The Nine Dragons The Dragon Infirno Part Three

 Rebuilding 

The first thing that Loc did when she returned to the village was collect the dead. She picked up the first corpse and laid him down gently and then picked up the next one and laid him down. She moved onto the next one and laid her down. Then the next one and laid him down. 

She then spotted the first child and felt a tug in her heart and tears started to come, but she had to push past it and she moved onto picking him up and resting him down next to the last. Then moved onto the next section. Only to see another child and laid her down next to him as her heart sank and she started to feel more tears coming. She turned to see another and another and another and, as she laid them down, the tears overwhelmed her. 

Soon she could not see through the tears. Yet she pushed on and on and laid one down after the other. Tears started to suffocate her. Then a body slipped. She looked up to it with anguish as she tried to catch him. Only to see a pair of arms to her side. She looked to her side only to see Tsu as he laid him down.

“Let us do this too.”

She nodded, knowing that she was in no state to disagree. So the two found more and more and more. Soon two more joined in and took their dead. Then another two joined and another two and another two and another two. Then people came out of their houses and, after seeing the display, joined in. Then more and more and more until the whole village came out and laid them down.

Then the men and Loc started digging. The woman put each corpse in the hole once it was complete. Then another group of men covered and filled the hole as the first group moved onto the next hole. They did this again and again and again until all of the dead had been buried.

After the woman both young and old, old men, father, sons and brothers were all looking down. Where their loved ones died, crying. All of them.

Loc waited until the mourning was over before she turned back at the buildings. They all looked at her.

“Tell me, what do you all need to do to fix all of these buildings?”

“We will get the material. You, Dotty Eyes, stay here. We don’t know if this is all over and if it’s not, then you do all that you can to keep them safe.” Said a man with chalk blue hair and eyes.

She nodded as she looked at him, she noticed that he was quite good looking. Yet she looked aside, reminding herself not to get too close to anyone.

“What’s your name?”

“Yujo.”

“Loc.”

They shook and she waited for them to arrive. Once they did, they all went onto mixing the stone and once each brick was ready the men and Loc all helped them to replace the ones that had been broken. Although Loc had help with directions but once she got the hang, things moved on rapidly. So by nightfall all were tired and as soon as they had a good wash, they went to bed.

“Good work Loc.”

“Thank you!”

“Loc, do you think that you can hurt him? As in Pendragon?”

“Dunno! I won’t know until I do it.”

“Are you not scared?”

Loc narrowed her eyes like she was sucking on something tangly.

“I don’t know. But what I do know is that I am far too deep in this to pull out now. After all, I have taken down four dragons now.”

“What? How?”

She told him about it all. He looked at her, shocked. Yet that shock turned to pity. He opened his mouth to speak only for her to gesture that she was not done.

“So, once I’m done here I will be leaving.”

“On your own?”

“Yeah. Can’t risk your lives.

Hebnodded as they both went to sleep. She saw five dragons this time and saw the last, still in the distance. Yet it still did not get close enough for her to make out its features and size.

Yet when she woke up the following day she and the village went back to rebuilding. They laid down brick after brick. Meanwhile they made sure to mix as they all had started to run out. Once the brickle had been set, they all went back to work. They all finished and did this again and again. By the end of the day one third of the village had been rebuilt. Then the following day it was a repeat of the day two thirds of the village had been rebuilt. On the day after the village was done.

It was in this moment that she knew she needed to go. She could not afford to stay or develop any form of emotional attachment to the people or place. Especially Yujo. No, she could not afford another repeat of what happened with Ryu. So once the celebrations were on , she ate her fill before gathering her things and left.