Soulbound to a Dragon

by Kurtis Eckstein

  I examined her expression tentatively before nodding. “Umm, yeah I can do that. I guess…” I paused. “Just call out if you need help.” I reached up and gently grabbed the tip of my cat-like ear. “I should be able to hear you just fine even from inside.”

  “Okay,” she said with a genuine grin.

  I smirked at her enthusiasm, and walked back to the house. Most of the pantherian children were in the living room now, being strangely quiet. I wasn’t used to seeing kids so well behaved, but then again, I also wasn’t used to seeing kids who had been slaves.

  Eli, Mira, Tobias, and Landon were all sitting at the table now, discussing plans for the next day while they waited for dinner to finish cooking.

  I went ahead and sat down next to Eli, trying to catch up on the conversation. It didn’t appear as if I had missed much.

  Tobias was talking. “So then, after the children get picked up, we can go into town to get the extra supplies we need for our trip to Vanardis the day after. Originally, we were just going because one of our business partners obtained a large shipment of the original antidote and wants us to come enhance it. The guy was going to make it worth our time by paying us extra for our efforts in order to buy up some more slaves.” He hesitated. “We have a reputation in a lot of the cities as slave traders ourselves, although they don’t know we actually free them.” He paused again, with a grimace on his face when thinking about the reputation they had to put up with. “We won’t be bringing the slaves back with us though. We have a network of allies that help us transport slaves from one location to the next until they reach their destination. The only slaves who normally end up here are more from eastern cities.” He sighed. “Anyway, yesterday we became aware that there is also a noble seeking our assistance in healing one of his family members who has a different illness. It’s a job that Mira would need to be physically present for.”

  Something about Tobias’ expression made me think there was more he was reluctant to say. “So what’s the problem?” I finally asked.

  Tobias looked at me and then down at his hands on the table, his fingers interlaced. “Well, there are some people who know the source of our cure, which puts us at risk from thieves.” He then looked up at me again. “The fence isn’t to protect our product. The fence is to protect Mira from being kidnapped.”

  “And turned into a slave myself,” Mira added.

  I gawked at them both, beginning to deduce the situation. “So then, that’s why you want us to come? For protection?” Tobias nodded slowly. I smirked. “Okay, I’m fine with that.” I then grinned at Mira. “I’ll be by your side like the twin goddesses Freya and Edith! You won’t even get to use the bathroom without me there!” Mira’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head in surprise, and I laughed so hard I had to grab my sides. “I’m just kidding! Your face! It’s priceless!” I gasped.

  Both Eli and Landon at least thought it was funny, and even Tobias had a small grin. Once I calmed down and wiped the tears out of my eyes, Tobias continued. “Anyway, yes, it would be for protection. Two capable mages like yourselves should be more than enough, but more importantly you’re both two people who I feel we can trust.”

  I looked up at Eli to see that he was watching me, although I wasn’t sure why. However, after a few seconds I felt a weird sensation in my mind…

  I gasped, my eyes suddenly wide. Because unexpectedly I knew what Eli was thinking. Or rather, I knew what he thought I should do. I looked into his bright blue eyes timidly as I whispered. “Are you wanting me to tell them about my magical abilities?”

  He cocked his head in surprise. “How’d you know?”

  I reached up and gently ran my fingers along the black tattoo on my neck. “I think it’s our connection,” I began in a whisper. “A master is probably able to communicate what they want to their servant, however in our case…”

  “Wait,” Landon said, sounding confused. “I thought you said you weren’t a slave.”

  I glanced at him, and then back at Eli, sensing again what he wanted. In this case, he was leaving it up to me to tell them. I sighed, trying to keep it vague. “It’s true that I’m not a slave, however this magic,” I ran my fingers along my tattoo again, “is very much real. In our situation, we’re both the master and both the servant at the same time, so the effect is different. I don’t have to obey what he says, nor does he have to obey me. However, I think we’ve just discovered that we can sense what the other wants.”

  “That’s very unusual,” Tobias commented, crossing his arms. “I’m curious to know how that happened.”

  I looked up at Eli again, before sighing. “I’m not trying to hide anything from you, but I would prefer to leave that subject untouched.” Honestly, I was surprised that they hadn’t figured out the inconsistencies in our story, since I had already disclosed that I had been with the elves until today, and Eli had already mentioned he was from a town on the other side of the country…

  Or rather, he had mentioned that to Lucius and Theo – we hadn’t shared that information with these three yet.

  Mira quickly joined in, sounding authoritative as she looked at her father and brother. “That’s fine Riella, it’s none of our business. You have a right to keep secrets just between yourselves.”

  I nodded in appreciation. “Thanks. Of course, if it’s something that will affect anyone’s safety, then I won’t hesitate to share.”

  Tobias became apologetic and nodded. I then went ahead and explained to them the type of magic I used, indicating that it had limited uses since I could only safely immobilize one person at a time and would be unable to move if I used it on two or three people. Nevertheless, they felt like it was a useful ability.

  I also explained that my real talent came from being highly skilled with a sword and fighting in hand-to-hand combat. Landon laughed at me, so I gave him a brief tutorial of my inhuman strength by walking over to him and shoving him out of his chair. He got up with a grin and tried to push me back, only for me to hoist him over my head and walk him into the living room where I tossed him on the couch. The other three thought it was hilarious, although Landon most definitely did not enjoy being dragged around like he was the five-foot-tall imp instead of me.

  Once we were all seated again, we began discussing the details of the trip.

  However, the front door unexpectedly opened, and we turned to see Risa come in with a huge smile on her face. She stopped at the entrance of the dining room, eyeing the men cautiously, before focusing on me. “I made you something,” she said cheerfully.

  Shocked, I glanced at her right arm holding something behind her back. I quickly stood, walking up to her as I examined her excited expression. I suspected she had made something with her ice, but given that she had just started learning I couldn’t imagine that it would be too exciting. I needed to make sure I didn’t disappoint her if she handed me a cube. Granted, that was something to be excited about if she had already produced a cube of ice.

  Risa smirked at me, barely containing herself. “Ready?”

  I nodded with a smile.

  Risa carefully pulled out the object she was hiding, and I almost fainted from the shock.

  In her delicate hands was an even more delicate ice flower about three inches tall. It was so detailed that it was almost indistinguishable from the real thing, and it was comparable to some of the best flowers I had ever seen the elves make. I just stood there like an idiot and stared at it.

  “Do you like it?” She asked with concern. “It’s a rose.”

  I finally tore my gaze from it and stared at her. “Can I hold it?” I asked breathlessly, still baffled by what I was seeing.

  She smiled warmly at me and held it out to gently place it in my open hands. The petals were so thin that it began melting almost immediately when it touched my warm skin. I carefully grasped it by the stem with my other hand and examined it. It had everything, even a few thorns as if it were freshly cut from a rosebush. The density of the ice itself gave the i
llusion that the petals were made of velvet while the stem was hard. The leaves looked almost just as soft.

  “I wish I could keep this,” I whispered, seeing that my fingers had already melted through the thin stem to the point that it was close to breaking. I carefully readjusted my grasp.

  She beamed. “I can make more sometime – anytime you want one, I’ll make it for you.”

  I looked up at her gold eyes, seeing the tenderness in them. She really meant that. She wanted to make these for me, and I was thrilled to accept them. I glanced down at the flower again, hearing that Mira was finally getting up to come see too. Looking up again, I spoke. “Risa, I don’t think you realize just how amazing this is. I’ve known elves who have been using ice magic all their lives and they can’t make a flower like this. You’ve just done in barely an hour what others haven’t accomplished after years of trying. Decades of trying.”

  Risa blushed, her face quickly becoming even more red when Mira saw the flower up close and gasped. “My goddess! Risa this is gorgeous! It looks so real!”

  I suddenly felt that pull again, sensing that Eli wanted something of me – he wanted to see it too, but he didn’t want to invade Risa’s space. I quickly met Risa’s gaze cautiously. “Can I show the others?” I whispered, not wanting her to feel bad if she said no. She immediately glanced over at the table and then nodded slowly.

  Eli was just as impressed, praising her without actually speaking directly to her. “This is amazing,” he exclaimed breathlessly. “I’ve read that this level of detail is extremely advanced. Shoot, I’m not even sure I can exert this level of control with my own magic! And I was actually trained!”

  I glanced back at Risa to see that she was looking away, her cheeks bright red. Despite her reservations with the men, it appeared she sincerely appreciated the compliment.

  Much to my disappointment, the flower all but melted in Eli’s warm hands. Risa offered to make another one, but I told her she should probably wait. “You don’t want to overuse your magic, especially when you’ve just started. You’re already probably going to sleep like a rock tonight with what you’ve done. Although, tomorrow I’d like to watch you make one.”

  Risa grinned at me. “Sure! I’d be happy to!”

  Her smile and enthusiasm warmed my heart.

  Chapter 9: Repeal

  Later that night after dinner, Mira allowed me and Risa to sleep in bed with her. We were crammed in tight since it was barely large enough for two people, but none of us seemed to care. I loved every second of it, having slept alone all my life. Mira ended up being what she referred to as the ‘big spoon,’ while I ended up as the smallest spoon, with Risa squished between us. I found her references amusing, having never heard of that comparison before.

  Tobias and Landon shared a slightly larger room, each having their own bed. All the kids slept in the living room – some on the furniture and some on the floor. None of them were bothered by that arrangement, since apparently the comfort of the living room was much more than what they were used to. I felt bad to discover that fact, but had to remind myself they would never be slaves again.

  Eli kept true to his word and stayed awake, sitting in the dining room and looking out the windows occasionally. It helped that they had lights atop tall metal poles all around the outside of the house. The immediate area was lit up so well that it almost looked like it was still daytime outside if the black sky was ignored.

  The next morning, I woke up to find myself and Risa alone in bed. She was still sound asleep, as I suspected would happen after all her practice yesterday, so I quietly climbed out of her embrace to see what everyone else was doing.

  “Where’s Eli?” I asked when I got to the kitchen. Landon was helping his older sister make breakfast for everyone, both of them greeting me with a cheerful ‘Good morning.’ Tobias was apparently already out working on fixing the fence.

  Landon answered my question while focusing on the food he had cooking in an iron pan. “He’s in my bed. I got up early to take over for him and told him to get some sleep.”

  “Oh, that’s good,” I said rubbing my right eye, trying to get the sleepiness out. “Can I help with anything?”

  Mira smiled warmly at me. “Sure, if you want.” She then quickly put me to work cutting up some kind of vegetable I’d never seen before. I smelt it and decided it probably tasted amazing when cooked. I couldn’t wait to try it. When I asked, Mira smirked at me for not knowing, saying it was a potato. Landon was taking the pieces I had cut up and frying them in animal fat from a meat they had already prepared called sausage.

  I was amazed I had never heard of any of these foods before. The elves ate both meat and vegetables, but the kind of vegetables they grew were totally different than what I’d seen thus far. At the very least, if Mira and Landon had any doubt that I had grown up with elves, they sure believed me now. I could barely identify any of the food they ate, except for the eggs. Granted, the eggs were smaller, the shells thinner, and the yolks less bright than what I was used to seeing.

  When it was time to eat, Mira went to go wake up Risa, and I considered if I should attempt to wake up Eli. Landon shrugged in response. “You can try if you want. I got up before the sun rose to feed the cattle with one of the hired men, so he’s been asleep for a while now.”

  I decided to at least ask if he wanted to eat, so I set off to go find him. When I got inside the room, I shut the door closed most of the way so there was only a crack of light streaming in. I knew I had a hard time falling back asleep if it was too bright when I woke up. I didn’t want to do that to Eli in case he still wanted to sleep.

  I crept up slowly to the bed, pausing to watch him in the dim light. His wings were visible now, squished between him and the wall. He was handsome enough while awake, but he looked absolutely adorable while sleeping. His expression was so peaceful and relaxed, his full lips slightly parted. I found myself blushing when I thought about brushing some hair off his forehead, quickly deciding against it.

  Instead, I tried clearing my throat.

  But that didn’t work. He didn’t even stir. I hesitated for a moment, before I leaned in closely and whispered his name. He stirred slightly this time, but still didn’t wake up. I considered just letting him sleep, but then decided to give it one last try. Reaching out, I gently placed my hand on his shoulder and gave him a little shake.

  Unexpectedly, Eli reached out and grabbed me, pulling me onto the bed with him against his warm chest. My heart burst into a gallop and I blushed furiously as his strong arms held me tight. I had always wondered what it would be like to be held by a guy like this, but I had hoped my first experience had been with someone who was actually conscious. As far as I could tell, he was still asleep. I tried to squirm out of his grasp, only to find myself unable to manage it, despite my inhuman strength. Clearly, his dragon heritage gave him much more physical prowess than mine.

  Part of me wanted to just stay here and enjoy every second of it while I could, but I was afraid of how he would react when he woke up. Would he be mad? Would he look at me with disgust like the elves did? Those thoughts quickly made me afraid, so I decided to try to wake him up by freeing one of my arms to pat him on the side while saying his name.

  “Eli,” I whispered with a tap.

  “Huh?” He mumbled, clearly not really conscious yet.

  “Eli, wake up.”

  He sighed heavily, tightening his embrace. His hand ran over the exposed skin of my lower back and his eyes popped open in surprise. I half expected him to shove me off the bed in disgust, but he didn’t. Instead, he loosened his grip on me just slightly before speaking. “Riel? H-How did this happen?”

  I examine his expression intently, still afraid of the disgust showing up, as I responded. “I, umm, came to see if you wanted breakfast, and…you sort of pulled me into bed with you.”

  “Oh! I’m sorry,” he replied. He quickly pulled his arms out away from me and sat up in bed. I was sad to not be in his embrace
anymore, but glad his expression wasn’t one of repulsion. He looked at me carefully as he continued. “Are you mad at me?”

  I quickly shook my head. “No, it’s alright. I’m fine.”

  He looked at me a second longer, seeming to study my purple eyes in the dim light, before sighing heavily. “Well, I’ll try to be more careful in the future. I really am sorry about that.”

  I bit my lower lip, wanting to tell him that I didn’t want him to be careful, but afraid he might reject me if I did. I felt like I had already been granted a miracle by him not looking at me with disgust, so I didn’t want to push my luck anymore. Instead, I nodded somberly and slipped off the bed. He hesitated, studying my expression again, before following after me.

  Thankfully, no one seemed to notice that anything unusual had happened in the bedroom between us, and breakfast ended up being fairly uneventful. Although, I had to admit it was a little chaotic with all the little mouths begging for more food. I was still surprised by how well-behaved they were though. Even when they played, they were exceptionally careful both with each other as well as with their surroundings.

  Tobias came in at the end of breakfast, announcing that the caravan to transport the freed pantherians was here to pick them up. Landon immediately helped gather up the children and escorted them outside. I noticed that Mira and Tobias both looked at Risa when she didn’t budge from her seat, and then it hit me. I had been trying to avoid considering that she might be leaving soon. I looked at her in a panic, a deep sense of loss already forming in the pit of my stomach, making me nauseous.

  I wanted to protect her forever like I had promised in the heat of the moment yesterday when trying to comfort her. But I certainly couldn’t do that if she didn’t want to stay.

  The moment Mira asked her if she was going, Risa’s gold eyes met mine immediately. She looked vulnerable as she whispered to me. “Can I stay?”

  I jumped out of my seat, almost knocking it over again. “Yes! Absolutely yes!” I then quickly looked at Tobias, knowing that he probably hadn’t bargained on transporting an extra person. Would that break our deal?