~ Amber ~
“Dragons?” Amber repeated, “I thought they were supposed to have wings!”
“No,” Rubus shook his head, “That only happens in myths. Those are real dragons. They’re incredibly sensitive to fire magic. If we’re not careful, they could burn us to a crisp!”
“Should we head back?” Ruby asked.
Amber looked at the group. Rubus had an arm wrapped around a scared Ribes, while Ruby was attempting to calm Lily down. While it was possible that they could try to fight the dragons, with the number that were coming, she doubted that her and Rubus could manage much while protecting the other three. Neither were particularly capable fighters, and that said nothing of the three others who were basically sitting ducks.
“Hold on,” Amber gasped, “What happened to the others?”
“You’re right,” Ruby replied, equally shocked, “They would have run into these.”
Did Mullein’s team already lose to them? If so, were they already gone? It was possible that they were further up the road, having been seriously injured in the battle with the dragons. Once she realized that, Amber came to the conclusion that there was only one option.
“We need to push through,” Amber declared.
“What?” Rubus objected, “We can’t win!”
“If we run, there’s a very real chance the others die,” Amber argued, “They may have left us behind, but they are still our friends. We shouldn’t do to them what we weren’t willing to do to each other.”
Rubus was about to continue arguing, but a hissing sound reverberated from behind Amber. The group turned slowly, afraid of what they would see, and their worst fears were confirmed.
The group of dragons had reached the group, and by the looks of it, they had locked onto their newest targets. The dragon in front, clearly the leader, was standing up on two legs in an attempt to intimidate, and its forked tongue was sticking up and out of its mouth in a display of dominance. The rest of the pack, which was scattered behind the leader, also displayed their strength.
“Amber,” Rubus warned, “Get behind me.”
Amber wanted to protest, but she knew that they didn’t have any time. She backed up and watched as Ribes also backed behind Rubus. Searching for some kind of comfort, Amber instinctively grabbed Ribes’ hand, and she could feel the young girl squeeze back.
“What’s he going to do?” Amber whispered.
“I think he’s going to slow them down,” Ribes speculated.
“Everyone,” Rubus addressed, “Once I make my move, I want you to run.”
“What?!” Amber yelled, “You can’t be serious!”
“We can’t leave you behind,” Ruby agreed, “We all need to get through together.”
“It’s me or all of us!” Rubus retorted, “We don’t have time to argue!”
“No!” Lily screamed, “We can’t!”
“Lily,” Rubus gently called, “You have to.”
“No!” Lily whined, “We won’t leave Ribby’s brother behind! We left Prun and everyone else, so we’re not going to leave you!”
Lily wriggled out of Ruby’s arms and ran up to Rubus, wrapping her arms tightly around him.
“Lily!” Rubus shouted, trying to get her off him.
However, Lily was not to be deterred. No matter how hard Rubus tried, he couldn’t get her to let go. As she looked at the spectacle, Amber was growing increasingly impressed with Lily’s determination. This entire trip, Amber had seen a side of the girl that was completely unknown to her. It was a version of Lily that was willing to fight for her friends, who believed that no friends were more important than the others, where every friend was worth the effort.
In one last fit of desperation, Rubus grabbed the hands that Lily had wrapped around him and threw them off. Lily, who wasn’t prepared for such an aggressive move, fell to the ground harshly, landing on her exposed knee.
“Ow!” Lily cried as she began to tear up, “Ribby’s brother, you meanie!”
“Let me do this,” Rubus commanded, as he held his hands back up.
The group watched on as a strong wind started to pick up and blow toward the dragons that were bearing down on them. While they were technically behind the epicenter, Amber still needed to put her arms up to block her eyes from the strong wind that was blowing.
She recognized that Rubus and Ribes had never told them what kind of magic they used, and while their situation made it difficult to notice smaller feelings, she did feel somewhat happy that she finally learned what the two of them were capable of. In fact, Rubus seemed like he was even more capable with wind magic than Cloud, who was much more open with the ability. And it seemed to be working. The dragons were having trouble looking forward, and their approach had completely stopped. In fact, some of the beasts in the back were beginning to disperse, as if they had decided that this particular hunt wasn’t worth their time.
However, in her delight that Rubus’ plan was beginning to work, she neglected to notice the one who was in harm’s way.
“Lily, no!” Ruby’s voice echoed across the road.
Lily, who had been thrown off to the side by Rubus just a moment prior, was being stared down by one of the other dragons that had managed to escape the windstorm that Rubus was whipping up. Amber watched as the dragon stood on its hind legs, and stuck out its tongue in a show of victory.
“Lily!”
Amber began to move toward the vulnerable little girl. However, someone else was also moving in that direction.
As the orange glow began to appear in the dragon’s maw, signaling it was about to let loose a barrage of flame, a small figure threw itself in front of Lily, grabbed the girl, and tossed her back toward Amber.
“Ribes, stop!” Amber shouted as she grabbed Lily.
However, she was far too late to save the girl in question. The dragon’s breath had already been released, and a shrill scream pierced the air.
“No,” Rubus choked out, “Why?”
After several seconds, the dragon stopped the flame barrage. Where Ribes was standing, a dark, heavily burned figure stood. As if the world had slowed to a crawl, her body began to shake, before it fell forward onto the ground.
“Ribes!” Ruby screamed.
The world around Amber was silenced. She could no longer hear the screams of her friends, or the wind that Rubus had been manipulating, or even the hissing of the dragons. The reality of the situation she was in began to sink in.
She had just watched her friend die.
Hours ago, she had been happily chatting with the normally shy Ribes on their way to the rest stop, and had been sharing in her sorrows when the group had split up. Now, the girl was a black corpse on the ground, with all the life completely burned out of her.
Amber was so lost in her own grief, she almost missed the bloodcurdlingly loud scream that erupted from the girl next to her.
“Ribby!!” Lily cried at the top of her lungs.
She threw up her hand, as if attempting to reach out for Ribes. As her wails began to get louder, Amber was beginning to notice that something amiss. The air in front of Lily began to warp and shimmer, as if it was a desert mirage. After a moment, this visual aberration transformed into a ball of flame, which continued to grow bigger and bigger until it was practically licking the skin of Lily’s hands. It only took Amber another moment to realize what was actually going on.
“Lily’s using magic?!” Amber gasped.
Not only was Lily channeling a magic power for the first time, but it was the exceedingly rare fire magic, which was supposedly limited only to the noble class and to royalty. For whatever reason, a random orphan girl of seven was capable of using the rarest form of elemental magic, and Amber was viewing it in real time.
The ball of fire launched as if from a slingshot, firing at a high speed toward the dragon that burned Ribes. It immediately made contact with the lizard, causing a small explosion on contact.
Dust kicked up from the explosion, blinding everyone in the area. Despite the desperate need to bring her arm up to cough into it, she managed to hold onto Lily as if her life depended on it.
As the dust began to clear, Amber observed the situation with the little remaining sanity she had left. Ruby was still behind her, but she had gone catatonic after what had happened to Ribes. Rubus, in his grief, had lost his ability to control the windstorm, and was now surrounded by angry dragons. The dragon Lily had hit was thankfully down, but it wasn’t clear how long that would be for. Rubus had claimed that dragons had an affinity for fire magic, and if that was the case, they would likely be able to resist fire attacks.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Amber felt a heavy weight in her arms, and looked down to see Lily slumping toward the ground.
“Lily?” Amber asked, panicked, “Are you okay?”
“Sorry, Amber,” she apologized weakly, “I couldn’t save everyone.”
“No, no, no, no!” Amber protested, holding back tears, “You did fine! You did better than fine! You used magic, for God’s sake!”
Lily smiled up at Amber but was clearly too exhausted to move. Defeated, Amber looked up to Rubus, who in a moment would likely meet the same fate as his sister. However, fate finally smiled on them for once.
A horn sounded from far behind them. It was a rallying horn, but it was clearly meant as a threat to the dragons that were attacking, as they immediately began to back off. Before Amber could figure out what was going on, a horse ran past the group and into the crowd of dragons. A man leaped off the horse, sword in hand, and began to attack the dragons. While the children were having trouble just keeping the dragons away from them, this man was clearly an expert, as he was carving up the dragons in one slash each. The ones who managed to escape began to scatter, and before they knew it, there were no more living dragons on the path.
The realization that they were safe beginning to sink in, Amber collapsed to the ground, completely spent. It took a moment for her to even recognize that the man who had saved them was speaking to them.
“Is everyone okay?”
In delayed fashion, Amber looked up at the man weakly.
“Well, we’re all fine, I think,” she started, “But…”
She pointed over to Ribes, who was still lying on the ground unmoving. Their savior gasped in horror before running over to her prone body and putting his hand to her neck.
“Is she okay?” Rubus asked, desperate, “Please tell me she’ll make it!”
The man looked up with a grim look on his face, before shaking his head slowly.
“I’m sorry, kid,” he announced with a sense of finality.
Rubus looked at him for a moment, before completely breaking down crying. Amber desperately wanted to go over and comfort him, but her muscles were no longer capable of movement. Instead, she looked down at the girl in her arms.
“We’re safe now, Lily,” Amber whispered.
Lily nodded halfheartedly but didn’t say anything in response. Instead, Ruby was the one to break the silence.
“Thank you, sir,” she addressed softly, “We would have ended up like her if you hadn’t arrived.”
Ruby was the only member of the group still standing. Unlike Amber, Rubus, and Lily, she hadn’t been able to do anything in the battle, so she was still physically fine. The unknown man looked over to her with a look of concern.
“I’m just glad I made it,” he expressed, “I was supposed to be guarding a carriage carrying goods to Clove City, but when I heard the scream, I made my way here as fast as possible.”
“You heard a scream?” Amber responded.
“It was the worst sound I’d ever heard in my life,” he admitted, “I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.”
At that moment, Amber realized whose scream it was he had heard.
Ribes, she thought to herself, In the end, it really was you who saved us, wasn’t it? I just wish it didn’t cost you everything.
“Anyway, let’s get introductions over with,” he continued, “I’m Allium. I’m a member of the Kingdom Guard assigned to intercity trade. Who might you all be?”
Ruby, who had taken the lead in discussion, introduced the group one by one and explained the situation to Allium. All the while, the older man nodded along. In the end, he could only laugh and shake his head.
“You kids are unbelievable, you know that?” he chuckled, “You end up in an abusive orphanage, and your first thought is to hop to the next town over, completely ignoring how dangerous it is? Gotta say, that’s not something I would’ve done at your age.”
“Are you going to take us back?” Ruby asked, “We are runaways after all.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Allium scoffed, “If this place is so bad it forced you all to take your lives into your own hands, then I can’t take you back there.”
“Then, what will we do?” Amber asked.
Allium thought for a moment, before coming up with an idea.
“The truth is, my wife and I have always wanted kids. It’s never worked out before, but I think our meeting must have been fate.”
“So, you’d take us all in?” Ruby asked, somewhat skeptical.
This prompted a worried sigh from Allium.
“I’m sorry, I can’t burden her with four,” he admitted, “At most, we could do two.”
“Rubus and Lily,” Amber immediately replied, “They need it more than we do.”
Rubus broke out of his stupor, looking at Amber with an incredulous look.
“Amber, what are you saying?” Rubus asked.
“Rubus just lost his sister, and Lily’s only seven,” Amber explained, ignoring the boy’s complaints, “Plus, Ruby and I aren’t splitting up. It just makes sense for you to take those two.”
“Seems so. But what will you do?” Allium replied.
“I don’t know, but we’ve made it this far,” Amber declared, “Nothing’s going to stop us now.”
Allium started laughing uncontrollably. Amber raised an eyebrow at this unexpected action.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he apologized, trying to calm down, “It’s just strange to see girls so young be so gung-ho, you know?”
After another moment, he finally calmed down.
“Don’t worry about what’s coming up, Amber,” he stated, “We may not be able to permanently adopt you two, but that doesn’t mean we won’t help. We’ll take you to Clove City, and I’ll do my best to find someone who can take you two in for a few years. I’m not quite sure how old you are, but it seems like you won’t need more than four or five years to hit adulthood. I’m sure someone in Clove City will be willing to help you out.”
“That’s a lot to ask,” Ruby pointed out, “Is it okay?”
“What good person would leave you here to die?” Allium responded.
With their course of action decided, the group decided to rest for a brief time to regain the strength of the weakened members. After around an hour, when Rubus was finally able to get to his feet, they began to walk back in the direction they had come from. Since Allium was already guarding a trade vehicle, he offered to let them ride onboard until they got to Clove City.
During the walk, Amber decided to try to talk to Rubus, as she had missed the opportunity to do so earlier.
“How are you doing?” she checked cautiously.
Rubus let loose a heavy shrug, sighing in the process.
“I’m not sure I feel anything,” he described, “It’s like everything I have been living for has been taken away, and there’s nothing left to do but float there.”
Amber nodded.
“I can’t imagine how it must feel,” she murmured.
“It’s probably the same as when you lost your brother,” Rubus guessed.
Rubus’ statement prompted Amber to contemplate how she felt when she saw Jasper go overboard. She remembered little of the actual events that took place on the deck of the ship, but she clearly remembered the disappointed look in his eyes when she saw him for the last time. However, in spite of the circumstances, she hadn’t taken much time to grieve for him. All of her disappointment going back to their arrival in port stemmed from her own actions on the deck, not the resulting consequences. She had blamed herself largely for Jasper’s fall, and it was only occurring to her now how strange it was. Even if she was at fault, not a single part of her was sad for losing Jasper.
Oh, I see, Amber realized, How stupid could I be?
There was only one reason she wouldn’t be sad for their separation, and it was one that opened her heart to the spark of hope that she had all but lost in the last month she had spent in Sage Port.
Amber turned to Rubus, a newfound determination in her eyes.
“Rubus, I need to ask a favor.”
The boy looked at her and tilted his head.
“What is it?”
“Once we reach Clove City, we’re probably going to go our separate ways,” Amber explained, “I need you to promise me you’ll take care of Lily. She’s going to be your new sister soon, after all.”
“But,” Rubus protested, “What about…?”
“I know Lily isn’t a replacement for Ribes,” Amber reassured, “Not for me, and not for you. And I know that I’ve already promised to look after Lily like she’s my own sister. But she needs someone there with her all the time, someone she can wake up if she gets scared in the night, someone she can talk to if she is feeling down. You don’t need to push aside your love for Ribes in order to accept Lily. And you will be in the perfect position to give her what she needs.”
Amber turned to look at Lily, who was being given a piggyback ride by Allium.
“I think part of her blames herself for Ribes,” Amber guessed, “I could tell how fond Lily was of her, and it all happened in her defense. I know what that feels like, and it’s not something that just goes away.”
Rubus, who was about to respond, simply closed his mouth and nodded.
“Okay, I promise,” he replied, “I’ll do everything I can to make sure what happened to Ribes doesn’t happen to her too.”
Amber smiled back at Rubus.
“Thank you.”
Once that was out of the way, Amber slowed down to match pace with Ruby, who was trailing the group a little bit.
“How are you holding up?” Amber questioned.
Ruby gave a faint smile in response.
“It’s tough,” she admitted, “Barely over a sickness, only to deal with something much worse. And it’s the second time I’ve felt like this.”
Amber nodded, knowing exactly what she was referring to.
“Listen Ruby,” Amber began, “I’ve made a decision.”
Ruby didn’t respond at all, which Amber took as a signal to continue.
“I’m weak. I had the chance to lead the group, but I failed. Because of me, the group broke up, and Ribes is dead. If I was stronger, I could have protected everyone. In the end, though, I was just dead weight.”
“Amber, that’s not true,” Ruby suddenly interrupted.
Amber held up her hand, stopping Ruby.
“It’s okay,” she insisted, “I know. We’ve spent our entire lives being spoiled and protected by our brother. Even here, we stayed in the Sanctuary, where we were protected. It’s not a shock that we were unprepared for something like this.”
Ruby stayed quiet, but her eyes reflected how much was on her mind.
“So, I’ve decided. I’m going to become someone who can lead others. Someone capable enough to protect those around me, and someone who can keep groups like ours together. And once I’m strong enough, I’m going to bring our brother home to see who we’ve become.”
Ruby’s eyes widened, and she turned her head in disbelief.
“Amber, what are you talking about?” she exclaimed, “Jasper is…”
“I’ve been thinking,” Amber cut off Ruby, “Why every time I think of our time on the ship, I think of what I did wrong. Why I’m never simply sad that Jasper is gone. He was our brother, you know? And yet all of my focus has been on me. I don’t feel quite as sad about what happened to him as I do about why it happened. And then it hit me. It’s because he’s not gone. He’s alive.”
“How could you possibly know?” Ruby asked, incredulous, “We saw him fall off the boat, and while nothing would make me happier to know he survived, how do you know something didn’t happen to him?”
“It’s just a gut feeling,” Amber admitted, “But I know Jasper. He wouldn’t give up in a situation like that. It’s strange, but I feel like I would just know if he didn’t make it. But my heart tells me he’s still out there, fighting to find his way back to us. That’s just who he is.”
Ruby sighed and looked down.
“I wish I could believe it,” she stated.
“That’s fine,” Amber declared, “Believe what you want, Ruby. When I bring back Jasper, then I’ll just tell you ‘I told you so’!”
Ruby giggled at Amber’s enthusiasm.
“You’ve changed, haven’t you?” she commented.
“Have I?” Amber asked.
“Ever since we got to the orphanage, you’ve been so much more confident than you used to be,” Ruby noted, “Two months ago, you never would have been this outgoing, or wanted to be a leader. You’ve grown, while I’ve sat here and been the same. This entire trip has only convinced me that I haven’t changed a bit.”
Amber patted her sister’s back in a show of comfort.
“Perhaps,” she agreed, “But our time here has allowed you to show a new side to yourself, one that will persist through anything that comes your way. When you make up your mind, you can do anything. That’s not true for me.”
Ruby looked down, her face flushing red in embarrassment. Amber giggled, and locked hands with her sister.
Jasper, Amber thought to herself, I don’t know where you are, or what you’re doing. But I know you’re out there somewhere, and I promise that I’ll bring you back to us, whatever it takes. I want you to see who we’ve been able to become, thanks to you and everyone else who’s supported us along the way. I promise that, whenever we see you again, you couldn’t be prouder to be our older brother.