by Raye Wagner
Tyrrik kept up the fire for at least a minute but only caught another dozen or so Druman. Flames devoured the dry grass, and the fire jumped from tree to tree. I studied the tendrils between us, relieved when the strength of black in the strands of our bond still appeared as strong as ever.
Tyrrik.
I’m okay, Ryn. Where’s the Phaetyn?
I’d been so caught up with what was happening with Tyrrik I’d completely forgotten about her. I drifted lower and found her at the far end of the valley, about to begin climbing the next range. Four Druman had slipped passed Tyrrik and were bearing down on her again. She’s got four Druman on her tail.
Please, stay up there.
Why was he saying please? The word added desperation to his request that made my skin crawl, and I couldn’t help glancing back. Tyrrik raked his talons clean through another cluster of the monsters. My tail twitched as two launched onto his back and turned to catch ropes.
Mistress Moons. They intended to capture him.
Tyrrik bucked and twisted free. He caught one of the Druman in his mouth, biting him in half and spitting the severed body at another one. He stomped on several more before unleashing another stream of liquid flame.
I drifted lower, tearing my eyes away to line up the Phaetyn below.
Do not land yet.
His request came too late; I’d already made up my mind. There are only four going after her. I’ll just go low enough to swipe her up.
Ryn, let me clear them away. Don’t come down yet.
I closed my ears to the apprehension in his voice, making no effort to change my descent. Would the seventy Druman on his other side wait patiently while he dealt with these four? He was being irrational. Tyrrik, there’s no time.
I angled farther down, shooting like a lightning bolt toward the small party of Druman.
Ryn—
I glanced once more at my mate. He was still battling though his head was turned toward me. His anxiety ripped through me, but I’d committed myself. I was determined to see this through. We needed the Phaetyn girl . . . no the Phaetyn needed the Phaetyn girl, and we needed the Phaetyn. More than that, my kinship to her and her mother demanded I do all I could to save her. I wrenched upward, pulling my upper half back into the air as I’d seen Tyrrik do, and I landed on my hind quarters, between the Druman and the Phaetyn girl, poised and ready.
My silent approach must have stunned them, and I seized the advantage. I whipped my tail one way and then the other, lashing out with my spikes. The lead Druman dodged, but I connected with the torso of the second, and he launched into the air, flying far off to the right.
The leader advanced on me, and I snarled at him, baring my fangs. He dodged, advanced, and landed a punch to my left foreleg. Startled by the Druman’s strength, I halted my advance long enough for him to dart past me.
I roared my frustration and twisted to catch him. Snapping a wing out, I caught him on the back of his head. He dropped to the ground, and before he could stand, I stomped my back foot. His bones crunched under the weight, and he thrashed for a moment before his body stilled.
I hoped the Phaetyn girl was running.
Talons, Tyrrik said, reminding me of my other weapons.
You’re supposed to be focused on your problems, I shot back. He still had plenty of Druman to deal with, far too many. I focused on the two remaining Druman before me.
These looked nothing like the Druman in Irdelron’s castle. Those Druman looked human, clean, kempt, civilized. These crossbreeds looked like animals. Their hair was matted and filthy. Their aketons were torn, rumpled, and stained. And the feral look in their eyes made me feel like they were the predators and I was prey. No freakin’ way. I was Drae. A fierce hatred for their kind pulsed through me. I didn’t care if these creatures were slaves to their alpha; I didn’t care if their violent tendencies were enhanced or encouraged. I hated them.
With an earsplitting roar, I reared up. The Druman inched forward, and when I hesitated, they took the bait and rushed me. Just before they attacked, I dropped down, slashing my talons sideways in front of me. Like deadly blades, my claws cut through their flesh and bone as if their bodies were softened butter. Their dark blood gushed, pooling on the rocky ground, and their bodies heaved and then fell still. The Druman stood no chance against Drae. I bellowed my triumph.
Well done.
The strain in Tyrrik’s voice startled me, and I couldn’t help glancing in his direction. He released more flame, but the fire did not extend as far as it had, nor did it burn with the same intensity as it had before. The flames were red and dull, no longer bright and vibrant, and the deeper reds, oranges, and whites were gone. I turned inward, studying the bond between us.
Terror doused me, and I stood ramrod straight. How was that possible? In only a few minutes, the inky black had waned and faded to a hazy gray.
Are you okay? I asked, my alarm holding me captive.
Don’t get distracted.
Too late.
A Druman landed on my shoulder, startling me back to the fight. A heavy pressure pounded on my left and then my right side. The pressure and movement made it impossible to determine if there was one or two of the creatures on me. I mimicked Tyrrik’s earlier movements, bucking and twisting, but the Druman clung tenaciously, and I couldn’t dislodge him.
Tyrrik’s roar rent the air, but he was surrounded by an unrelenting horde and unable to help me.
The Druman crawled up my back; I could feel him pulling himself higher, using the bumps on my spine to aid him. I shook my body, arching and whipping my tail, but he continued to climb. Another Druman appeared and ducked under me to get to the softer side of my underbelly. I shuffled to find him, but he rained blow after blow upon my body. Blistering pain made me see stars, and I screamed.
I fell to the ground, hoping to crush him, but I saw him dart from underneath even before I landed. As I heaved my body up to whirl on him, a root shot from the ground and skewered him through the heart. The Phaetyn girl raced in, hand bleeding, and swiped her hand across his grizzly wound. In the fraction of an instant, black cracks appeared on his chest, climbing up his neck as her toxic blood entered his system. He opened his mouth and vomited black blood before slumping to the ground. When I’d poisoned Jotun, his Drae side had died in seconds, and it was the same for this Druman except, with a wound to his heart, his human side had no chance of surviving.
The Druman on my back reached the base of my neck and wrapped his legs around me. With his feet locked, he punched over and over on both sides. I snarled and boomed in pain. The persistent hammering blows had me seeing red, but I couldn’t find a way to dislodge my opponent and retaliate.
Tyrrik roared in tandem, but he could not reach me. I bent my head to try and escape the Druman, and my vision snagged and halted as I caught my mate’s gaze through the chaos between us. He faced me, frozen at attention, his eyes glowing black. The Druman swarmed him, but he stood still, so distracted by my pain he was unable to fight back. Several of the Druman surrounding him managed to get a rope over his back and then another.
Tyrrik, I snarled. You will not be captured because of me. Fight!
I needed this to be over. One Druman was not going to be my undoing. Out of ideas and unable to dislodge my attacker, I rolled onto my back. My instincts screamed in protest, and I couldn’t hold back the bellow of pain as the fine bones of my wings bore the heavy weight of my reptilian body. I wriggled, still on my back with the Druman pinned, and then repeatedly banged my neck backward until I felt his grip release. I rolled back to my feet and jumped, leaping as high as I could without taking flight. I landed, coming down on the Druman’s head with the full weight of my body, and felt his skull pop beneath me.
“There are no more here,” the Phaetyn girl yelled to me.
I nodded once at her, relieved she recognized me as a friend, while panting to catch my breath. Despite all I’d been told about instincts, I was exhausted by this activity I was so unfamil
iar with. How was Tyrrik doing this?
The Druman tossed another rope over Tyrrik, and I took three bounding steps in his direction before pulling up sharp at his menacing words.
If you come over here, I will never forgive you.
I’d never heard him use that tone, and the certainty of his statement rang through me. I whined low in my throat, a sound of worry and care, pleading with Tyrrik to let me help him. There were so many of them, and they were winning. I studied the tendrils of our bond, whining again as I saw the vibrant blue nearly overwhelming all traces of black. No, not black, a dull, flat gray. My mate was weakening fast, and I rose up to count; there were still dozens of Druman alive—dozens of Druman still assaulting him.
They threw another rope over Tyrrik, and several Druman on either side pulled him flat.
No! Tyrrik, no, please.
Shh, Princess. You must take the Phaetyn and get out of here. I’ll join you back at Gemond.
I wasn’t a fool. My mind raced as I tried to think of how I could help him. I could hear the doubt in his voice and feel it through our bond, and while he begged me not to go to him, I wasn’t leaving.
Please, can I come over there? I knew I could help. I could do something. I had to. Tyrrik, please. Please?
The Phaetyn girl gasped beside me as Druman crawled over Tyrrik.
My heart pounded, and a roar filled my mind. There was no more time to think. Every fraction of every second lessened the possibility of success, and I would not fail. I would not lose my mate. I would not let him sacrifice himself, not when I could save him.
And I could. I could save him.
Even knowing this would change my life—knowing in my mind, my soul, and my body that I would be bound to Tyrrik forever, that we would never be separated, that I would never be just Ryn— I happily said goodbye to the girl I’d been because somewhere along the line, I’d already accepted this moment. And I wasn’t worried. I was relieved.
Closing my eyes, the threads of our bond drifted into focus. So little black, the plainness of my blue threads was heartbreaking. I wanted the contrast of his onyx black wrapped with the blue of my Drae energy. The beauty of our bond was in the contrast and compliment of colors, and I wanted his strength, chivalry, and support in my life. I wanted his wisdom to balance my naivety, his humor to lift me from sadness, his soberness to ground me, and his strength to protect me.
The blue tendrils still held us together, and I understood then they also served as channels. He’d shown me how to pull my energy away from him when we were flying to Zivost, how to lock it deep within my core and block him with mental barricades. I imagined the fortifications I’d constructed, the tall and thick walls of stone meant to keep us separate—and I dropped them, crumbling them to dust to forever disappear in the darkness. I instantly felt the change. Nothing remained between Tyrrik and me.
Princess.
His pain tore at me, and I wanted to tear the world apart for his suffering. I’m coming.
I could not do otherwise; it would be against everything I was, betraying my very existence, to not aid him. But, more than that, I did not want to do otherwise.
Tyrrik was mine. Mine alone. He was mine forever.
With a roar, I pushed my energy through the blue channels, willing them to thicken, to expand, to burn brighter as I fed him with the strength of my Drae. My Phaetyn powers had prepared me in part for this, but I didn’t merely wish to increase his energy or heal him. I thought of the risks Tyrrik had taken as Ty and Tyr to make sure I was fed, his generosity and patience. I imagined his hands scooping nectar over my body in the cave after turning Drae, and I gathered the power of those moments inside the center of my body where the most vibrant blue resided just underneath my ribs. I pulled and scraped armfuls of that force and heaved it out through the now thick bonds, and I did it over and over again.
I shoved my very essence into my mate, panting as the lapis-blue glowed between us. Stronger, thicker, more, more, more. I saw the flicker of blue deep within him surge and brighten.
I feel you. Tyrrik’s awe pulsed through me.
Mistress butt-Moons! He wasn’t allowed to feel awe. Fight! You need to win! I shouted at him through our bond. Fight and survive. Fight for me, Tyrrik. Please. I . . . I need you.
My vision tunneled until all I could see was our bond. I staggered to the side and collapsed to the ground, but even then, I didn’t stop. I wouldn’t stop. Not until I knew he was safe. I shoved everything I could into those tendrils, triumph swelling in my breast as thin gray strands darkened and widened. Our colors danced and intertwined, and my heart soared.
Even in the darkness of my mind, I could hear his roar. I could feel him moving through our bond, the coil of his muscles as he tore through the ropes, the searing heat as he hurled white-hot liquid death on our enemies. I felt his power ricochet back to me, and still I pushed. I could see everything he did now though my eyes were closed. I watched with pride as Tyrrik demolished the Druman.
And still, I didn’t stop sharing my power to him.
I couldn’t stop.
I wouldn’t stop.
I would never stop.
37
“Ryn.”
I knew that voice; it made warm embers spark in my chest, washing away all residual doubt. I moaned and rolled onto my back so my face met the sky.
A hand touched my shoulder. His hand.
I opened my eyes and looked up into Tyrrik’s face.
I’d shifted back to my human form, and so had Tyrrik.
“You can stop now,” he said hoarsely.
I blinked. Now that I’d started shoving energy into him, I found it difficult to reign in the flow. “Do I have to?”
Tyrrik chuckled and gathered me in his arms, pulling me close. “My Khosana.”
With arms like lead, I reached up around his neck and hugged him close so our hearts beat against each other.
“You’re okay,” I said, my voice trembling. My entire body quaked with exhaustion.
He nodded, burying his face in my hair. “The Druman are dead.” He kissed me and whispered, “You’ll get your energy back faster if you stop feeding it all to me.”
All of them? I asked, not willing to pull back until I knew.
“All of them,” he promised, inhaling deeply.
I relaxed, letting the focus I’d held on our bonds go so I was no longer shoving my power at him. Vitality recoiled and pulsed through me. I inhaled, and my chest expanded so easily it almost hurt. I lifted my head from his shoulder and gasped. “Tyrrik!”
A blaze of blue-and-black fire danced around us. The flame touched our bodies, dancing and twisting, tying us together. I lifted my gaze and saw the brilliant light shone across the bloodied valley. I stared in awe at the capering fire. I’d never been able to see the tendrils between us like this. As a Phaetyn, I could see my power working inside him during healing, but I’d never seen our Drae energy outside us with my eyes open.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” he whispered.
Overwhelming emotion choked me, stealing my voice. My head and my heart felt light. Words were not enough to describe the sight or the feeling of the deep hues of blue-and-black flames encasing us in their midst. Are the flames real?
“No one can see them but us,” he said. They’re ours alone.
I knew what this was. It’s our mate bond.
He pulled his head back, his onyx eyes as wild as I’d ever seen them. They glowed so much that I lost myself in the depths of those inky pools. This Drae was my mate. More than a friend or a lover. More than a companion or partner. He was made to compliment me. He was created for me.
In a voice rough with emotion, he said, “You accept me?”
I lifted both hands to cup his face and stared at him in awe. “How could you be in doubt?” I kissed him, just brushing my lips to his. “After what just happened, how could you not know?” I kissed him again as I spoke through our bond. I accept you as my mate, Tyrrik.
He
pulled back and studied me, his gaze penetrating me to my core. He brought his hands up to mimic my position. I didn’t doubt; I just did not wish to hope.
I felt his love pulse through the bond, warm honey and the soft caress of night. He brushed his thumbs over my cheeks and repeated, “You are my mate.”
I am your mate, I agreed.
He touched his lips to my forehead. One hundred and nine years, and I have found you. You are mine.
Our mouths met with a clash of teeth. His hands dropped to my shoulders while I placed one on the nape of his neck and threaded the other through his black hair. I moaned loudly into his mouth as his lips coaxed mine apart. His tongue stroked mine, and I pressed tighter to him, not wanting to ever stop the thrill of his touch.
A growl rumbled in his chest, a menacing threat to all but me, as he declared me his. One of his hands trailed down my back, settling around my waist.
And then, Tyrrik reached up and untangled my arms from around his head and neck. He brought both hands in front of his mouth and kissed the back of each, his gaze not moving from mine.
“Ryn, I love you more than life itself.”
I shouldn’t have been embarrassed. I’d just accepted him as my mate, but my cheeks warmed at the strength of his declaration of love because I’d just witnessed the truth of his words. I ducked and mumbled, “I was so scared, Tyrrik.”
My admission broke his heart. I felt it and gained a better understanding of my mate. He didn’t want me to be scared. He’d eagerly take any pain to rid me of that fear. As I studied his sentiment, I grasped a better understanding of the balance of female and male Drae.
Tyrrik’s instinct was to protect what he loved. He would destroy, maim, kill, or do whatever he needed to get rid of bad things. He also wanted to provide, food, clothing, a bath . . . I closed my eyes as I thought of all he’d done to take care of me. Almost all of it, protecting and providing, through physical means. That was his strength.