CHAPTER TEN
VERDAN
As he tore through the jungle, Verdan amended his list of greatest fears to add Rebecca’s scream. Maybe on the same line as Farrah’s. Despite his panic, he understood the implication.
He loved her.
He loved Rebecca.
His fear powered him through bushes and around trees. The scales along his body rippled and his skin grew warmer and warmer. He followed some sort of trail, but he didn’t have the time or patience to creep through. Over the freshness of flowers, he smelled a sharp, acidic scent which made him wrinkle his nose.
Dorian blood.
Pride filled his heart. His girls fought back.
Following the scent, Verdan burst into a clearing. Three Dorians were clustered around a dilapidated building, shaking the rough beams. The house groaned.
Verdan roared in challenge.
The Dorians turned, hissing to each other.
“Charge him! Now!”
Verdan broke into a sprint. As he ran, he unleashed his Virtue of the Avowed. Between one step and the next, his body buckled and snapped, switching between his Latent form and his Virtuous one. He dropped to all fours, his body expanding and his neck elongating. His scales overlapped his body like armor, tough and impenetrable.
As the Dorians charged, he dug one clawed foot into the ground and whipped around, smacking them with his tail. Two of the Dorians ducked, but the third flew back in the direction from which he came.
The pair remaining leaped onto Verdan. The first went for his eyes, while the second climbed onto his back, trying to peel back a scale so he could sink his teeth into Verdan’s flesh.
Amateurs, Verdan thought. These are not soldiers. Merely scavengers.
Throwing his weight to the side, he rolled, and felt a satisfying crunch as the Dorian on his back met his demise under Verdan’s bulk. The stink of Dorian blood and fear filled the air.
Back on his feet now, Verdan flicked his head from side to side, trying to shake off the Dorian clinging to his face. With a curse, the Dorian dropped and scrambled away, trying to make a break for the trees.
Verdan pounced. His claws slammed down on his enemy’s back, and pierced his thick hide. The Dorian thrashed for a moment, and then was silent.
One more to go.
Verdan looked up in time to see the last Dorian straining with a beam on the building. His heart lurched. He ran towards the Dorian, but he was too late.
With a crash, the building tumbled down.
No! No!
Verdan slammed into the Dorian, finishing him off with a quick snap of his jaws.
He dropped his Virtue, and stood once more on two legs. Grabbing the nearest stone, he began hauling debris away.
“Farrah! Rebecca!” To his horror, a groan answered him. The words were incomprehensible, but they were not Ennoi. “Hold on, Rebecca! Hold on! Is Farrah with you?”
Silence answered him.
Dust filled the air as he worked. Panic pounded in his chest. What if he shifted a stone wrong? What if he crushed Rebecca? What if Farrah was in there, and what if she…
“Farrah! Farrah, can you hear me? Answer me!”
A crash in the forest behind him made him spin around.
“Here! I’m here!” Farrah emerged from the trees, and relief flooded his body. She wore a mech suit, and with a few quick bounds, she crossed the clearing and reached his side.
“I’m okay. They didn’t get me.”
“Thank the Moon,” Verdan said. “I thought you were inside.”
Farrah didn’t reply. She merely grabbed a stone and threw it aside. “Let’s go get Rebecca.”
For a moment, Verdan was mesmerized by the determination in his daughter’s eyes. When had she grown so big? When had she stopped being the little girl who only needed him? No, she was old enough now to need more than he could provide.
Pulling his focus back to his task, he and Farrah worked to free Rebecca. Even with the mech suit, he knew Farrah must be struggling. Despite the dirt and sweat on her brow, she kept going.
“There!” Farrah pointed. “Her hand!”
Quickly, they cleared the area. When her face appeared, Verdan felt a flood of relief.
“She’s still breathing!” He patted her face gently, carefully avoiding the bloody area on her temple. “Rebecca?”
With a groan, she opened her eyes. “Verdan? I dreamed you turned into a dragon.”
“I’ll explain later. Are you hurt?”
“My leg…”
“Let’s get you out of here.”
***
Verdan paced the corridor outside Tumal’s spare bedroom. He longed to be inside, with Rebecca, but Farrah had burst into tears at the sight of Rebecca’s mangled leg. So instead, he paced outside while a doctor tended to his beloved.
My beloved.
Mine.
He didn’t quite understand it, but he knew it to be true. For the first time, in a long time, his heart beat again. For the first time, in a long time, his heart felt big enough to hold love for both Farrah and another.
He had a lot of time to think on the long ride from the clearing back to Tumal’s house. To his friend’s credit, he’d not said a word as Verdan had carried in a bloody Rebecca. He’d led them to the spare room while his son raced off to find the doctor.
Now they waited to see if an Ennoi doctor with no experience with Humans could patch up Rebecca.
Farrah sat in a chair, her head bowed. Her fingers fidgeted with a handful of shiny stones, and occasionally she sniffed.
Only infants weep, he thought, before pushing aside the sentiment. She might cry, but Farrah contained an Ennoi warrior’s spirit. She had come through when it mattered most. He had to admit that he felt like weeping himself, though whether of pride or sadness he could not tell. He sat beside her, and pulled her close, tucking her into the curve of his arm.
Stay little for a while longer, Farrah.
The door opened, and the doctor stepped out.
“How is she?”
“She’ll live.” The doctor rubbed her brow. “I’m not sure we can save the leg, though.”
Verdan’s heart sank. “Can I go see her?”
“Of course,” the doctor replied. “She’s awake and asking for you. For you both.”
Verdan’s hand trembled as he opened the door. He remembered opening another door, to another patient, a lifetime ago. Yet, the room beyond was not sterile hospital quarters, with solemn-faced doctors and sober nurses.
Bright sunlight streamed in from the wide windows. The bedspread across Rebecca’s legs was decorated in a bold geometric pattern, and outside, Verdan heard the laughter of children.
Rebecca opened her eyes. “Hi,” she said. Her voice croaked, and her words slurred, but her smile was strong. “Boy, am I glad to see you guys.”
Farrah dove into Rebecca’s arms. Rebecca winced as Farrah’s weight dropped onto her, but she wrapped her arms around the girl and patted her back.
“I am so sorry!” Farrah wailed. “If I hadn’t wanted to go out…”
“Then, we would have been trapped in the ship with Dorians,” Rebecca replied. “You have no reason to apologize. You didn’t do this.”
Farrah sniffled. “You’re not mad?”
“Not even a little bit. I’m just glad you didn’t get hurt.”
She looked past Farrah at Verdan’s face. A thousand words flitted between them.
“Hey, Farrah,” Rebecca said. “Can you do me a favor? If I’m going to be stuck here for a while, I’d like something pretty to fancy up the place. Could you find some flowers for that vase?”
Farrah bit her lip. “I guess?”
Verdan cleared his throat. “I am certain Tumal’s children can help you find the best flowers.”
Farrah nodded. “Okay. You got me lumi, I’ll get you flowers.”
When the door shut behind her with a click, Verdan took Rebecca’s hand.
“Are you in much pain?”
Rebecca shrugged. “I dunno. The doctor gave me something. I’m flying right now.” She stuck out her free hand like an airplane wing. “Wheeeee.”
Verdan lowered his forehead to her hand. “I’m sorry.”
Rebecca sighed. “You didn’t do this either.”
Verdan shook his head. “No, I did not. But I also didn’t listen to you.”
She laughed at that. “Oh, my word! Am I still dreaming? Are you going to turn into a dragon again?”
“What is a dragon?”
“A mythical beast with wings and tail.”
“That… wasn’t a dream,” he said. “But no wings.”
“Oh.” She absorbed the information. “So, that’s a thing Ennoi can do? Become dragons?”
“It’s called the Virtue of the Avowed, and yes, Ennoi who have found their Avowed can change their forms.”
“Huh. Kinda badass.”
He frowned. “Is that a good thing?”
“Yes, Verdan. It’s a good thing. You’re a good thing.”
“You are the best thing.” He kissed her hand, and she closed her eyes and murmured happily.
“Say that again,” she said.
“You are the best thing of all things that exist.”
“Small joys,” she said, with a smile.
He shook his head. “No, not a small joy.”
She cracked her eye and stared at him. “Huh?”
“What we have could never be a small joy,” Verdan continued. “You have spent so much of your time seeking out scraps of happiness that you have missed the great big joy before you.”
“What’s that, then?” she asked.
He brushed a hand over her brow. “Love can never be small.”
“Love?” Tears glistened in her eyes.
“Yes. I love you.”
She closed her eyes, and a tear trailed down her cheek. “Not bad for broken words, Verdan.”
“My words may be broken, but you have healed me. I wish to return the kindness. Together, we could be whole.”
“Oh.”
It wasn’t much of a word as words went, but Verdan understood. He understood the loneliness, the isolation. The feeling of waking up and not knowing where you were. His love was an anchor she never knew she needed.
To be fair, she is an anchor I never knew I needed, either.
For a moment, he wanted to scoop her up. To kiss away her fears and pain. To kiss her until she came to her senses, and then to kiss her senseless again. He held himself back.
Not the time. He wouldn’t hurt her. Not now, not ever.
“If you will allow me,” he said, after a moment, “I wish to spend a lifetime showing you that this universe contains many large joys.”
Her wicked grin made his chest, and pants, tighten. “Large joys, huh? You can show me those once I’m back on my feet.”
She closed her eyes, and for a moment, he thought she’d fallen asleep. When she spoke, her voice was quiet and low. “Did you tell me you loved me, or did I dream that?”
He kissed her fingers again. “I love you.”
“Good,” she replied.
“If you need me to say it again, I will.”
“Go for it.”
“I love you.”
“Once more, just in case.”
“I love you, Rebecca.”
“Hey, Verdan?”
“Yes, my love?”
“I love you, too.”
“Now it is I who is flying.”
When Farrah burst into the room with a fistful of flowers, she found her father curled up asleep on the bed, his arms wrapped around Rebecca. Tiptoeing, she placed the flowers in the vase, and moved it beside Rebecca, where she would see it once she opened her eyes.
Before Farrah sneaked out, she placed a kiss on her father’s brow, and then another on Rebecca’s cheek.
Closing the door behind her, Farrah decided her next step would be to find Tumal’s oldest son, and figure out a way to get Min and her babies off the Moon’s Pride. For some reason, Farrah felt like maybe they’d all be staying here for a while.