War Of Dragons, Part 8

  I woke up right where we started: in my room.  Scott was there, Darsk wasn't. 

  "Wh-what happened." I groaned.

"You're awake." said Scott.

"No.  Really?" I grumbled.

"You don't sound good."

"Give me time, give me time."  I was hurting all over, seriously hurting.  It took all my effort just to sit up.

  "What happened?" I asked again.

"They... um... we were shot down..." he mumbled a little more. "We were shot down over the crevice."

"And Darsk?" I asked.  He lowered his head.

  "I'm sorry." He told me.

"No..." I whispered.  That's all I could say.  I was quiet, I was crying, and I was angry all at the same time.  My best friend had died.  Was I going to feel like a part of me was gone forever?

  "It was my fault." I whispered.

"What?"

"I-I was the one who encouraged him to go there!  If I hadn't he'd still..."

  Scott hugged me, his arms were strong but I paid no attention.  Darsk was dead.

  "It's not your fault." He told me.

"It is."

"It's not." He was quiet for a moment, like he was thinking.  Then he said: "Did I ever tell you about my cat?"

  "I didn't even know you had a cat." I said

"Yeah, I did.  You remember when we set out to find this place right?"

"All too well." I thought, but I just nodded.

"Well, I asked one of my friends to feed my cat and clean up after it while I was gone.  I thought it'd be okay, but when I got back the cat had died.  It had died of starvation.  At first I blamed myself, thinking I should have never left home and the cat, but then I realized that it wasn't like that.  I should have blamed the friend who didn't feed my cat. 

  So should you blame yourself?  No, though you should blame the fighter pilot who launched the missile.  To a further extent you should even blame Sophie, who told the pilot to shoot Darsk."

  I looked at him.  "Why are are telling me this?  We barely you know each other."

"I'm telling you because you need it." 

  It wasn't the first time someone I knew had died, but it was the first time close to me had died.  It felt like I had a hole in me. 

  "What would Darsk want you to do?" Asked Scott.

"He'd want me to keep fighting."

"Then that's what you do."  I thought about that for second, then I told Scott everything about the Dragon Riders.  Including that they want me to be one.

  "Wow." he said. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Tell the council." I said

"Tell them what."

"That training starts tomorrow."