Page 21 of Silver Claws, Crimson Tears
—You wouldn’t have bonded with me if I wasn’t exactly like you,I counter, offering him a weak smile.
—This is a mistake.
—Probably,I agree.But it’s my mistake to make.
I turn toward the sound of approaching wingbeats, heart hammering against my ribs. Whatever comes next, I’ll face it standing, not running away.
9
Vaylen
The Flametop Mountains rise black against the darkening sky as I squint into the distance. Hearthdale finally comes into view, nothing more than broken walls and shattered dreams. Even after a year, the wreckage remains untouched. No one wants to rebuild where so much blood was spilled.
“There,” I point out to Breezehart flying behind me as I stare at the spot where I last saw Rhealyn.
Wind tries to tear at my face as Fragor’s wings slice through the evening air, though I keep it back using Wind Wall. My stomach twists with each wingbeat, hope and dread fighting for dominance. What if Zephyros was wrong? What if there’s nothing to find?
We circle the spot. The rock looks ordinary now, no trace at all of what took her. I search for any sign—fresh breaks in the stone, disturbed earth, anything—but there’s nothing.
Goddess, was this false hope?
Fragor interrupts my thoughts with a mental image: the lake beyond the ridge, its surface gleaming like hammeredsteel in the fading light. This time, I sense a certain reluctance from him. Fragor has never approved of my fascination with Rhealyn or my sympathy for Zephyros as he mourned her absence. At times, I feel these sentiments put me at odds with my dragon, but what do I know of dragon’s feelings? I may be interpreting them incorrectly.
I bank sharply, signaling Breezehart to follow. My heart pounds against my ribs as we soar over the ridge. I strain my eyes, searching the shore for any sign of movement.
“There!” Breezehart calls out, pointing.
A flash of silver catches the last rays of sunlight: Zephyros’s scales. And beside him, a small figure that makes my breath catch.
Rhealyn!
Alive. Truly alive.
The sight of her hits me like a powerful Wind Blast. After a year of trying to smother my hope, of carrying the weight of her confessions and my own conflicted feelings, she’s there, standing on the shore, looking up at us.
Fragor circles lower, and I can see her more clearly now. She’s thinner, her clothes hanging loosely from her frame, her dark hair wild around her face. But it’s her.
I can’t wait for Fragor to land. My body moves before my brain catches up, launching off his head into the open air. For one heartbeat, I’m weightless, then gravity snatches me, hurtling me toward the ground. The wind roars in my ears.
Faster. Need to get to her faster.
I push against the currents, bending them to my will, pulling them around me like reins to steer my descent. The shore rushes up to meet me. Rhealyn grows clearer with every second, those hazel eyes widening as she watches me plummet.
The ground looms dangerously close now. I gather the airbeneath me, compressing it into a swirling column. Vortex Drop. The resistance builds, slowing my fall until I touch down a mere five feet from her, the tight whirlwind dissipating around my boots.
Fragor’s disapproving rumble echoes from above. Breezehart circles overhead, letting her dragon slowly maneuver her landing, giving us a moment, I suspect.
Rhealyn stands frozen, her face a battlefield of emotions. Shock, relief, wariness. She’s even thinner up close, cheekbones sharp against her skin, dark shadows beneath her eyes. Her clothes are torn and filthy, caked with dried mud. Her hands curl into fists at her sides.
Zephyros moves protectively closer to her, scales gleaming as he extends a wing between us. The massive dragon’s eyes never leave mine, filled with warning.
I take a step forward. “Rhealyn.”
A dozen questions crowd my tongue. Where have you been? What happened to you? How did you survive? But the words that come out are simpler, rawer.
“You’re alive.”
Zephyros blows air through his nose, the gust ruffling Rhealyn’s hair.What a genius observation,he seems to say as he folds his wing and turns away from us.
