Page 15 of Taloned Heart

Half-elf.

Not good enough for anyone in the kingdom to see beyond the surface of too short ears and glittering skin.

Her dragon seemed to realize the mood she was in. Abraxas always knew when to let her simmer in her thoughts and when to push her free from them. Their journey after saving the humans was filled with meaningful silences and a man who continually pushed food toward her.

She had moments where she was grateful for him. She couldn’t forget all that he did. From making sure she ate, to taking over the directions of where they were going, finding water in the scarce clean sources the closer they got to Tenebrous. All of it fell on Abraxas’s shoulders and he shouldered that burden without complaint.

By the time they made it to the marshes, she’d settled a few things in her mind. But then she thought about the humans again and all those thoughts scattered like seeds in the wind.

She was—as ever, she supposed—stuck. And the only person who could help pull her out of that mire was the dragon who had been with her through it all.

Abraxas glanced over his shoulder, his face lit by a hundred will-o’-the-wisps that followed him around their makeshift campsite. Those harsh features never changed, no matter what they went through. He was a solid foundation for her to brace herself against.

“How did I get so lucky?” she asked, her voice carrying through the mist.

“In what way?”

Lore gestured toward the lights, blinking into existence from the meager city of Tenebrous. “I grew up there. I lived in those dirty streets, stealing whatever I could to stay alive. And now I am practically a goddess with the expectations of a kingdom on my shoulders and a dragon who loves me. How did I get so lucky?”

He snorted and shook his head. “You call that luck?”

“I call meeting you luck. Everything else I could do without.”

His features softened and Abraxas came to her side. He was never far, but he always seemed to notice when she needed his hands on her. Cupping the back of her neck, he drew her in close so he could press his lips to her forehead. “You are the best thing to happen in my life, Lore. And I would not trade all this hardship for a second chance at something different. Neither would you, I suppose. Neither would any of the people you’re thinking about, most likely.”

“Their souls are heavy,” she whispered.

“They have been through a trying time.”

“No, not the ones who lived.” And that was the rub of it all, wasn’t it? “I can feel the ones who didn’t make it. The anger they carry at not being saved. I can hear them on the other side, whispering that if we had only been a day faster that we might have freed them as well. They blame me, Abraxas, for all that I could not do.”

“Then you will stop listening to them.” Abraxas gave her neck a little shake, as though that would startle her out of her thoughts. “You will pull yourself from that world, or so help me, I will join them in the darkness. I will hunt them down for you, Lore, to give you better peace in this realm.”

As if she would ever let him. But the thought made her smile. She’d been in that realm before herself, and she knew how difficult it was to crawl back out of.

Sighing, she let the lingering tension slip from her shoulders. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have such morose thoughts when we’re here.”

Abraxas took a few steps back from her, his eyes still seeing more than she wanted him to see. But he returned to the campsite he was setting up and started their fire. “Here? Of all places? Such a sunny, warm environment for good thoughts, don’t you think?”

She shook her head. “Sarcastic dragon.”

“Stubborn elf.”

Of course, both of them were right. She sat down on a log next to the fire, trying to piece her thoughts together. “I don’t want to be happy because of where we are, but because of what we were doing the last time we were here. Do you remember?”

“I remember.” His voice warmed with a chuckle. “It was the first time I’d traveled in this form. I was exhausted.”

“I almost threw you in the bog.”

He grinned, and she swore the marsh lit up with his happiness. “I would have smelled better if you had.”

Laughter bubbled up in her chest before she realized what was happening. She let it trickle out of her body in a light rush that lifted some of the heavy spirits from her shoulders.

She missed that time. They had been so frustrated and fighting against what they felt. Their arguments had taken such a long time, and yet they had fallen for each other no matter how hard they’d fought against it.

Abraxas shook his head, that wry grin still on his face. “We should try to get some sleep. There will be time to go over our memories, and for the laughter that we both desperately need. But I, for one, would like to get out of the bog before we reminisce. Shall we?”

He was right. They both needed sleep. But she wanted this bubble of laughter to stay around her, if only for a little while longer.

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