Enslaved

Chapter 28

Ryuu stared into Kaida's beautiful, mismatched eyes, his mind raging to hurt the male who claimed to be her friend for throwing her back into that place of misery and pain after she had just started to heal. He knew that he should not have snapped at Valik like he did but the moment he had seen Kaida's cowering form, all rational thought had fled from his brain. He shoved his thoughts away, forcing his focus on the present moment only as Kaida took his hand.

"Kajeel is waiting for me?" She asked, seeming genuinely confused. "Did I miss something? Why?"

Ryuu paused and studied her, gauging her expression to see if she honestly forgot or was trying to make a joke. Her eyes held confusion and were still clouded with hidden anguish that Ryuu longed to take away from her.

"He is going to train you every morning until you're able to fight at my guards level, just like the morning before we left the old camp." Ryuu looked back up at her and saw slight remembrance flicker through her gaze. "And I am going to teach you how to fly every night to keep up with us."

Kaida's eyes left his and flicked to the ground, where they stayed as her wings shuffled against her back. He frowned slightly. What was she thinking?

"There's no point," Ryuu thought that he had misheard her at first until she continued. "They're going to find us again and then I'll be right back to where I was."

Fury snapped through Ryuu faster than a skydive and he snarled without thinking, his tired eyes raking across the entire open space for any threats before returning to Kaida's bowed form. He would never let anybody so much as lay a hand on her ever again.

"Nobody is going to find us." Ryuu slipped into human speech and bit back another snarl before kneeling and looking up at Kaida through her hair, making a physical effort to switch back to Draconic so she could answer him. "I personally make sure of that, every single day. Kaida, what is wrong? What is going through your mind right now?"

She looked up and Ryuu met her gaze, flinching at the agony that was in her gaze. Realization zipped through him- she was having another panic attack. What had caused this one?

"There is no point." She insisted, her eyes lined with silver again and clouding over. "It's only a matter of time before those memories become my reality again."

"There is a point. You are free and you are going to have to fight to remain free because that is what's required if you don't want to go back to those mines." Ryuu took a breath, wishing he could take away all of her pain and make her believe what he was saying. "Your memories are just that- memories. You will never be going back there, I promise."

She just looked at him, her face defeated and posture bowed, wings snagged in the grass.

"Kaida, take a deep breath." Ryuu made his voice soft and level. "Please. You are okay, you are safe. You are with the rebellion and we protect each other. You will never be a slave again."

She took a breath just as Ryuu asked and the more he spoke, the more the clouds in front of her eyes seemed to dissipate.

"Breathe, Kaida."

She took another deep breath and blinked a few times, their eyes still locked.

"Are you okay?"

Kaida nodded, her eyes flicking to the ground.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I don't know what that was. I was fine and then I wasn't, I'm sorry."

Ryuu stood up, gently gripping her chin and bringing her face up with him again, keeping their eyes locked.

"You are not to look down anymore. If I catch you looking down from here on out, your lessons will be increased in intensity for that day." Her eyes flashed at his words and he hastened to settle her worries, not wanting to scare her. "You will not be punished or hurt, Kaida. We do not do that. We are not humans and we are especially not human slavers. Your lessons will only be increased in intensity for that day until you look back up off the ground."

Kaida just blinked at him but stayed looking up, her eyes calming again. Ryuu gestured behind her with his left hand toward where Kajeel still stood patiently waiting.

"In the meantime, you are still required to attend your morning fighting lesson." Ryuu kept his voice controlled, taking a mental effort for his speech to remain Draconic. "Would you like me to come with you?"

Kaida shook her head quickly, glancing over her shoulder at Kajeel again for a moment.

"No." Her voice was as quiet as the first day she had spoken to him and he cursed himself silently. Had he gone too far? "Thank you."

She turned and started walking slowly, the morning sun glinting off the scales on her wings where the bands hadn't been. Ryuu resisted the urge to fly after her and make sure she was okay, to fly after her and never leave her side again. Ryuu's eyes instead flicked to her neck where her hair and shirt covered the red skin around from the band before looking away from her retreating figure, turning his attention to where one of his most trusted hybrids taught the morning flight class. He watched as Lyoki took to the sky slowly and hovered above the mass of newly freed slaves for a second before landing very cautiously and gesturing to all of them. They spread out and started trying the technique themselves, Lyoki walking around and critiquing them on their wing position or flapping. Ryuu looked away and scanned the tree line, his tired eyes carefully assessing the dark underbrush for any suspicious activity before his eyes went to the sky where he saw the patrol flying around the tops of the trees, their heads constantly on a swivel for enemy hybrids. Ryuu looked to the falls then and barely made out the force he had placed at the top doing their rounds, keeping the main entrance to their encampment safe.

Ryuu sighed and rubbed his eyes, feeling the ache of tiredness behind them at the same time as the weight of flying for too long without sleep dragged his wings into the Earth. He blinked his eyes slowly open and lifted his wings just enough so they didn't rake across the ground before walking to the edge of the clearing and spreading his wings out as far as they could go to catch as much sunlight as he could and sat down. As soon as Kaida was done with her lesson with Kajeel he was going to apologize to her and make sure she was okay. He leaned his back carefully up against a tree and closed his eyes, crossing his arms across his chest and settling his wings against the warm dirt, relishing in the sunshine that warmed his scales. He felt himself losing consciousness and deliriously welcomed the much needed rest, his thoughts disappearing into the blackness of his mind.