Chapter 31
CHAPTER 31
T hey found General Gasgoyne in the hospital, making the rounds of injured gargoyles, who were all in the same ward.
Tudor, Alex, Donovan, and Dane stopped by every bed and spoke to all the guards who were conscious. They reached the last patient and stood by the General.
Tudor looked at him and noticed the stress lines around his eyes. He touched the gargoyle’s arm. “Are you okay General it’s okay if you’re not today has been horrible.” Alex put his hand on Tudor’s back and he stopped talking.
The general nodded. “I am, sire, and yes, today has been horrible. I went and spent time with our fallen soldiers.” He sighed. “I need to contact the families and let them know.”
“Tudor and I were going to go and see the next of kin. You can come with us if you want,” Alex offered.
The general nodded. “I can do that. Do you want to go tonight?”
“I think we should we also need to know what kind of funeral they want can you give Dane the address of the next of kin and we can go and see them I want to go and see our fallen first.”
Alex gently squeezed Tudor's fingers.
“They’re with the fallen dragons in a room through that door and on the left,” the general told them. “Prince Dane, if you come with me, I can get you all the details you need.”
“Will do. Tudor, message us when you’re ready to go,” Dane said.
Tudor nodded and looked at Alex and Donovan. “Let’s go and pay our respects.”
Puff, Paris, Atticus, and Mateo were standing in the room of the fallen. General Delinga stood with them.
“A truly sad day,” the general said softly.
Puff touched his arm. Atticus spoke for him, “Puff says it is a sad day, the loss of our fallen brothers and sisters will be felt for a long time. He asks if you can give Paris the next of kin information, as he’ll be going to see their relatives. Mateo and I will go with him.”
The general nodded. “I would like to accompany you as well.”
Puff nodded. “Puff says thank you, your presence would be a big help,” Atticus told him.
Just then, the door opened and Tudor, Alex, and Donovan walked in.
“Sorry we can go and come back later,” Tudor said simply, looking at them.
Puff shook his head. “Stay,” he whispered. He then walked to Tudor and took his hand. “This being king is hard.”
Tudor nodded, his eyes sad. “I knew one day some of our guards might die but I never thought it would be this soon and on a day that should have been a celebration.”
Puff squeezed his hand.
“Han assured us that in their next life, they would be happy and die of old age surrounded by family,” Mateo told him.
“We’re going to see the families and inform them of their loss as soon as we have the next of kin’s addresses,” Atticus said.
Tudor nodded. “We’re doing the same I’m scared and I know it will be hard and sad but it needs doing.”
Puff squeezed Tudor’s hand and he stopped talking. He turned to Atticus.
“Puff wants you to know that he is going to talk to Blake about bringing the dragon guard’s families here. They shouldn’t be separated from their partners or children.”
Tudor nodded. “I like that idea we can both ask him if there is enough space on the new pack lands to build houses for them.”
Alex touched his back. “I can’t see Blake saying no.”
“But now, we need to go,” Mateo said.
Puff nodded and pulled Tudor into a hug. “See you later,” he whispered.
Tudor pulled back and looked at the dragons. “Good luck.”
Puff, Atticus, Mateo, and General Delinga arrived at Sergeant Cartwright’s next of kin. They had seen all the other families and it was as hard as Puff thought it would be. There had been anger, tears, and total heartbreak.
“So, the next of kin is Sergeant Laural Cartwright’s husband. They have three children, triplet teenagers,” Atticus informed them, reading the information Paris had sent him off his phone.
Puff nodded and the general knocked on the door.
It was opened by a young man, his eyes and nose red and his face already set in grief. “So it’s true. Come on in,” he said, moving out of the way. “First door on the left.”
They walked in and found themselves in the kitchen.
An older man looked up as they entered. He stood up from the kitchen table where he’d been sat, surrounded by his children.
“I’m General Delinga, this is King Puff and King Bob the Dragon King, Lord Atticus and Mateo Thomas. We’re very sorry for your loss, Mr Cartwright.”
The man swallowed. “Thank you for coming.”
“King Puff wanted to offer his condolences. He has currently lost his voice, but Mateo and I can speak for him. King Puff wants you to know how much he liked and appreciated Sergeant Cartwright. She had a kind heart and was a friend of King Puff’s. He wants you to know her death will not be in vain.”
“How did she die? All we know is she’s dead,” one of the teenagers said.
“A demon used dream walkers to infect some of the dragon, gargoyle, and shifter guards. She, along with several other dragons and some gargoyles, died when they attacked,” the general told them.
“Can we see her?” Mr Cartwright asked.
“I’m sorry …” Puff started to say, but nothing else came out.
Mateo put a hand on his shoulder. “King Puff says he’s sorry about the way she died.”
“What do you mean?” Mr Cartwright asked.
“She was beheaded,” General Delinga told them solemnly.
“She was in dragon form?” one of the teenagers asked, in surprise.
The general shook his head. “No, she was on guard duty in human form.”
“I don’t want to see her headless,” one of the triplets said, his eyes filling with tears and grabbing one of his brother’s hands.
The other two brothers agreed, one taking his father's hand.
“We would discuss the dangers of her job,” Mr Cartwright said, wrapping his arms around his three boys, as much as he could. “She knew the violence of the job, and would want us to remember the wonderful person that she was.”
“We wanted to ask, do you know her burial wishes?” Atticus asked him.
Mr Cartwright shook his head. “We never spoke about it.”
Puff looked at Mateo, who spoke for him, “King Puff would like to hold a vigil for her.”
“A vigil?” queried Mr Cartwright.
“Yes, we hold a special space for her in our shifted form from twilight to twilight the following evening. Then we either have a burial or cremation. Unless there’s something you’d rather do.”
“That sounds nice. Do you know where you’ll hold it?”
“We can hold it on our pack lands unless there is somewhere else you’d like to hold it. We were also thinking of having all the dragon guards’ funerals at the same time unless you’d prefer to have it separately,” Mateo said.
Mr Cartwright looked at his sons.
“Whatever you want, Dad,” one of them said.
He nodded and turned back to Puff and the others. “We can share the funeral. If you can send me the address, date and time, we can arrive in time.”
“We’ll let you know the details later,” General Delinga assured them.
“We’ll be going now and contact you as soon as we have the details,” Atticus said.
“Thank you for coming personally, Your Majesty.”
Puff walked forward and touched his arm. “You’re welcome,” he whispered.
They arrive back at the pack grounds.
“We should go and see Blake,” Atticus said.
“Do you want me to come?” the general asked on a sigh.
Puff noticed the sadness in his eyes and now the slump of his shoulders.
“General, Puff asks if you’re alright,” Mateo said.
“Sad and angry. It’s not the first time I’ve lost soldiers and broken the news to family members, but for some reason, these have hit me hard.”
Puff moved closer to the general and pulled him into a hug. We’ll stop Barnabus and make sure this can never happen again.
The general hugged him back for a moment, before pulling back. “We will, thank you, Your Majesty. I’m glad you’re our king. I can’t remember the last time a dragon king came to inform the next of kin.”
“Puff’s also going to look into our old traditions and see about bringing them back,” Atticus told him.
“Maybe not all the old traditions, some of them were bizarre, but I’m sure there are nice ones that can be brought back,” the general said.
“Like inviting the deceased human’s dragon to the funeral,” Mateo said.
“That would be nice,” the general said. “I’m going to check on the injured. If you need me, call.”
Puff smiled at him and nodded, and they watched the general walk off.
Mateo and Atticus stepped closer to Puff. Mateo pulled him into a hug and Atticus moved so he could hug them both.
Puff wrapped his arms around both of them, as much as he could, and just soaked in the moment. He felt Atticus kiss the side of his head, before doing the same to Mateo.
Thank you for helping me today. If I haven’t told you already, I’m glad you’re both mine.
“We’ll always help you, Puff,” Mateo said softly.
“And I’m glad you’re both mine as well,” Atticus added. “Although, we need to talk to Blake.”
Puff dropped his arms and nodded.