Dragon Bound - The Saga of Flames and Frost

Chapter 5

Illara stumbled over a rock, falling hard to her knees. She groaned in pain. Wearily she pushed herself back up to her feet. She could barely see her hand before her face in the night's gloom. Every part of her body ached from the scorching of the flames. Her thin shoes, more decorative than functional, had already been poked through in several places by sharp roots and jagged rocks.

And still she climbed.

She could feel his presence, as one feels the faint heat of a loved one's hand as it hovers just above one's skin. It was both intangible and wholly real. She could turn in place and sense the direction he lay in. Her hands were raw and bloody, the chains at her wrists seemed to weigh as boulders, her shoulders were slick with sweat, and still she continued. She had pledged her life to this task. She had heard the tales of what happened to the innocent villagers when a binding went awry.

She would not let that happen.

A root snagged her foot, and she went down with such a force that her breath blew out of her. Thunder rolled in her ears for long moments. At last the world settled down around her, back into its frigid, dark, shadow-laden whole. She pushed up –

Her right wrist gave way in sharp pain, and she tumbled onto her side with a scream of agony.

Tears welled in her eyes, but she wiped them away with an angry motion. She was no stripling. She was no first-year to run to her mother's apron when a challenge presented itself.

She was the chosen one.

She cradled her hurt arm beneath her and began crawling forward on her three remaining limbs. Right knee. Left knee. Left hand. Rest.

Repeat.

She no longer felt the sting of her scorched skin or the bite of the cold. She no longer felt the grate of the rough stones beneath her knees and palm. Her only focus was on the next movement of her body.

Lift leg.

Draw it forward, just enough.

Lay it down.

Breathe.

Her throat was parched. The glow of dawn was on the horizon, making her way more clear, but it mattered not. She could not raise her head to look further up the trail. She could not turn to see the jagged heights rising on one side nor the deep fall of cliff on the other.

All that mattered was the space immediately before her.

Lift.

Forward.

Down.

Breathe.

A billow of dust rose, stinging her eyes, and she closed her lids for just a moment.

Just one moment, she told herself. Just long enough for the wind to pass. Just long enough to renew her strength. To find the reserves to move her arm, because to stay still would lead to ... would lead to ...

Darkness.