14
The vibration of my phone's silent alarm woke me to a dark room. I searched the covers to turn it off.
The curtains had been pulled all the way closed and blocked out any moonlight that could have helped me.
I itched to tell Ashe what I was doing, but I knew he'd rat me out… thinking it was for my own good. Instead, I dressed in the clothes I'd laid out in my closet before stuffing my bed with pillows to create a person shape.
Opening the door to the hall, I had to blink to get my eyes to adjust. The lights were dim, but it was much brighter than my room.
As I tiptoed down the thick carpet in the hallway, the boards creaked beneath my feet, and each step of my new winter boots felt as if they would give me away. The house itself, vast and ancient, groaned around me.
By the time I made it to the side door of Drake House, the one leading to the large foyer, I thought I heard something. With my hand on the door lever, I held my breath and listened.
Nothing, but still I stayed motionless waiting just in case.
After what seemed like long enough, I pressed the lever with my thumb and pulled open the door. A narrow alcove connected Drake House to the nook between the Main Hall and Wyvern Hall.
The doors to Main Hall were open, and I stopped to look up at the intricate stained glass surrounded by a web of stone. The lights from the front of the school shone inside, lighting the pictures portrayed in the windows. This building had been moved stone by stone from Europe and meticulously rebuilt here. The windows told stories of Dragonborn Primes. Great deeds they'd done, battles won, alliances forged.
I'd walked through this hall more times than I could count over the past week and a half, but I hadn't ever looked at the glass pictures until now.
This place was meant to be a sanctuary for our kind—a place for young Dragonborn to learn about their dragons away from the world's prying eyes.
Above the door that led from the hall into the cathedral-like space, a glowing glass dragon stood guard by a pale-haired woman who held a sword aloft.
Tilting my head, I realized that the dragon was a Drake—green and blue with a pale underbelly. I smirked at myself when I noticed the woman was a Prime.
Like Aaraeth and me.
Yes, like us. She hissed.
Her voice shook me out of my thoughts, and I reluctantly pulled my gaze from the mesmerizing scene. I needed to get going, I had a long journey ahead, and I didn't need to get caught before even leaving.
Stepping outside, I shivered. The icy air worked like a slap, waking me up.
Feeling for Aaraeth inside me, I loosened my hold on her, letting her slide across my skin before appearing on the snow-covered cobbles.
Get on, she said, turning and nodding for me to climb up onto her back.
I hesitated. "We should've practiced this first. What if I fall off? Or you can't hold me?"
She snorted, and a puff of opaque smoke floated in the air between us. I know I can carry you. Get on!
She bent her head down low and knelt. I stepped on her bent paw and clasped the two leathery spikes on her neck to pull myself up. With a tug and jump, I was on her back.
"Okay," I told her hesitantly, sitting with my legs bent into an M on her back.
When Aaraeth extended her wings out wide, I gasped in delight.
Then with a few flaps of the air, we began to lift up into the sky. A little shaky at first, then as she rose higher and higher, my dragon adjusted to my weight.
Aaraeth's wings seemed to barely move as she rode the currents higher and higher. The sheer wonder of the moment pushed all thoughts from my head. The wind in my face made tears stream from my eyes, but I didn't care. The burden of stress, school, Ashe, and even my dad dropped away with the ground as we flew.
Beast and rider, I knew her intentions before she even made a move with her body.
There was only Aaraeth and me moving as one, thinking as one. It was as if I'd become part of my dragon; life became simple and all those stupid human things as she called them, were gone. The joy of swooping and picking our way through the air was unlike anything I'd ever experienced.
I forgot what we were doing and where we were going until the flash of light in the distance pulled me into reality. I began to frantically look toward the ground for landmarks. Luckily, Aaraeth had followed the road, but it was difficult for me with human eyes to track.
Go lower, I can't see, I told her.
She nodded slightly under my grip.
"There, do you see it?" I called out as the wind battered my face. Stay low, follow this road until the fork. Then we'll take a shortcut over the trees to get to the highway.
Aaraeth's strong bat-like, leathery, green wings fell into a routine of flap-flap-glide, flap-flap-glide. I rested my cold face against her shoulders. Closing my eyes, I held onto my baseball cap. I'd tightened it and ran my pony-tail through the back, but even so, I'd nearly lost it a few times.
You can sleep if you want, my beast whispered to me.
I groaned a response before blinking my eyes open and looking around. We'd been flying for several hours, and I could feel the fatigue begin to wear on my dragon.
Do you need to stop? I asked her.
No, I'll be all right for a bit longer. I'm stronger than you think. I can go farther.
Her words contradicted the exhaustion in her voice, but I nodded and stroked her neck. Tell me if it's too much for you. Tell me if you need to stop.
She shifted her head in a nod. Humans worry about too many things. If I am tired, I will stop. You are easy to carry.
All right, I told her wearily.
After resting my head on Aaraeth's shoulders for another stretch, my legs began to cramp up, and I shifted restlessly.
Aaraeth glanced back at me, feeling my discomfort. Put your legs in front.
"I can't. I'm wearing these boots," I answered.
The dragon had slowed her pace considerably, and her fatigue pulled at me with every flap of her wings. I could feel it as if it were my own.
You should take a break. Maybe rest for a bit, I told her.
Very well. But I am stopping for you, you need to stop fidgeting while I'm trying to fly. Fluttering down, she threaded her way through the trees to the narrow, one-lane dirt road.
First, her toes touched the surface, then she sank down onto her feet with bent legs.
I scrambled off her back, my own legs full of pins and needles. Shuffling around, I wiggled my toes before pulling out a map and showing it to Aaraeth.
"Do you think you can make it another few miles? If we can cut over this swath of forest and this ridge, we'll be at the highway. If not, it's almost seventy miles to go around."
I shone my phone light onto the map, making her bat a paw at me. Humans and their need for light, pfft.
I pointed to the map and our location, then to the highway that veered close, over the next crest.
Reaching up, I stroked her eye ridge and laughed, "You're so fast! I can't believe how strong you are!"
Aaraeth's multifaceted eyes glowed with pride as she inspected the paper I held.
I think I can do this, but it will be difficult. That mountain is very tall, and there are many trees. If I land, I might not be able to take off again, so you must find a more comfortable position this time.
I nodded and agreed. "Okay. I'll be all right if you think you can do it."
She nodded.
"When you're ready, let's go," I told her as I paced the road, trying to get feeling back into my toes.
After jumping and blowing on my hands, I said, I'm ready.
Climbing up on her back, I sat with my feet dangling over each side of her large leathery wings. Before I was entirely situated, she took a running start to gain purchase in the sky. With loud, whooshing flaps of her wings, we rose up above the trees and into the inky black sky.
I watched for the fork in the road below us and gently slapped her neck. "There, do you see it? Go left now."
She snorted and followed my direction.
At first, I thought the shortcut would be easy, but the mountain ridge kept rising higher and higher. What had looked like a small hill on Google maps took on different proportions in person.
Aaraeth struggled, and I could hear her gasping breaths as she fought to clear the trees. She pushed on, wings flapping, and the ground rising higher and higher.
Worry and fear built in me. There was no place to land, no place to take a break. Aaraeth?
I can manage. Just...
When her front claw caught a branch, the sudden stop sent us tumbling down and through the forest.
I held on to her as tightly as I could, but nothing could stop the laws of physics from yanking me off my perch. My hands, red and numb with cold, were no match for the sudden abruptness with which we were plucked from the sky.
I tumbled as if thrown through the trees. I lay broken and battered in the snow, gazing up at the sparkling stars above me.
I felt warm… so warm. Inky darkness, darker than the cold winter night, seeped in, stealing my consciousness.
Something kept nudging me, but I wanted to sleep.
Nudge, nudge.
Go away! I thought.
Aaraeth's loud screech like that of a giant dinosaur is what finally roused me, "SCREEEEEEEEE, SCREEEEEEE!"
Adrenaline coursed through me, and my eyes shot open at the sound.
The sun was beginning to rise in the distance, and we were in the middle of nowhere.
My body felt as if I'd gone a few turns in the dryer... with rocks.
Blinking, I reached up to touch my pounding head. My hat was gone, and my hair stuck to my head with a warm blanket of wet.
"Uhhh... oh my god." Tenderly, I pulled myself to my elbows.
Sleep called at me, along with the ground, which seemed warm.
It wasn't warm—it was snow.
Evergreen branches of deep green swayed above me, seeming to dance on the wind as the sky began to turn yellow, then orange, in the distance.
I needed to move. If I fell asleep again, I would die of hypothermia.
My voice came out gravelly, "I'm getting up. Aaraeth, are you okay?"
I'm fine. A few scratches. She shivered, not from cold, but from distress, and I stroked her leg before using it to pull myself up. I thought I'd killed you. We need to get you to a healer. A lot of blood has come out of you.
Groaning again, I stumbled, trying to stand. My backpack was still lashed around me, even though the chest strap had been broken.
"I'm okay," I mumbled as I searched for the knit Balaur hat I'd brought in my bag. It sucked that I lost my New York hat. I'd picked that up when dad and I had stayed in our apartment last summer. It was such a good time. He'd taken me to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We visited Rockefeller center and stood in a very long line to visit the Empire State Building's observation deck.
Pulling on the replacement hat, with bloodied and numb fingers, I gazed around into the dense forest. We stood in a slight clearing filled with deep snow. A few animal tracks crossed the empty space leading into the underbrush of leafless small trees and bushes.
After a couple of steps on a throbbing ankle, I became acutely aware that I couldn't walk out of here.
Aaraeth had curled up beneath a giant pine tree where there was no snow.
"Do you think you can fly?"
No, she told me forlornly, resting her head on her forepaws.
The wind battered me and I rubbed my hand across my face. I needed to make a plan. We needed to warm up.
I nodded. "Okay, then we need to build a fire. Help me find a place I can make a shelter and warm up. Like that," I pointed beneath the large pine where she’d been resting. "Can you clear that out? Then we'll have a nice soft place to sit and rest."
Aaraeth swatted at the remaining branches, knocking them down.
Limping around, I began to gather sticks and pile them up. Searching out my pack, my numb hands fumbled for the fire starter. I'd used one like this before at field camps, but using one in an emergency situation while possibly in shock was significantly different than using one while comfortable.
After working awhile, the dry kindling I'd balled up began to glow. Blowing on the fragile fire, I fanned the flame until fire caught hold of the branches.
I sighed, exhausted, and in pain. "Aaraeth? We need more firewood."
Gazing up, about to stand, I nearly cried in relief when I spotted my dragon. She'd dragged over a mostly dry log and bundles of dead wood in her front paws. I would've laughed under any other circumstances because walking on hind legs was not a natural position for her.
Laying her burden down, she turned to gather more.
A fire was good, but we also needed shelter.
Pulling out the space blankets, I struggled with the first one. It was silver on one side and red nylon on the other. Using the attached twine, I tied it so that it hung under the tree like a lean-to. Beneath the giant evergreen was a thick layer of pine needles. Taking the other blanket, I wrapped it around me like a cape and sat to warm my hands on the fire. Hopefully, the shelter I'd made would protect me from the worst of the wind and help keep me warm.
When Aaraeth returned, I'd added a log to the blaze and lay on my side.
She gazed at me before warming herself. You will heal faster if we're joined.
"Okay," I murmured, feeling heavy and weak.
I'm going to warm up first, or else, I'll make you worse, she told me.
The firelight glimmered off of her scales as she raised her wings to cup the heat.
With all my injuries, I hadn't realized I'd hurt my chest. A sharp pain was tugging and pulling at me, but there was nothing when I unzipped my puffy coat and pawed at my wool sweater.
Then it dawned on me.
The bond.
Reaching with my mind, I couldn't touch Eondian like I usually could.
Aaraeth's large eyes roamed me. You won't be able to feel him because we aren't joined.
"Can you feel him?" I asked, shivering with pain and cold.
She nodded her large, scaled head. They fear for us. They felt our fall. They know you are injured.
She hesitated, keeping something back, but I was too tired to play guessing games with the beast.
"Can you return, if I'm sleeping?" I asked, trying to suppress a yawn. "I'm so tired…"
I hurt everywhere. My entire body ached, my ankle throbbed, and I was sure I'd need stitches.
Unfolding the blanket that I'd wrapped around me, I laid it down. I fished out the rocks I'd perched near the fire with a stick and strategically placed them on the silver fabric before folding myself up in it like a burrito.
Closing my eyes, a thought nagged at me.
Could the Dragonborn always find me because of my bond with Ashe? Was this escape attempt in vain? Would they be able to track me down, even here in the middle of the wilderness?
Aaraeth never joined me. Instead, she prowled around our camp, watching over me and adding the occasion log or bundle of sticks to the fire.
Finally, the warmth of the rocks or my exhaustion from the ordeal won out, and I fell into a deep sleep.
15
Something startled me awake, and I struggled to sit up. The forest around me was now bright with swaths of yellow sunlight bathing my little clearing. Searching my surroundings, I saw nothing except the leafless branches and pines swaying in the wind.
Aaraeth stood perfectly still, gazing upward. Craning my neck, I spotted a dark shape above us, circling the area and marking the ground with its enormous shadow—a dragon.
My beast stood alert, gazing up at the sky before screeching a high-pitched sound that made me cover my ears with my hands.
"Shit! Aaraeth!" I yelled, trying to scramble up, temporarily forgetting my injuries. But I tangled myself in the space blanket and landed back on the ground in a painful heap. My ankle throbbed, and the blanket was coated with dark dried blood—my
blood.
I heard the dragon land before I saw him. Although there were a few clearings here and there, it wasn't enough space for massive beasts like this. His wings scraped some trees, and they made a swooshing sound when large clumps of snow were knocked from their branches.
Eondian.
The name went through my mind, and I wasn't sure if it was Aaraeth who'd said it or me. But I knew without a doubt who neared.
"Ashe," I breathed his name almost reverently.
He was close, and all those longings, all those feelings intensified inside me, overwhelming me with their power. My breath hitched, and I shook with anticipation as my eyes searched the trees in the direction where they'd landed.
When a man wearing all black appeared in the shadows, I held my breath.
Black body armored snowsuit and helmet couldn't hide his identity. I knew who it was straight away. The instant he saw me through my fire's flames, his pace sped up to a jog.
Ashe closed the distance between us with graceful strides, kneeling at the edge of my small shelter, bracketed between the space blanket above me and the fire.
Removing his helmet, his eyes were wide as he took in the blood. Raising his hands, ready to hold me, he froze… "Sydney… there's so much blood here."
Shaking my head at his hesitation, I crawled over to him and wrapped my arms around his neck.
"I'm okay, I promise," I told him as my voice cracked, betraying my tough night.
Ashe's embrace was cautious as his cold lips pressed careful kisses on my face.
"Oh my God, Syd, I thought… I thought you..." He didn't need to finish his sentence. He'd thought I was going to die. I knew his thoughts, even without Aaraeth.
Static and voices came through a handset at his hip, but he ignored it.
His eyes locked on my own, and everything dropped away. It was only Ashe and I.
With him, I would always be safe.
With him, I was complete in a way I never had been.
But…
Our bond was like a fire... bringing warmth and light and life. And like fire, I could feel the intensity, danger, and destruction within this bond with Ashe.
Cracked Open: The Dragon Born Academy Page 13