Chapter 82: Return

Before I knew it we were flying over the many buildings of Reinthoria in the afternoon light of the clear sky. Everyone below us gasped at the sight of a dragon, and some ran in terror. I didn't acknowledge them and my eyes stayed on the castle I used to call home. We landed at the front doors in the courtyard, and the knights who were guarding the door held terrified faces from seeing Saniel.

I then jumped off of Saniel's back and landed on my feet. The guards nearly jumped out of their armor as soon as they saw me. "P-P-Prince Dedrin?! Y-You're alive?!" I didn't answer them as I walked toward the doors. I used the stone's magic to open them and the knights froze at the sight that I had the other stone. Razerous stayed behind with Saniel as I walked into the castle between the guards who were too terrified to stop me. 

Inside I saw my parents standing to the side of the throne room as well as my brother along with who I could only assume was my sister in-law sitting in the thrones. They wore my parents' crowns and I should've expected that he was the new king since his birthday had come while I was banished. All of them jumped to the sound of the doors slamming open, but their surprise multiplied when they saw me.

"Dedrin?!" My father gasped and my mother covered her mouth in shock. My brother was just as surprised. "Y-You actually did it?! And is that a piercing?!" I stayed silent as I stopped walking and slowly held up the other half of the stone of Sudre. Everyone braced themselves to meet an end with fear when I suddenly threw the stone in front of me. "Here!" The stone bounced on the carpet and slid to my brother's feet.

Everyone's fear then became surprise and their confusion could be felt anywhere in the room as their questioning looks fell upon me. I straightened my posture and I started to shout in anger. "Do you have any idea what I had to do to get that hunk of junk?! I've been burned! Frozen! Fed to spiders! Fed to crocodiles! Punched! Stabbed! Shot at! Captured! Fell off cliffs! Thrown off mountains! Jumped off mountains! I had to climb a mountain eight times in the same fucking day! I tamed dragons! Almost fucked by goblins! Almost eaten by every creature you could think of! I..." As I continued listing all the things I went through, my family's eyes only widened the longer the list went.

"I've been beaten to a pulp! Kicked in the groin by an orc! Scratched! Bruised! I broke my nose twice! I had to dress up like a woman! I've dueled! Chased by wrangwobblers! Chased by yetis! Jumped into rivers! attacked by gargoyles! I had to race a mermaid so he'd throw up a pearl! I had to break spells! My foot got stuck in a bucket and a rake cracked me in the head! I was forced to learn about the reproductive system! I was forced to get a piercing which looks really cool but that's not the point! I've had to fight off a bunch of fairies to get them to stop touching me! I was assaulted by a witch! Thrown into walls! Broke my back! And I had to deal with a perverted sorcerer the whole time and let me tell you it was NOT WORTH IT!!" 

My family was frozen in shock and I continued as my eyes welled up with tears again. "And I'm cursed, apparently! Thanks for letting me know! I killed the one person who's never given up on me for that stone so you can have it! I've been through hell and back because of it so I want NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!!!" I couldn't stop myself from breaking down and I fell to my knees as tears streamed down my face. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I've done so many horrible things... Please... Someone kill me... I don't deserve to live..." 

A small silence passed and my parents' expressions softened. Once the shock had melted from my brother's face he picked up the stone I threw at him and smirked. "Very well. You asked for it." My mother then turned to him, horrified. "You would kill your brother?!" Dymas stood up from his throne and pulled the other half of the stone from his pocket. "Why not? Dedrin has been nothing but hell for this family. You sent him away to be killed and it didn't work. So, I'm finishing the job."

My mother continued to protest. "But he apologized!" My father hesitated as well. "Just in the few minutes he's been back, he seems different than he was before. Maybe being out there changed him somehow." I could barely hear their argument through my sadness. I held a hand over my mouth in an attempt to quiet my sobs, but that didn't stop the endless amount of tears I hadn't let out since I was little. 

Dymas turned to our parents in anger. "What's the matter with you?! Don't you remember everything he put you through?! Who cares if he's changed?! It will never make up for what he's done to us!" He turned to me again and I looked up at him, silently. He smiled again and held up both of the stones next to each other, causing them to glow. "Thanks for making me the most powerful king since our greatest ancestor. Too bad you won't be around to see my reign." 

He moved the stones together and they glowed brighter the closer they were. However, once they touched, the light didn't get any brighter and the cracked middle didn't seem to fit together. Dymas pulled them apart and tried again, confused, but they still wouldn't fit. He pulled them apart again with shock. "What?! Why won't they-?! Huh?!"

I was confused as well until suddenly, something Theodius said came back to me clearer than ever. 'And here I thought I was just going to take her right from under your nose when you least expected it.' I then stood up, angrier than ever before and turned to run out the door. "THAT SON OF A BITCH!!!!" Before I could sprint out of there I felt something pull me back by my arm. 

I looked behind me and saw my mother holding my wrist with longing in her eyes. I then thought back to everything I've done to her and my anger went away for a second. I turned and held both of her hands. "I'm sorry for everything." I then pulled out of her grasp and continued to run the other way, feeling the anger I had for Theodius return. As soon as I was out of the castle I jumped onto Saniel's back in one motion, startling Razerous. "Saniel, take me to Theodius!" 

Saniel spread his wings and took us back into the sky without hesitation and I didn't bother sitting down. I shook with anger at the stunt Theodius had pulled on me and I wanted nothing more than to crush his skull the moment I saw him. "Dedrin, what happened?" Razerous asked with concern as he looked up at me. "She's alive," I said through my teeth.