Author's Notes: I had planned to post this tomorrow, as I had not even written it. Then I realized that I needed to work on other things. So, I figured I would finish this chapter and post it today so that tomorrow I can focus on those stories.

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Chapter 25.3: Truth in Faction

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Delicate, yet powerful, fingers curled around the handle of a sword. Those fingers tightened and continued to tighten until the knuckles became both furious red and deathly white. Soon a soft but audible grinding sound filled the air followed by a suddenly angry growl.

Sonja closed her eyes tightly and struggled to maintain her patience. She had not heard from Scott since his death. Normally, that would be a given but such was not always the fate of a traveler.

She stared up at the hateful moon above then raised up her sword and pointed it toward the uncaring sphere. “You can see him can’t you? Where is he!”

Ashton gently placed her can of beans onto the ground and slid away from the crazed girl. Everyone missed Scott, but Sonja was starting to lose it. Ashton might be a fox, but soon she fully expected Sonja to start barking at the moon.

“Where is he, damn you!” railed Sonja.

Sonja started to pant, her mighty chest heaved as she drew breath. Slowly she lowered her sword then let it hang limply toward the ground. She lowered her head and covered her eyes with her free hand. She shook gently for a moment then whispered, “Scott...”

Slowly the Valkyrie slipped down then sat on a stump. She leaned forward and turned away from Ashton so that the fox girl could only see her back. It did not matter. Ashton already knew what the girl was doing.

A soft, barely audible, sob echoed through the clearing that made Ashton’s ears flatten. She looked down at the can of beans then idly began to pick at the label. She hoped that he was alright as well, but she could not even begin to properly console the other woman. For all the time that they had worked together, she knew Scott least of all.

“I’d just make it worse...” whispered Ashton to her can of beans.

***

Through the moonlit forest, a black blur streaked onward toward a goal that it hoped was correct. Scales, black as the darkest midnight, shimmered in the light as the tiny dragon raced toward that which was more important to him.

Every now and then Scott would stop and wander toward the edge of the forest to check the road. He tried to stay close enough to it that he could follow it back, but far enough away to avoid being spotted. More than once he wished that he could fly.

As he ran, he had time to think. It seemed that all he did of late was think. Even when he had been training his swordsmanship he had taken the time to plot out and plan for his next move. What would his next move be this time, though? If Melisandre was any indication, he and by extension those he cared about, were up against incredible opposition. The human element was not of concern at the moment. While that would no doubt change in the near future, the only real threats were the supernatural creatures that Master King employed.

Scott lept over a fallen log then sped through a series of other fallen debris. He briefly considered if the limbs and other various signs of damage and decay had been caused by the tornado that had come through last year. His mind was odd like that, something might come along at any moment and snatch up his attention. That had been true even before he had become a dragon, and it was even more commonplace now.

That facet of his personality caused him to stop running for a moment. Something strange and shiny had caught his attention. Scott walked toward the shiny artifact then blinked when he realized what it was.

“Is this a forgotten grave yard?” asked Scott to the empty air. Such places could be found easily enough. Rural areas like the one he was in often had small cemeteries in fields or near houses. Family plots, some might call them. Once the family was forgotten, so too were their deceased relatives.

He looked down at the broken headstone and then over to the softly shining blue crystal nearby. He picked it up then walked forward a little more and peered over another fallen log. Several more of the blue crystals were scattered around. “I wish I knew what these things were.”

Scott could not help but collect them. He was not sure what happened to them when he did. They tended to stay in his hand or paw for a brief moment only to fade away as though they had never existed.

He reached down to pick up one of the crystals that had escaped his notice then blinked. He heard a strange voice. Scott’s draconic eyes widened briefly and he drew the crystal closer. The closer it came, the louder the voice became.

“Softly in the breeze at dawn, my true love comes with flag unfurled...” whispered a voice in a tone that made it sound like they were singing.

“Lost in war so far from home, but my love did come a callin’ me, down to my last misery...” continued the voice.

Scott blinked then looked at the crystal. What was going on?

He felt a sudden overpowering urge to summon out his wisp. He did so and the vaguely humanoid form of his companion appeared. The crystal and his wisp began to resonate with each other. Tiny currents of spiritual energy that looked much like lightning arced back and forth between them. Scott sat back on his haunches and listened as his wisp began to sing the song of the crystal.

“My love did not fail to be, the hero of my last memory. Though he lay there on that hill, his heart is with me beating still...” sang the wisp.

The voice of the wisp was eerie, yet hauntingly beautiful. She continued to sing for several minutes and the crystal remained intact for the entire performance.

When the song ended, the crystal faded away. However, the wisp began to act strangely. She began to roil in the air like steam from a boiling pot. Her light grew in intensity and after a few brief minutes she became even more coherent than before. Now she had a definite humanoid shape.

The wisp floated over to Scott then hovered briefly before flowing downward. She took on the vague image of a woman with her shins to the ground while she sat on her heels and calves. She tilted her misty head to the left then softly whispered, “My love do not fail to be, the hero of my last memory...”

Scott lifted up his fore claw to her and found himself making an attempt to brush her face just below where her eyes should be. He did not know why, but he felt as though she would be crying now if she could.

The wisp whispered once more, this time in a voice that was filled with a heartbreaking tremor, “Though... he lay there on that hill...”

“His heart is with you beating still...” finished Scott.

The wisp threw her misty hands to her face as though she were trying to hide her eyes, and then made a soft noise like a girl sobbing. A gently wind blew through the trees and the wisp was blown away.

Scott blinked then looked around. The wind should not have done that. He tried to summon the wisp back, but all that happened was the re-emergence of that heart-wrenching sob.

“I’m sorry... Wisp.” said Scott softly. Had he hurt her, or helped her somehow? He did not know. It seemed that lately there were a lot of things that he did not know and it was causing problems for everyone around him.