Firebird

Chapter 5

Kyla

    Beckett walked beside me as we made our way to the next aerie. He asked nonstop questions about dragons and my parents. I told him he could also ask my dad these questions. My father would gladly talk about his life with anyone who would listen.
    When we walked into Tanwens room, she sat up. I smiled and cooed over her for a few moments before she turned her head towards Beckett. Curiosity spilled into me.
    "Yes this is the bodyguard, Tan." I laughed and rubbed her snout. "But he's not so bad."
    Beckett had a look somewhere between awe and fear. I laughed even harder at that. Tanwen seemed to notice it too and decided to scare him a little. She inched a little closer to him and blew steam out of her snout, growling slightly. This made him take a step back, almost as if he were about to run. Amusement rang through me as Tanwen rumbled with a laugh.
    "Oh stop it you." I pushed her head playfully and looked at Beckett. "She's just playing around. We weren't exactly excited about the idea of having a bodyguard."
"How do you know what she's feeling?" He asked.
"It's the bond. We can feel each other. The bond is almost like a physical thing." I explained. He nodded along and started looking around her room again. "Do you want to go for a ride?"
    "Excuse me?" He asked, turning around in surprise.
    "Have you ever been on a dragon?" I asked. He shook his head. "Well come on then. You're my body guard right? Well you're gonna have to learn how to ride a dragon."
    I started moving around, getting her saddle ready. He observed, asking questions about how to put it on. Once Tanwen was saddle, I climbed up and held my hand out. He hesitated a little.
    "Come on. Trust me, it'll be fun." I said. He nodded and reached for my hand. His eyes lit up with excitement.

. . .

The ride was fun and Beckett had a blast. He only screamed once when Tanwen took a terrifying plunge. He told me he wanted to learn how to ride a dragon by himself. After we got back, I was putting Tans saddle up when I noticed Becketts body language changed. His brows furrowed and he looked around. I knew that look.
"Someone's calling out to you aren't they?" I asked, stepping closer to him. "Don't think about it. Just walk."
He needed no other encouragement and started walking. I followed him down the steps without saying a word. He stopped outside one of large rooms that housed the eggs. They were all nestled together in groups. He weaved in and out until he stopped at a small group. Slowly leaning down, he touched one of the eggs.
"This is the one?" I asked quietly.
"It was like a string, tugging me the whole way." He whispered. "Is it common for people like... like me to have a soul bound dragon?"
People like him. Demi fae. In some kingdoms, they're looked down on. Wrong in some way. Here, they're just like everyone else. Hardworking and talented.
"Yes it's very common. Fae, Demi fae, humans. Hell even the water dragons have soul bound riders. The mer people thrive with their dragons." I told him. "It's a male by the way."
"How can you tell?" He asked, never looking away from the egg. I squatted down next to him and pointed.
"See the lines here? The way they run down." I traced a line down the egg. "It's a male. This one over here is female. See how lines run in a different angle?"
"So what now?" He asked.
"Now is the hard part. This egg is probably a month or two from hatching. So you have to wait. You can have it moved to a more private space if you'd like." I said. "Tanwen has plenty of room and she's watched over eggs before."
"That sounds good. And you need to tell me so much more about dragons." He said with a laugh. I got up to tell one of the handlers that we'd be moving the egg and went back to Beckett. He picked up the egg and followed me back up the steps. It didn't take us long to get back up to Tanwens room. She was happy to see me again and curious about Beckett and the egg. We stayed there for awhile. Setting up an area for the egg and talking. I found that it was easy to be around him.