Princess of Dragons

Chapter 21

Ciara slowly tried blinking her eyes open, only to find her sight was covered in a muddy darkness. She felt both numb and ached all over at the same time. Every single limb far too heavy for her to even move.

Apart from that, she couldn't tell if she was in a soft bedding or if she was on the hard ground. Though she could see nothing, it felt as though the whole world spun all around her.

The only thing she really could do was hear, but even then, she couldn't decipher who was who or what was what. It was as though all sounds had to pass through a thick, solid gate to reach her.

"She will be stable from now on, but will have to rest for some time, however."

"What is your estimate?"

"I would say at least a full moon-cycle until she is back to normal again. Half that time should be spent only in bed."

"I see. That is pretty good."

"It is nothing short of a miracle. We are lucky she is still with us at all."

She was pretty sure she was the one they were talking about, but she couldn't find it in her to really care. Especially not as the darkness began creeping in on her again, taking over what precious little she had of her sight and lulling her into what would surely be a heavy sleep.

"Now, she should get some rest. I will explain further outside."

"From now on, only the five of us will be allowed into this room. Whatever the reason may be. Is that clear?"

That was the very last thing she heard before sleep swallowed her whole.

...

"Kaisog! No!" she woke with a jolt, sitting upright with tears cascading down her cheeks.

She looked around at her surroundings, not having any clue where she was or what was going on.

The door to the room was kicked open and in strode a man who looked at her with wide eyes.

"What happened?!"

The familiar sound of his voice and the whimpering of a dragon brought everything back to her.

It was a dream. She'd only dreamt of Kaisog dying again.

It had been so long since last time. She thought she'd gotten over it.

She felt tears well up in her eyes uncontrollably as she looked at Alex. Her whole body started to tremble.

"Sorry. I am so, so sorry!"

He looked at her for a moment, not understanding anything, but then hurried over to her.

"Hey, hey. No need to cry, Ciara. You have done nothing wrong." He tried to soothe her, gently placing one hand on her back and the other on her good shoulder, supporting her. "Come on, let us get you down again." He gently pushed her down and into the bedding again.

It was only when he offered his support that she realized just how heavy her body was and how much it ached. It was like it had been weighed down with lead for hours on end.

She exhaled in relief once she went back to lying down, the physical strain on her body now gone.

She felt gentle yet callused hands reach up and wipe away the wetness on her cheeks.

"So, what happened, Ciara?"

"I had a night-terror," she said. He was one of the people she was most comfortable telling everything to besides Kaisog.

He smiled lightly at her as he knelt beside her so he was at her level.

"Want to tell me about it?"