Soul Bound

Chapter 11

Before they went to meet Plummet, Annaliese showed Eva the rest of the base--at least the parts relevant to her for now. The cheery Knight assured her that there was still much to explore, but she wanted Eva to know where all the basic places were so she wouldn't be completely lost without her.

It was the most time Eva had ever spent with a woman her age. The other girls in Brar only wanted to sew or garden, and cringed at any mention of her hunts in the mountain. It was nice to have common ground with someone.

Their last stop before they headed to meet Plummet was the stables--the Knights' pet name for the giant cavern where riders saddled their dragons before leaving the canyon. However, it was a pit stop, and Annaliese didn't give her much time to take in the wonderous size of the cavern.

Annaliese took her up to the gyms and training room. She opened an ordinary, unsuspecting door and gestured grandly to the fresh five hells inside. "Eva, meet Plummet!"

Plummet was a balancing beam wedged between two platforms. The kicker? It was twenty feet high and the only thing to break her fall was a pile of mats.

Eva swallowed, then looked at her guide. "Why do I need to do this, again?"

Grinning, Annaliese tugged her inside, impatiently urging her towards one of the platforms. "As a Dragon Knight, you'll be spending a lot of time on your dragon. You may even have to fight on Arkon's back. We're not starting stage two until you can handle yourself up there." She pointed at the beam.

Eva froze, her hand inches away from the ladder. "There's a stage two?"

"Yup. Big Bertha is outside, for reasons stated in the name. If you can't handle Plummet, Big Bertha will kill you, and if you can't handle Big Bertha. . . well, you'll never ride Arkon."

Eva licked her lips, suddenly questioning why she ever wanted to be a Dragon Knight. Only masochistic people would willingly subject themselves to this kind of training.

She sucked in a deep breath, steeling her resolve. She couldn't avenge her family if she couldn't ride her dragon.

She climbed the ladder and stood on top of the platform. She probably shouldn't have looked down. Despite the platform being perfectly stable, Eva wobbled at the daunting height.

You can do this. You've ridden a dragon before. Yeah. There had also been a strong, hot Knight holding her tight against his gorgeously toned body. She didn't have one of those around now.

"I didn't realise you needed a male to be brave," Arkon goaded. He knew she was stalling for time, and knew exactly what to say to get her moving.

"I do not!" Embarrassed for getting caught thinking about Grayson, Eva stepped out onto the balancing beam.

The petrifying height made the beam look much narrower than it actually was. She still had to lead one foot in front of the other, but she easily maintained her balance. The trick was to stare at something ahead of her. She crossed the beam without a hitch then gave a little cheer once she was on the other platform. She peered over the edge, expecting Annaliese to be equally pleased by Eva's skill. The Knight wore an evil grin that made Eva's blood run cold.

"Good job," she called, then slowly backed away from the mats until she reached the wall. There was something hidden behind her back. "Now do it again."

Instantly suspicious but not afraid of a challenge, Eva turned on her heel and went back the way she came.

She took five steps--then a wave undulated through the entire beam and threw Eva off. For a second, her arms and legs flailed, and she swore she heard a scream, and then she hit the mat hard on her side. She choked on the air rushing out of her lungs then gasped desperately for it to come back.