Es, Ch. 21: A little bit of caring

A blurred voice called out, "Soria, wake up. Can you hear me?"

     Eight months have passed since Soria fell into her coma. Ember checked in on her regularly… or at least, she used to. Time had just faded away almost all hope that she had for her.
     A lot had changed in Ember's life during those eight months. Ember and Flame became mates, after finally realizing that they were each other's one and only true love, and Ember gave up on her job search, seeing as Flame could easily support the two of them. It was the first of those that Ember was thinking about as she lied in her bed with Flame, who was still sleeping. She recalled it perfectly, the story of how, a month ago, Flame and her became mates; however, her mind also wandered to what else happened that day.


     Ember was walking to the cabin where Soria was still being taken care of; Soliace was caring for her even after all this time, in her own home. And although she hasn't visited recently, Ember thought it was a good idea to see Soria again… hoping that with this visit, Soria would be doing better, instead of her pattern of constantly getting worse.
     Within coming a decent distance from the cabins (while not quite being within view), Ember triggered a sensor set up around Soliace's house, which alerted her that someone had come. Since she was taking constant care of someone now, Soliace took no chances with safety… or so she explained.
     She shared a telepathic thought with Blue and he put down the talisman he was holding. To her, he quietly said, "Why must she interfere? We are getting so close to awakening Soria; can't we just send the dragoness away when she gets here?"
     Soliace shook her head in response and waved out the door, to the approaching Ember. "Can you not tell, Blue? These things take time, where is your patience? It is not as though we could finish this here today… we still have a little more we must do."
     Blue sighed and sat down on the rough floor, where scattered scrolls, charms, and runes lay in jumbles. He had hoped that this would end soon.
     Ember came into the cabin and immediately stood in shock as she saw how Soria looked. On her body was hand drawn runes and mixed in among the natural colors of her scales, the dark purple glowing stripes remained, now fiercely shining pillars of haunting light that enveloped her body. Ember looked away in disgust and fear. "How long has she been this bad?" Ember asked, as the smallest tear lay under her eye.
     Soliace looked down upon the imprisoned body with a concerned look in her eyes, and she answered quietly, uncertain of what her answer would mean to Ember. "She changed this way within in the last week, and has stayed in this state since then. Her body is nearly completely consumed by this aura that haunts her. Those symbols on her that I wrote; they should keep her from being harmed for the time being… but I'm not sure if we can find hope for her by then. We are close Ember, I know there's a way to stop this from ruining her… but we just have to find out how. I have called in countless experts on curses and magicks, they have given me much information and help… now I just need to work as I can, and hopefully, I can free her."
     Ember too looked down upon Soria, now even more worried; there was a hope, but also a grave danger for her… and things weren't leaning her way. It lead Ember to have a question though; one that she thought couldn't have been answered any earlier. "Do you know why she's in the state that she is? Why has she been in this coma, and why have these marks appeared on her; taking over her body?"
     Soliace expected her to finally ask that question, and she knew exactly why… but telling her wouldn't be easy. "When you brought her in she looked as though she lay only unconscious, but you had actually killed her… she was already in a rage, it seemed, before she died, and a part of her hidden since her birth had emerged from within her and only through that evil could she be alive today." Ember shivered violently with the words that Soliace spoke to her, while her scales creeped and her blood ran cold. "However, with her life saved, she lost control of that evil inside her, and it has been battling with her soul to take control of her. As you can tell… Soria has been losing the fight. Should Soria awaken without being freed, she could destroy any lands she choose and she could take the place of where Red left off, covering the world in darkness."
     Ember stood in shock, absorbing the weight of the words that Soria had spoke… and the realization of what she could have released into the world. It was here where Blue spoke for the first time in the conversation. "Did you have to tell it to her like that? She's obviously sad enough that her friend is in this state, so why explain all of this to her?"  He put his hand on Ember's back to comfort her and then said, "She will be alright, I promise you that. We'll help her, and these lands will be safe. Don't worry now, before long, I'm sure you can see her awake once more."
     Ember was astonished by the thought. Seeing Soria awake again had seemed unreal before… and that possibility alone comforted her, even as she thought she should still be concerned. She knew after Soria awoke from the coma she would probably still have harsh, and most likely worse feelings towards Ember… but it didn't matter, she still cared for Soria's safety. And then one more question came to her, as she turned to Soliace, "How did she get this inside of her anyways? You said she had it from her birth, how could that be, did someone curse her as she was still unborn?"
     Soliace thought back a moment to her earlier and even her most recent observations, and then said, "I don't know all of it, and I don't believe that's my story to tell. So when Soria wakes up, and if she chooses to tell you, then you can hear it from her."
Ember questioned in her mind what Soliace said, and then came to the conclusion that she was probably right; it was Soria's secret alone.

     With so much she learned that day, in that short time; Ember thought she'd have her mind racing with every detail trying to find some peace and answers. However, and oddly enough, she simply found it too much to ponder, and dropped the whole thing by the time she reached her house. She was too excited about being with Flame anyways. They were both young dragons and their love was flowing and relentless. In fact, she was so excited to see Flame that when she came in, she completely forgot to tell him about what occurred with Soria, and instead decided to sneak up behind him and give him a hug and kiss. He gladly welcomed it and her presence as he led her into the kitchen to grab a small box. She asked what it was, and he simply grinned and led her outside. Immediately after heading back behind his house she knew where they were going.
     As expected, they traveled up the steep hill and reached the plateau, to sit on the same edge as they sat seven months prior. It was here where they had their first affectionate moments together since they were kin. Flame opened the box he held in his hands, and revealed a new heart necklace: one of pure gold and a polished pink gem. Flame slid the chain around Ember's neck and he took the old and worn-down necklace off of her.
After staring deeply at the new pendant and giving Flame a long hug, Ember looked down and saw the burned rocks and trees from their play-fight in the air below. Those memories were fond to her, and bred even deeper feelings inside of her: those not of lust, but pure and passionate love built up with all the caring she had for the red dragon beside her. So with affection controlling her every move and thought, as Flame shared the same passion; the two of them held a kiss, and on that field of grass that lay high above Spiritgrowth they accepted each other fully, sharing a love that only the other could match. It was here that they became mates and it was here that they could never be any closer.


     And now it was a month later, Ember lying there on her bed, thinking of all the love that Flame and Ember had flowing through their veins. She felt butterflies in her stomach and snuggled even closer to her sleeping mate. She couldn't have asked for a better love.