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We accelerate again, aiming for a broken tree, slanted like a ramp.
“Hold on!” He grips the handles, leaning forward with focused precision.
A violent wave of panic crashes into me as we speed up the inclined trunk and eject into the forest, airborne, soaring over a small cliff. The humid air of wet tree bark and wildflowers blasts me in every direction. At least ten more soldiers are following us, coming up from our right and left sides. My teeth and bones clank together as we land, and I flinch at the sound of grown men screaming all at once, and then… silence.
We slow down to a stop, and Dessin reaches back to grip my hand.
“What happened? Did we lose them?” I try to look behind us but he stops me.
“Don’t look,” Dessin instructs.
“Why?”
He parks the bike against the tree and steps off of it to face me. I can still catch a hint of that murderous temper, quelled only slightly, but still remaining unsatisfied.
“I set a trap,” he says like I’m supposed to know what the result of that trap was.
I blink and nod for him to continue.
“It was a very thin string blade. It’s why we had to be launched over it. Because we needed to fly over it—not through it.”
I remember the sound of the snapping. The splash of liquid. My mouth parts as it all comes together.
“You sliced them in half?”
His focus is redirected to something behind me. I whip my head around, my entire body jerking as if I’m preparing to be hit, smacked, beaten. But his large hands hold me steady, covering my shoulders with slow, reassuring strokes.
“It’s DaiSzek,” he says calmly.
Dessin pulls a rag out of his pocket and wipes DaiSzek’s mouth and neck. The blood of my captors soaking through every fiber.
“You did so well, Dai.”
My heart swells with gratitude. I forget everything that had me questioning my morals just a moment ago. The dead soldiers. The way they were killed.
As of an hour ago, DaiSzek has only been a figment of my imagination. This herculean, wondrous animal has saved me multiple times. And every time, it’s always a great risk. He’s always outnumbered or facing beasts larger than him. He never hesitates or leaves me to fend for myself. Somehow, I have gained his loyalty and his love. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve him, but witnessing him soar over us to tackle our attackers. The looks of shock, disbelief, and childlike terror. DaiSzek is the monster that is supposed to be extinct, risen from the grave, delivering them to hell. I’ve only been starstruck with one other being, and that’s Dessin.
I kneel as DaiSzek walks up to me, slowly, like he’s very much aware I’ve been living in a hostile state. His gigantic head presses up against my chest so gently it breaks my heart. I swoon and sigh in relief, hooking my arms around his neck. A familiar warmth, like sinking into a hot bath. I know this feeling, I haven’t touched it in so long. Months. But that’s a lie. It’s only been hours.
I tangle my fingers in his black fur, and remember how he saved me in that cage, he brought me to young Kane. And it’s like DaiSzek can sense my need to hold him close, because he stays tucked in my embrace.
“Thank you,” I whisper. “You didn’t just save me out here. You saved me when I was trapped in that cage. You took me to a safer place.”
DaiSzek snuggles his head into me. I can sense Dessin’s eyes watching us both.
“I love you, DaiSzek.” My lips are lost in the fur around his ear. “I’ll love you until the day I die.”
And I will. I’ll always love my boys.
41. Young Kane
After getting far enough away from Demechnef mountains, we stop so I can quench my thirst.
I drop to my knees at a skinny creek trickling over shiny pebbles and rocks. Maybe it’s all in my mind, the dehydration, the sandpaper mouth. Maybe it’s a side effect of the chemicals. But I’m not ladylike as I scoop the water into my hands and lap it up like a dog on all fours.
Those brown eyes burn into my back, watching me slake my thirst. It’s in his silence that tells me he knows this feeling all too well. He’s been starved. Beaten. Convinced of his imminent death. He can relate as I slurp from the source, dipping my mouth into the stream.
Once I’m finished, I look over my shoulder with cold water spilling down my chin. Dessin’s shoulders stiffen.
