew she wasn't in any rational danger, Reth moved closer to her.

"Leave," the wind howled and the dragon in front of them shimmered with waves of color across its scales before it disappeared.

Familiar hills of roots appeared and slithering within them was Vivor. When Kota and Yokir rushed up to them with questions in their eyes, Reth let Iari answer them. The Rhokin was too busy observing his ser. He wanted to make sure she truly was alive and well and no foul magick was involved. He didn't sense anything malicious from her, but his Ayodite experiences left him suspicious.

If anything, he concluded Sianna was tired. The way she sighed with her shoulders drooping into the bend of her back only for her to straighten up a few seconds later was the telltale sign Reth had learned to recognize. One she did plenty during their reading and spelling lessons this journey had interrupted. A small bubble of joy curled the corner of his lips knowing they would soon return to that norm.

"Explain what the hell all that shit was up there," Reth heard his ser say. "That black dragon."

Kota perked up. "It really was there? Did it attack you?"