Thread:Echoheart123/@comment-39524212-20200609161317

Asphodel was fleeing. Again.

The horrid sounds of battle filled her tattered ears even though she was miles away. The sounds echoed in her mind, and filled her with a wild, untamed fear.

She was born on the battlefield, but she was not born to fight. Instead, she was a coward, avoiding war and its deadly affairs.

I don't mind being called a coward, as long as I don't have to stay in that wretched place, Asphodel thought fiercely.

Too many times she had seen death claim her friends, family, even nameless dragons that were swept away by its dark tide.

"Asphodel? Asphodel!"

''I'm imagining things. ''Asphodel rubbed her temples gruffly, trying to shake the voice from her mind. But the voice was real.

"There you are!" At first, Asphodel stepped backwards, staring at the young black dragon as he collapsed to the ground beside her. But then she recognized the dark green eyes, the silver claws, the skinny frame. ..

"Raven?"

"Asphodel! It's me!" The dragon lifted his head joyfully.

"I remember you!" Asphodel breathed, grabbing his talons in hers. "You were that soldier, right? The one that used to work in Queen Ink's kitchens?"

Raven nodded rapidly. "And you're a soldier for General Splendor."

"I was a soldier for him," she corrected softly. "But I left."

"Why?"

Asphodel hung her head and dragged a talon through the dirt. "I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't fight. I had to run away. . . the war was too much."

Raven wrapped a comforting wing around her and didn't speak for a long time. 