The first thing Silas realized when he came to his senses was that - he was not lying on the ground. 

It was something rather scaly and uneven, poking into his back. He stirred, his eyelid seemed to weigh a ton and his body was stiff as a rod. He reached out his hand to find something to hold on to. He would need some support to lift him off whatever he was lying on. He found nothing.

He was going to fall back when a hand snaked around his lower back, tugging him close. His eyes flew open, revealing a very disheveled Lennox. 

‘Umm..’ He muttered, not quite able to comprehend what to say. 

Lennox’s eyes looked tired and there was a five o’ clock shadow on his face that made him seem a little older. A little rough.

Lennox’s gaze raked all over his body as if ensuring he was all mended. It lingered a little longer on his forearms where the skin was raw and wrinkled, still healing. 

He looked away, but not before Silas caught a glimpse of guilt and regret in those eyes. His mind raced back to Ruhan’s words, seeking some validation in Lennox. 

‘I feel fine.’ Silas supplied, hoping that helped.

Lennox hummed, gradually helping him off the -  

- or trying to because the next moment Silas looked down, launching himself in the air as if his ass was on fire. 

Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!

He had been sitting on Zenos! 

Not the little, harmless one. No.

But the giant that was breathing fire, in a real, non theoretical sense.

Silas landed on the ground with a thud, scrambling away like a scared little kitten. His horrified gaze was locked onto the dragon’s piercing blue eyes, which regarded him with such blatant disinterest that it was almost insulting.

If dragons could roll their eyes, Silas could swear that this one just had. 

He heard the laughter behind him and turned  - only to find a sight so warm and yet so unfamiliar. Lennox was laughing, truly laughing - a sound so open and unguarded. No sharpness, No edge tainted that pure unfiltered joy. 

Silas felt this strange fluttering in his chest. A light tickle. He wanted to laugh too but all he managed was a helpless goofy grin on his face. 

He must be going crazy. 

Lennox held out his hand and Silas took it, coming to stand by his side. They were in some run-down building, the roof was rotting with mold, already giving away. Silas noticed a small stove tucked in a corner and few strewn around containers besides it. A makeshift kitchen. A bed roll, dusty and tattered, was lying not too far away. There were two small drums where they were standing, flipped to serve as a seat. There was nothing in that place, save those few things. 

Huh

Lennoz took a seat and Silas followed him to another one. His body was still sore - a common scenario these days - but otherwise he felt fine. He checked himself for any bruises or wounds but he was clean except for his hands. They seem to have taken the worst hit. 

His eyes wandered to his attire - the new tunic was gone and he was back in the rags. Great.

Lennox noticed. Of Course he did. 

‘We’ll get you a new one, once we get back to Raia.’

Silas nodded and then most humbly turned to him. 

To ask.

‘What do you mean when we get back to Raia? Where are we?’

‘Dales.’ He replied without a pause.

‘The Dales??!’ 

Gods! He needed a break. 

‘What are we doing in the Dales?’ Silas asked, eyes wide with horror.

Raia was a beautiful capital city. A muse, the living spark behind an artist’s inspiration.

But Dales?  It featured in the horror tales that mothers would tell their children at night. To scare them away from bad stuff. It was a city of nightmares.

‘You tell us.’ Lennox shot back, a fine brow raised very delicately at him. 

‘One moment, I was in the middle of the fight and the next I was here with you. You - burnt half to death in my arms. There is a lot of explaining to do here.’

Silas mouth closed and opened, no words came out. He sat there looking like a fool. Lennox’s words stirred awake the internal battle that Silas had invited upon himself the moment he ran from that shop. He had not been thinking then. His feelings had set the course for him.

He could not let Erie and others condemn Lennox to a brutal end he had done nothing so far to deserve. Lennox was to be condemned in his eyes before Silas would allow anyone to take him to the gallows, especially when he was being used as bait to lure him there. 

Raia and Nimit were enemies but still, would it be fair for Silas to plunge the dagger in any Raian heart he desired? He believed not and Elder Chowksi would agree. Ruhan would agree.   He had been asking for something that was stolen from him. How could Silas be an aide in a person’s death who had done him no wrong? Silas was not a soldier, just a boy raised on a farm. 

But would Lennox believe him?