Blood Bond

by Susan Leigh Noble

  “About the Blood Bond? Don’t look so surprised,” Barth said. “I may not sit with the others, but my hearing is just fine. And not hard to guess with Rakkah’s feeling about man well known.”

  “I know about her feelings regarding this whole adventure but what about the Blood Bond has her upset?”

  “She fears a repeat of what happened fifty years ago when King Edwin banished the dragons. No one realized how strong the Blood Bond between man and dragon had become. Several of the dragon riders tried to leave with their dragons. King Edwin had them killed or imprisoned while he hunted down their dragons. Many dragons suffered, and a few died once separated from the men they had shared the Blood Bond with. It wasn’t a good time for man or dragon I suppose.”

  “Wait,” Soren said, holding up his hand. “Dragons died? Did men die too?”

  “Probably. I don’t know. The dragons were banished so we dragons don’t know what happened to them.”

  “But Agnot…he said…” His mind whirled as he tried to remember what the dragon had told him. He had said he wouldn’t die. He was sure of it.

  “Agnot was not there. He only knows a little of the Lore of the Blood Bond.”

  Soren didn’t hear Barth’s words. He stumbled away, consumed by the thought of the Bond causing his death.

  ***

  The rough bark pressed against his skin, but he ignored the discomfort. Soren didn’t know how long he had been sitting under the tree. All he knew was things had gone horribly wrong. A week ago, everything had been the way he liked it. He drank, gambled and slept wherever and with whoever he wanted. Now he was involved in a battle against an invading army surrounded by dragons. The fact others expected this of him still shocked him. What was more shocking is no one expected that he would probably cause more problems than help.

  Why Dex had even chosen him was beyond Soren. The dragon had said he felt Soren was the right man for the job. But he couldn’t see how that could be. Everything he did since the day Addie died had been no good. He should have taken Dex's offer to leave. He should have returned to his life.

  From behind him, he heard the whooshing sound of wings. Their wind ruffled Soren's hair. He didn't have to look to know it wasn't Dex, who landed. He turned. It was Warnox. The large brown dragon walked until he was in front of Soren. He sat, wrapping his tail in front of his body as he studied him.

  “I came to meet you, to find out if you are worthy to be a dragon rider. In the past, they were always honorable men. They were brave and often from the best families.”

  Soren snorted. “Then I am definitely the wrong man for the job. I am the opposite of those men.”

  “Many of them were also pompous asses. Maybe you are a better choice.”

  “I doubt that.” His stomach grumbled loudly. “Sorry, I am suddenly very hungry.”

  “Reddex and Barth hunt. It is part of the Blood Bond that you feel Reddex’s hunger.” Warnox paused, studying Soren. “You do not want the Blood Bond.”

  “It wasn't something I chose.”

  “The dragon blood will always be with you. There is no changing that. How long ago did the Bond take place?”

  Soren closed his eyes as he calculated. “Five days.”

  “If this is truly something you don't want, I can take you with us when we leave for Ballinger.”

  “How will that help?”

  “If you separate from Reddex in this early period, you can lessen the effects. You and he might feel disorientated for a few days, but you can go about your normal life, and Reddex can do the same. If you wait, the separation will be more severe.”

  Even though he had been just thinking about his life before Dex entered it, the thought of no longer interacting with the dragon had his stomach tightening. “I’ll think about it.”

  Warnox dipped his head in recognition of Soren’s words. “When Barth returns, the dragons will Blink to Ballinger. You have until then to decide.”

  The brown dragon launched himself into the air. Soren watched him go. He thought about returning to his life. Dex had said he was free to go but something else the dragon said pulled at him. The dragon had commented he had known from the beginning Soren was the one to help him. Even now he wanted to scoff at the idea but something in the back of his mind felt reassured by that fact. He thought about Jerrick. His brother finally seemed proud of him rather than ashamed.

  He watched as Warnox landed near Rakkah. The golden dragon looked in his direction several times. The intense hunger abated, and he assumed Dex had found his meal. The interaction between Warnox and Rakkah escalated. The golden dragon slashed her tail before doing a sort of hop-glide over to him. Soren scrambled to his feet as she landed near him. For a moment, they stared at each other.

  “You shouldn’t be Bonded to Reddex.” She flicked her tail.

  “It wasn’t by choice,” he said.

  He didn’t like the feeling of being trapped with the tree behind his back and stepped away from it. He carefully kept Rakkah in front of him as he moved.

  “That matters not.” She walked around him. “Definitely not worthy to be a dragon rider.”

  Pride had him lifting his chin. “Maybe not but Dex said I was the one to help bridge man and dragon.”

  “Is that what he told you? Did he tell you about the others?” She studied him, before chuckling. “I can tell by the look on your face, he didn’t. You weren’t the first one he approached you know. There were others. He settled for you.”

  Soren shook his head. “No that isn’t true. He said he had a feeling I was the one.”

  “A smooth line if I ever heard one. I’ll let you in on something. If he said that, it was him manipulating you. There were others who turned him down. He was under time pressure, so he settled for you. And it is only by accident he is now linked to you. I am sure he would rather not be. I know I would.” She flicked her tail. “Take Warnox up on his offer. It will be better for everyone.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t…”

  Before he could continue, Rakkah’s words sunk in and his bewilderment turned to anger. His heart pounded, and his shoulders shook. And then Dex was there. The red dragon faced Rakkah, slashing his tail. Soren couldn’t hear anything but was sure words were exchanged between the two as they circled each other, their eyes locked. Suddenly, Rakkah leapt into the air, flying back toward Warnox. Dex turned to Soren.

  “I don’t know what Rakkah said to you, but I could feel your confusion…and your anger.”

  “Tell me the truth,” he said, his fists clinched. “Was I your first choice?”

  “My first choice? Choice for what?”

  “To help you approach the King.”

  Dex stared at him for a moment before looking down. “You weren’t the first I approached, but Soren…”

  He didn’t wait to hear any more. He walked toward Warnox and the other dragons. With each step, his anger grew. He could still hear Rakkah’s taunting voice. She had been right. He wasn’t Dex’s first choice. He had lied to him about being the one the dragons needed. He shook his head as if to clear the thoughts away. But they persisted, and he quickly covered the distance to the other dragons and to his freedom.

  “Take me back to Ballinger,” he said to Warnox.

  The brown dragon regarded him for a moment. “You can ride on Barth. Mount up. It is time to go.”

  Soren briefly recoiled at the thought of riding without a harness but reassured himself it would only be a short distance. Barth bent down, and he scrambled onto his back.

  “Soren?” Dex asked, his voice cautious.

  He didn’t respond or even look at Dex as Barth took off, following the other dragons into the air. He grabbed for the harness before realizing it wasn’t there. His hands searched for something to hold on to but found nothing. As Barth leveled out, Soren resisted the urge to look at the ground far below.

  “Are you sure this is what you want?” Barth asked.

  Soren hesitated. “Yes. It is for the best
. I am not meant to be a dragon rider.”

  For a moment, Barth said nothing, and Soren wondered why they hadn’t left already.

  “Can you sense Reddex from here?”

  Soren felt unsettled but couldn’t determine if it was his own feeling or if it came from Dex too. As he concentrated, he could feel Dex’s anxiety.

  “He is worried,” he admitted reluctantly.

  “You shouldn’t be able to connect with him at this distance. He told me how far apart you two have been when you have communicated. It is farther than any other linked pair.”

  Soren watched Warnox and the other dragons disappear before his eyes. He knew Barth would follow suit in a moment and felt a twinge of regret.

  “You shouldn’t be doing this,” Barth said.

  Suddenly, he dove toward the ground, flipping over in the air. Soren’s fingers tried to grasp onto Barth’s back but there was nothing to hold. He fell through the air. He saw Barth above him and then nothing but the blue sky as Barth Blinked.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Soren, I am coming!”

  Soren twisted in the air. His heart gave a jolt as he saw the ground fast approaching. He screamed. The air whooshing by his head quickly carried the sound away. A bit of red out of the corner of his eye had him turning his head.

  Dex.

  A little of the panic ebbed away as the red dragon barreled toward him with his claws stretched open. But even as the dragon grew closer, so did the ground.

  “Grab the harness,” Dex said as he positioned himself under Soren.

  Soren twisted, reaching for the strap. His fingers fumbled with it. He was falling too fast to grab it. He bumped into Dex’s side, sliding down the dragon’s shoulder. His stomach tightened as he saw the ground again. Dex’s claws latched onto his shoulders.

  “I have you.”

  The words caused relief to spread through Soren’s body. He closed his eyes as he pressed his hand to his chest. He took a deep breath and another as he willed himself to calm down. He felt the ground beneath his feet. He crumbled to it. He laid on his back as he said a prayer of thanks that he was still alive.

  “What was he thinking?” Soren said as he sat up. His head spun.

  “I do not know. Did he say anything?”

  “He said I shouldn’t be doing this.” Soren stood. His legs wobbled a little. He waited until he felt stable before pacing away. He swung around and came back to stand by Dex. He closed his eyes, recalling the feeling of falling. It had not only been his own fear he had felt. He had been Dex’s too. He looked at the dragon. “Thank you.”

  “I could do no less. And it isn’t because of the Bond, Soren.”

  He shook his head. “No. I don’t want to talk about that.” He ducked his head, pressing his hands to his eyes and let out a long breath. “I don’t want any of this.”

  “I know. I said it before; you are free to go. You have done what I asked.”

  Soren snorted. “I was trying to do that. Now, it will take me weeks to walk home.” He looked around, his eyes stopping on the debris from the battle. “If I even have a home to go back to.”

  “True by the time you reached Kenton, the army may have already destroyed it.” Dex regarded him for a moment. “Or you can do something about it. You do have a choice. But if you come with me, the Bond between us will only get stronger. Or I can leave you here. Barth said the Bond will lessen over time.”

  “But never go away.”

  “No. It is forever.”

  The word forever rang in his mind. He sighed. Choices, he thought. Dex made it sound easy. Images of the past few days flashed before his eyes. He recalled the way he had been reassured by Dex’s presence and the panic he felt when someone suggested killing Dex. As he stared at the debris left from this latest battle, the face of the girl who looked like Addie flashed before his eyes. He could still see the wet, soiled doll lying beside her lifeless body. Emery’s words echoed in his ears. The army was coming whether he liked it or not. They would not leave him alone because he didn’t care. They would not stop. He thought about Jerrick and Lyla and their baby. He couldn’t bear the thought of them dying, not if there was any chance, no matter how slim, he could have done something to prevent it. There really was no choice to be made. Soren walked over to Dex. Grabbing onto the harness, he quickly mounted the dragon.

  “Let’s go.”

  ***

  Soren stood on the rock, staring into the water gushing around him. A silver fish swam in the pocket of calm water close to the rock. He raised the spear he had quickly fashioned and jabbed it into the water. The fish darted, barely escaping the spear’s tip. Soren tittered on the rock.

  “You are going to fall.”

  He ignored Dex’s comment. They had flown in silence for most of the day. Soren’s anger had lessened, and he realized he had let Rakkah goad him. It was as if she had known what to say to anger him. As night approached, they had stopped and set up their camp alongside the Pala River. Its banks were swollen from recent rains. Soren crossed a few rocks to an area where he might catch some fish for his dinner.

  Two more silver fish swam close to his rock. He steadied himself, arm poised. He jabbed the spear into the water, piercing the side of one of the fish. He raised the spear, turning slightly to display his catch to Dex. As he did, he leaned back a little. His heart pounded as his foot slipped off the rock. He leaned the other way to avoid falling into the river, dropping the spear as he wobbled. His eyes were now on the turbulent water. His mind flashed back fourteen years ago to a different river. He had leapt into its rough water and swam toward the last place he had seen the dark hair. His ears echoed with Addie’s cries for help.

  Soren swayed a moment before tumbling into the icy water. The cold drew him back to the present. He gasped, inhaling some of the water.

  “Soren!” Dex cried.

  Soren coughed as he tried to keep his head above the water. The feeling was all too familiar. Briefly, it was the same as all those years ago. The water thrashed around him. He became disoriented as he swam one way and then another. Coughing, he cried out for Addie.

  His shoulder slammed against a rock, jolting him to the present again. Pain radiated down his arm as he went under the water and came up gasping. He glanced around, almost expecting to see the dark hair swirling in the water. Instead, he saw nothing but the rushing river. His ears picked up the sounds of the waterfall before he saw it. He scrambled to grab on to anything as his legs and arms were banged against the rocks. He grabbed onto a log protruding out of the water.

  Suddenly, it was ripped from his hands, and he was dangling above the river. He coughed and spluttered as he tried to clear his lungs. The ground was a blur as they flew over trees. Dex set him down softly in the clearing where they had set up their camp. Soren crumbled to the ground where he lay shivering and coughing.

  “Are you all right, Soren?”

  “Yes.” He closed his eyes as he rolled over on his back. “Thanks, Dex. That is twice today you saved me.”

  “What happened? One minute you were on the rock, and then you got this funny expression on your face and collapsed. I could feel…it…” Dex let out a huff. “It felt you were not fully here, if that makes any sense.”

  Soren could feel his confusion. And when he had been in the water, it had not only been his fear that consumed him. It had been Dex’s fear too. He sighed realizing it was becoming impossible to tell his own feelings from Dex’s.

  Soren opened his mouth to answer Dex but as much as he wanted to finally relieve himself of those horrible memories, he froze. He couldn’t get anything out. Instead, he climbed to his feet. His legs trembled as he pulled off his wet shirt. His necklace fell against his chest. He grabbed it, glad he hadn’t lost it in the river. He wrung the water from his shirt before tossing it over a branch near the fire. His wet pants followed. His fingers struggled to open his bag and pull out some dry clothes. By the time he got into them, he could barely stand. He took a step t
oward the fire, his legs nearly giving out on him. Dex’s tail wrapped around him, supporting and guiding him. He collapsed against the dragon as the events of the day bore down on him. No longer did he think of his hunger or anything for that matter. Instead, he leaned on Dex, feeling worn but at peace as he fell asleep.

  ***

  Soren woke to find himself lying against Dex with the dragon’s tail over him. He stretched, noting he felt sore from his tumble into the river but also refreshed. This was not the first time he had felt this way upon waking beside Dex. He wondered if it had something to do with the Blood Bond. He moved Dex’s tail and stood. He noticed the dragon watched him.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Not too bad.” Soren rotated his shoulder, wincing as pain shot up his arm and back. “If we have time, I think I’ll make a tonic.”

  “No hurry,” Dex said. “We don’t want to catch up to that army.”

  Soren studied him. “Your color is better. What do you think? Another day before you can Blink?”

  He began pulling out the ingredients for the healing tonic. He would need to find the Calthorn flower as only the fresh petals held any power. The rest he could get by with dried ingredients. He realized Dex had not answered him, and he turned to look at the dragon.

  “So, you are going to carry on as if nothing happened yesterday? Nothing about what Rakkah said to you? No explanation about why you fell into the river? We are going to go on like nothing at all happened?”

  Soren shook his head. “Nothing to discuss. I shouldn’t have let Rakkah get to me.”

  “I want to explain about what she told you.”

  “No, you don’t have to. It doesn’t matter,” he said as he built back up the dying fire.

  “But I need to,” Dex said. “There should be no secrets, no doubts. She was correct. You were not the first person I approached. The first fainted upon seeing me. When she woke, she screamed. And when I spoke to her, she fainted again. The next person was a man a handful of years older than you. He threw stones and cursed at me. I flew away, and that is when I saw you hanging on the side of the cliff.”