The Remains of Dawn

Chapter Fifteen

Oriel wished that Borus and Draya had ridden horses. Her wings ached to fly and her feet were tired. She could see Tassian fighting with his wings to keep him on the ground. They were halfway through the night when they decided to stop to rest. 

Draya and Borus started to set up a small camp while Oriel and Tassian split up to check their area. The only presence that Oriel could feel around them were animals. The forest that they were taking shelter in was filled with animals. None that she felt were hostile towards them. 

Oriel spotted Tassian in a tree and flew up to meet him. She landed on a thick branch above him. "Did you spot anyone?"

He looked up at her and smiled. "No one. I'm guessing you hadn't picked up any hostile presences?"

Oriel shook her head. "No one," she repeated him. She looked down at Draya and Borus. She was thankful that they understood that they couldn't use fire at this time of night. The light and smoke from the fire would be dangerous to them. She noticed that Draya was already asleep while Borus was taking watch. They only had an hour of rest and then they had to keep moving. 

Tassian tugged slightly on her branch before climbing up to stand beside her. The branch was big enough that it was able to support them both. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her towards him. He placed a small kiss on her forehead. She caught him looking down at Borus before back at her. "I don't think he's watching," he smirked at her giving her his hint. 

Oriel rolled her eyes. "Tassian, we can't do that now."

He huffed playfully and tightened his arm around her waist. "Why are you nervous."

"That ring can be removed."

"They would have to cut off my finger for that to happen."

Oriel nodded slowly. "I understand that, but the Queen doesn't want us to get to Vega." She looked up at him. "We need to keep on moving, Tassian." She glanced down at Draya and Borus. "We can't have them resting like this the rest of the trip."

"You agreed to bring them along," Tassian reminded her.

Oriel took a deep breath. "Yes. I didn't think it through enough." She gently pushed against him and spread her wings out, lifting her into the air. A strange sensation circled her. She suddenly felt cold and wet. She looked up at the sky and noticed that it was clear, only stars in the sky. She burrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she looked behind and below her. 

"Oriel?" Tassian's voice was laced with concern. "What's going on?"

Oriel tried to think of an explanation, but couldn't come up with what she was feeling. She continued to look around her before pushing herself further into the air and popping out over the trees. She had never felt the sensation that she was feeling before. It worried her. It scared her. She looked around her as the temperature around her continued to drop. Her heart was beating fast. Her body was trying to tell her something was wrong, but she couldn't see what was wrong.

She heard a rustling behind her spun around with her swords flying and stopped them short against Tassians neck. His eyes were wide and his hands were up in surrender. 

"Eagle," he started slowly. "What's going on?"

She couldn't release her grip on her swords. She couldn't move them away from his neck. Quickly shaking her head back and forth she answered, "I don't know." Oriel cringed at the sight of her swords on either side of his neck knowing that the wrong move could be dangerous. "Tassian," she whimpered. "I think I'm breaking."

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Dyso and Xara sat next to each other on a log and watched the scaly figure in front of them. The figure was male, but not human. His blue grey scales traveled up and down his body creating a reptilian look to him. The only clothes the man had on was a pair of white trousers. The man's face was a mixture of reptile and man. Full, human lips rested where they should, but where a nose was supposed to be only rested two holes for him to breath out of. Slanted eyes held a sharp, dangerous look as he looked up in the sky. 

Dyso smirked slightly as he knew what was happening just three miles away from them. The man in front of them had a specialty in breaking minds and controlling them. He didn't work for Queen Krathys, but with the right amount of gold, he was easily swayed for who he worked for. 

"Tassian would never hurt Oriel. You're sure of this?" Xara asked Dyso for the thousandth time that night. 

Dyso sighed impatiently. "Yes, Xara, he would never hurt her." Dyso continued to watch the man as the man's eyes turned to a bright blue color. His arms were outstretched towards the sky and his mouth was mouthing an incantation that Dyso couldn't hear. "Are you positive that Calak can control her?"

Xara nodded and smirked proudly. "Yes." She reached over and grabbed Dyso's hand and squeezed it tightly. "You do realize that this is severally messed up, right?"

Dyso shrugged as he took his eyes off Calak and looked at her. "I don't care. I will do whatever to get her and win favor with my Queen." He quickly turned his eyes back to Calak and noticed that he was looking straight at them.

Calak took long strides to get to them before stopping. "What is done, is done."

Dyso cocked his head to one side. "Did she hurt him?"

Calak shook his head.

Dyso threw his hands up in the air. "What? Isn't that what I paid you to do? You were supposed to get inside her head and control her to hurt him. Do I need to remind you who is Queen?"

Calak's eyes turned cold and threatening as he looked down at Dyso. "I don't work for anyone, little man. What you are wanting will take time. They are bonded. To break that bond quickly will break the person whose mind I'm wanting to get into."

Xara giggled as Dyso seethed. "Little man?"

Calak continued to stare at him with the same expression. "You need to be patient, Golden Eyes. The woman you want will eventually break and I will be able to completely get into her mind and control her. The man you want dead will be dead by her own swords."

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Author note: Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope that you enjoyed it! If you did, please leave a comment or a vote!