ReBirth Of The Primordial

Even after Eden's breakdown, Dagan and Sorcha stayed close, never straying too far. One of them either holding Eden's hand or close enough for their shoulders to touch. Eden didn't want to admit it, but it was soothing. Is this what have a family was like? They knew to stick with others of their kind, that there was safety when the few of their species could be found, but this feeling of warmth was... Nice.

On the thirteenth day, Eden collapsed. Dagan and Sorcha carried Eden further into the back of the cave where the water dripped off a pale stalactite onto a bowl-shaped stalagmite. Once they got Eden there, Dagan rested Eden's head on his ŀȧp while Sorcha brought handful after handful of water.

"Sorcha." Dagan looked up at his twin.

Sorcha stared back, her beautiful scales that once looked like crushed opals, were now crusted with dirt. Where the dirt had been brushed off, it revealed dull-white scales. Dagan knew his own orange scales had become a dull rusted color and figured that this was due to lack of food. Eden had been able to supply fruits and vegetables sparingly those first ten days but on the thirteenth day, Eden could no longer bear it and had collapsed.

"Eden, not like us." Dagan looked down and gently ran his claws through Eden's long black hair.

"No, Eden not." Sorcha calmly agreed as she slowly tipped her hand so the water would not get into Eden's lungs. Indeed the little gemstone had been hatched here. Even with the sparse food that Eden had been able to grow those first couple of days, it was like a feast for Sorcha and Dagan.

"But Eden try so hard." Sorcha continued. "We," Sorcha inhaled deeply, "need to go. Eden needs us. Io not here, but Eden, Eden..." Sorcha stopped talking as she tried not to cry at the thought. Dagan and she didn't mind going without. Really they didn't. They had been through so much and even though Io had always done her best to provide. It was just that the world they had lived in was exhausted of its resources.

Dagan looked at Sorcha, really looked at her. She had lost weight, and her cheekbones were getting sharper and sharper. The fruit that Eden had provided was delicious the twins made sure that Eden had eaten most of it. While Dagan and Sorcha were used to not eating days at a time, for some odd reason and maybe it had something to do with the fact that they were no longer human, the lack of food was beginning to take its toll on them.

That was not a good thing. It was one thing to reasonably go without, but Dagan knew that they could not go without so long that it weakened them. Sorcha and he had been lucky that it was Io that had found them. It had taken Dagan a long time to trust Io because he was intimately acquainted with the ugly monsters that hid inside people.

Still though, as much Dagan wanted to wait for Io, he knew that Io would not want any of them to harm themselves, even if it was to her detriment. That was just how Io was, and if Dagan was honest with himself, both he and Sorcha had failed in looking after Eden. It didn't matter that Eden never complained. Both he and Sorcha should have noticed there was an issue.

Dagan could tell Sorcha felt the same way as he did when she made eye contact, the anguish there a reflection of his own.

"Yes, Sorcha. Io always left us in a safe place, but she, she" Dagan started to cry as he finished, "she always came back." His small frame shook as he tried to keep the pain that was tearing through his heart inside. Sorcha needed him to be strong, just like Io. Dagan lifted his head and rubbed his arm against his eyes.

"Dagan?" Sorcha asked, her eyes as luminous as moonlit waters from her tears.

Looking up at the ceiling, "Dag," Sorcha started, as she began rubbing her small claws across her twin's back.

"Hmm?"

"We're too weak. If we were strong, Io would not leave us. She'd have had us to help."

"En."

"It was our fault. Our fault again! Again! We hurt Io again." Tears slipped down her cheeks, the clear water dragging dirt with it as it became small bits of ice when finally fell off her cheeks. Dagan kept quiet, letting his sister mourn. They couldn't count how many times their Io had bled to keep them safe, all the while laughing it off. It didn't matter that she had acted as if her wounds did not hurt, the fact that she had bled for them was hellacious.

Little as they were, Dagan and Sorcha had been abused. They had seen men laughing as they did things that made other little children cry until their eyes became empty. Eventually, the children would stop struggling, some even breathing. The air had stunk, rancid from the smoke that always lingered around where they had lived.

Dagan had done his best to keep Sorcha out of the way. At times it was unavoidable, getting hit, kicked, or burned, even if he did his best to stay out of the way. However, Dagan had in place of Sorcha kept their tormentors occupied. He didn't want to think of how many times he had 'used' himself to keep Sorcha safe.

In all honesty, Io had been the one to pull them out of the dark and into the light. It just wasn't enough to just love someone. In the end, you had to have the strength to keep it safe. Otherwise, it would be taken from you. Nothing was worse than losing someone because of your own powerlessness. It was its own special form of agony. Dagan knew how hard it was to keep someone safe. The security that he had felt whenever Io was there. It was because of this complacency that he had lost her. .

Sorcha leaned down and rested her forehead against Dagan's as if she knew that he was lost somewhere in his memories. Dagan closed his eyes and took a fortifying breath. It was time. She helped lift Eden off of Dagan's ŀȧp and rested the sleeping gemstone against her shoulder. Once Dagan was clear, he stood up, turned around, and crouched. It was going to be tricky but they could manage it.

It took a few tries, each too scared to accidentally drop Eden, but eventually they were able to get Eden onto Dagan's back. Dagan waited for Sorcha's ok and stood up slowly. Sorcha patiently waited, her thin arms stretched forward just in case the additional weight from Eden tried to pull Dagan off his feet.

Success.

They began making their way towards the outside, with every step forward it seemed as if a fire was growing in Dagan's yellow eyes. It grew, stoked by a rage that had been brimming deep inside. Never again, he swore to himself as rage began to fill his small body, his thoughts returning to the day Io had left them.

You should have helped Io. Gone with her at least! Why did you let her go alone this time? You knew that something was different. That there was something wrong. Why didn't you follow her? On and on these thoughts rang through Dagan's mind and with every self-accusation, his rage grew. With his rage though came an internal sort of fire.

By the time Dagan and Eden left the cave, the air around Dagan seemed colder, but his vibrant shoulder-length red hair moved as if there was a breeze, his feet bȧrėly touched the ground, and the fire burning inside of him moved in a peculiar pattern.. There was just enough time for Sorcha to rip Eden off Dagan's back when everything began to burn.