The Others

Chapter Seven

‘Father’, I say when I enter the house. My mother’s sitting at the table, with her face in her hands. Her shoulders are shaking, and I see that she’s crying.

‘Don’t tell me I’m too late’, I say. The tears are running down my face.

‘Maya’, I hear a weak, trembling voice. It’s my father.

I hurry over to him, laying in his bed. ‘I brought the alcohol’, I say in-between tears. I take the bottle from my pocket, and try to lift the little cork on top. My hands are shaking, and I can not see clear, because of my tears.

‘Maya’, my father says, as he slowly lays one hand on the bottle, pushing it down. ‘Save it.’

‘No’, I yell. ‘Father, I need to help you.’

My father’s face is pale, and I see he’s in a lot of pain. There’s sweat-drops on his forehead, and the entire bed feels clam. ‘Don’t you die on me’, I cry.

‘Maya’, he says a third time. ‘You must stay out of the woods’, his voice sounds different. It’s like he’s already gone. He coughs, and his throat sounds incredibly dry.

‘I will get you some water’, I say, but I can not get back up on my legs.

‘One eye green, one eye blue’, my father says. I touch his forehead, he’s running a fever.

‘Father, you’re getting delirious’, I say while crying. ‘You need some fresh water.’

‘Maya’, he says again. I grab his hand.

‘I’m here, dad.’ I say, and I try to smile, but the tears rolling down my face make it difficult to fake it.

‘I love …’ He says… and then he passes out.

I do not know how long I've been sitting next to my father's bed. His lifeless hand in mine. Tears rolling down my face.

I feel a hand on my shoulder, and look up, right into Carl's face. I see he lost some tears as well. 'Are you okay?' he asks. I shake my head.

'He said it was an Other', I say. That's when my mind instantly goes to the dragon.

I jump up, and hurry to the barn. I notice Carl is following me, but I do not really care to stop him. I have abandoned the creature for days now, and I am afraid it's cold, alone and hungry.

With Carl's help I open the heavy barndoor. It doesn't take me long to find the little, crimson creature. She's sitting right next to the half eaten corpse of a young fox. Blood everywhere. I gasp, and I hear Carl's surprise behind me as well.

'What by the King is that?' I hear him whisper. Most likely referring to the dragon, and not the bloody spectacle before him.

The little dragon braaps and runs to me. Carl takes my shoulder, and tries to push me away, but I stop him. 'No it's okay', I say before I kneel down and pet the little creature under her chin.

'You're still here', I smile. She tilts her head, and then looks at Carl. The smile -if you can call it a smile- on her little face, turns into the cutest type of anger.

'It's okay', I say to her as well. 'He's a friend.'

The little dragon braaps, curls up on the floor and shows me her belly. My face still wet with tears, I laugh and do what she asks of me.

'You did not answer my question', Carl says, before he kneels down next to me. 'What is that? I have never seen anything like it.'

Since he's seen here... there's not a lot of reason to hide it, right? 'It's a dragon', I say. 'At least, I think it is. I found her egg not very long ago in the forest. She's been here and there ever since, and that's why I came to town two days ago. I'm not sure what to do with her.'

I can hear Carl's awe. 'A dragon?' he whispers. He reaches with is hand to the little crimson thing, which instantly jumps up and tries to bite his finger.

He laughs. 'A dragon that's completely devoted to you, it seems', he says.

Tears start rolling down my face again. Carl takes my hand. 'I will leave you alone for a bit', he says, and he offers to dig a grave for my father. I accept his request and he leaves me with the little purple creature. She starts making sad sounds, and pushes her little head against my arm over and over, until I smile through the tears again.

It's like she understands that I'm in pain. 'It's my dad', I say. 'He's gone. He was attacked by an Other...' I stop my explanation, and continue my stream of thought out loud: 'Are you an Other?' I say. Then I shake my head. Of course she's not an Other. I'm too old to receive an Other, and not only that, if she was my Other I would be connected to her. I would hear her in my mind, or feel her presence in some other way than just seeing her here on the floor.

'Of course you're not', I smile at her. 'You will be a beautiful, wild dragon.' She tilts her head and squeeks.

'Thank you for comforting me', I say grateful. 'I will go to my mother now, and comfort her too. You take care of yourself.' I look at the messy corpse of the little fox. 'But it seems like you can handle yourself.'

That night Carl stayed over. We buried my father's body, and comforted my mother. Carl slept in the barn, and I held my mum all night. The sun had already come up, when I walked outside the house.

I instantly notice the barn-door being open already. I walk over to it, and look inside. Both Carl and the dragon are gone. I yawn, rub my eyes and walk around the barn to see if they have left from the backdoor. It doesn't take me long before I notice them.

They're both sitting on the field in the back. Carl is on his hands and knees, and the little dragon is standing three meters in front of him. Carl is trying to make growling noises, and the dragon is braaping in response. It's way too adorable to look at.

Laughingly, I walk over to them. 'Goodmorning', I tell them both. The dragon sprints up to me, and Carl waves.

'How are you feeling?' he asks me. I shrug.

'Let's not talk about it', I answer, trying to push everything away. 'When are you going back to town?'

Carl runs his hand through his hair. 'Soon, rather than later. My mother has no idea why I left, and I have a couple of appointments set that I really need to take. I have to leave Qwerth in a couple of days again, because I am travelling to Yuno to meet up with a merchant. Next time I come to Qwerth, I will stay a bit longer. I have some plans for then.' He smiles, and it even looks like his cheeks turn a bit red.

'Are you blushing?' I ask him. He shakes his head.

'No, the sun's just very hot', he answers. I smile.

'Or your travelling merchant is a female?' I continue. He instantly nods.

'That's it', he confirms.

I walk over to him and stick out my hand. He takes it, and we shake hands. 'Thank you for everything, Carl', I say genuinely.

Carl sighs. 'I wish the outcome would have been different, May.' His voice sounds sincere.

'It's not up to you', I assure him. 'You did everything you could. You even drove me all the way here, and I will be forever in your debt.'

Carl smiles and chuckles. 'You will never be in my debt', he answers, and then he leaves.