The Dragons Egg : Chapter XIII : The Bargain: Aed: Preview

XIII

The Bargain

Aed

A gentle breeze teased Aed’s skin as he felt the tips of his fingers bury themselves deep into the warm sand upon which he lay. His body, lean and long felt heavy as he cautiously opened his deep brown eyes against the blazing rays of the high sun. Beads of sweat rolled down the side of his head, falling abruptly into the dense sand below. Close to him he heard the gentle stir of a river, above him the sweet sound of the summer birds which soothed his beating heart and to the distance, a soft, youthful laugh filled the atmosphere, forcing him to sit up from where he lay. Brushing away the sand filled strands of hair from his face, he spotted two figures by the river, a river he knew to be the one in which ran along the edges of Dulgar, the village in which he had been born and raised. With hazy eyes, he waited patiently for his vision to purify itself. A young woman, with her back to him stood by the river, her long brown hair flowing down the small of her back, nestling just above the curve of her hips. Close to the woman played a young girl, no more than three or four moons; her hair also brown and long like her mothers. Feeling an instinctive bond to the woman and child, Aed clambered to his feet and wiped away the remnants of the sand from his clothes. Looking down at himself, he observed with a thud of surprise that he was in his everyday work clothes that included a thin linen shirt, leather pants and boots. With the heat of the sun upon his back, he stepped closer to the woman and child and was caught unawares when the young woman turned to him and smiled.

“Branna?”

Her radiant eyes glowed against the sun as his young, petite wife- wearing a light blue dress, her feet bare began to walk away from the river and to him, with a gentle and understanding smile upon her soft face. Aed felt confused as his wife came to him and wrapped her arms about his body tightly, lifting her feet up so that she could nestled her head under his chin. Briefly he allowed his eyes to close, his hands finding the curve of her back and thick locks of her wavy hair. God how he had missed the smell of her and the feeling of her body against his own.

“Branna….” He groaned as he bathed her small face with kisses before simply letting his forehead rest upon her own.

“Aed open your eyes,” Branna whispered warmly.

“I’m afraid that if I do, I will find you gone from my arms.”

“Do not be afraid my love…”

Aed, against his better judgement opened his eyes and found them drowning in the depths of his wife’s brown eyes, gentle flecks of yellow bordered her black pupils.

“The child?”

“Our daughter Leaah,” Branna said with another smile as she turned around and called Leaah. Aed followed his wife’s gaze and found it settling upon the young girl, who was sitting upon the sand, her hands shifting through the grains of sand. With a pause she turned and Aed felt a deep and instant growl of protection arise from within. Breaking away from Branna, he made for the child, who was looking at him with raised brows. With gentleness, Aed bent down before the young girl, her cheeks full and red. She was in the image of her mother, her large eyes brown, her lips thin and beautifully curved, and her nose small and straight, her tiny hands scrunched up into fists, her hair brilliantly brown and her delicate feet and toes covered with sand. Leaah’s face tilted slightly as she took in the form of Aed, her cautious gaze changing in exchange for a wife smile.

“Papa?” she said with glee as she forced herself up onto her small feet and ran into his arms. Aed clung to his daughter tightly and buried his face in her hair, feeling his eyes prickle with tears. He heard his wife come to their side and gently lifted Leaah into his arms as he stood up and turned to Branna, his right arm open and awaiting her. With altered eyes, now filled with sadness, Branna wrapped herself in him and the small family hung to one another for several moments. A change in wind aroused Aed, causing him to lift his head away from his wife and child. His brown eyes fixed themselves on the changing sky above, the rays of warm sunlight now fading away as great grey clouds claimed the limitless sky for themselves.

“Aed look at me,” Branna said quickly, her hands cupping his face tightly. Forcing his eyes downwards, Aed felt his thick brows furrow.

“What is it?”

“You must awaken now!” Branna said with urgency. “Go to the tree and place the seed within the earth, there you shall find us.”

“What tree?” Aed asked as he spotted a dozen hooded figures, now making their way down from the village to where they stood. A great force separated Aed from Branna and Leaah, dragging him away from them and towards the rushing river. “Branna run!” he cried out as the cloaked figures drew out their swords. “Run!” he cried out again as he was forced into the raging currents of the river. Branna turned from him and stepped back from the faceless figures, her free hand stretched out to Aed in desperation. “Branna! Branna turn to me!” Aed screamed as he was brought under the water, his lungs filling with a rush of wild heat that burned his body. “Branna!” he coughed violently as he forced his head above the water, his eyes capturing the bodies of his wife and child as they fell to the sand lifeless. “No! No God please no, not my wife! Not my child!” he cried pathetically as he was dragged under the merciless currents once more, this time unable to swim to the surface. A darkness took him as he felt his lungs collapse and his heartbeat fade away into a distant thud, his body pulsating and stretching as though in search for air. With one last violent tremor he felt himself fall into a bottomless void of darkness, the last flickers of light now fading from his eyes as his body hit the bottom of the river.



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