"You HAD to taunt him," I sigh, approaching Drego.
"Had to see how strong he was. He never fights a living thing for…" Drego says and clears her throat, not wanting to curse in front of Dad.
"Because this is what happens. Where does it hurt?"
"My gut and my back," Drego still complies, even when trying to make her point.
I move my hand and gaze around Drego's back, feeling the kind of pain she is in.
#A kid who couldn't bear the pain she could feel her friends feeling. An empath to a healer… Hailo was very important to the team, in their time away from everything. Sicknesses would vanish from everyone but her. But it was almost as if she never needed healing, as she slowly had developed a lot of immunity to simple sicknesses at the least. But pain in her heart… every time she used her powers… even I cannot fathom.#
Then I feel around her gut and realise that it is in more pain, and I look towards Drego, who avoids my eye contact.
Realising she doesn't want to speak, I simply let the fluid of a white aura flow out of my hand. Some sort of a light, with a little fluid behaviour… I couldn't quite understand it yet. But I could use it, and I do…and I radiate it at the right points of her gut, slowly playing around its weird motion with the most control I could do.
Drego quivers as if being given electricity, at the start, but gets used to it and stays as still as possible.
It was quite a wound but… not very serious. Not the worse out of all these years. Besides, dragons healed faster than any Primevels. And Drego was the strongest form of a Primevel, she was straight from the unknown Nightrale. She should be fine, even faster: with me accelerating her healing this way.
As I lower the flow, I realise that I sense no more pain and stop radiating aura with my hands.
I gaze at my side and find Leo, with folded hands, and staring right at us… at Drego.
With rushing footsteps, Skyto arrives, and Spythun behind him… Spythun would've come faster if he wanted to. Why didn't he?
"She is alright," I say to Skyto… can't expect a reaction from Leo or Spythun anyway.
"Sad that her recklessness can't be healed," Leo and Skyto say together, and stay unfazed.
"Go easy on her please," I sigh, and Dad helps me get up from the ground.
"Go easy on her? We are supposed to fight Rahambose, not ourselves!" Skyto says.
"Yeah? Then maybe he must start harming living things rather than apologizing to inanimate objects, every fucking day for the last fourteen years!" Drego finally curses, making me sigh. "What, did you lose a bet with your dad again, on my cursing?"
"Drego…" Skyto says, but doesn't seem to have anything else to say beyond that… as usual.
"Still he has worked the hardest," Leo says, breaking the silence. "Have you looked at him, any of you? Easily three times the size of any of us. And can grow larger by the second. His physical strength is unmatched to any of us… you wanted to see him harm a living thing, Drego? You'd have fucking regretted it."
Drego stare-glares at Leo, and then the ground.
"The youngest one of us, just so you know. Also, each one of us surely is closely connected to all of this, Rahambose things, and is. But him? The only way he is connected to this, is us. We dragged him into this, don't you think? I feel like I did, and do not dare enough to say it out loud ever to him. And he has took it upon himself to take charge and train everyday, in case it gets serious."
"And it already isn't enough serious?" Drego asks.
"It's quite… Rahambose… he thinks he is weak now, or maybe he is waiting for the perfect opportunity," I backup Leo's words, and see his throat move up and down by a bit.
"You don't get it," Drego sighs.
"What she is trying to say is… he will start attacking at his strongest. And if what we saw wasn't the strongest… how'd the strongest be? We must not give him that chance. We are strong enough… I guess," Spythun says.
"But-" Leo says
"-she's right," I cut Leo off.
"But…" Leo says, but with loss of words he goes into deep thinking.
"We will discuss on this together. Let's not just bang our heads alone," Skyto suggests.
"Totally was gonna say that too," Spythun says.
"Thought you were fast," Skyto smirks at Spythun.
At least their bond was back… even after everything. It crippled down for a while there.
"Well, not as fast as the wind it seems," Spythun sighs.
Looking at them happy, fills me with awe. Losing their parents and the concept of their sibling-ship… even their friends.
Yeah, the horror still wasn't over. But having a few happy times, moments of joy, here and there… that is what hope is, I think. For a better future where these moments last longer.
But Leo… not that we were in a feud, the two of us. He just had gotten a bit distant and colder. Still my sibling, my twin. But he was surely the other end of the universe, to the naked eye. Surely gotten wiser, but he always hid his feelings: keeping to himself. Just like how Dad covers his degraded arm.
Then there was me… how could I even help in my state? I wasn't strong, my powers weren't anything near to strength or the fighting type. Unlike Drego, I was just a brittle girl. I didn't know the taste of power, only its wrath.
Maybe not useless… I could heal them. But they were independent enough to not need me. If only I could prevent, than cure. Like Spythun says that one Earth saying 'Prevention is better than cure', which he doesn't anymore… because it puts me into my thoughts. Yet, I didn't exactly needed someone to word it out, to make me feel like a liability to the team.
Like Stree… while Agusth has powers and fought, went ahead into danger… Stree being powerless than me, just a kid, still put her life on the line. I could only dream of being as strong as her. She wasn't even a healer… maybe if I were a healer that day… could I have stopped her death which took place in front of me?
Stree was the reason for me and Leo to have become this. Only, I was a coward even now. But Leo… he didn't even cry for her… he stored it, and let him be fuelled by it. But his scar was obvious, even when hidden.
Did we really have to lose them that day, to be this? For the youngest to go ahead and be the strongest? For the brothers to lose everything and value things better? For me to lose my twin and learn empathy? For Drego to go from being calm to… this?
What if… Agusth really didn't-
Fingers snap in front of me, bringing me back into this forest.
I find Spythun in front of me, and no one else around.
"You good?" he asks. "Were you lost with the phrase? I didn't even whisper it."
"Well I still have a mind of my own, sadly," I sigh.
Spythun just nods in agreement. "Want me to say it?"
"No nee-"
"-it wasn't your fault," he says, and I just stare at the ground. "If you're to blame, blame me too… for not going forward and surrendering myself to-"
His eyes grow wide, as he shuts up with my lips on his. No other way to stop him from blabbering on that route again.
"Maybe try this, if you find me in my thoughts again. Curious of how it'd work," I say, pulling back.
Spythun just continues staring in the distance… no, there wasn't anyone here. I'm not dumb obviously.
I snap my fingers in front of him and bring him back to the forest.
"Back from a wet dream?" I ask.
"Wha-ah-at?"
"Nothing. Thanks," I say and peck his cheek.
Without looking if he has frozen again, I just walk towards the training house.
"Oh by the way," I say while being loud enough, and still on my walking pace. "Grandpa's gonna be here tonight. So, you know what that means."
"What?" Spythun asks, making me chuckle. "Not again, Hailo. Please."
And with me not stopping, he hurries to me.
"I said not again, you hear me?"
With the harsh past… the present was suspiciously calm.