The War Against Aberon (Rough Draft #1)

Chapter Nine

    It took a long moment for Freya to calm down and for Zaffre to stop glaring at her. To say she was frustrated was an understatement. Though, being semi upset with the Pumeon allowed her to become used to the situation far faster than she would've otherwise. Her rush to get home did add to that. Now, as she walked with Freya to try and find where she dropped her father's sword before returning to the cottage, she had time to think about everything that had happened recently. She fought a Volbrix, her father was getting sicker, she broke some ribs, buried a loved horse, hunted a Volbrix, found the Volbrix dead, ran from a Pumeon, and now was bonded to said Pumeon.

    It was a lot. A lot to contemplate, a lot to handle, and a lot to somehow live with. She surveyed the beast beside her. She walked with grace and purpose, her sleek scales shimmered under the sun, and her lithe body looked regal as it meandered amongst the trees. This being Zaffre was now connected with was something meant for nobles, not a small village farm girl. Bonds were an unfamiliar concept. Those with bonds were connected by the soul to their animal counterparts and they were mostly found in the upper-class existence. If one was with a connection they most likely had power and influence. It was unheard of for someone without a current high-ranking position to have a bond.

    Yet here Zaffre was. She had never even seen a bond animal before. She knew that the majority of Nobles in the Royal Court were of soul connection, as well as the monarchs. A few other slightly lower-ranking Nobles also had their own bond animals. Though, those rich folk were also of strong bloodlines. The only non-royal or noble bondholder that she even knew of was Sir Minceton of Navayla. He was a knight from hundreds of years ago with a Water Sprite bond. They fought in the war of the Old Times together, and their pairing helped Vale Havon to win the war. No one without a true familial title had had a connection since.

    This knowledge only fueled Zaffre's curiosity and confusion. From what she knew about bondings they lasted for life and were only made after the animal had seen something in the soul of their connector to forge the melding of souls. There was also something having to do with ancient magic in there somewhere, but she didn't quite remember that part of the lesson. She'd only learned about soul connections in school, which she'd finished some years ago. It was hard to recall certain things at this point, especially since she may or may not have slept through some of the lectures. It all came to one question either way. Why had Freya chosen her?

    The Big Cat did not seem to be interested in sharing an answer as she continued their walk to the still missing sword. Of course, Zaffre had not voiced anything, but couldn't bonds read each other's minds anyway? In any case, she'd sworn she could feel snippets of emotions that didn't belong to her poking at the edge of her mind as she walked. As she took another peek at her new companion Pumeon, the creature looked back at her with some form of curiosity. Her purple eyes blinked at Zaffre a moment before looking ahead at the still ongoing trees in front of them.

    "Why?"

    Freya stopped at the question. She sat on her haunches, turned to her bond, and tilted her head in confusion at the Felipara.

    "Why me?" Zaffre looked into the purple feline eyes as she asked the Pumeon the question.

    Fortunately, the question seemed to register within the cat this time. She straightened her head and approached Zaffre. She brought her maned head down and touched her forehead to Zaffre's. For her, the young violet-scaled woman simply looked at the now cyclops-faced beast in utter befuddlement. After a second Freya's 'eye' closed and when nothing happed Zaffre shrugged her shoulders and closed hers as well.

    Magic. That's the only word Zaffre had after her lashes finally touched her cheeks. Before her closed lids was a pulsating orb of golden shimmering light. It was blinding at first, then it was almost like her eyes got used to the sight and it settled. She realized she was looking at a glimmering stone of sorts, but not one she'd ever seen or heard of before. She gasped and mentally she took a step back from complete awe. Which is when she noticed something that stopped her heart. She was inside somewhere. Or her mind was, that was something she was somehow still vaguely aware of.

    The space seemed like an endless abyss other than the orb. It was completely black, yet she could still see in its darkness and know she could walk for ages without an end in sight within the encompassing black. The floor, which is what made her see the fact that her body, or mind-body? was truly in a place, was all water. Or, she thought it was water. Her feet splashed in it whenever they moved, but strangely she could not feel the liquid as it touched her. She could only see it. What was this place?

    From her right movement was made, though she had no idea how she could tell, it was void after all. Seemingly from nonexistent shadows, Freya emerged, but her eyes were full white once more. Zaffre did not think there was a word for the chaos of thoughts bouncing around inside. The roaring of chaotic thinking only worsened when Freya did something even more unexpected.

    "This is the bond plane, and that stone is our connection."

    "You can talk!," Zaffre made more of an exclamation than a question at the large Pumeon's words. 

Word Count-980