This thing's old as shit (from like. 2023), but. It's not awful. So I'm throwing it out here.
As I said, it's not meant to be shippy, but when I read it back it definitely felt sorta shippy. or like something I would've thought was shipping back when I wrote it. So it's sort of ambiguous but probably platonic.
The night sky over Elysia was beautiful. Especially when you were miles above the island, zigzagging between clouds.
I pressed myself closer to my saddle, urging the scaly white wonder I was riding to fly higher, faster. At the slightest shift of my weight, her wings folded, and we dove right through a cloud, earning a clear view of the island below. It was breathtaking, almost completely untamed wilds. The only thing that ruined the picturesque nature of the land was the portion that had been cleared for a settlement. Not a very large one; less than a dozen people lived there, and few outside the ramshackle village had ever heard of it. I knew that because I lived there.
I took one final look at the stars, so clear this high up, and looked back down at my dragon. “C’mon Shine. We better get home before Arthur realizes we’re gone.” She rumbled, and altered our descent, turning her near-free-fall into a graceful glide, forming slowing loops around the island. Her aim was the large landing strip Arthur and Miles had built. More Arthur, I mused, as Miles and his Monstrous Nightmare were prone to fire starting, together and apart.
As Starshine and I finished our final circles and came to a landing, I realized that our adventure hadn’t escaped notice. Crystal was standing on the edge of the wooden structure, leaning against her Skrill, CJ. “Where have you been?” She demanded as soon as all four of Star’s feet touched the ground and her wings folded. Despite the fact that the moon was almost directly overhead, she looked wide awake, with her brown hair - blonde at the edges- looking no different than it had earlier tonight when we all went our separate ways for bed.
“Oh, just…” I didn’t want to tell her why we were up there. The dream, nightmare really, jumped back into my mind. I shuddered. “Flying. The stars are beautiful up there,” please believe it, I thought helplessly. I knew she was no dummy, and while that lie might have fooled Miles or Vick, Crystal was unconvinced.
“Bullshit. Tell me the truth.” She pushed off of CJ, and the two of them started to approach us. Her words were sharp, and it was starting to drag the nightmare back into the forefront of my mind. I stepped back nervously, and Starshine, gods bless her, moved between us, arching her smooth back and growling a warning. The rider-dragon duo stopped, but didn’t leave. “I’m not gonna hurt you, Lu,” Crystal began. “But you know I hate it when people lie to me.”
I did know that. She’d been through as much, if not more than me, and the least she deserves is an explanation. I open my mouth to explain, but the wind chooses that moment to blow past us, causing me to shiver in my thin short-sleeved shirt. It hadn’t bothered me as much when I was in the air, pressed against Star’s warmth, but now that she was standing separate from me, I realized just how cold it was.
Crystal rolled her eyes and held out her hand. “C’mon. You don’t hafta tell me if you don’t want to, or whatever, but let’s at least get you inside. If Arthur realizes I let you catch a cold, he’ll bite my head off.” I smiled, knowing that that while he wouldn’t actually bite her head off, he would give her a lecture about how there are people in the world that matter aside from her and CJ. I could picture his disappointed face now, and the way that Seeker, his Nadder, would stand tall behind him to make it that much more intimidating. We all knew he wouldn’t hurt someone without a very good reason, but that doesn’t make him any less scary when he’s annoyed
So off we went through the little village, passing the others’ houses as we headed in the direction of mine. Every house we passed was dark. The wind hit me again and Star turned, letting out a worried warble. I smiled, and reached out a hand to pet her warm head. “I’ll be fine, girl.”
Crystal looked unconvinced, and before I could register what she was doing, her brown fur overcoat was off and in her hands, held out to me. My eyes widened. “You’ll need that,” I protested. “It’s too cold to not have it.”
“And yet here you are, dummy.” Her gold gaze never left mine. “Just take it. I’ll be fine.” I wanted to argue, but her gaze hardened, and she all but forced the coat into my hands. Not wanting to pick a fight with her - I don’t like fighting, and even if I did, I’m not sure I could win - I slowly put it on, and we continued. It took less than a minute to get to my house, a building no bigger or smaller than the others, the only difference being my name painted on a board above the entrance: Lucian. Crystal invited herself in, and we both headed inside. Starshine let out another warble, and bounded around the back of the house towards the entrance that would let her in. CJ, at Crystal’s request, took off with a beat of her massive wings, probably heading back to their house. The hearth was cold, but Crystal busied herself with lighting it while Shine darted down the stairs. I felt the cold draft from her door and headed upstairs to close it.
The door itself was simple enough, a collection of tightly bound logs fit into a dragon-sized hole in my bedroom wall. The genius came in the lever that was beside it, connected to a complicated-looking mess of rope and counterweights (another confusing creation of Arthur’s), which allowed the door to be opened and closed. A matching lever outside allowed Shine to open it and let herself in, though she often forgot to close it, like now. I pulled the lever up to close the door, unable to hide a grunt of effort as the door moved into place, shutting out the night chill.
Shine followed me back downstairs, where there was a small fire burning in the fireplace. Crystal was sprawled across one of my chairs, making herself at home. “Won’t CJ worry about you? You oughta be getting home.” A thought of the cold made me realize I was still wearing her jacket. Despite her being a few inches shorter than me, the coat fit pretty well, other than being a bit short for my liking. Not that I’m gonna complain to the ex-Dragon Hunter who probably knows over a hundred ways to kill me with her bare hands. “Speaking of, here’s your coat.” I pulled it off as I approached the fireplace and tossed the heavy fur-lined thing in her direction before settling in the chair opposite hers. The warmth from the fire licked my skin, and I felt my shoulders slump. Shine had wandered after me and curled up in front of the fire, curling her tail so the fins covered her face.
Crystal gave no sign that she was leaving. “What were you doing out so late?” She moved from leaning back casually to leaning forward, her sharp gaze fixing on me. I froze. I really didn’t want to talk about the dream that left me gasping for air and drenched in sweat. I didn’t want to talk about the feeling of being watched that had continued after I’d tried to fall back asleep and driven me from my room, from my home, and finally from the ground in an attempt to forget it all.
Shine, sensing my discomfort in some manner I wasn’t aware of, uncurled from her place by the fire to come lay a comforting head on my arm. My head moved to look at her, and while I knew she wouldn’t hurt me, I couldn’t get the vision of her glaring at what was left of my brother, pupils tiny slits and bared teeth stained red, out of my mind. If I’d just been a moment faster, if I hadn’t frozen like the coward I was-
“Hey!” A sharp shout and a hand shaking my shoulder jolted me from my memories. My eyes found Crystal standing next to me. She was the one that was shaking me. I don’t remember seeing or hearing her get up and walk over to me. “You okay?” I barely managed to nod, and turned to look at Star. Starshine was staring at me, wide blue eyes holding nothing but concern, and I relaxed a bit. As much as she had scared me that day, she’d also saved my life. Everything she did, she did because she thought it would help me.
That thought didn’t really make me feel much better. That meant that everyone she’d hurt, everyone she’d killed, was indirectly my fault.
“Look at me.” Crystal’s hand wrapped around my jaw, forcing my eyes to meet hers. I flinched at the contact, and pulled away. She didn’t stop me. “Lucian, you’re going to be fine, okay?” She hesitated a moment, looking around. “Do you need me to get Arthur?” She was already starting to pull away, leaning as if to start walking to the door. I don’t know what possessed me to lunge for her arm, grab it tightly. She tensed and turned back to me, but didn’t try to pry me off.
“Don’t go,” I managed to force past the lump in my throat. I didn’t want to be alone. What if he came back? It was a stupid thought, I knew he was dead, but I wasn’t thinking clearly.
She hesitated, looking at the door again. Finally, with a sigh, she stepped back to my side and slid me off the chair. Star instantly responded, moving to a spot where I could sit with my back against her shoulder and my eyes on the fire. Crystal settled next to me, as I still hadn’t let go of her, and gently started to comb her fingers through my hair. “What the fuck am I doing?” I heard her whisper, though at that point I was too focused on the fire’s heat licking my face, Shine’s shoulder vibrating as she purred, and the sensation of Crystal’s fingers against my scalp.
Those were the last things I felt as sleep crept up to claim me.
i was startled awake by a loud knocking on my door. “Lucian! Lucian, wake up!” That was Miles’s deep voice, and he sounded worried.
It took me a full thirty seconds to process what that could mean, and while I was, I noticed my position: resting against Shine’s back, facing my fireplace (which had burned out long ago, from the looks of it), with Crystal’s head resting gently on my shoulder. Her eyes were closed, and one of her hands was up on top of my head, fingers woven through my blond hair.
I heard my door creak on its hinges as Miles darted in, appearing quickly around Shine’s body. “Lucian, have you seen-“ he stopped when he saw the position I was in, and his jaw dropped. I couldn’t tell if it was because I had managed to end up cuddling with the one and only Crystal McCrae, or because she had managed to sleep through his racket. I stayed still and silent, unsure exactly what to say to him.
After a few moments of silence and stillness, his shock transformed into a smirk. I realized what was about to happen a moment later, and hissed “Don’t-“
“Vick! Vick, you’re never gonna believe this!” He bolted out of my house at top speed. This latest outburst seemed to finally wake up Crystal. She blinked sleepily, and I cleared my throat. As soon as she became aware of our position, she sat straight up and moved her hand off my head.
For a moment, we sat there in silence. Finally, after we’d sat there staring at each other for what felt like forever, Crystal spoke. “Let’s never tell the others about this, okay?”
I averted my gaze to the cold hearth. “About that…”
Illustration by Pauline Baynes for the cover of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis
Last night I had multiple tabs open across the computer screen, a to-do list from Hades and the mind set to accomplish it all. Instead, I spent hours talking to a friend and to my son.
As parents we do our best for our children. We try to give them the strongest grounding we can in all the things…
