The Dragon's Scale [COMPLETE]

15.0 || The Dragon's Scale

XANDER HAD NEVER imagined what it would be like to lose his connection to Vetras, but he couldn't have guessed how jarring it proved to be. The absence ate at him, a constant reminder that his soul felt empty and incomplete. His dragon was somehow there, yet he couldn't be further away.

Xander almost hated the bracelets that cut off his connection more than he did the jail cell containing him and Eli.

Xander sat against the wall on the floor while Joanna and Micah's child lay curled up on the lone bed. He had spoken little since he asked Xander to explain what happened.

Eli had said all he remembered was falling asleep and waking up in the office. His words only further proved Xander's theory.

He had never desired so much to be wrong.

No, Josh would inform Ioana. His wife would figure something out. The Shadow Knights would not get away with breaking the greatest taboo put on them by the Sages.

The cell pipes creaked, mocking him with what the Shadow Knights had already done.

Pursing his lips, Xander pushed to his feet and walked to the cell bars. They had left him unguarded. Usually a stupid move, but in this case, it was laughing disrespect. The bracelets left Xander as such little of a threat that he didn't need to be watched.

He hated to admit it, but the Shadow Knights weren't wrong. He had studied the cell multiple times in the few hours since their arrival. Just the bed and a toilet. The cell bars were new, unmoving. Xander couldn't do anything more than Eli at the moment.

The absence of Vetras tore into his heart again.

"Xander?"

He turned. Eli hadn't moved except to twist his neck and stare at Xander.

"Yeah?"

"What's going to happen now?" The young boy kept his face clean of emotion, but his voice hitched.

A memory flashed before Xander's eyes. A young boy, a little younger than Eli, his face just as blank as he asked an identical question.

Xander hadn't been able to answer that boy, too lost in his own torment. To Eli, this boy in the present, he offered a gentle smile and said, "I don't know, but I promise nothing will happen to you."

"I heard you yelling that to Josh," Eli said. "Is he going to save us?"

Something about Eli's faith in his brother simultaneously shone light and stomped it out all at once. Xander hoped that didn't show on his face and forced his smile to carry confidence.

"Someone will save us, even if that proves to be ourselves," he said.

"I must say, I'm rather impressed by your ability to hold on to hope. Then again, leaders always must, right?"

Xander closed his eyes, the familiar voice prickling across his skin. "Hello, Athaliah. It's been a while."

He turned. Much like when he first saw Peter, a mixture of familiarity and the unknown hit him. Not as much as with Peter, though. Xander had only seen Athaliah a few times in his life. She had been scared then. Frightened by a world that had shown her much wrong.

Now he examined someone who could have been the head of the biggest business in the world. Shoulders back as she stood tall, one hand on her hip and the other dangling at her side. Thick caramel brown hair spilling over her shoulders. White blouse and black slacks.

"I would have guessed you more of a heels person," Xander mused.

Athaliah's lips pulled up, but her dark eyes remained narrowed. "Flats are much more comfortable. And I have other things I can use to stab someone's eyes."