Dragon of Legend: Fate (BK4)

chapter 17

“Bitter Truth”

“Gone?” Gina broke the silence. She scrunched up her forehead, trying to make sense of what Brandon had just said. “But you said Akira was not dead!”

“She isn’t,” Brandon replied softly.

“Then what do you mean by gone?” Seth demanded.

Brandon met Seth’s gaze evenly. “I am afraid,” he replied, “That it s just as Cain warned me it would be,” he paused.  “Akira has become the rider of a new dragon.”

“What?” Will asked.

Seth just stood where he was, shocked.

“You mean she has gotten a second dragon again?” Drake asked.

Brandon let out a sigh. “While Akira has had two dragons before it is not the same this time, it could not possibly be.”

“You’re not making any sense!” Gina protested.

“It’s simple,” Brandon spoke, his tone grim, “Akira has abandoned Redemption and chosen to become Deception’s new rider instead.”

Drake’s jaw dropped while Will stared at Brandon with wide eyes. Seth looked like he was frozen to the spot, his eyes unblinking as though he were trying to figure out if he had heard right.

“I beg your pardon?” Gina was the one to speak. “I thought I just heard you say–”

“I did,” Brandon cut her off. “Akira has become Deception’s rider.”

“Enough with the jokes,” Seth growled. “What really happened?”

Brandon turned his eyes on Seth letting him see the sadness within them. “This is not a joke Seth but the truth.”

No one spoke.

“I had Akira locked up as Cain told me that this would happen. He told me Akira would go to Deception and yet I hoped that by keeping her here we could prevent…” he trailed off as he shook his head. “It looked like in the end Akira found out and took Redemption and the two tried to face Deception and take care of things in their own way. However, things did not turn out well.” Brandon’s eyes fastened on Redemption who refused to meet his gaze. “Didn’t it Redemption? In the end Akira went with Deception, leaving you behind, ultimately severing her bond with you.”

“No,” Gina spoke up, her eyes flashing. “She would never do such a thing. This is Akira we’re talking about!” Her eyes darted from one person to the next until they landed on Redemption. “Some input would be nice here!” She told the white dragon in frustration.

“He can’t,” Brandon said softly.

Gina turned her heads to him, surprise written on her face.

 “When a Dragon loses his rider, he loses his other half. You could say he becomes broken. He loses everything he achieved with his rider, the maturity he gained with them and any abilities such as fire breathing, in Redemption’s case that includes communicating with us or other dragons.”

“And yet dragons who lose their riders are the most dangerous in a battle,” Will pointed out. He was the only one not standing in shock and seemed to have recovered to the point of treating this like an opportunity to learn something new. It was even as though he had forgotten Akira altogether. “Therefore how can you say they are broken when they lose their rider? From what I have seen, it has the opposite effect. They become stronger.”

Brandon shot him a quizzical look but began to answer anyway, “They are driven by anger and hate. This is a deadly combination of emotions. While they do seem stronger they are in fact weaker, their only advantage is that they do not have to look out for the safety of their rider anymore. I’m sure that you saw that in most battles, only a few dragons without riders made it out alive.”