Blood Bond Read online

  “What is it, Soren? I feel your sadness. Tell me. Tell me what happened.”

  He was saved from answering as Bevin returned with a red-hot poker. His stomach tightened at the thought of the pain that was coming.

  “It is probably easiest if you lie down,” Bevin said. He cast a nervous glance at Dex. “You and I know this is gonna hurt. He isn’t going to eat me or anything, is he?”

  Soren chuckled. “He knows what you are doing.”

  He laid down, closing his eyes as Bevin removed the bandage. With no warning, he pressed the hot rod to Soren’s wound. Soren screamed as Dex roared. Even when he knew Bevin had removed the rod, the pain radiated up his arm and across his chest. He opened his eyes to see a shaken Bevin staring at the dragon.

  A wave of dizziness washed over Soren as he sat up.

  “You should rest,” Dex said.

  Soren shook his head. “Not here. I can do that back at the camp.” He struggled to his feet. “I saw a couple harnesses in the stables. We need to grab them before walking back to camp.”

  “No need to walk. It will be quicker to fly.”

  “You don’t have your harness. I am not falling to my death. No harness, no flying.”

  ***

  “Oh my!” Carissa's eyes widened as she took in Soren's blood-stained shirt. She glanced at Bevin, and her face relaxed a little as she rushed to Soren's side. “What happened? We were worried when your dragon took off all of a sudden. Take off your shirt.”

  “It was Barton,” Bevin said and quickly told the others what had happened.

  Soren was happy to let Bevin do the talking. He slowly removed his shirt, wincing. At Carissa’s urging, he sat. She gathered a bowl, flask of water and a rag. Kneeling beside him, she cleaned the cuts on his arms, though they had already scabbed over. She washed the blood away from where he had been stabbed.

  “How did you bruise your shoulder?”

  “I fell into the river a few days ago. I hit it on a rock.”

  Carissa leaned back to look at him. “This bruise appears at least a week old.”

  “That can’t be.” He tried to twist to see the bruise. He could barely see the yellowish-green mark. He looked at his arm where he had been sliced with a knife a week ago outside of the village in Sholar. This was the cut that had mixed with Dex’s blood. And now it was healed. All that was left was a thin red line. He tapped it. “This was a week ago.”

  Carissa ran her finger over it. “You must be mistaken. It is clearly older.”

  Soren shook his head. He rose and walked to Dex. “No. I got it the same time that Dex was injured.” He pointed to the healed mark on the dragon’s leg.

  “No,” Tevor said, coming to stand by Soren. “That couldn’t be a week old either.”

  “Dragons heal fast,” Dex said and Tevor and Bevin both jumped as his voice entered their minds. “Now it seems Soren does too.”

  “What?” Tevor said.

  Soren paused for a moment, wondering if he should keep the bond between him and Dex private. But they were to travel with Bevin and Tevor and there was always a chance of it coming out later. He might as well tell them now.

  He shrugged. “We share a Bond. It’s called a Blood Bond. I have dragon blood in my system. I guess it means I have his healing powers.”

  “What!” Tevor’s face contorted with disgust.

  “That explains it,” Bevin said. “I wondered why he roared when I sealed your wound. You’re connected.”

  Tevor shook his head. He spat on the ground before stalking away as he muttered under his breath.

  “Don’t mind him,” Carissa said as she handed Soren a clean shirt. “I don’t think he saw your bond before this.”

  Soren’s eyes widened.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t know about you having dragon blood and all, but it is clear you two are close.”

  His hands trembled slightly as he pulled the shirt over his head. Carissa looked closely at his face as she grabbed his hands to stop the tremor.

  “You have the shakes.” She glanced toward Tevor.

  Soren’s eyes followed hers. “I know. Bevin told me.”

  Carissa sighed. “He is a good man. But sometimes he can be so closed minded. I believe he will find a way to adjust to your bond with the dragon but this…this could…”

  “I’ll try my best to keep it from him.”

  Carissa smiled. “Thank you. And thank you for taking them with you. I know they both need to go, but still I worry. I will pray to the Gods you all have a safe journey.”

  Soren bristled at her mention of the Gods. They had never done anything for him. He walked over to his bag, pulling out the tools he would need to adjust Dex’s harness. He grabbed the flask holding the remains of the healing tonic he had made the other day. He took a swig, glad he had doulbled the recipe. Stowing the flask, he carried the tools over to the harness, and made a second trip to retrieve the two harnesses Bevin had carried back. He spread them out, wincing as he moved his arm.

  “What is that?”

  The dragon was staring at his harness. Soren’s eyes fell upon the metal plate he had attached that morning. Had it only been a few hours ago? It seemed longer. He picked up the breast plate, holding it out so Dex could see it better.

  “Is that what you have worked on in the evenings?”

  “Yes.”

  “I like it. You have a great talent.”

  Soren shrugged and immediately regretted the motion as pain shot through his shoulder. “It is all right for a first attempt.”

  “Nonsense, Soren. You do not give yourself enough credit.”

  Soren set the breast plate down and began measuring out the straps. As he struggled to hold a strap and cut it, Bevin joined him.

  “Give me that. Tell me what to do.”

  He wasn’t sure it would work, but Bevin turned out to be handy. In a short amount of time, they had the harness adjusted. He had to let Bevin put the harness on Dex. There was no way he could have done it by himself.

  Soren glanced at the sky. “We should go. There are at least three or four more hours before we would need to stop for the night.”

  “No,” Carissa said. “You should rest.”

  “I agree,” Dex said.

  “I can rest as we fly. The army gets further away with each hour. We need to go.”

  “You need to get stronger,” Dex said and Soren knew the words were only for him. “I can feel how tired you are.”

  “I am.” Soren glanced at Tevor. The man had been glaring at him for the past hour. “I need to go. I can’t explain it, Dex.”

  The red dragon regarded him for a moment. “We will go, but we stop when I say we do. No arguments.”

  “Agreed.”

  He ignored Carissa’s repeated attempts to get them to stay and turned away as she said her good-byes to her husband and son. Delwin came forward long enough to give Tevor a hug before quickly retreating. His eyes never left Dex. Tevor, on the other hand, had not looked at the dragon once since finding out Soren shared a Blood Bond with him. He suspected the man might be having second thoughts but when it came time to mount Dex, he did so without comment.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Soren opened his eyes, blinking as the bright sun cut into them. He raised his hand to shield his eyes and realized while he felt stiff and sore, he felt much better than he had yesterday. He sat up. Bevin sat by the fire with his sword resting on his knees. One hand held the hilt and the other a cloth. And though he ran the material over the blade, his eyes were on Soren.

  “About time you woke.”

  Soren looked up at the sky, noting it was mid-morning. They should have been on their way hours ago.

  “Why didn't you wake me?”

  “I tried,” Bevin said drolly with a glance at Dex.

  It was then Soren realized he was leaning against the red dragon.

  “You needed your sleep.”

  Soren sighed. It was too late to argue. He didn’t see Tevor. “Where is
your father?”

  “Since we weren't going anywhere, he decided to try his luck and catch fish for our breakfast.” He checked the position of the sun. “Or should I say lunch? He’ll be back soon.”

  Soren rose, slowly stretching the kinks out of his muscles. He shuffled over to the nearest group of trees to relieve himself before joining Bevin by the fire. Bevin offered him the water flask, and he took a long drink.

  “You look better. But then again, you have been asleep since dinner time yesterday. Not that you had dinner. You collapsed against your dragon as soon as we landed.”

  Soren remembered Dex saying they were landing early. He had argued they could go for at least another hour. After that he only had a vague recollection of Dex disagreeing and of himself sliding to the ground.

  “He wouldn't let us move you,” Bevin added.

  “You needed your rest,” Dex said. “You shouldn't have even flown yesterday.”

  “I feel better now,” Soren said, as his stomach grumbled.

  “You should eat.” Bevin stood. "I’ll check on my father’s progress."

  “He doesn't like me, does he?”

  Bevin shrugged.

  “I get the feeling it isn't just because of Dex.” He saw Bevin's eyes travel to the brand on his neck. “Ah. I see.”

  Anger flared within him as Bevin left. Being branded by the King would always have people jumping to this type of judgement. They might not recognize the mark, but they would always assume the worse. He paced before the fire.

  “Does the anger help?”

  He shot a glance at Dex. “No. But I don’t like being judged based on this mark.”

  “So you want to be judged on who you are? And who is that?”

  Soren cringed. He had spent most of the time he had known Dex trying to convince the dragon he wasn’t the man for the job. His father had spent years telling him he was a failure. And it was true. He couldn’t hold a job. His life consisted of staying with his brother as he drifted from bar to tavern and from one women’s bed to another. It was the life he deserved.

  “We are in luck,” Bevin said as he returned. He held three large fish. “My father will be along shortly.”

  Soren sighed with relief that Bevin had interrupted his thoughts. He walked over to his pack and took out the flask holding the healing tonic. If he had the healing powers of a dragon, he wondered if he even needed it. Deciding it couldn’t hurt, he drank the rest of the tonic from the flask.

  He sat across from Bevin and watched as the man cleaned and cut up the fish. He had already stuck a small metal skillet into the fire. The chunks of fish he dropped onto it hissed. They sat watching the fish cook. Bevin was scooping it onto plates when Tevor finally returned. The man didn’t look at Soren as he sat beside his son. The comfortable silence that existed between him and Bevin faded. The air now felt heavy with tension. He glanced at Bevin to see if the man felt it too, but he avoided Soren’s eyes as he handed him his plate. Soren’s hands shook slightly, and he quickly put the plate down. Out of the corner of his eye, he checked Tevor to see if the man had noticed, but Tevor’s attention was solely on his meal.

  Soren cut into the fish with his fork. Even though it was soft and moist, the fish tasted bland as he ate in awkward silence. He was pleased neither man objected to his suggestion they break down the camp as quickly as possible and be on their way. At least when they were in the air, he wouldn’t feel Tevor’s disapproval.

  ***

  “Blink? What in the name of the Gods does that mean?”

  Tevor paced away from the fire, swinging back around to glare at Soren.

  He didn’t know which version of Tevor he preferred – the silent one who barely looked his direction or the angry one who glared at him now.

  “It is hard to explain,” Soren said.

  They had just finished another tense meal when Bevin had asked about their plan to access the invading army. Soren had been thinking about it all day. If they caught the army unaware, they should have time for a few passes over them before the Southern dragons attacked. While he looked for who controlled the Southern dragons, the other two could access the rest of the army – their numbers as well as their weapons. Neither Bevin nor Tevor seemed to have any qualms about his plan.

  It was Tevor who asked how they would escape the other army’s dragons. Surprised the man had joined the conversation, Soren had blurted out “Blink” before he had fully thought it through.

  “Dragons can move from one location to another in, well, how long it takes to blink.” Soren shook his head. “It sure feels much longer.”

  Bevin walked over to Dex. His eyes traveled over the dragon. “How? How does something so large just vanish?”

  “My father explained it was a gift from the God Darr. It was he who created Draca, the first dragon. Some say both Northern and Southern dragons are descendants from Draca but only us Northern dragon have this ability.”

  “A gift from the Gods,” Bevin said. He glanced at Soren. “And it is safe?”

  “I’ve done it a few times. The first time was from Ballinger to Northern Sholar.”

  Bevin whistled. “Weeks’ worth of travel in just a few moments.” He grinned at Dex. “Can you show us?”

  “It is too draining for a demonstration.”

  “No,” Tevor said. He shook his head. “It is unnatural. I don’t like this. There has to be another way.”

  “There isn’t,” Soren said. “Once the army sees us, we won’t have long before they attack. Dex can’t out fly them.”

  Tevor swung around. “Why not? We can certainly try before we resort to….to this…this Blinking.”

  Soren shook his head. “The Southern dragons will be able to out fly Dex. It is safer for us to get away quickly. Blinking is our best chance of survival.”

  “No, Soren,” Dex said. “It is okay to tell him. He should know. I have encountered these dragons before. They may be large, but they move fast. They killed the other dragons that were with me before we had a chance to defend ourselves or fly away. I only escaped because I Blinked.”

  “This isn’t negotiable,” Soren said and saw Tevor’s eyes narrow. The man opened his mouth to object, and Soren hurried on. “If that last smoldering village is any indication, we are close. If we rise early, Dex and I think we should be able to find them before they have risen. We will be able to do our surveillance and Blink to Camden before they have a chance to attack. If you don’t agree with the plan, don’t come.”

  Soren walked over to the fire and picked up a flask of water. His hand shook slightly. He set the flask down, grasping his shaking hand.

  “You have the shakes.”

  Soren saw a mixture of feelings played across the man’s face. Tevor looked at Soren with disgust as he shook his head.

  “We can’t be done with you soon enough to suit me,” Tevor said as he stormed away.

  ***

  Soren tightened his hold on the leather strap. Dex flew higher and higher, passing through the layer of clouds. Once above them, the morning sky was clear. Soren was happy for the overcast day. The clouds would hide their approach. Now hopefully, they would be able to make their passes before the army was fully awake.

  Soren’s body tensed. Though they hoped for the element of surprise, he expected the army to act fast and send the dragons after them. He checked the straps securing him to Dex, though he already knew they were in place having already checked them twice this morning. He repositioned the strap in his hand.

  “Now!”

  Dex’s voice thundered in his head. The dragon dove. Soren blinked as the hazy white cloud blocked his view. The blue sky returned. Dex continued to dive for a moment before tipping his wings, circling over the army’s camp. Soren gasped at the size of it. There were hundreds of men. Off to one side, lay seven dragons. Their green hides almost blended into the grass. Even at this height they appeared much larger than their northern brethren. As Dex continued the circle, Soren noticed another group.
This time it was seven brown dragons. Three horns protruded from their face, and their tail ended in a spiked ball that he imagined would do a lot of damage.

  From below, an alarm bell sounded. Men shouted. They spilled out of tents with weapons in hand. A dragon roared as it leapt into the air. Dex continued his wide circle as if oblivious to the brown dragon barreling toward them. The beast opened its massive jaw shooting a fireball at them. Dex dove. Soren felt the heat as the flames missed them by inches. Tevor swore.

  Dex circled once more over the camp as two more dragons leapt into the air. Soren forced his eyes off the advancing creatures, searching the vast amount of people on the ground. He needed to know who controlled the dragons. His eyes caught sight of a cluster of tents in the center of the camp, and he directed Dex to fly over it. As Dex flew low, a rain of arrows came at them. The dragon veered away.

  Soren saw a flash of gold. “One more time, Dex.”

  This time he saw the tall figure, cloaked in a dark robe. The hood obscured the person’s face. A few traces of dark hair escaped from the material and flapped in the wind. It was the golden rod grasped in the figure’s hand that caught his attention. A short, rotund man with red hair stood beside the cloaked figure. The man waved his hand in Dex’s direction. The cloaked figure raised the rod, pointing it at Dex. Two dragons streaked toward him.

  Dex turned abruptly. The strap pulled at Soren’s waist. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement. Tevor screamed as he tumbled forward. He fell head first, sliding down Dex’s side. Bevin quickly grabbed his father’s leg.

  “Soren, help! I can’t hold him.”

  Soren stretched toward Tevor. The man twisted, reaching for him. But their hands remained a few inches apart. Soren glanced at the strap holding him to the harness. His fingers reached for the connection. He hesitated. The image of him falling off Barth flashed before his eyes.

  “He’s slipping,” Bevin yelled.

  Soren unlatched the strap. He slipped his right foot out of the stirrup as Dex tilted his body to stop Tevor from falling. Soren lunged. His fingers wrapped around the man’s wrist. With his other hand, he grabbed Tevor’s cloak. Together he and Bevin pulled Tevor toward them as Dex leveled out.