Soul Bound

Chapter 24

"I believe you are correct." He turned his whole body around, using his powerful tail to cut through the water and take us straight to the cave. 

Once we hit the shore, I hopped off his back and took the lead for the entrance. With so many people dwelling in the shelter, there was barely any room for Syran, let alone for Arkon, so he remained outside while I walked along the path towards the throne. Sasha's people were used to me by now, but this was the first time I'd been invited--potentially--into their home; they stopped whatever they were doing and left their station to follow me. It was a little eerie, and a  nervous trickle slithered down my back.

Sasha grinned at me lazily, lounging on her throne sideways, legs dangling off the armrest. How she thought her stone throne was comfortable was beyond me. I'd rather sit on the mossy ground in this cave than up there. "All right, girl, I have to hand it to you: I thought you would have up and left by now. Not many would have the tenacity to wither away in the sun to get what they want." She stood up, a smooth motion that still somehow seemed lazy, like a jungle cat. Those brown eyes of hers levelled with me. "I have a task for you. If you complete it, I will teach you how to use Arkon's magic."

"Done."

She scoffed a laugh then chucked my chin playfully but there was something dark and wicked in her smile. "Don't agree to things you don't know the terms to. I'll give that little piece of advice for free."

She didn't seem to understand the lengths I would go to become strong enough to take down my enemies. That was her mistake. 

"Fine," I replied thinly. "What exactly do you want me to do?" 

She pulled out a map of the Desert Lands, drawn on a scrap of thin leather. Her finger lay on the mountains in the north. "There's a girl sick in a village here. I need you to bring her to me."

"Done." 

She smirked. "Terms, dear girl. Terms."

I rolled my eyes. She had already given me my mission, was it really necessary to drag this out further? The sooner I finished this, the sooner I could begin my training. "What are the terms?"

"She can't fly," she finally divulged. "Her condition is very delicate. The high altitudes on a dragon will make her worse. You can take Annalyse and some horses. Arkon and Aster will stay here."

I gazed at her dubiously. Did she really expect us to leave our dragons behind while we travelled across the desert? "I don't think-"

"You're not about to tell me you can't make it across the desert without your dragon, are you?" she goaded. "Tsk. See? No guts." 

I clenched my jaw. It was obvious bait, but damn it, if this was the only way for me to learn how to use my magic, I had to do it. 

Arkon, I'm about to agree to something potentially stupid. He at least deserved a heads up. 

I sensed his hesitance through our Bond. Whatever it may be, we can overcome it. 

That's the thing, I confessed, holding my breath, there will be no 'we.' Anna and I are going to the mountains alone. 

There was a beat of silence before his alarm slammed into me like a tidal wave. It was almost so overwhelming, it became difficult to discern his emotions from my own. How can we be sure she's not trying to get you killed so you're no longer a problem for her? 

If she wanted us dead, we would know by now. She had showed me only a slither of her power. It wouldn't have been hard for her to have killed us. Besides, she's had more than a handful of opportunities to have killed us since our arrival and hadn't. That was something, wasn't it?