Alec stared up at the ceiling of his home, watching the light and shadows created by the flickering fire of the candle and fireplace. Like usual, sleep refused to engulf his mind, and he ended up tossing and turning on his bed before he settled for staring up at the ceiling. His thoughts drifted off to the two men who had tied him to his chair, more than a week ago.
The two had seemed to have believed him, but still sent one Ryder to observe him, or rather his drae, from afar. The Ryder had maintained his distance and hid his presence well. However, not well enough that Alec would not notice him. His drae had tried to confront the Ryder, but he stopped him. The poor guy was probably just following orders. Plus, Alec had nothing to hide, so he let him be.
From what he gathered, someone had stolen something from Draeyer Academy. It was important enough to warrant the attention of the Ryders. That someone also had happened to have ridden the red drae as a way to escape. But his drae had no star-shaped marks on his neck—the Bond marks—making him a wild Unbound drae. For an Unbound drae to let someone ride on its back, means that it must have a good relationship with it, same as Alec's relationship with his drae. But if the thief had a good relationship with the red drae, he would not have abandoned the creature easily. There was no sign of the red drae's previous rider for the entire month Alec had been with him.
He groaned in frustration, as he sat up and decided to find his drae. He put on his fur coat and pulled up his mask. He stepped out onto the porch after lacing up his boots. Once out, his eyes searched for the red Drae. His brows knit when he saw no signs of the creature. He went back into the house and strapped his largest dagger on his thigh.
Where the Blazen, did he fly off to this time? he thought. Stepping out into the snow, the cold wind lashed at him. With the only light coming from the currently waxing moons, he walked towards the forest. He stopped and tried to feel the presence of the Ryder, but felt nothing. Knowing that nobody was watching him, he continued with his search for the drae.
He looked for tracks in the snow but did not find anything. As he neared the tree line, he started to get worried. The drae had stayed within the vicinity of his house, always within Alec's sight from his bedroom window. It was the first time he had not seen the drae since he came into his life. When he entered the forest, he looked for signs of anything that moved about. There were none. As he walked further in, he found that the forest was silent. There weas no sound of birds, not even the few cold-resistant insects in Arktis. He paused. How strange, he thought.
Minutes passed as his worry continued to grow as he saw no sign of his drae and all the other animals. It felt like he was alone in the world at that moment. Could he have left me? He thought.
A roar broke him out of his thoughts.
Without thinking, his body moved in the direction of the sound. All he could think about was the pain within that familiar roar. His vision slowly started to narrow and darken, like it always did when his anger threatened to overtake him. He shook his head vigorously.
Keep calm. Keep calm. Remember what Alen taught you. Anger clouds your judgment. You can't make the same mistake as days ago with the Ryders.
Without him noticing, he arrived in a section of the forest near a cliff. His body crouched behind a rock and took in the sight before him.
The red drae lay on the snow, writhing in pain as a figure of a man stood in front of his head. The man held a glowing red gem towards the drae's forehead where a similar red gem glowed. Every time the gem grew brighter, the same happened with the ruby on the drae's forehead. The pain seemed to increase as the gem glowed brighter as well. Alec's fist clenched as he reached for the dagger on his thigh.
"Why is taking so slow to work? It was just fine a month ago," he heard the man say. "What have you been up to you overgrown lizard?"
The drae growled menacingly as a response.
"No matter. You will be back under the gem's control soon enough—"
Alec pounced, wind rushing past his ear as he aimed for the man's neck. He heard a curse as the man turned and blocked his attack with his dagger. Alec pushed, causing the man to stumble away from the drae. He rammed his shoulder against the man, finally taking him down on the snow. Straddling his waist, Alec aimed for his neck. He missed and pierced the man's shoulder instead.
"Get off!" the man shouted. The gem glowed.
A roar came from behind Alec, then a loud flap of wings. He had just enough time to raise his arms as a large leather wing threw him off the man. He flew through the air and landed against the tree with a groan.
"What the Blazen! What are you waiting for? Kill him!"
His drae roared, his entire body shaking as he resisted the order. Still, whatever the gem was, it was powerful enough the make him open his snout. Alec saw the red fiery glow from his throat as it aimed its breath towards him. He tried to move, but he still needed a few more moments to orient himself.
As the breath attack finally finished, the red drae jerked his head towards the direction of the man. A torrent of crimson-hot flames poured into the forest, melting the ice and singing the trees.
"Enough!" The man shouted. He went and grabbed Alec by the collar and pointed a knife at his neck. "You seem to be fond of this one. If you continue to resist, I will kill him."
The red drae roared in anger. His body still shaking from its resistance against the power of the gem. Alec had finally shaken himself out of his daze, he twisted and tore himself out of the man's hold. He dived for his knife and turned around to attack. He stopped when the drae pounced on the man and immediately opened his mouth for another breath attack.
"You leave me no choice!" As the man said that, he broke the red gem in his hand. Alec watched as the gem on his drae's forehead exploded. He stood frozen as the most agonizing roar of pain tore itself out of the drae's mouth. It stumbled and staggered away, bleeding from his head and shouting in pain.
Alec saw red. This man must die. This man must die. This man must die.
His leg lashed out, connecting with the person's back. He ran to the cloaked man who lay flat on his stomach. He flipped him over, the action causing the hood to fall away from his face. The first thing to catch his eye was the scar that ran down the side of his right lip. Angry green eyes glared into his light blue ones. In a split second, a punch hit Alec's stomach, and he found himself pinned on the snowy ground with the person above him. He tried to wriggle free, but the cold metal on his neck made him pause.
"What did you do to my obedient pet, you bastard?"
"He's not a pet!"
The man laughed. "On second thought, it won't matter. He's as good as dead now."
Alec shouted in anger and pushed at the hands holding the knife to his throat. But it was no use. The blade slowly started to dig into his skin, drawing blood. Is this how I die? Helpless and unable to save the one I care about again?
"Die," the man said. Alec's eyes widened and he freed one of his legs from beneath him. But before he could do a thing, a foot connected with his attacker's face. He watched as the man rolled off him from the force and fell to the cold snow a few feet away.
"Alec!" his head whirled to the side. Gael Fenrin bent down and held one of his shoulders as his brows knit in concern. "Are you alright?"
He coughed and clutched his neck, vaguely noticing Kreis Hildegen and the other Ryders charging towards the enemy. He turned to the cloaked man, not answering Gael's question. He saw that the man had stood a few feet away with his hood back on, shielding his face from view. He heard him curse at the sight of numerous people before he ran for the cliff.
"After him!"
Alec soon ignored them all, as his focus turned to the drae lying a few feet away from him. He staggered to stand, vaguely noting the help Gael Fenrin gave him. He inched his way towards his drae, and soon fell on his knees in front of his large head.
He took a sharp breath at the large gaping hole on the drae's forehead where the ruby crystal had been. It bled so much, covering the entirety of the drae's face, making his crimson scales even darker. Alec reached to stop the bleeding but he despaired. There was nothing he could do for his friend and companion. His vision turned blurry as tears started to pool in his eyes
A weak growl came from the creature, seeming to feel Alec's despair. Alec leaned forward to hug his head, blood covering his entire body as he did so. "Please...please...don't...You still haven't picked a name. I've...only chosen one...so far." he choked out. Don't leave me.
The drae leaned closer into his embrace, nuzzling his chest in the process. It growled. Somehow, Alec understood. "The only name I have here is Crimson," he said. "It's...stupid. I told you, I suck at names. It's way too simple for such an amazing creature like you. A name from the color of your scales." And now the color of your blood.
He stilled when the drae let out a happy growl. It was weak, but still a familiar happy sound. "You actually like it, Crimson?" He said through a choked laugh. "If so, I should've just called you that sooner." That way I would've called your name a lot.
A rumble came from Crimson's chest. It was a sound he made every time he thanked Alec for a meal. "It's me who should be thanking you," he whispered. "When you came and stuck to my side, I didn't feel so alone like before. You made me happy, even if...it's only for a short time."
He felt the weight of Crimson's head sag onto him, his breathing slowly coming to a still. "Thank you so much, Crimson. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you.," he whispered.
Alec held on to Crimson, never minding his legs slowly growing numb from the cold. He caressed his snout and ran his hand to the spot between Crimson's already closed eyes. . Crimson looked so at peace like he had just fallen asleep. Tears finally escaped his eyes
Alec held him tighter, trying to hold in his sobs, but failing soon enough as a wail of anguish tore out of his chest. Why did the things he loved kept getting taken from him? Was he cursed? Was he not allowed to be happy? Why? He continued to cry. But in his heart, the cold fire of fury replaced his anguish as he thought of the man who did this to Crimson.
He will pay.
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*bracing myself for the comments*