Soul Bound

Chapter 34

It took two days to fly to the Desert Lands. They stopped on several small islands for the bare essentials then took off again. Arkon assured Eva he could make it with ease, so they flew fast, never looking back. She was confident enough in her skills to walk along his spine to stretch her legs or grab food from the satchel in the saddle, while Arkon caught fish as they flew over the Aborian Ocean.

The flight gave her time to think about how they'd left things in Riverwood. Despite having the people closest to her lie about Grayson's--Deximus'--identity, she was still the storm dragon rider, wanted by the Fortys clan, and very much unequipped to deal with an ambush should someone find out who she was in the Desert Lands. Perhaps she had been a little hasty to fly to the Desert Lands by herself.

"You are not by yourself," Arkon reminded her, still simmering over the other night. "You are with me and I will crush anyone who tries to lay their hands on you."

Okay. He was more than just simmering over the other night. Try broiling.

She didn't blame him. His fury matched her own. They put their trust in them when they had nowhere else to go--and they went and lied to them. For what? To protect him? The Slayer of Souls. The man who hunted Arkon's kin across the world to near extinction.

How could her brother be so accepting of him? Sure, his family hadn't murdered her's until after they became partners, but now? What was his excuse? Why did Jacob not avenge their family?

While she was angry with her friends, Arkon was absolutely furious with Eran for Bonding with Deximus, knowing entirely what he had done to the storm dragons beforehand. After word got out that King Sylus and his sons were on the hunt for storm dragons, Arkon and many of his kin were exiled from their colonies. They were unwelcomed everywhere they went and schemed against if they stayed in one place too long. For once, Arkon finally felt like he had a place to call home in Dragon Canyon. He had friends he could trust--or so he thought. He was angry at Aster for lying to him as well, but it was Eran who chose to share his soul with the man who killed many storm dragons. Eran willingly chose to give him life when he should have brought him to justice for his crimes. Eran decided he--of all people--deserved a second chance. For that, Arkon could never forgive him. The betrayal ran deep in their soul and twisted Eva's own judgement.

"Eva?" Arkon called, pulling her away from her brewing thoughts. "We are approaching land. I sense Syran; he's southeast of here."

Her heart leapt to her throat. This was it. Finally, the moment she had been waiting for. They may have been furious at the Dragon Knights, but their reasoning for Eva to come to the Desert Lands was sound. She'd learned all that she needed to from them and now it was time to learn how to use her magic. Everything she had done in her life-- becoming a hunter and warrior to feed and defend her family, killing the mountain lion, finding Arkon in the cave, training under Annaliese--it had brought her to this moment. Then, once she had mastered her magic, she was going after Darius and she'd show him her true power and what he had failed to claim. She'd show the world that she wouldn't be broken down and forged into somebody else's weapon. Only she would decide how her power was used, no king, no god, not even predetermined fate. She was her own master. If anyone tried to stop her then they better hope Ebis was on their side.

"Let's go."

°•° °•°

As they headed further inland, Eva had to shed more and more layers until she wasn't willing to take any more off. The sun was blinding in the near-white sky, heat radiating from its merciless beams of light. Even the wind, an element she would normally take refuge in, was brutal, so hot it was hard to breathe in. She hadn't spent half a day above the barren land and her skin had begun to blister, her lips cracking from the dry air.