A Place to Belong - Chapter 14
#15 of Malakye's Story - Part 1 (A Place to Belong)
Chapter 14 of 'A Place to Belong'. With a new future looking promising Rose needs to say good bye.
As you may have noticed I'm posting pics with a chapter of the story below, each of the pictures are a commission I've gotten from various artists of characters from the story and I'm still requesting more.
If anyone fancies doing a picture or piece of fan-art from the story using any of the characters or places then they are welcome to do so, let me post the pics with the story and I'll give a link to your user-page when I use it.
All the pictures I've used so far and more are available to be viewed in my gallery with info on the relevant artists that drew them for me.
I'd like to give a big shout out to 'Roderick the Rhodesian Ridgeback' (http://www.furaffinity.net/user/zizixmp3/) for proof reading my story. He's a great fur with a big heart and I can't thank him enough for doing all he's done to help with the story,
You may notice a few words have been highlighted and an explaination of what it is is given, these are words that only exist in this story and are there to help you understand whats happening, these descriptions only appear the first time they are used and won't appear in future chapters but soon I will be posting an encylopedia of sorts contain all of these word and more allowing you to discover many things about the world that may not even appear in the story. If you feel like I've missed a word then please let me know and I'll make sure to add it to the chapter and/or the encyclopedia for future reference.
Chapter 14
"Hi guys." I said, still feeling my cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "You all know Rose. Rose, you know Michael." I said motioning towards the large stallion.
"Nice to see you again." Rose said, and then giggled as Michael gave her a wink.
"Likewise."
"And this is Eric, Cody, Aceh and Jason." I explained, pointing to each one in turn. Everyone smiled and gave her a wave. Eric approached and grinned sweetly at her.
"I trust you're looking after Malakye? He needs all the help he can get after all." Eric chuckled.
"ERIC!" I growled with embarrassment and Rose laughed sweetly.
"Oh, don't worry I am...but I think he's more than capable of looking after himself, especially after last night."
"Oh? Did something happen?" Eric asked, and his brow furrowed with concern.
"Just some thugs trying to give Rose a hard time is all." I explained, not wanting to make them worry.
"Just some 'thugs'? Please Malakye you took out Vireon and his two brutes without breaking a sweat." Rose explained.
"Vireon?" Eric asked, his frown deepening. "This isn't by chance the black market criminal I'm thinking of... is it?"
"Yes unfortunately." Rose answered and everyone in the group went silent. Looks of worry were etched into their faces and despite the hustle and bustle of the market around us, I was sure you could hear a pin drop. "He's taken a fancy to me and won't take no for an answer."
"Hmm...this is most worrying." Eric said aloud but to no one in particular. "Vireon is a powerful dragon with many lackeys... he won't take kindly to this... we should leave tomorrow morning first thing...before Vireon decides to retaliate."
"But Eric..." I was about to argue with him but he silenced me by simply raising his feathered talons.
"No buts Malakye. Vireon will fight back and when he does it won't be pretty. Once the Market closes we'll pack up the wagons and head off in the morning. You would do well to be careful, meet us at the tavern later tonight." Eric's tone held a finality that ended the conversation. I knew it would be pointless to argue but then it struck me that if we were leaving in the morning then it would mean I wouldn't be able to see Rose any more... my heart skipped a beat.
"Eric..." I was silenced again when Eric raised his talon once more.
"I know what you're about to say Malakye and I have a solution to that very problem, but only if Rose is willing."
"Willing to do what?" Rose asked and her head tilted to the side slightly.
"Well it's obvious that Malakye likes you very much dear. If we were to leave tomorrow Malakye would more than likely stay to be with you, which would mean our leaving would be pointless. So if you'd like to, you are more than welcome to come with us." Eric finished and Rose was silent for a few moments as she processed what he had said.
"Eric...thank you." I said " I'm truly grateful."
"You're more than welcome. You're part of our family now Malakye, so if something is important to you then it's important to us as well." Eric explained with a smile.
"Damn straight Kiddo!" Jason agreed. Aceh and Michael nodded in agreement and Cody let out a cheerful hoot.
"You're offer is so generous Eric..." Rose said, stopping for a moment to compose herself as she wiped away a tear. "I'd truthfully love to... but my job at the tavern..."
"I'll arrange everything with Francis, now you two go and enjoy the rest of the day and get ready for the trip, we'll meet at the Travelling Maiden later tonight and leave first thing tomorrow morning."
"Thank you so much you guys!" Rose said as a tear rolled down her muzzle..
"Think nothing of it Miss." Michael said with a grin before turning to me. "Malakye, be careful okay? Vireon is not someone to take lightly."
"I will Michael, thanks. See you all later tonight." With that Rose and I ran off to get her ready for the trip. We stopped at a few Market stalls where Rose bought a few things she thought she'd need for the trip before we hurried back to her home to gather he few possessions. There weren't many things she was taking, but by the time we had gathered them all and packed them into a large shoulder bag the sun was already setting.
"I'm so excited Malakye! It's been so long since I've left the village!"
"I'm excited too. You know, before Eric offered to take you with us I was going to tell him that I would stay here with you." I said.
"Really? Even knowing that Vireon would attack you again?"
"Yes, I would do anything for you Rose. I... I love you." When I heard those three words leave my lips I thought I'd be embarrassed but I wasn't... it felt so right to say it.
"You do?" Rose's eyes tiered up and she threw herself at me knocking me over, her arms wrapped round me in a hug as she kissed me passionately. "I love you too Malakye...I was afraid to say it and scare you off."
"I'm glad, and it'll take more than that to scare me off!" I laughed.
"OH!" Rose exclaimed and jumped up.
"What!? What's wrong?!" I asked panicked by Rose's action.
"I just remembered that I need to tell Zalamar I'm going! If we leave now we can catch him as he's finishing up for the day."
"Okay...but we can't take too long as Eric and the others will be waiting for us, they'll be loading the wagons now as we speak."
"I know, I know... it won't take that long. I have to see Zalamar before I go! He's like my own father!" I nodded grievously.
"Don't worry, I understand. Let's get going or we'll miss him."