The Dragon Bond: Heirs of Lyra

Chapter 3

His breathing came in heavy pants as he struggled to walk forward. He had spent most of his physical and mental energy yesterday learning more magic with his mother guiding him and his father instructing him in the methods of combat. 

Mirum looked over at him with her worried hazel eyes. "You're still sore from yesterday, we should take it easy for the rest of today."

Ralf shook his head and waved her off. "I'm fine, just a little winded is all. We need to keep practicing."

"For what?" his dragon asked. "There's no hurry, we have the rest of our lives to train and prepare and learn. You push yourself too hard every day. One day you're going to push too hard."

Ralf did his best to control his emotions and temper. He was constantly frustrated with himself during training, annoyed that he could not do everything he wanted so badly to do. Though his magical abilities were flourishing daily with the help of his parents' teachings, his physical ability seemed to have reached a peak...a very low peak. It seemed as though no matter what he did or how hard he tried, he just could not get any better. His leg was holding him back.

Not too long ago a thought had occurred to Ralf about the stark contrast between his magical ability and his physical ability. He wondered if there was a way that he could use magic to help him maneuver better with his leg. He knew that there was no cure for his affliction, but what if there was another way to help? 

Such an idea had caused him to spend several sleepless nights in Lyran's largest library, researching something that might help. However, he had yet to find anything helpful. For a while he had tested out the possibility of simply controlling the movement of his leg with his mind, pushing his leg forward using magic. Unfortunately, this had ended rather badly. Ralf had pushed a little too hard and ended up ramming himself into a brick wall. On the bright side, his dragon bond had healed him of any injury he had caused himself.

Day after day Ralf wondered why his magical dragon bond could cure him of the worst injuries, even near death experiences, yet it could not fix his leg. How much simpler, how much happier his life would be if it were that easy. 

"Stop thinking about it." Mirum scolded him, knowing where his thoughts were. She could always tell when he was internally beating himself up and wishing things were different. "You can't change it. Your disability doesn't define you, you are whoever you want to be."

Ralf met his dragon's gaze and instantly his spirit lightened. He was so lucky to have her, to have this bond. Without it he would be completely lost and helpless. "You're right," he admitted. "I need to stop wishing my life away, especially on things I can't change."

"That's the spirit!" 

"How about we take a break for the day? I should probably go inside and clean up anyway. Henry's future wife is supposed to be arriving any moment and I'm sure he'll want me to meet her." 

Mirum moved over to her bond-mate and nuzzled him encouragingly with her head. Ralf gave her an affectionate head rub and then focused his attention on successfully walking back into the castle. Each step forward felt like trudging through deep mud but eventually he made it into the castle. The hard part was walking up the steps to his room. 

Originally, his room had been on the main level so he wouldn't have to struggle up so many stairs. However, after days of relentless teasing from Henry, Ralf decided to prove his brother wrong. Henry always said that the servants and lowly apprentices had rooms on the first floor. Normally the idea of sleeping on the same level as the help would not bother Ralf one bit. Ralf always considered the staff as equals, he did not think it fair that a person's social and economic status be determined by who their parents were, something that cannot be helped. Had Ralf not been born into royalty, he would probably be on the side of the street begging for spare change, close to death.