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“If you need to rest and allow your transformation to begin, I understand. Do not stay for me, okay? I am not going anywhere; I’ll still be here when you come out of it.”
Nodding, he nudged my chest with his nose, silently asking for a hug. I chuckled, wrapping my arms around his face in an awkward embrace. The only type of hug that I would ever be able to give him. When he straightened again, a large shadow quickly swallowed the space, and I smiled, my neck straining to watch his mother’s approach.
“Hi, Luna. How is Vyper doing?” A comforting feeling spread through me, and I knew she was at peace with the process he was experiencing, which meant everything was going according to plan.
Still, my gaze travelled to the side of the cave where she had come from just then. An alcove was nestled there, and I wondered if that was where Vyper was resting. Closing my eyes, I tried to feel him, catch any discomfort, or change he might be experiencing… nothing. I felt nothing. It was as though the connection we had was dormant, or too far away for me to grasp.
I reached inside me for the blue thread that led to him. A few days had passed since he entered hibernation, and I missed not seeing him every day, not playing around with him, or falling prey to his pranks. The spiderweb appeared once more, showing a few glowing blue threads that extended from my chest—Vyper’s was not one of them. The light had dimmed considerably, though I could still notice its shine.
Ribbed fingers wrapped around me the next second, and I opened my eyes to realize that in my need to feel him, I had actually walked towards the alcove. Luna’s head shook solemnly when she picked me up and set me down all the way back at the entrance of the lair. Her mouth opened slightly when she barked a warning at me, making it clear that although I was welcomed in her cave, the depths of it were off limits.
I was not allowed to go anywhere near the alcove. At all.
Of course, that made me want to go inside even more, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. Something told me Luna was not to be trifled with in any way, shape, or form. Nodding, I stepped back, turning to leave just as the handle of a spear slammed into my chest, putting me on my ass.
Twirling the spear close, Kingston hooked it to his belt clip, and shook his head disappointedly. “Let your senses be your eyes—”
“We are always fighting to survive, even when we are not in battle,” I finished the mantra of the Skyborne Legion, appreciating both its truth and its legacy. Although the statement represented the hardness of the life they had lived until now, I respected it, because it had made them the strongest people I knew.
With a single nod, Kingston offered me his hand, pulling me to my feet again. “You rely too much on your sight. I need you to use your other senses just as fiercely.”
“Yes, Chief.” Rubbing my chest, I began to walk with him towards Tharion’s cave.
“Ask him to grab you and lift you to his back!” Kingston called from all the way outside the lair, his side resting against one of the walls that had become his favorite spot for observing my progress.
“I thought the point was to have him do things he hasn’t done yet. He’s already lifted me like that before.”
“No. The point of this exercise is to have him do something because you ask him to, not because he decides to do it. He lifted you onto his back that time, because he wanted you to ride him but you became weak after healing him. It was his choice, not yours.”
Making a face, I turned towards Fire Fury, who was glancing down his nose at me. “I’m not sure he’s the type of Dragon you can order around, Chief.”
“And that is your first mistake,” he answered, pulling the energy cookie out of his belt, and taking a bite. “We don’t give our Dragons orders. No one can make asky goddo something they don’t want to do. What we share with them is a partnership, not ownership. We ask them to help us at every turn, and if they agree, they comply with our requests.”
“Yeah, but that is a bond that has grown between you through time. Tharion and I have literally just bonded.”
Kingston shook his head. Wrapping up the energy bar to save the rest for later, he crossed his arms over his chest. “Wrong again. Time is an intangible concept for them. They live the extent of multiple Soulris’ lives, so it makes no difference if it has been a month or thirty years. All that counts is the connection you share, and the way you treat each other.”
Taking in his words, I looked up at my Dragon, ready to try again.“Let’s go flying…”I offered with my thoughts, trying to rely on our connection.
Tharion’s wing lowered, which meant he wanted to fly with me too, but the point wasn’t for me to climb him, was it?
“I can’t climb you. I need you to lift me up, like you did when we bonded.”
Lowering his head, he looked me up and down, assessing me like he was trying to sense my injuries. Coming up empty, he fixed his wing closer to me, insisting I get on it.
“No. I’m not going to climb you. I need you to please lift me.”
Tharion shook his head as though saying,“Don’t be lazy. There is nothing wrong with you.”
Grunting, I threw a glance over my shoulder at the chief, who gave me a pointed scowl—his head jerking towards Fire Fury.
“Come on, dude, seriously? You are making me look bad! Can’t you just carry me to your back this once, because I asked?”
Snorting, my Dragon began to turn around, fully intent in leaving me there.
“Fine!”I threw my arms up in the air.“I’ll climb you, you stubborn, egotistical, piece of work!”
His advance stopped and he turned to me, an eyebrow arching in challenge over his fiery eye.“What did you just call me?”
