Chapter 13
“It was the same every day,” Spyro said, sitting on a pillow on the floor while Lateef, leader of the Dreamweaver dragons, listened intently on his own much larger pillow, across from him, Hunter sat on another pillow next to Spyro, watching him speak
“I was dragged out of that cell, hooked up to a cart and forced to haul it up and down that quarry from sunrise to sunset, I was...whipped if I didn’t move fast enough.” He tried to maintain a calm and steady voice, not wanting to become too emotional. “By the end of that first day, I was sure I would die there.”
Lateef looked genuinely disturbed at Spyro’s story, before regaining his composure. ”That must have been terrifying Spyro,” he said, his voice losing its normally calm tone for a second.
Spyro nodded, clearly not interested in saying more for the moment.
All the while, Hunter watched from his own pillow beside Spyro, he’d of course witnessed it all, but it didn’t make it any harder to hear it from the kid.
“And you Hunter,” Lateef said. "What were you forced to do?”
“Me?” Hunter said surprised, “I thought I was just here to support Spyro, I don’t need…”
“You were enslaved as well were you not?” Lateef said calmly. “Forced to work that quarry?”
Hunter scoffed. “I just broke rocks and loaded carts, that’s nothing compared to what he had to endure.”
Lateef looked at him skeptically, then spoke, “ what happened to your back…”
Hunter sat up and stared the dragon down, this was starting to annoy him. “...was to protect Spyro,” Hunter interjected sharply. “I did what I had to do.”
This time Spyro spoke up ”Hunter!” he said a little loud, putting paw on the cheetah’s knee, offering a sympathetic look. “You said this would help both of us and even though it hurts, talking to someone about it…it kind of helps,” he offered a smile.
Hunter turned to Spyro, softening his eyes as he looked at the purple dragon. Despite his anger, he tried to keep a calm neutral tone, “I’m glad this works for you, but I don’t need this,” he said before getting up and walking to the door.
Hunter looked over at Lateef and Spyro when he reached the entrance, “I’ll be back when the session’s over,” he said more calmly.
Lateef gave him a nod and Hunter then looked down at Spyro, who he could tell wanted him to stay. He did his best to communicate a “I’m sorry” with his eyes, before turning to leave.
---
“That Lateef…” Hunter said, grumbling as he walked down the castle corridor. “How dare he try to make it about me, I was only in that place for two weeks.” He caught a couple of curious glances from passing dragons. “Spyro suffered in that place for a month, half of it alone, how does anything I endured measure up to that?”
He could feel the throb in his back, with the dressings gone, it was a constant reminder of how exposed he was. Not for much longer, he thought
He turned down a hallway and approached a door, knocking rapidly. “Come in!” A jovial voice said, and he entered.
Inside, the tailor Marcelle, was working away at his sewing machine, there was fabric everywhere. “Ah Hunter, please come in, “ he said with a wave of his hand.
“Is it finished?” Hunter asked bluntly, he wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries.
Marcelle kept his upbeat attitude despite Hunter’s bruskness. “Yes” , he said, moving over to a table. “It’s as you requested.” He gestured for the cheetah to join him.
Hunter walked over to the table, on it was a brown, hooded, sleeveless coat. He picked it up and examined it, “it’s perfect” he said turning to Marcelle. “Thank you,” he slipped the coat on and left the room.
His next stop was his and Spyro’s room, he entered. Hunter looked around the room, Spyro’s large cushion like bed, his own bed with his bow leaning against it. He had to admit, the Dragon Realms had quickly become like home to him, he was even making friends with some of the dragons. While he missed Avalar, sleeping under the stars up in the trees, being a nomad, he now was starting to like staying in one place.
He picked his bow up and examined it, though it wasn’t the same as his old bow, it was a fine example of dragon craftsmanship, perfectly balanced for his needs.
He glanced at the room one last time, then left for the archery range.
---
The arrow hit its mark dead center with a thud, Hunter immediately picked up another and let it fly hitting another and another and kept going until 4 out of 5 targets had perfect bull’s eyes. He went to collect the arrows. Not good enough, he thought, I swear, I’ll never let anyone touch him again.
Grabbing the arrows he turned around to find Bianca standing at the other end of the archery range. He stared at her, unsure what to say, then walked towards her stopping to put the arrows down, before turning to her.
Bianca spoke first, “how are you?” she asked softly.
“I’m…fine”, Hunter said awkwardly, he crossed his arm, already uncomfortable with the conversation.
“How’s Spyro?” Bianca asked, clearly taking in Hunter’s new look.
Hunter’s eyes brightened at the mention of the dragon, “he’s doing well, recovering fast, still as tough as ever,” he said, with a hint of pride.
“That’s good, that’s good,” she said nodding, “And you? How’s your recovery going?”
Hunter stared at her for a second then turned and grabbed his bow and arrow, nocking it and letting it fly, scoring a perfect bull eye. “I’m fine,” he said, reaching for another.
“Hunter…” Bianca said, raising her voice, “I haven’t seen you in a month, I’ve given you space because I know you need time to heal but…I’ve missed you.”
The cheetah looked back at her, “I’ve missed you too, but I need to keep an eye on Spyro, he’s still dealing with a lot.”
Bianca looked at him incredulously. “Isn’t there enough room in your life for both of us?” she asked, almost pleading.
Hunter let another arrow fly, this time barely missing the mark. He didn’t look back at her, instead he thought for a moment. “That burn on Spyro’s neck, did you know it was my fault?” he said, turning back to face her.
“What?” She said, confused.
Hunter’s eyes lowered and he spoke “He fought that suppression collar every night to keep me from shivering, all because I wasn’t strong enough.”
“Hunter…” Bianca said.
The cheetah looked back at the target and fired another arrow, a perfect shot. “But none of that would have been necessary….” he said angrily, “if I’d just gone back for help when I found him,” he looked at her and brought the tip of the bow down against the ground. “I saw him down there struggling, thought he couldn’t last another day, but he’s Spyro, he’s stronger than that, one day and I could’ve had the whole dragon army there, but instead…” He stopped for a second breathing heavily, “instead I tried to sneak in there, got myself captured and he was forced to endure another two weeks of torture, all because of my recklessness.”
Bianca stood quietly taking a moment to process everything before speaking calmly. “Hunter,” taking a step toward him.“You couldn’t have possibly known what would have happened if you left, you can’t blame yourself for something like that.”
Hunter looked at her with uncertainty, it was clear he didn’t believe her.
He then spoke sadly, “I’m sorry Bianca, but he needs me, that’s all there is to it.” He turned back and fired off the last of the arrows, before walking to gather them again.
Bianca, with tears in her eyes, turned and left.
