Chapter 5
"Soren, wake up. Soren." whispers Corvus.
"Huh- wha-" Soren says, half awake.
"Shh! There's a giant banther over there, behind those trees. Be quiet. We'll have to move away slowly."
"Okay." He whispers. "Where's Terry?"
"He's there." Terry waves at Soren with a nervous smile.
"And Phyrrah?"
"She's sleeping a bit further away. We'll have to get to her."
They pick up all their things and start moving away from the banther slowly, without making any noise. After getting a bit further away, Terry accidentally steps on a twig and it cracks, making a sound that echoes through the forest. The banther immediately looks towards the trio and makes its way near them.
"Go go go!" Soren shouts.
They run and finally reach the place Phyrrah was sleeping in. She wakes up and looks at the banther. When it doesn't turn back, she shouts at the banther, scaring it away. Soren then goes and hugs the dragon and says, "Thank you for saving us!"
Terry smiles and says, "That was close. Maybe next time we should sleep nearer to the dragon."
"You're right." says Corvus.
"Alright, back to bird business."
Soren and Corvus give him an annoyed look.
-----
Callum wakes up to Rayla having a cup of hot brown morning potion in her hands.
"Do you want some?" she asks.
"Um, sure." He takes the cup. "How are you doing?"
"What?"
"You had a bad dream yesterday, right? How are you feeling now?"
"I'm fine." After a few moments, she sighs and says, "No, not really." She sits next to him. "It still haunts me."
"What?"
"The fact that I almost killed you that day, I almost lost you."
"Rayla... I'm ok, I'm here. There's no need to still keep that in mind. We're okay. I'm okay." he says in a quiet, comforting tone.
"But I still get nightmares. What if- what if you had completed the spell, what if I had released the arrow?" She says, panicking. "I could have lost you!-"
"Calm down! It's okay, Rayla. I'm here. Don't think about it anymore."
"But it'll always be there, it'll always haunt me."
He reaches for her chin, holds it up to face her. "But, I'm still here for you. You know you can't get rid of me that easily, right?"
Rayla smiles and he smiles back. "I know."
"That has happened long ago... Why are you still having nightmares?"
"I've always had them. But last night it was much worse and it felt so real..."
Callum hugs her to comfort her and she hugs him back. "Don't worry, I'm here. Alright?"
"Yeah... I know." she says, smiling.