Trust Is Fragile | Rayla X OC!Reader | Dragon Prince Fanfiction

Chapter 23: Home Sweet Home

"This is it. The Silvergrove." She spoke, I walked up beside her and stared at the clearing with amazement. "Isn't it amazing?" It made me happy just hearing how excited she sounded. Rayla grabbed my wrist and started to run towards The Silvergrove. "I want to show you everything."

Rayla turned around and faced me, walking backwards as we ventured further into the clearing. "Oh, are you hungry? I can take you to where they make the best Moonberry Surprise."

"Moonberry Surprise? What's in it?"

"I can't just tell you what's in a Moonberry Surprise, Zaira." I instantly felt stupid. It was a Moonberry Surprise.

"Right." Elves walked right by us and didn't even seem to notice our existence. The worst part was that I could've sworn that I didn't see the elves' faces.

"I can show you where I grew up, where I went to school, and-" Rayla stopped herself when she saw me looking around in a somewhat panicked state.

"What's wrong?" She asked. I pointed at a group of elves walking, none of them had any faces. There were no eyes, mouths, or noses. "They have no faces.."

"Oh, no. Oh, no." She covered her mouth as the realization kicked in.

"What's wrong with them?" I asked, while trying to grab the attention of an elf by waving my hand in front of their face. 

"It's not them, it's me. I'm.. a ghost!" I blinked in surprise and stared at her. She sighed and walked away, sparing glances at the elves that walked past her. I continued to try and get the elves attention.

Nothing was working, it was like they didn't even care. It had gotten to the point where I had attempted to try and strangle one of the elves. Much to my disappointment, Rayla stopped me. "It's no use. They can't see me, and they can't see you or Zym because you came in with me."

"I don't get it." 

"They made me a ghost. It's like being magically banished. It's what happened to my parents when they abandoned the Dragon Guard. And now it's happened to me."

"So why can't I strangle them?" Rayla turned around, she just shook her head. I sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You didn't run away. They just don't know what happened." Rayla looked up at me, a little happier than before.

"Yeah. Yeah, this has to be a mistake. Come on. There's one person who'll understand." She ran off, I grabbed my bag and followed her. She led us towards a tree, it has stairs going around it and leading up to a double door.

"Remember Runaan, the leader of the assassins?" 

"I believe so. Tall, pointy, almost got into a fight with me. He seemed nice."

"When my parents joined the Dragon Guard, I went to live with Runaan and his husband, Ethari. They were my parents' best friends, and they took care of me for years. We're going to meet Ethari."

"Will he be able to see you?" I asked.

"He wouldn't have done the spell. He always had faith in me." She opened up the double doors, inside was an elf sitting down and fixing up a blade. "Ethari! It's me. I'm so glad you're here. There's been a mistake. They made me a ghost. But you have to tell them, I didn't run away." Ethari continued on and didn't even seem to hear Rayla. "Ethari?" She asked more softly. He turned around and he had no face either. I felt some anger bubble up in me from seeing that. Did anyone in this place have faith in her?

"No! Ethari, not you, too." Zym let out a whimper and ran to hide behind a box.

"This isn't fair. There has got to be a way to get his attention." I walked over to the desk, I really wanted to just shoot an arrow through his heart. Fortunately, I resisted and just tried the simple and boring way, speaking.

"Ethari, was it? You didn't even give Rayla a chance. She has done everything right and you just banish her."

"Zaira, it's no use!" Rayla tried. 

"Listen! Rayla doesn't deserve this." I slammed my fist down on the table, the only other alternative to strangling the life out of the elf. Ethari flipped the sword around and examined the blade. His movements suddenly froze and he abruptly stood up out of his seat, causing it to fall backwards.

"The reflection! He can see me." Rayla noted, standing up. Her brows furrowed as she stared at the blade. "Yeah. I'm here. Surprised to see my face?"

"Can he hear you?" I asked. She shook her head. "No, but he can see how I feel." 

"Rayla." A new voice spoke, I assumed it was Ethari's voice. "Before you left, I told Runaan that you were too goodhearted for the work of an assassin. So I know you did not betray them out of malice. But that doesn't matter." Ethari slammed the sword down onto the table. "They're gone. He's gone. Because you abandoned them."

Rayla barely waited another moment before turning and running out of the room. I glared at Ethari before turning and walking out of the room. I walked over to Rayla and sat down on the edge of the pond next to her. "I understand now. They didn't make it." Rayla tossed a rock into the pond, creating multiple ripples. "None of them. Only me."

"How do you know?" I asked. Rayla pointed her hand out at the pond. "This." There was a lone flower out in the middle of the pond, its leaves were made of metal and in the middle was a blue stone that glowed. "When assassins are sent on a dangerous mission, Ethari enchants one of these flowers for each of them. As long as the assassin lives and breathes, their flower floats."

"And when all the others sank, and yours didn't..."

"They thought I ran away. Just like my parents."

"But you didn't run. They just don't know what happened out there."

"Does it matter?" She asked, tossing a rock at her flower in a weak attempt to make it sink.

"It does matter." Rayla glanced over at me, she gave a grateful smile, but then looked back out to the pond.

I noticed Ethari walking down the steps, I got up and backed away from the pond so my reflection wouldn't be seen. Ethari went over to the pond where Rayla was and looked into the water so he could see her. He held his hand out towards her. "Take my hand." Rayla hesitantly grabbed his hand. Slowly his facial features returned, he had light blue markings on his face and a set of brown eyes. There was a look of relief in his eyes as he saw Rayla.

"There you are." Rayla pulled him into an embrace. I watched the action from a distance. Ethari returned the embrace. "You know, I was never as strong as the others. This will only break the spell for a moment, but I couldn't bear to let you leave without seeing you one last time. But I don't understand, Rayla. How could you abandon them?" Rayla looked down in shame. "I failed them. It was my fault we were discovered, but I didn't run away. Ethari, we found something." Rayla turned to me.

"Zaira, show him." I blinked in surprise before walking over.

"I'm Rayla's Earthblood friend. Trees to meet you." I bowed, and had to stop myself from laughing out loud when Ethari returned the bow.

"Trees to meet you, too."

"Don't humor her." I shot an amused glance at Rayla, she gave me a very unamused glare. I picked up Zym and showed him to Ethari. "We found the Dragon Prince. The egg wasn't destroyed. And I knew that if we could get him home to his mother, there could be peace." Rayla explained. Ethari reached a hand out to Zym, he sniffed it and then licked it.

"It's a miracle. I can't believe it. But, Rayla, you need to know. The Dragon Queen is dying." Ethari said, his once happy demeanor suddenly turning to one of sadness as he broke the news to us.

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