Birth of a Dragoon

New Awakenings

Things were…strange. There was no other word for it. I couldn't decipher just what was going on within my being. Power surged through me, so raw and untapped; I never felt such strength before. It took me several times to finally pry open my eyes. I had to blink a couple times before my mind finally recognized that I was lying flat on my back within a cave, staring up at the rocky roof. A few moments later, I remembered what had occurred at the College and jerked to a sitting position.

Patting my chest, I was amazed to find no wound or even a scar where I had been struck down. I thought Cearúil stated he wasn't a true healer, as his mother was? Yet here I was, fully healed. Glancing around the cavern, I searched for Cearúil, but he was no where to be seen. Odd, the darkness no longer hindered my sight.

Figuring I'd ponder that later, I rose to my feet then stretched, but stopped instantly. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. When I rolled my shoulders to ease the stiffness in them, muscles and appendages I never had before moved as well. Glancing over my shoulder, my eyes widened in astonishment. Long, black wings slumped awkwardly against my back down past my knees.

What? How? I was completely flabbergasted, but not so much that I didn't hear the rocks being disturbed down the hall leading out of the chamber I had been placed in. I was too freaked out to know what to do or try to hide, or even to understand what else I was hearing. Backing away from the hallway, I tripped over a rock and fell to the ground; skinning the hell out of my new appendages. A fierce cry erupted throughout the cavern, but it was nothing compared to the agony coursing within my entire being now.

A fierce agony tore through Cearúil's right wing, alerting him to the fact that Gwen had just been injured. It wasn't him; he was alone in the cavern's hallway, so it had to be her. But how did someone get past him? He didn't care, he dropped the deer carcass he was carrying and hurried through the final stretch of hallways to the chamber he had left Gwen in.

Cearúil burst into the chamber, ready to fend off whatever attacked her. Only to find it empty, save for Gwen curled in a ball in the center of the room. Blood dribbled down the new right-hand wing, in the same exact spot as the freshly made wound on his own. Cearúil approached Gwen's small frame slowly, extremely concerned over her present state of mind.

"Gwen?"

He asked softly and watched as she jerked in response. He shouldn't have left her to awaken alone. Perhaps he shouldn't have changed her either. Gwen hadn't seemed demented when she first roused, stating she was quite hungry. She wasn't fully awake then though, did it take time to show?

"Gwen?"

Cearúil tried again, when he stopped before her, one clawed hand on either side of her shaking form. He sighed deeply, she refused to acknowledge him once more. Taking a deep breath, Cearúil blew hot air over Gwen's injured wing, while summoning the healing power hidden deep within him. Instantly the wound in his wing felt infinitely better. Making certain no one was hiding anywhere within the chamber, he went back to the hallway he left the carcass in. Before returning to cook it for Gwen by breathing fire on it twice.

"Gwen, you need to eat."

She barely turned in his direction to stare up at him wearily. "What have you done to me?"

Cearúil closed his eyes for a moment, thinking upon the best way to explain, he then lay on the ground, crossing his forearms to lay his head a top.

"I did what I had to to save your life. How are you feeling?"

"Dazed and confused. How did you save my life?"

"I broke every law of my species…"

"How? Why?"

He lifted his head slightly to stare down at her. "I couldn't let you go. My saving you broke the rules. I should have asked your permission, but I didn't…I couldn't, you were unconscious. I'm sorry, Gwen. Out of all the laws, that is the one I regret breaking most. Can you ever forgive me for taking your choice from you?"

Confusion roiled through me, I had no idea what he was talking about. Which wasn't a good thing, considering I was still caught up trying to figure out just what the changes within me were.

"Cearúil, I don't understand. Tell me what you did. Why I feel so different. And where the hell these came from" I stated as I grabbed one of the wings spouting from my back and spread it out so he would know it was what I was speaking of.

I watched as Cearúil's eyes closed once more. I hadn't missed the sorrow further filling his eyes, either. Could what he had done been that bad?

"Cearúil?"

He didn't bother to reopen his eyes. "The only way I was able to save your life was by making you a Dragoon, Gwen."

My eyes widened in shock and for several moments, I could only stare at him silently. "You did what?" Before he could say anything, I continued when horror shoved aside the shock within me.

"I thought…I thought you stated Celestia became demented because she was dying when Night Shadow made her a Dragoon? …Is the same thing going to happen to me? And how were you able to do it anyways?"

"I honestly am not sure what the consequences for my actions are going to be."

He raised his head slightly to bring his snout closer to Gwen's face. "I do not believe you are the same as Celestia. Celestia was cold-hearted, she didn't care about anything but herself. While Night Shadow was an ancient..."

"Does it make a difference?"

"Yes. It takes both sides of the bond to keep the balance, but Night Shadow was too old and Celestia easily over-powered him. Forcing him to do as she wished and kill so many innocents."

"I don't think you have to worry about that, I fail at everything."

"Not anymore, you won't."

My brow creased. "What do you mean? It's not like I'm going to wake up and suddenly be good at everything."

"For loving the stories about Draco and their Dragoons, you really don't know much about us. Do you?"

"You're confusing me, Cearúil. Will you just come out with what you're hiding from me now?"

Amusement filled Cearúil as he tilted his head to stare down at Gwen. "Once a Draco creates a Dragoon, the two practically become one. What happens to one also occurs to the other, whether they are together or separated by miles. Also though, my power and strength becomes yours. What I am capable of you are as well now. Perhaps not as strong as I was, but efficient none the less."

I did not hear all of Cearúil's words, he lost me after the whole 'what happens to one, happens to the other'. How could he do that to himself? I was worse than a bona fide klutz.

"Why would you do that to yourself? You know how much I trip over and run into things, why would you want to put yourself through that? Do you enjoy being in pain?"

Cearúil's laughter rang throughout my mind as his hiss filled the cavern. "Perhaps I was thinking…hoping…now that you know whatever you feel, I feel, you will be more…careful with your actions. However I'm beginning to believe that is wistful thinking on my part. How are you feeling?"

"Strange…will I ever feel like myself again? All these…changes are a bit overwhelming."

"I am unsure if you'll return to feeling like a failure and weakling again, but everything else should balance out once we learn control of our new abilities and strengths. It might take a while, but we'll help each other out."

"Can the bond ever be undone?"

"You want the bond to be broken?"

I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness fill my mind and realized we could feel each others emotions as well.

"Honestly? …I don't know. What if we're incompatible? I very well could be the worst Dragoon in history. Are you sure you're going to be able to put up with me?"

"I highly doubt either of those. You are only under confident. Which I will help you with. Eventually, you will be a very good Dragoon, if you'll allow me to help you. As for the 'putting up with you'…I think I can handle that. I didn't even realize how much I needed you, until you were wounded. I couldn't lose you as well. So I don't believe the 'putting up with you' is going to be a problem."

"'Couldn't lose me as well'? Who else have you lost?"

Cearúil sighed heavily as he closed his eyes. "About three weeks ago, I found out my mother was dying. Do you forgive me for not letting you go?"

Cearúil opened his eyes when Gwen didn't respond. She was staring silently at him, obviously deep in thought. He wondered just what she was thinking now. Was she in denial? She continued to ignore certain things he had told her tonight. So it was quite possible.