Danny, Danny wake up?
Familiar voices call out to him and when he opens his eyes he finds his parents in front of him smiling warmly at him.
Come on you gotta wake up breakfast is almost ready.
Seeing his parents in front of him Danny begins feeling a wave of relief overcome his heart and with tears in his eyes he runs towards his parents, hugging them intently. After the warm embrace the three of them head to the kitchen and begin eating.
Danny are you okay, you seem a bit tense.
Yeah your mother is right that hug you gave us just now, I could feel the emotion behind it. Does this have to do with a nightmare?
Yes, it's a nightmare but this one was way more scarier than the ones I usually have.
Lay it on us son, what happened?
Danny began telling his parents about the events in his nightmare with tears in his eyes, every detail shaking him to his core as spoke eventually telling his parents of their deaths.
That sounds like quite the nightmare.
Well you don't have to worry now, we're all here and we'll never leave you alright.
Looking down Danny felt a great sense of ease, then he turned to his mother but the scene before him shook him to his core. His mother who bore a warm smile now had empty eyes with blood dripping down on her face like tears. Danny quickly turned to his father to tell him about this but he was greeted with the same image on his father's face.
Danny quickly ran away from them heading towards the door but to his misfortune it was locked. Danny looked back to see his bloodied faced parents staring back at him, he saw the blood flooding out of their empty eyes and as he looked down he realized that the blood was quickly filling up the entire room and before he realized it the blood had completely filled up the room.
Submerged in blood Danny could still see the image of his parents staring back at him eventually the blood began darkening until eventually it became a pool of darkness. Danny felt himself suffocate until a bright light emerged from underneath, without wasting time he quickly swam towards the light until...
Danny's eyes began to open slightly but his vision was completely blurred, all he could see were bright lights and shadows and after a few seconds a figure appeared standing in front of him. Scared of this figure Danny tried to shield himself but he quickly found that his body could not move and to make matters worse he found it hard to breathe.
The figure looking like it turned towards his face leaned in and Danny quickly found himself losing consciousness. Before fading to black he heard wierd noises that almost sounded like voices but he could not make anything out it's as though his ears were also failing him and eventually he completely passed out once more.
Seeping back into the darkness Danny felt time pass him by until finally he woke up once more still with blurred vision, strange sounds could be heard and gradually the sounds became more and more clearer until finally they became voices.
I just wish I could have done more.
I know you're still distraught about it but you need to get yourself together after all he'll need you the most right now.... Hey look he's waking up.
What?
At that moment Danny saw a figure approaching him, the figure slowly went near his face. Danny's vision began to clear up and for a moment he saw his father's face but the image quickly transformed into his uncle's.
U....Uncle Alaric.
Danny!? Danny can you hear me?
Danny looked at his uncle with a bland expression all he could think about at that moment was the dream he had. Then the realization struck that his parents had died, with tears in his eyes he looked at his uncle.
Uncle Alaric my parents... My parents are gone aren't they.
Seeing his nephew's tears Alaric could only turn away, holding back his own tears. At that moment a familiar person approached Danny.
Doctor... Avice?
Hey Danny it's good to see you awake, so how are you feeling?
S...Sore.
Well that's to be expected. Well I need to go somewhere but I'll be back soon for now I suggest you just rest okay.
Avice quickly exits the room leaving Danny and Alaric alone. Deciding to break the silence Alaric turns to Danny.
Danny... I'm sorry, if I had just arrived sooner I could have saved your parents.
Uncle why did those knights attack us, what did we do to them.
It's a complicated situation, but you shouldn't worry about that now you should just focus on resting like doctor Avice said.
A few minutes passed by until Avice returned and quickly called Alaric to come talk, acknowledging this he quickly followed her outside the room and they began talking.
Sorry for calling you out like that I didn't want Danny hearing this.
It's alright, so what did you want to talk to me about?
It's about Danny's condition.
Danny's condition? Is something wrong with him?
Well for the most part he's healing finely but there's one major issue, the sword that pierced him ruptured his right lung and we couldn't repair it even with our highest level of healers.
So what exactly does this mean.
It means that from the moment he's discharged he'll have problems with breathing that will probably affect him his entire life, for now the only reason he's able to breathe is because of the constant influx of magic that's being administered to him daily.
So you're certain there's nothing we can do.
I'll be honest with you it'll take a miracle to restore it but on a much lighter note you'll be glad to know that he'll be clear to leave soon.
Isn't it too soon?
Like I said before aside from his lung everything else is in order.
That's good to hear.
I need to ask you something not as a doctor but as a friend. What are you going to do now, I mean his parents are gone and when he's discharged...
I'll take him in myself of course.
How are you going to do that in case you've forgotten you're a knight, your duties won't leave you with enough time to take care of him and secondly I highly doubt you how to take care of a child his age. I suggest you find him a foster home.
ABSOLUTELY OUT OF THE QUESTION!!
Shhhh there's patients here.
My apologies. Look I understand your argument truly I do but I just can't abondon him especially since I'm the only family he has left and like you said before he needs me now more than ever especially after everything he's been through.
I see that hot headed nature of yours hasn't changed one bit captain. Fine, I know convincing you when you're like this is impossible. Just promise me that you'll call me when you need help alright.
Unbeknownst to them Danny could actually hear their entire conversation. A few days have passed by and it's time for Danny to be released. Alaric arrives at the hospital and quickly packs all of his clothes before they depart. Getting into a carriage they begin their encounter.
As their journey starts they carriage passes by countless strange places each with their own charm but Danny didn't care these places, the wonder and intrigue that once filled his heart was now replaced dark thoughts.
I see you're being quite thoughtful, tell me Danny what's on your mind.
I.. I just miss mom and dad. Why uncle? Why did they have to die like that? I wanna die too so I can be with them.
Danny I understand your pain but you need to put such thoughts to rest, you are far too young to be thinking in such a manner and besides your parents risked themselves to save your life so you must honor their sacrifice by continuing on. Promise me you'll do that.
Danny quietly nodded in agreement, the journey continued and Alaric could only look at his nephew with concern. Eventually the carriage came to a halt, they arrived at their destination. Outside stood a modest looking house with a reasonably sized yard surrounding it located near a forest.
The two quickly got off the carriage carrying all of their luggage with them. They entered the house and as soon as they did so they were greeted with a large empty house, this greatly confused Danny.
Uncle? Isn't this your house, why is it so empty.
Well this house was recently bought so we can live together so it's my first time here as well. I suggest you look around and find a room for yourself.
Danny did as he was told and began looking around. While exploring he found that this house was larger on the inside than it was on the outside, the house had four bedrooms each large enough for at least two people as well as a common room, a sizable kitchen and a large basement extending underground.
Under normal circumstances Danny would have found this house exciting but in this case all he could think about was his parents and eventually his exploration concluded, having picked out a room on the second floor he quickly returned to his uncle.
The two of them then spent the entire afternoon unpacking everything until dusk after they finished they went to the common room.
Well that took longer than I expected, eh we'll finish the rest tomorrow. Now the question is what we'll have for dinner so any ideas Danny?
I don't know.
You know what, don't worry about it. Well I'll be heading out to find some food so behave yourself alright, I'll be back soon.
Alaric quickly left the house leaving Danny alone and with this time Danny could only ponder everything he's been through, he found himself sitting still like a statue. Soon enough his uncle returned and the two of them proceeded to eat dinner before heading to their bedrooms.
Danny quickly prepared himself before heading to the bed, time passed and Danny found that he could not sleep so all he did was stare up into the ceiling until he began hearing a noise. He realized this noise was coming from his uncle's room, listening into he could hear his uncle softly crying.
Dammit. Dammit why... Why didn't I make it, I should have just trusted my instinct.
Hearing this Danny himself began tearing up until eventually he passed out.