The Rogue Rider (An Inheritance Fanfiction)

Chapter 39: True Power

Akaysha's wings cut through the rain like a blade. The wind passed around her like water, blocked by the ward Ragin had placed in front of them. Lightning crackled around them in long streaks, illuminating the sky in dangerous colour. Below them the forest bent and swayed like waves in an ocean. Leaves were ripped from their homes and flung into the air in a storm, crashing into the flying dragon.

It was hard to see anything in this wind, but the two were determined. They couldn't afford to wait. The other dragon riders would be catching up to them soon, and Ragin hoped to have finished all this by then. Afterwards he would give back the egg... then maybe run. There was no hope of him staying with the riders now.

'Where are they?' the anger in Akaysha's mental voice surprised Ragin.

He had never felt her this angry before, even when she had thrown him against the wall with magic. It was like his near death had awoken her own storm. She wanted, no, needed revenge against the man who had nearly killed her rider. Her distrust in him was gone, replaced by a desire to protect him that was so strong he feared for the person who got in her way. They had been searching the banks of the river for a while, but no matter where Akaysha looked it seemed even her enhanced vision couldn't find the hidden fortress.

'It must be protected by magic,' Ragin replied to her, studying the trees below, 'That's the only explanation.'

'If he is hiding,' the dark dragoness growled, 'Then lets force him out.'

He frowned as he studied her mind, seeing her ideas form through her head, 'Akaysha... remember what happened last time you used too much of your magic.'

'I know... but this time it'll be different,' she growled, 'This time you are going to help me.'

'How?'

'You know how to use magic, and I have the power to provide it,' he felt her slight nervousness at what she was about to suggest, 'If we join that together we should be able to control my magic much easier.'

'And how do we do that?'

'Do you trust me?' the question surprised him, and he studied her for a moment. The last time she had asked this question he hadn't been able to answer it. But something had changed since then. He knew her, every aspect of her. And she knew him, at least as well as he knew himself. There was nothing hidden between them now.

'Yes,' he smiled, speaking in the ancient language.

'Then hold on,' she rumbled a small purr.

He felt her mind begin to pull at his in the oddest fashion. After a moment of resistance, and a reassuring thought from Akaysha, he relaxed, allowing his conscious to be pulled from his body. He blinked, and let out a mental gasp as his vision seemed to switch, so instead of seeing through the eyes of a human he saw through the eyes of a dragon. Everything became so much clearer. The darkness of the storm no longer bothered him any longer. The dark storm clouds seemed to shine, and every drop of rain was visible to the eye. He could feel his wings strain against the wind, and instinctually tilted and flapped in ways that would keep himself from being blow away. He felt the twitches and adjustments made by his tail whenever they turned, allowing him to keep balance in the air.

'Wow,' he said mentally, causing Akaysha to chuckle.

'Don't get too comfortable. It is my body after all,' she told him, 'Now are you ready?'

He could see exactly what she had in mind, and sent excited confirmation to his dragon. Tharin was going to regret the day he crossed them. Together they reached for the gate leading into Akaysha's wild magic. It only took the smallest amount of pressure to release, and suddenly Ragin felt their body flooded with power. It was like electricity, tingling and zapping down their body desperate to escape. Ragin focused on the power, shaping it and controlling it, turning it into what he wanted. When the time was right they gave the magic what it wanted.