Chapter 45
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
TYNAN
Ijolted awake, staring at the bright morning sun.
The room I was in appeared empty, a second narrow bed was clearly visible on the other side.
I looked around, having no recollection of where I was or how I ended up here.
I reached up to check the back of my neck and shoulders.
My skin had burned so agonizingly hot that I could still remember the excruciating pain that came after the blast. But nothing was there. Nothing.
I looked down, noticing the simple brown shirt and a pair of matching pants. My flying suit, still in perfect condition, was thrown on the back of a chair. All my knives, including the hunting blade, were displayed on the side table.
“Alina!” I shouted, already knowing that no one would respond.
A moment later, a hurried knock sounded at the door.
Before I could answer, the door swung wide open.
At first, I thought I was losing my mind, because what I saw was impossible.
Briskly, and without reserve, Frid entered the room.
She wore her sandy brown flying suit, and her hair was neatly braided.
She looked at me with her eyebrows raised.
“How can you sleep so long? You missed breakfast.”
“Frid,” I whispered.
“Yes?” She looked puzzled.
“Hey, what’s happening?” Victor entered the room in his usual careless manner.
“Victor.”
I looked down at my hands. Everything around me looked so real.
The tiny silver scars on my knuckles, the ray of morning sunlight that splayed across the rough panels of the wooden floor, the book I read at night was lying face down on the side table.
I remembered flipping through the pages as well as I remembered the explosion of fire, and the feel of Alina’s body against my chest.
“I hope the pigeon’s gone.” Victor leaned against the doorframe, chewing on a piece of bread.
“Don’t tell me you’re still hungry.” Frid observed.
“After the night I had, I need strength.” He smirked.
“Oh, please. Not today. I don’t want to hear about your pathetic women.”
“They are not pathetic.” Victor straightened.
“If you say so.” Frid returned her attention back to me. “I wonder how soon he’ll be back. There’s not much to report since we failed.”
My heart skipped a beat, and a wave of pure panic exploded deep in my chest.
“I disagree. We did not fail. The risk was too great. Besides, the pigeon had a point - no one could survive in that place. It would be suicidal to go through the prison just to get a dead body.” Victor said.
In two long steps I was in front of Frid and without any warning, I wrapped my arms around her.
“Ty? What’s wro –” she started saying when I squeezed her hard.
“Thank the gods, Frid!” I let go of her and moved to Victor.
“What? Are you sick or something? I’m not into this kind of –” I gave Victor a big hug.
“You’re scaring me,” Frid mumbled.
“Are you drunk?” Victor squinted his eyes.
“Where’s Sol?” I asked.
“He’s still asleep.”
Slowly, memories started to come back to me.
And the reality, clear and terrifying, drew new pictures in my mind.
I remembered traveling to the high security prison the day before and taking several flybys, finding no one.
I knew that the place was infested with crawlers and after examining the restricted section, and calling for any survivors without any success, we turned back. We never went in. We were never inside.
Everything that I had seen, everything that I could still remember happening, was a product of my imagination. It never took place. It was all in my head.
I remembered the words of Sage when he talked about my mother, and the visions that were as real as life itself. Visions that showed the possible reality that could have been. That was why he drank so much, to keep himself numb to the pain and to forget.
The mate bond was showing me what destiny had planned for us if I took the right path.
Everything could be an illusion, a weird distorted dream, but one thing I knew for sure, Alina was real. She was still there. All alone. Dying.
“Ty? What’s wrong?” Frid frowned.
I changed into my flying suit and secured my weapons. Frid and Victor watched me, exchanging worried looks.
“Don’t follow me.” I ordered before opening the window.
“They have spear launchers here!” Victor shouted, but I was already too far to respond.
I soared up, paying almost no attention to the defense lines and dragonborns who maintained the towers. Shortly after, the first missile hit the air right above me. I rotated in the air and dropped altitude, flying in an unpredictable pattern.
When the city was behind me, I focused on the horizon.
I never met her, I have never even seen her. Everything I have experienced was only in my head.
Why did I turn around? Why did I let someone like Erin convince me?
The blasts of sand and the debris from the ground below sprayed my face, but I took no notice of it. I had to make it in time. I knew she was there. She was waiting for me. She was my destiny, my mate, and I had to find her no matter the cost.
I flew past the long rows of houses and the desert with abandoned structures, barely noticing the groups of the undead scattered around the wastelands like herds of animals.
The land of dragons was dying without care and protection; the once luscious fields had fed thousands of people, and was now no more than just endless, barren land. I returned my gaze back to the horizon.
After I get Alina, we will find a new home. Together, we will figure out how to get back to her brother, and all of us will have another chance to have a better life.
The next moment, an unbearable coldness raced through my veins.
What if I’m too late? What if she died waiting for me?
In my vision, she was barely alive when I found her, and a whole day had passed since then. That thought made my heart explode with fear and I exerted myself further, pushing myself to fly even faster.
At last, the landscape started to change and the structures of the city below told me that I was close to the facility.
When the haze of my dream went away completely, I could clearly remember what happened the day before.
We made three circles around the prison and flew by the high security cells, calling for survivors.
When no one responded, we simply turned around.
But she had been there. I just did not know that then.
The sun was going down, and the nasty, dry air filled with particles of sand made my throat dry. I descended lower and my heart ached when I saw the outlines of the prison.
Just one more minute, just one more corner. I could remember where Alina’s cell was.
“Alina!” I shouted.
The moments stretched into slow moving pictures. I was close, I could see her window and the wall that was . . . missing. The hole stretched from the ground and almost up to the ceiling. Something made the heavy stone bricks shatter as if they were made out of clay.
“Alina!” I landed inside of her cell, immediately turning.
My eyes darted from corner to corner. Empty. She was not there. She was gone. Something happened to her while I was in Riolle, having a meal with my friends, drinking and listening to Erin’s stories.
I darted toward the door, trying to open it. It was secured. Desperately, I searched the cell.
I could still feel her presence, as if she was here just moments ago. My eyes landed on the narrow bed, then to the light blue, silk shoe that was lying on the floor. I picked it up, feeling the coolness of the smooth material. Alina wore flats just like this one when I found her in my dream.
All my emotions poured out of me and I could not control myself when I punched the stone wall.
Someone had her. Someone took her away from me. Someone blew up the wall to get to her. Who could have explosives in Talman?
I approached the external wall, examining the patterns on the edge of the rocks. The answer was too obvious. Shadows. Another team was sent to make sure that the job was done. Someone followed us and waited for us to leave.
She was alive, I could feel her soothing presence deep in my soul. The bond was weak, nearly extinguished, but it was still there.
I approached the drop and looked at the valley under the dim light of the disappearing sun. The lonely silhouette of a crawler dragon was searching the streets for fresh flesh. The screeches of the undead sounded from multiple levels beyond the Devil’s Cave.
Then my eyes shifted west, toward the capital.
If Shadows took her, there was only one place she could be.
Their bond will be tested again.
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