Dragonspeaker: A Dragonslayer Sequel (Reupload)

Chapter 26: Rowan

ROWAN

Leaf. He's here.

Rowan was still struggling to wrap her head around it. Didn't he and that friend of his plan on searching for some golden dragon? Why was he back so soon? And...what happened to his friend? Ivy was her name, wasn't it? She found it odd that she wasn't with him - they seemed fairly close, from what Rowan remembered. As she stood around pondering that, another thing suddenly hit her: Wren.

Wren. Oh, moons, where's Wren? Her dragon companion, Sky, was there - he was simply resting his chin on his talons, perking up slightly upon noticing Rowan, Camellia, and Cranberry's arrival. If Rowan was reading dragon expressions correctly, Sky seemed to have...something of a frown on his face. Sad looking, even. I somehow doubt that he'd have that face if Wren were here.

"Rowan, you're shaking," Cranberry murmured, gently brushing her hand against Rowan's. "You can sit down and rest for a while, okay? You've had a long enough day as is."

Rowan tried to stop the trembling, but only found that trying made her shake more. "O-okay," she replied, nodding. She trudged over to where Grove was sitting, then hesitantly curled up against his shoulder.

Wren's gone, Wren's gone, Wren's-

She felt Grove's hair rub against her cheeks and neck - his arm tightly wrapped around her shoulders. Rowan just let him rub her back, though she didn't notice it that much. She can't be gone, can she? Rowan just kept her gaze on Cranberry, trying to keep her thoughts from spiraling. Cranberry had her gaze on Leaf and Sky, assessing them carefully - just as she opened her mouth, two people came bursting through the bushes behind her. Cranberry held back what sounded like a growl, likely of annoyance. It was Thyme and Mallow - the latter of which came to a sudden halt once she spotted Sky. She let out a shriek upon seeing him, dropping her supplies and falling onto the ground - Thyme flinched upon hearing it. Camellia shot up, glancing at them. She rushed over to Mallow, helping her up. Mallow shakily accepted her help, leaning onto Thyme as they walked over to the center of the camp. From the corner of her eye, Rowan caught the slightly hurt expression on Sky's face - she guessed it was mainly due to Mallow's reaction. It isn't the most surprising reaction, though. In all honesty, Rowan was more surprised that Tadpole was sitting next to Leaf. Maybe he isn't as cowardly as I thought...or maybe he's just more comfortable around Leaf.

Cranberry shot one last impatient glare at the bushes before turning back to Leaf. "Never mind that. So...you're back."

Leaf took his hand away from Tadpole's, crossing his arms. "Yeah. Shit happened."

"I can tell," Cranberry sighed. "Mind explaining what happened? We can talk in private, if you're more comfortable with that. I don't want to pressure you, Leaf."

Grimacing, Leaf shook his head. "No, I...I should tell everyone." He forced himself to meet Cranberry's gaze. "It happened a few days ago. When we woke up, Wren and Ivy were just...gone. Usually I'd assume they went out hunting, but...it was early, even for Wren. So we went looking for them, but..." Leaf paused momentarily to catch his breath. "We had to leave without them."

Rowan couldn't exactly tell what Cranberry was feeling, but judging from her expression, it wasn't good. "Why did you guys have to leave them behind?"

"I...well, I don't know why, but soldiers from the Indestructible City tried to attack us, or something like that," Leaf explained, his voice wavering. "I just barely managed to get away with Sky's help."

Sky lowered his head, blinking sadly. "It's true. Leaf and I both had trouble getting those guards to leave us alone...we don't know if we managed to lose them." His chin rested on his talons, now looking away. "I should've done more."