Bound By Chains (MxM)

Chapter Fourteen

I must have fallen asleep sometime during our trek, because when I finally woke back up, I was no longer on Cayden's back. No, from the looks of it, I was laying on a bed of moss, in front of, what looked like, a makeshift campfire. Judging from the lighting of the area around me, I would probably say it was around dusk, probably nearing more towards nighttime.

I rubbed at my face and sat up, looking around for the other man. Where was he? Using the bathroom, maybe? Surely, he wouldn't have ditched me in the middle of the forest, no when he had been so adamant not to let me trek it alone. Right?

"Cayden?" I called out into the darkening forest, my heart now beating rapidly as fear began to climb up my spine. "Cayden, where did you go?"

I jumped in fright when a branch broke somewhere in front of me, tears now starting to form in my eyes as I struggled to see what had made that sound. A predator? Just a simple nocturnal animal? I nearly cried in relief when Cayden's exhausted form pushed through the brush before him, a couple of bloodied rabbits in his hand. When he glanced up and saw that I was awake, he lifted the little things up and nodded in my direction.

"Glad to see you're awake. I've got dinner for us."

I watched as he came over and sat down in front of the campfire, the man pulling out a small dagger before he began separating meat from fur. I rubbed my arms, secretly thankful that he didn't leave me to die alone, and scooted closer to the fire, the growing night cooling the air around us. "How long have I been out?" I wondered quietly as I stared into the flames, before I tore my gaze away from it to look at Cayden.

Cayden paused what he was doing, slightly tilting his head to the side as he thought. "About five hours, I think. I don't know, it's kind of hard to tell time when you're stuck in a forest." He nodded towards me. "How's your leg?"

I pursed my lips and lifted the hem of my robes to assess the damage, my brows raising when I saw that it was healing relatively fast. Instead of a gaping, bloodied gash, it was now, scabbed over, the skin around it starting to turn yellow. "It's healing relatively fast." My brows furrowed and curiosity had me lightly touching the skin around the cut. It was still sore, but definitely not as bad as it had been earlier today. Thank goodness for that.

Cayden's brows furrowed for a moment, before it seemed to dawn on him. "Right, you're half-dragon. I keep forgetting about that." He shook his head and continued to deskin the rabbits. "Dragons heal at an incredibly fast rate. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if you were able to walk in just a couple of hours." He got the last of the skin off, and with a grimace, tossed it into the brush. He then seemed to pause as he glanced at me. "Do...you eat your meat raw?"

I snorted in disbelief and shook my head. "Just because I'm half-dragon, doesn't mean I like to eat bloody raw things. That's just gross."

There was a small twitch to Cayden's lips, almost as if he wanted to smile, but the man ended up refraining as he nodded his head and got to work trying to situate the meal above the fire to cook. "Sorry, I had to ask in case you did. I only know a small bit about dragons, and some of them do like raw meat."

I scrunched up my nose and crossed my arms over my chest, raising a brow in curiosity. "Oh? And what do you know about dragons?"

Cayden folded a knee close to his chest and draped his arm over it, shrugging slightly before he stared into the fire. "Well, I know that male dragons have horns in their humanoid form, while the females have wings. Ah, they are quick healers, and their blood is often used in remedies for the sick because of that. They're also usually intelligent, as well." He pursed his lips and glanced at me from the corners of his eyes, seemingly studying me before he scratched his nose and looked away. "That's all I know."

For some reason, I felt like he was lying and that he knew more about dragons than he let on, but I wasn't going to push him for anymore information, not when the man looked like he was going to pass out at any moment. Which, I wouldn't doubt it if he would. After all, he carried me for hours and even though I was small and probably weighed under a hundred pounds, it would be tiring and painful to carry me for so long. And yet he still held on long enough to make sure we had food for the night.

Nibbling at my bottom lip, I looked away from the other man, tracing random shapes into the dirt as the silence between us grew, and the nighttime life around us began to thrive. It was about ten minutes later that I saw it; a small, yellowish light that appeared and suddenly vanished just as quickly. Furrowing my brows, I tugged on Cayden's dirtied sleeves, causing the man to glance at me curiously as I continued staring in wonder at the light that had been there. When the small yellow light reappeared, a little off from where I had seen it, I pointed towards it, furrowing my brows.

"What is that?" I wondered quietly, tearing my gaze away from the light long enough to see Cayden's dark eyes soften.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Have you never seen a firefly before?"

"Firefly?" My brows furrowed further. "Not particularly. I was always inside when it got dark. Well...other than the times I snuck out to see Kavan, but I don't ever recall seeing such a creature." I glanced at them. "Are they...harmless?"

Cayden laughed and before I could say anything, stood up and walked over to where the lights were forming. He then crouched down and seemed to gather something in his hands before he made his way back over to me, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "Hold out your hands."

Feeling cautious, but curious at the same time, I did as he told and watched as he deposited a small insect, barely the size of my smallest nail, into my hands. I then watched with fascination as the butt of the creature lit up that bright yellow, before slowly fading away. The whole time, Cayden watched me with an indescribable look on his face, his full lips curled in the faintest of smiles.

"See, they're completely harmless," he told me, before he moved back over to the fire to check on the meat.

I let the firefly crawl across the expanse of my palm, before it began journeying up my finger. "What purpose do they serve? Or are they just meant to be pretty? How do they light up? Is it only when the sun dips below the horizon?" I looked over towards the other man as he pulled the cooked meat from the fire, a soft smile on his lips as he glanced back towards me.

"I have no idea what purpose they serve, if I'm being honest. And I'm not sure how they light up." He handed me one of the cooked rabbits. "Some say that they light up from the magical energies left behind by past generations. Others think it is some sort of mutation." He glanced at me. "I just think they're pretty."

I surprised myself when I laughed, which in turn, caused the other man to looked just as surprised as I felt at the action. I then cleared my throat as my cheeks turned red in embarrassment. I could feel Cayden staring at me, but I chose not to acknowledge him as I nibbled at my bottom lip and picked at the meat in my hand. "A-Anyway, um, we should probably eat and get some rest. E-Especially you, since, you know, you carried me for so long."

I wasn't looking at the other man, but I imagined that he nodded. "You're right. You get heavy after a while, you know. I wouldn't be surprised if I fall asleep the moment I lay my head down."

I smiled softly and shook my head, the silence between us growing as we ate our meal for the night, before we both laid down and fell asleep.

A/N: Hope you all enjoy the extra chapter!