Heart of a Berserker: Hope (School of Dragons)

Chapter 20

"Your name has echoed through my mind
And I just think you should, think you should know
That nothing safe is worth the drive
And I would follow you, follow you home
I'll follow you, follow you home

This hope is treacherous
This daydream is dangerous
This hope is treacherous" 

- "Treacherous" by Taylor Swift

Chapter 20

The next five days passed by dreadfully slow. The only interesting thing to happen was a visit from Mala. She requested a tour of the School of Dragons, and I was happy to oblige. She was very impressed with our training facilities, and she accepted the headmaster's invitation to send over some of her Defenders as students. It was good to catch up with her.

Finally, I received a Terror Mail from Harald containing a map to a secret location. I made an excuse to the dragon riders, telling them I would be gone for most of the day. Then Bolt and I set off in search of the island.

It was a little out of the way, but that meant it was unlikely someone would find us by accident. Circling the island, I noted it seemed uninhabited. I flew down when I spotted Harald's ship.

Leopold immediately flew right into me. I laughed and stroked his back. "Hi, Leopold. It's good to see you." I set him down so he could greet Bolt as well.

"Don't I get a 'hello?'" Harald said with a look of mock hurt.

I smirked and rolled my eyes. "Just be patient." I quickly closed the distance and embraced him. As soon as he hugged me back, I bent his head down to kiss him. Pulling away, I gave him a small smile. "Hi."

Harald smiled back at me. "Hi, love."

Unable to resist, I kissed him again. This time, he tightened his arms around me and pulled me closer. We broke away a minute later, leaving me slightly lightheaded but satisfied.

"Is there anything you want to do besides this?" Harald said in a low voice, his breath tickling my cheek. "Not that I mind." He smirked and brought his lips to mine.

As tempting as the idea was, my rational mind told me I had other goals to accomplish. I reluctantly pulled away and lowered my hands to his chest. "I think we should get the lay of the land... perhaps from a dragon?"

Harald looked past me at Bolt. "Will this be anything like the time you showed me around Dragon's Edge?"

I laughed. "Not if you're good."

Harald smirked. "That sounds alright with me."

I took his hand and led him to my dragon. Bolt was all too eager to allow him onto his back. As we got settled, I remembered the times we used to fly together before I knew the truth about him. Everything was different now, but it still felt the same. I once again wondered how much back then had been truly real.

We flew around the entire island at a moderate pace. When we were finished, we returned to a pond we saw earlier. I thought it would be nice to have a swim, so I discarded my sword, shield, and bracers. Harald did the same.

"You see, this is the proper season to swim," he said. "It's much warmer than last time."

I smirked. "I guess I'm just tougher than you." I stepped into the water, bracing myself against the cold. I slowly inched forward.

"What's taking so long?" Harald said from the middle of the pond. "You didn't have this problem when we swam in the sea."

I frowned. "That's because I jumped from your ship and got it over with all at once. It's a little hard to do that here."