Soulbound to a Dragon

by Kurtis Eckstein

  I groaned in annoyance. She was really pissing me off. “Shut up,” I hissed. Landon abruptly started coughing just then, so Mira and Tobias didn’t pay attention to me talking to myself. They were both suddenly wrapping their arms around him, eager to hold him.

  ‘Maybe I won’t be so helpful next time,’ Alabast retorted, sounding just as annoyed as I was.

  I kept my mouth shut, but that didn’t stop me from responding to her in my head. ‘You will if you want me to keep feeding you souls,’ I snapped.

  Surprisingly, that shut her up. I knew that between feeding her souls, and this weird bleeding disease, I had some leverage over her now. Because if she were in an elderfel body, she might actually die from the disease even though she was a spirit. My elvish heritage acted as a shield for her, which meant it was truly in her best interest to keep me alive…and happy…for now at least.

  Tobias abruptly grabbed my arm, his eyes tearful. “Thank you,” he whispered in a strained voice. Landon was slowly sitting up on his own now, still coughing.

  I nodded in response. “You’re welcome. I’m glad we–” I stopped when noise in the distance prompted my ears to twitch. I looked up to see several cars racing down the paved road leading to the property. They were still far away, but at the speed they were traveling, it looked like it wouldn’t take them long to get here.

  Eli’s spoke up again. ‘I’m almost there. I’m just about to reach the city.’

  “But then what?” I asked out loud, prompting all three of my human companions to look at me in confusion. I ignored their expressions. “You can’t carry all of us out of here.”

  He mentally grimaced in response.

  Tobias spoke up. “Are you talking to Eli?”

  I sighed in defeat at the situation. “Yes. He’s almost here, but we can’t all just hop on his back and fly away.”

  “Take Mira with you,” Tobias abruptly urged.

  Mira looked at her dad in surprise. “But–”

  He cut her off. “You’re the only source of the cure. We can’t afford to have you caught up in this mess.” He immediately held up his hand when she tried protesting again. “Mira, you must go with them. Landon and I will stay behind.” He abruptly met my gaze again. “He can carry the three of you, right?”

  I made a face. “He’s not sure,” I admitted. I then looked over at Evie standing where I left her by the steps. She was trembling, standing there like she was lost…or maybe just like she hadn’t been outside in years. Either way, she looked afraid and uncertain.

  ‘I can try,’ Eli replied to my unspoken question.

  I nodded to no one in particular, abruptly standing up. “Come on,” I urged Mira, holding out my hand. “We need to be ready to hop on Eli the moment he gets here.” I paused when Eli spoke to me again, prompting me to look at Tobias. “Eli says to just blame all this on us, so that hopefully they will let you go. Just say you weren’t involved.”

  Tobias made a face, but agreed. “We’ll do that.”

  Mira was still hesitating, prompting Landon to speak up. “Just go with them,” he urged his sister with a cough. “Dad’s right. You’re the only source of the cure. They’ll either exploit you if they find out, or at the very least prevent you from enhancing antidote for a while.”

  She finally nodded, abruptly wrapping her arms around her brother’s neck. Their father wrapped his arms around them both as well.

  Knowing Mira would be ready in a moment, I ran back over to the wagon to get Evie. Risa had already shouldered my pack, ready to follow my lead. Theo was standing up now, feeling his hand underneath his shirt where he had been shot. I paused, tightening my grip on the vial in my hand.

  After a moment, I spoke to him. “Catch,” I said, tossing him the vial.

  He snatched it out of the air, looking at me in confusion. “We are leaving the men behind. I really don’t want to give that up, but you need a valid reason why you three are alive while everyone else is dead.”

  Theo looked down at the vial before tightening his grip on it and nodding. “They’ll probably confiscate it from us,” he commented.

  I shrugged. “If it will give them what they need to believe your story, then it’s worth it.” He nodded in agreement, so I continued the rest of the way to Evie. I quickly crouched down next to her, looking up to meet her gaze. “Come on, you’re coming with us.”

  She looked down at me in surprise. “Where?” She wondered in disbelief, assuming there was no place to run.

  But I didn’t need to answer her. Eli dove from the sky, his black scales glimmering as he smashed into the ground at full speed. The wind abruptly picked up as the ground beneath us trembled violently. “There,” I replied, tugging on her wrist to encourage her to get on my back. “That’s our friend.”

  “A dragon?!” She exclaimed, climbing on me.

  I didn’t answer her though, I took off towards him as the cars neared. An unexpected wall of fire shot out from where Eli had landed, prompting the vehicles to screech to a halt. “Theo,” I called back over my shoulder. “Shoot at us with Landon’s magicite gun. Just make sure you don’t actually hit us.”

  “W-What?!” He exclaimed.

  “Just do it!” I retorted. “Make it look like you’re trying to stop us from escaping.”

  He hesitated, before stuffing the vial in his pocket and running over to where the gun was lying on the ground. Tobias shoved Mira away as he urged her to head in our direction, and within a matter of seconds we were all running towards the black dragon coming to save us.

  Except, I really wasn’t sure how he was going to carry us. The four of us could fit easily enough, since he was at least five times the size of a horse, but I couldn’t imagine how he could fly with that much extra weight.

  And unfortunately, he wasn’t sure either.

  Still, despite the uncertainties, it didn’t stop me from feeling relieved when we reached his side. Even though I could sense his presence the whole time, it wasn’t the same as actually being physically near him. He crouched down immediately for us to get on. I leapt on the base of his neck with Evie still on my back, causing her to end up sitting right behind me. She quickly moved her arms from around my neck to my waist instead. She was trembling, possibly from never having been near a dragon before.

  Risa waited for Mira to catch up, all the while with bolts of light flying over our heads from Theo shooting the magicite gun. As soon as Mira reached us, Risa grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her behind Evie, before climbing on in the back, sitting almost in between Eli’s wings.

  ‘Hold on,’ Eli instructed.

  I wasn’t sure how we could all stay secure though, so I did the most natural thing that came to me. Instead of restricting movement, I wrapped my ethereal chains all around us, as well as around Eli’s neck and torso, to keep us all bound together. I ended up with a chain in my hands, holding onto it like reigns.

  ‘Sorry,’ I apologized, feeling like I was treating him like a wild animal.

  ‘It’s fine,’ he replied with an audible grumble. He then leapt into the air, attempting to flap his wings to take off. But we really were too heavy – at least, too heavy to get going. After a moment of struggling to stay above the ground, Eli tilted his head down and let out a geyser of flames from his jaws that abruptly shoved us up higher in to the air. At the same time, his warm body began heating up even more, to the point that it was almost uncomfortable. I looked back at his flapping wings to see waves of heat coming off of them as we climbed higher and higher above the city. I could hear from Eli’s strong thoughts that heated air underneath his wings made it easier for him to fly.

  I then looked down in disbelief at the world below, this being my first time having been so high. It was disorienting. Suddenly, I could see everything, including the entire city now. All the people looked like tiny insects, with the cars looking like toys that I could reach out and snatch up with my fingers.

  As we continued to climb higher, the cool air mixed with
the heat coming off Eli and the overall temperature seemed to stabilize at a more comfortable level. Evie was holding onto me tightly, as if loosening her grip even just a little would lead to her falling. Her head was buried against my back. I glanced over my shoulder again to see that Mira’s eyes were wide with shock, having never flown either. Risa looked relieved more than anything.

  And as for me?

  I finally looked ahead again, the landscape below us rapidly moving, the city already behind us. We were flying east for some reason, but I didn’t care in that moment. A small smile crept on my lips, because even despite everything that had just happened, and even with the uncertainty of what would happen to Mira’s family, I couldn’t stop myself from enjoying this moment.

  Because I had just discovered something I had never known before.

  I loved flying.

  Chapter 24: Monster

  We all ate in silence around the campfire Eli had lit. His fire magic made my knife and flint pretty much obsolete. The sun had just recently set, causing it to already be dark beneath the canopy of trees. We had flown east initially, before turning south again to make our way close to the road we had traveled to get to Vanardis. Eli had intentionally wanted to mislead anyone who noticed his flight path into thinking we had escaped in the opposite direction we intended on traveling eventually.

  Risa and Mira were sitting side-by-side on a rock, and Eli was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed. He was fully dressed now, minus boots. He didn’t seem to mind being barefoot though.

  Evie and I were sitting together on a rotting log staring at the orange and yellow flames.

  I took another bite of the dried fruit I had been working on and chewed absentmindedly. Now that my initial thrill of flying was gone, the somber situation had resettled in my thoughts. I wished I could have flown under different circumstances, so I could have enjoyed it longer. Instead, I was stuck with worrying about what would happen to Mira’s family.

  ‘Do you think they will be okay?’ I asked Eli silently through our bond. Oddly enough, it was still really strong even though we were physically close again. It required virtually no effort to communicate to him right now with my thoughts. I wasn’t sure what the cause was, but it was kind of nice to be able to talk to each other without speaking out loud.

  I saw Eli shrug slightly in the corner of my eye, though not because he didn’t care. He just didn’t know. After a moment, I felt his words press into my mind.

  ‘That man’s death will probably be perceived as a big deal to them,’ Eli admitted. ‘It’s possible they will acknowledge that Tobias, Landon, and Theo had nothing to do with it, but it’s also possible they will use them as a scapegoat just to have someone to punish. I don’t know how corrupt the city is. It might have only been Demetri, or it might run deeper than that.’

  ‘Risa and I didn’t close the secret passageway,’ I realized, speaking to myself just as much him. ‘Maybe if they find the rooms underneath the building, they will realize he wasn’t a good man.’

  ‘If the city officials aren’t corrupt themselves,’ he corrected.

  I bowed my head slightly as I considered that, prompting Eli to glance at me, lowering the half-eaten dried meat in his hands. He seemed to be evaluating if I was upset that he was being so negative, but I knew he was just being realistic. Really, we should be considering the worst-case scenario, because otherwise we might make poor decisions that could cost Mira’s family their lives.

  Risa and I both jumped up automatically when we heard a wagon coming down the road. This was the third one to pass, but it was also the first to be heading our way after dark – and it was the first one to be coming from the city. The other two had been heading towards Vanardis.

  I grimaced when Mira looked up at us with a hopeful expression, afraid of seeing her dismay if we came back without good news.

  “Be right back,” I said quietly, following after Risa into the brush. We had a little ways to jog since we were deep enough in the forest for our campfire to not be seen from the path that wound through the trees.

  Once we got close, we slowed down and snuck up to the road, hiding in the ferns to avoid being seen in case it wasn’t Tobias. I grimaced again as I watched the wagon come into view, confirming that it wasn’t anyone we knew, and confirming that I didn’t recognize the horse either. I had no idea why someone would risk heading south at this time of day, since it didn’t seem safe to travel after dark.

  But maybe they didn’t have as far to go? For all I knew there were probably other closer villages that used this road. I hadn’t noticed any paths that connected to this one, but then again I was also asleep for that portion of the ride.

  We waited for the wagon to pass before we both sighed heavily and headed back to our campsite.

  Of course, Mira’s expression was dejected when we arrived empty-handed.

  “Sorry,” I said quietly.

  She nodded somberly, her fingers interlaced nervously on her lap. Her entire posture looked defeated. I sat down next to her on the rock and began rubbing her back. She smiled weakly at me, before speaking up. “It’s no one’s fault,” she reminded me. “None of us knew that man was so evil. You all did the best you could, given the situation.”

  I inclined my head slightly in agreement, glancing at Risa as she sat down next to Evie. They both looked surprisingly similar now that I was looking at them side-by-side – not enough that I’d think they were related though. Risa’s gold eyes seemed to glow slightly in the firelight, and I was fairly confident Evie’s orange eyes were literally glowing.

  Granted, all three of us had black hair and fair skin. Were it not for the fact that Risa and I were pantherians, we might have all passed as sisters to a stranger. Although, we really didn’t look anything alike other than our coloring.

  Evie was certainly cute though. I felt bad knowing she had been enslaved by her own uncle and experimented on. I assumed that must mean her parents were deceased, though I didn’t want to pry into her life right now and ask about it.

  Eli surprised me by speaking up out loud. “Hey Risa, can you hand me one of those magic rings?” He wondered, pointing towards my pack next to where she sat on the log. She immediately began reaching down to rummage for them.

  “Wait!” I exclaimed.

  Risa immediately froze, the tattoo on her neck glowing bright blue. She slowly turned her head to look at me hesitantly. After a second of silence, the vibrant color faded, and she returned her hands to her lap, holding my gaze.

  I just stared at her in shock, my expression suddenly pained to see that I’d done it to her again. “Oh Risa,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry.” I grimaced as I tried to think clear past my grief. “I…” I began, before starting over. “I’ll fix this. Let me try to release you.” I stood up as I spoke, prompting her to flinch.

  I froze, terrified that it was finally happening. She was beginning to hate me – or at least fear me.

  “N-No,” Risa exclaimed breathlessly. “I don’t want you to.”

  I stared at her in disbelief for a moment. “You don’t…” I began repeating. “W-Why?”

  She lowered her gaze as she responded. “Please sit back down,” she requested.

  I hesitated, before returning to sit next to Mira. Our human friend’s eyes were wide, and I could see in her expression that she was just now finally putting everything together. None of us had mentioned what had happened between me and Risa, and the only reason Eli knew was because of our connection. Mira was still in the dark about the fact that Risa was now magically bound to me as a slave.

  And in my opinion, it was worse than being a regular slave. Because Risa had to obey me – she didn’t even have the option of resisting. That much was obvious from what we’d seen so far.

  I waited patiently for Risa to continue explaining herself, leaving us all quiet for a long time. Finally, she sighed heavily and met my gaze again. “I’ve been thinking about this,” she replied, reaching up to feel the ta
ttoo on her neck. “And I don’t think I want you to release me, even if you’re able to.”

  “But why?” I repeated, not understanding why she would actually want that. Was she thinking clearly? Was this part of the magic? Did it make her want to be my slave?

  Risa took another deep breath. “Because there are a lot of things I like about it,” she admitted quietly. “For one, I can sense how you’re feeling. And I like knowing, especially when you seem fine on the outside, but you’re not on the inside.”

  I grimaced at that, not having realized she could sense all my emotions, including the guilt I felt over having enslaved her. Even if she didn’t try to resist – even if she was willing – it still felt wrong.

  “See?” Risa continued. “I can sense you feel bad about this, which alleviates my only possible reservation – trust. I trust you, and I know I can trust you because of how it makes you feel.”

  I sighed, shaking my head in disbelief. “That still doesn’t make any sense to me,” I admitted.

  “Well, that’s not the only reason,” she replied. “You literally brought me back from the brink of death, and I like the idea that you could save me if I became wounded like that again. Not to mention…” She paused then, holding up her hand to grasp at the air.

  Unexpectedly, she was gripping a vibrant blue chain running from her neck to my chest. My eyes widened at the sudden appearance of my magic, because I hadn’t done anything to call it forth.

  Risa continued. “Can’t you feel that?” She asked seriously. “I can feel the magic connecting us. I can feel the bond created by it. I feel closer to you now than I ever did before, and I feel like I’d always miss this connection if you took it away.”

  I focused on her gaze again and held it for a few minutes as I considered that. I knew what she was referring to. There was something different about being connected like this. It was intimate in a way, being able to sense emotions and even catching thoughts occasionally. Removing it would feel like something was missing. I knew at the very least that I would be devastated to have the magic broken with Eli, although I hadn’t realized the extent to which I was already addicted to the enchanted link prior to just thinking about it.