Chapter 35
Elariya
“Borrowed Wings, Stolen Freedom”
My scream consumed me, swallowing me whole as more darkness rushed up to meet my body. The horrifying combination of my voice and the dragon's roar chased me through the blackness, raw and relentless, until I couldn't tell where it ended and I began.
I was falling to my death. Tumbling through my final moments with vicious terror ravaging my mind as I waited for either the dragon to shred me to pieces or my body to smash into the ground.
Images and faces from my life flashed through my mind. This was the second time in the space of days that I'd been in danger and seen the gentle faces of those I loved. But this time was my own doing. Because I shouldn't be here.
Wolfe had forbidden me to go near the caves. He'd warned me about the dragons, and I didn't listen. Zyrra told me to be careful, and I hadn't been. I'd stumbled into the cave like a child, allowing my excitement to get the better of me.
Wolfe's voice spun in my head, taunting me with his warning as more suffocating darkness swallowed me greedily, pulling me faster into its depths with every heartbeat.
Each second hurtled me deeper into the abyss, speed building faster and faster.
This was it. I was going to die now.
I closed my eyes, waiting, waiting, waiting.
Then massive talons closed around my waist. The sudden grip jolted me out of the fall, and my body lurched, dangling in the air like a ragdoll. It took me a moment to realize the dragon had me in its claws.
I had no voice left to scream, and my mind had already surrendered to the call of death. I guessed it would be the dragon who got to kill me, then.
The instant the thought floated through my mind, the dragon looked down at me as though it knew what I was thinking.
No. That had to be my mind playing tricks on me. One last taunt before I met my end.
The world twisted and whirled as the dragon's powerful wings beat once, twice, lifting us both into the air, its grip around my waist not crushing but firm enough to steal my breath. Then we soared up, up, up.
Bright light greeted me as we broke through the darkness and climbed into the sky. I gasped at the sudden change from pitch black to pure light.
We continued to climb higher and higher, then, in one fluid motion, the dragon flipped me onto its back, right between its shoulder blades where its scales were warm and solid beneath my trembling hands and quivering body.
“Hold on, my Lady,” a smooth voice rumbled through my mind, sharp and commanding.
The remnants of my tattered survival instincts snapped into focus, and I grabbed the ridge of scales in front of me. The moment my hands clutched the overlapping armored plates, I somehow felt more secure, as though something held me in place so I wouldn't fall. It was then the truth hit me.
The dragon spoke to me.
It spoke to me in my mind. And its voice resonated through every fiber of my being, as if our souls had found a frequency only we could hear.
My panicked thoughts slowed, confusion replacing terror, then the realization crashed over me that it wasn't going to kill me.
The dragon had saved me.
“Where shall we go, my Lady?” it asked, the voice coursing through my mind, smooth as the song I'd previously heard, and I nearly fell from the shock.
“What?” I rasped, still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we were speaking.
“Your destination, my Lady.” It glanced back at me briefly, those golden eyes locked on mine for a few heartbeats that changed my world with several realizations.
The first was that I could truly hear the dragon speaking to me. And I was flying through the sky on its back. Me. I was riding a dragon soaring through the skies.
Blessed Mother. There were no words to describe this encounter. Calling it wonderfully strange and unexpectedly amazing seemed inadequate.
“Shall I do Lord Nightblade's usual flight route?” The voice was steadier now.
“Yes.” My barely-there voice stuttered.
“Hedion at your service, my Lady.”
Hedion. That was the dragon's name. And he was male. I remembered Wolfe saying his dragon was a girl.
“Her name is Pyrion, my Lady,” he clarified in answer to my thoughts. “We are twins, carved from the same side of the moon. We are the last of the Ochia Aetherflame dragons.”
“It's... great to meet you.” I didn't know what else to say.
But it was true. It was great. And this was a dream come to life.
“It's great to meet you, too, my Lady.”
Warmth radiated beneath his scales and I stared at the magnificent head before me, allowing my brain to catch up.
“Hold tight, my Lady. We are approaching the Fenwyn Mountains. The wind is roughest there.”
I barely had time to secure my grip before we shot upward like an arrow released from a bow.
I screamed again, but my terror dissolved into breathless wonder as my gaze swept across snow-capped mountains that rose around us like sleeping giants, and endless valleys that stretched beneath us in waves of green and gold.
The world below unfolded, becoming a tapestry of impossible beauty that captured what little breath I had left. This was vastly different from the view Wolfe had shown me when I first arrived in the magical realm.
We soared higher, and I risked lifting my chest so I could get a better look.
Rivers snaked through valleys like silver ribbons. Ancient stone circles crowned distant hilltops, their weathered monoliths reaching toward the sky like fingers. Their magic hummed in the air with a power that felt so old it made my soul tremble with recognition.
Waterfalls plunged from impossible heights, their mist creating fleeting rainbows that danced and vanished through the air. The forest stretched to the horizon in waves of vibrant green and groves of silver-leafed trees that glowed with an inner light.
In the distance, floating islands defied all logic, suspended in the air by magic so pure it made the atmosphere shimmer around them.
The exhilarating beauty melted away my fear, replacing it with something sensational that raced through my veins.
Hedion banked left, and my stomach heaved in the most delicious way as we spiraled around a mountain peak so closely, I could have reached out and touched the stone.
Crystal formations jutted from the mountainside, catching the sunlight and scattering it into a thousand fragments across the valley floors. The mountain's power thrummed against my skin, as if recognizing the magic of the creature I rode.
Clouds drifted past us like ghostly fingers as we flew above eagles and other brightly colored birds I didn't recognize.
We hovered there, Hedion probably sensing my fascination, then his wings cut through the air with more powerful, rhythmic beats as we flew away into the arms of more magnificence.
Gods, this was living.
Flying was living. Wild and dangerous and absolutely intoxicating. A taste of freedom in its purest form.
It was art and poetry written in the wind and sky. The perfect medicine for a broken soul.
Reckless joy bubbled through me, and every nerve in my body sang with elation, the fear I'd carried previously suddenly seeming small and insignificant.
Up here, suspended between the earth and the heavens on the back of a creature of legend, I felt truly alive for the first time in my life.
Part of me wanted to beg Hedion to keep flying, to never touch the ground again. Because I knew I would never be the same after this.
Something had awakened in my blood that recognized Hedion's magic. And nothing would ever compare to these precious moments dancing with the clouds.
“We can keep flying, my lady, but Lord Nightblade would be quite cross. He doesn't like us going far or staying out too long without him,” Hedion warned.
“It's just a desire. I've never flown before.”
“We shall fly whenever you wish.” His voice was filled with pride.
“Thank you,” I answered him without speaking, hoping he could feel the joy in my heart.
Suddenly, a dark shadow hovered above us, blotting out the sun. Vast as night, it consumed us, swallowing the light. Then the sound of massive wingbeats thundered, drumming through the air above us.
I looked up to see what it was, and my gaze met the thick, black outline of wings and scales. I stopped breathing. Hedion's flight wobbled beneath me, and I sensed his change in demeanor. Then the mental pull of my shackle told me exactly who had found us.
Before I could draw breath, the massive form banked left sharply and plunged lower, revealing a dragon so immense it made Hedion seem small. Seated with predatory grace between its shoulder blades was Wolfe Nightblade, like a king of nightmares astride his beast.
Wolfe's face was a mask of cold fury and wrath. Even from this distance, I could see the hard line of his jaw and the way his dark eyes burned with barely contained rage.
Wild raven hair billowed in the wind like smoke, and his hands gripped the dragon's scales with white-knuckled intensity. Every line of his body radiated anger that promised consequences.
Those midnight eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that made my blood freeze, but beyond his merciless stare, I witnessed raw panic. The sight twisted my insides and dried my throat.
Gods, he looked absolutely pissed. Pissed as fuck at me.
Yet he said nothing, only looked away, but I sensed he spoke—mentally—to Hedion, because the dragon groaned.
“I'm sorry, my Lady, we're being ordered to fly back to Vyrenth Hollow.” Hedion's voice drifted into my mind with a cautious edge.
“I understand,” I answered, gripping the scales tighter.
Hedion dipped low then turned back toward where we'd flown. Wolfe kept close. Almost too close. There were moments when I thought the dragons would crash into each other.
Wolfe kept his focus on me, and I got the impression that he was concerned I might fall.
Each beat of his dragon's wings sounded like ripples of thunder. I heard and felt it deep inside me. The same way I felt him.