Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
The Jaws of Rach-Mah rose around them, and Keeran flew lower now that they were out of Demuto, soaring through the green valleys between the enormous mountains.
They hadn’t stopped since they’d left Llmera, and Aelia didn’t know how he was still functioning.
Not only had he flown straight through the night, but he’d also kept some kind of heat haze around her when she’d started to shiver.
It glimmered across her skin, as beautiful as it was warm.
She knew very little about magic, but her momentary experiences had left her more exhausted than she’d thought possible.
She dreaded to think the kind of strain it was taking for him to maintain the magic around her.
She couldn’t tell him to stop, that she’d be ok without it, because the pair bond had stayed fractured and silent since they’d left Llmera, no matter how hard she tried to reach out to him.
Initially, she didn’t think she’d be able to sleep whilst being jostled by the movement of his flight, the hard scales of his back rubbing against her uncomfortably, but she was out cold as soon as the adrenaline had left her system.
She found herself opening her eyes to a new day, her fatigue having let her sleep through a whole day and night.
Other than being beyond ravenous, she felt infinitely better for the rest, and looked out at the jagged guardians of the southern border with open-mouthed awe.
Snow already capped their rocky peaks, but the dense foliage that carpeted their sides flowed down into the valleys between them to form a forest that rivalled hers in beauty.
Even from such a height, she could see the ancient magnitude of the trees.
She longed to disappear amongst them, to let them hide her from the horrors of the world her own forest had shielded Callodosis from for so long.
They’d been amongst the mountains for the best part of the day, and the sun was starting to slip from view before Keeran finally angled them down towards a clearing on the side of one of the mountains.
Trees ringed half of it, giving way to the grass that flowed uninterrupted until the rock gave way to a sheer cliff’s edge.
He aimed right for it, the air from his wings rippling through the long grass as he landed.
He twisted the moment his talons touched down, and magic shimmered around her.
Aelia shrieked as Keeran disappeared from under her, and she fell through the empty space he’d filled.
Two thick bands caught her, and she opened her eyes to find Keeran holding her close, his arms wrapped tightly under her.
“Don’t do that,” she yelled, slapping his chest.
Keeran laughed, and the vibration of it had her insides turning molten despite herself. She released a shaky breath and tried to wriggle free. He set her down but didn’t let her go.
“Some warning would have been nice,” she grumbled, but she didn’t try to pull away.
“It’s a little hard to talk to you in that form.” His voice was liquid warmth, pouring over her skin and leaving goosebumps in its wake. How had she never noticed before?
She swallowed heavily, remembering just how blind she’d been, how cruel.
“Keeran, I…” She didn’t even know what to say. She was sorry for so much. For everything she’d said, for pushing him away, for getting him arrested. “I’ve been so stupid.”
He cupped a hand to her cheek, the rich brown of his eyes looking knowingly into hers.
“Me too.” His thumb stroked her cheek, and she leant her head into his palm. “There’s so much I should have told you.”
“I know why you couldn’t.” She’d have run for the hills if he’d told her what he was, what she was becoming to him. “I just wish I’d handled everything better.”
“You’ve had to handle too much, all at once.” She heard the truth in his words, knew how close she’d come to breaking. How much of that had he felt in the cells, when he’d found his way into her mind? “I’m just sorry I added to it.”
Aelia shook her head. There was no point denying that he had, but it hadn’t been in his control. Neither of them had had any say in the pair bond.
“You were in my head.” Aelia peered up at him, a thousand questions forming on her tongue all at once. It was so hard to pick one. “Is that normal for the pair bonds?”
“Yes, but only once it’s been accepted, that’s why it’s so intermittent.”
“Is it why…” Aelia struggled to find the words. “The light, the magic… is that the pair bond too?”
Keeran tensed against her, and she pulled back slightly to better see his face.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “That’s nothing to do with the pair bond.”
Aelia gulped, confusion slipping into panic at the consequences of that.
“I can’t control it,” she whispered, brows pinching together. “I thought you’d be able to show me how. I killed all those artemians in the warehouse. I could have killed you.”
Keeran placed his other hand on her face, brushing the loose strands of hair back in place.
“We will figure it out. There is always a solution.” He dipped his head so it was level with hers. “Always.”
“What is it, if it’s not coming from the pair bond?” she asked, struggling to control the dread rising inside of her.
Keeran sighed through his nose, his brows pinching together as he struggled to find the words.
“I don’t think you’re an artemian, Aelia. I think you’re from one of the realms in Mithrylaya.”
Aelia blinked up at him, Otis’s last words ringing in her ears. Had he known? Had he known what she was?
“Otis told me to go across the sea and find the Del Awane family. It was the last thing he said to me.”
Keeran shrugged reassuringly, dropping his hands. “Then maybe that’s where we need to go. But for now, we need to find somewhere safe and think everything through.”
“Where?” Aelia looked around at the mountains barricading them from all sides.
“Where Khaled and I used to live.” Keeran smiled down at her. “But first, we need to talk some things through. I’m sick of keeping secrets. I’ll answer any question you have, and I hope you’ll answer some of mine.”
Aelia nodded. “Of course.” She opened her mouth, one of the hundreds of questions she had leaping to the forefront, but he held his hand up to stop her.
“Let me hunt us something to eat first. If I don’t eat something soon, I think I’ll keel over.” He didn’t look like he was about to pass out; he actually didn’t look even remotely tired despite his long flight. Aelia, on the other hand, was so hungry her stomach felt like it was eating itself.
“Okay, I’ll get a fire ready.”
A gentle smile creased Keeran’s cheeks, softening his face in a way that made her knees feel weak all over again.
The energy shifted in the air between them, and she saw a hint of darkness flicker in him.
She bit her lip at the sight of it, and his eyes homed in on the movement, watching it hungrily.
But when he leant in to kiss her, it was gentle, his lips parting hers with a tender reverence, his tongue dancing against hers.
His hand gripped the back of her neck and pulled her closer, seeming to breathe her in.
Her arms wound around his neck, her fingers sinking into his hair, desperate to get as close to him as was physically possible.
She had found her home, and she never wanted to let go.
So when Keeran began to pull away, she felt such an immense disappointment that all sense of pride and propriety evaporated in a puff of longing.
Her body followed his, arching into him as he pulled back, not wanting to let the moment end.
His lips curved against hers in a smile, but it didn’t stop him from breaking free of her grip.
He huffed a laugh through his nose at her evident frustration, the warmth in his eyes appeasing her somewhat before he pressed his lips against hers once more.
Even the gentle brush of his mouth sent sparks skittering through her.
He broke off the kiss and pressed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes.
“I know the concept of a pair bond is something you’ve never had to consider, and I swear I will respect whatever decision you make.
But before you choose, you need to know that there is nothing I would not do for you, no line I would not cross to keep you safe, irrespective of what kind of monster that makes me.
There is no part of me that does not love you.
I am yours, wholly and completely.” He pulled away to look at her, the black depths of his eyes darkening further as his voice lowered, her heart skipping in an uneven beat at the heavy suggestion that rumbled in it.
“I also know that I have had far too long to think of all the things I want to do to you, of all the ways I’m going to take every delicious part of you.
But when I do, Aelia,” he said, her name little more than a growl on his lips, the sound curling in her chest as he leant closer.
“It is not going to be on a cold clearing, with you anxious and exhausted. No.” His teeth nipped at her ear.
“When I do, you’re going to need your strength, because I plan to make you come until you’re seeing stars long after the sun has risen. ”
If her pulse had been uneven before, it was positively racing at the promise in his words.
Stunned into silence, she watched him walk backwards, eyes locked onto hers until he reached the cliff edge. Then he stepped right back off it.
Aelia’s heart stopped beating altogether, leaping into her throat as she took a staggered step towards him.
A thud shook the air, vibrating through the rock she stood on. Another followed shortly, even more powerful than the last, the pressure in the air hitting her ears.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
They seemed to be getting louder, reverberating through her like thunder. Slowly, powerfully, Keeran rose into the sky, soaring over the trees and away into the distance. Aelia puffed out her cheeks and released a ragged breath.
Damn.
She raked her fingers through her hair.
He loved her. All the hurt and anguish and panic that had been threatening to overwhelm her were brushed aside by the warmth ballooning inside her.
It bubbled out of her in a disbelieving laugh as she watched him shrink into the skyline.
A smile still played on her lips as he disappeared behind a mountain, and she dropped her hands by her side, feeling lighter than she had in weeks.
She started collecting firewood, readying the fire and stacking some in a pile beside it. She didn’t bother lighting it. She wasn’t going to go in search of flint when she had her very own fire god flying back to her.
So, she folded herself onto the grass, sitting cross-legged as she took in the view. She shielded her eyes from the low rays of the sun, peering into the sky. Aelia broke into a smile as she spotted a shape flying high, too large to be a bird. Keeran was on his way back.
Still high above the valley floor, he soared out of the sinking sun towards her. She squinted, taking the opportunity to watch him fly as he came steadily closer. The sun blinded her, but she strained past it to make out the detail in the shape hurtling towards her.
Dread hit her like a wall, fear rolling over her as she shook her head in horrified denial. The Dragon barrelling towards her was too small, too lithe, too long. Its scales glinted, the evening light bouncing off its golden sides.
It wasn’t Keeran.
She lunged to her feet and ran, her legs pounding the ground in a frantic sprint towards the shelter of the trees. Blood rushed in her ears, her arms pumping by her side, her breathing already coming in gasps as she dove between the enormous trunks of the mountainous forest.
Before long, she could feel the vibration of the Dragon’s wings in the air, thudding in her ears like a drum. It was close, but she didn’t dare look up. She willed her legs to move faster, praying the trees gave enough cover to hide her progress down the mountain.
The downhill gradient worked to her advantage, gravity urging her forwards. So she ran, hardly aware of the acid burning in her muscles. Her feet tackling the uneven ground, skimming over roots and fallen branches, focused entirely on escaping.
The branches in the trees above her bent and swayed ominously, the air from the Dragon's wings buffeting them from above. Panic threatened to take over; it knew where she was.
For the time being, the cover of the trees protected her, but she couldn’t hope to outrun a Dragon. Her thoughts were frantic, terror making it hard to think clearly. All she could do was run.
The trail was steep and uneven, and tree branches whipped across her face. She fell once, sprawling across the hard earth, tearing the skin of her hands and knees. The pain didn’t register, and without a second’s hesitation, she was back on her feet, tearing through the trees once more.
She was focused so intently on the trail that it took her a while to notice that she couldn’t hear the pounding of wings.
She didn’t ease up her pace, ploughing through the trees, her chest heaving with the exertion.
Her legs were on fire, and sweat streamed down her face, but she ignored it, overriding it.
The trees to her left gave way to a wall of rock, thick with moss and ivy.
The forest started to thin, the protective green breaking to expose her to widening patches of ominous blue, but she had no choice but to keep going.
She spotted the dark mouth of a cave ahead, just on the other side of a rocky clearing, and hope began to leak into the fear that pumped through her with every ragged breath.
She daren’t look up without risking falling again, but she couldn’t hear the Dragon above her. The narrow slit in the rock wall was within reach. Her tired legs felt like they were wading through water, but she grimaced through gasping breaths. She was going to make it.
Aelia barely had time to register the ground shuddering beneath her feet before her legs were swept out from under her. Caught mid-sprint, her momentum sent her crashing into the ground, and her head slammed against the rocks.
She saw stars, dancing in time to the ringing in her ears. Blinking past them, she raised herself onto her hands, urgency overriding pain.
Something large and unyielding pushed her firmly to the floor again, holding her there. She looked with chilling trepidation over her shoulder, her face a mask of unadulterated terror as she saw the enormous mass of golden scales that stood over her.
She shrieked. It was involuntary, her body bursting with so much fear the excess screamed out of it, piercing the air and echoing off the rocky mountain sides. But there was no one to hear it, no one to save her; there was only the great, golden Dragon pinning her in place.