Reunion

KAEL

Kael was torn from his slumber by the hostile roar of a dragon.

And it wasn’t ~his~ dragon.

Kael opened his eyes and clamored to his feet. The sound must have woken Eithne as well, because she was awake, on her feet, and ready to pounce.

Kael scanned the cave. Alik and Colmen were rubbing their eyes—and the girl was nowhere to be seen.

~The girl.~

Another roar erupted from deeper in the cave.

~“We have to find her, fast,”~ Eithne said. ~“I sense wild dragons in the vicinity.”~

Kael pulled his sword from its sheath and tucked it into his belt.

Colmen jumped to his feet as Kael climbed onto Eithne’s back.

“You go! We’ll catch up!” Colmen yelled.

Kael grabbed hold of a spike on Eithne’s neck, and the two took off into the depths of the cave.

With one beat of her mighty wings, Eithne thrust the Pair forward. They charged through the massive cavern and into a tunnel.

The tunnel started wide but quickly grew narrow. As Kael and Eithne catapulted through the stalactites and stalagmites, he worried that Eithne would hurt herself on the sharp crags.

~“Careful,”~ he warned.

~“Always,”~ she replied.

As the tunnel tipped downward, Eithne tucked her wings to her body and the Pair were plunged into darkness…

Kael couldn’t explain the anxiety that clenched his gut.

He ~needed~ to find the girl and make sure that she was safe.

He had felt responsible for her since he had kidnapped her from the manor. He had taken the burden of her well-being onto himself.

All that mattered was reaching her in time—before she became a meal for a hungry, wild dragon.

Eithne carried them forward with urgency, blasting her fire before her so that she could see through the dark cave.

It was as if she, too, could not stand the thought of losing the mysterious girl who she had deemed to be special.

ANDRA

The two dragons prodded Andra’s mind as they moved forward from the shadows.

Four eyes glittered in the dark.

An aggressive roar broke through the silence. Andra backed against the cold, damp wall of the cave.

When nothing followed, she realized the call had simply been a warning. Now that the dragons knew she was not a threat, they were curious, not hostile.

The fire-like heat continued to press against Andra’s mind.

It was soothing and exciting at the same time—familiar and yet totally new.

One pair of eyes was blue, like sapphires, and the other was a mesmerizing shade of purple.

All at once, another, larger roar filled the cavernous room and Eithne and Kael dropped in from above. Eithne reared back and blasted fire to the ceiling.

The fire gathered overhead and continued to burn, illuminating the room and ridding it of shadows.

Kael wielded his red sword. His dark hair fell around his face in a way that made Andra short of breath—and his eyes burned into hers.

Andra turned back to the strange beasts before her, only to find that they weren’t strange at all.

The large, blue dragon, growling with her razor-sharp teeth bared at Eithne, was Ena. She was the dragon from the Pairing!

Andra turned desperately back and forth between Ena and Eithne.

The dragons glared at one another and growled from the depths of their stomachs.

While Andra prayed the creatures would realize they were not threats to one another, their aggression only escalated.

~“Leave my territory, intruder,”~ Ena warned, her tone menacing. ~“We will have no quarrel with you.”~

~“I claimed this cave as my own long before you arrived,”~ Eithne growled in response.

Andra panicked, holding her breath.

She glanced desperately between Eithne and Ena, trying to find her voice. It had been so long since she’d spoken out loud, but if Andra stayed silent, the two might rip each other apart…

Andra was so distracted that she forgot all about the other dragon, who was crouched low to the ground.

She turned to it, and suddenly, everything fell into place.

The dragon was purple, its scales glittering in the firelight like thousands of precious gems.

Andra had seen this dragon before. This was the dragon who she had seen on the fateful, shameful day that Andra had ruined the Pairing!

Its animated expression told Andra it was ready to strike anything who dared to challenge it.

It was just waiting for the opportunity to fight.

Andra’s heart pounded in her ears.

She needed to reconcile Eithne and Ena ~fast~—before the powerful creatures tore each other apart!

She turned to Kael, but the conflict was already in motion.

The Rider leapt from his dragon and into a defensive stance. He held his sword at the ready…and his gaze fixed on the purple dragon.

~No.~

Andra wanted to scream, but she couldn’t find her voice. And then chaos broke out.

Eithne dove at Ena, her teeth bared and aiming right for Ena’s throat.

Kael charged at the purple dragon.

Andra’s mind was racing.

~Can’t he see that the dragon is young and inexperienced?~

~Apparently not,~ she realized in desperation.

Andra watched, frozen in place, as the fight escalated.

She tried desperately to find her voice, but the words were stuck in her throat. Andra was practically choking on them.

She couldn’t speak. But if she didn’t say something, someone could get hurt.

Or worse…

KAEL

Kael’s sword glittered red, reflecting the firelight overhead.

He circled the purple dragon; it growled at him, revealing fearsome teeth.

Kael didn’t like the idea of killing a dragon, especially one as beautiful and rare as the purple beast before him. But the dragon intended to harm the girl, and therefore he had no choice.

The blue dragon and Eithne leapt from the floor toward the ceiling far above them. Dragonsfire continued to burn. They were taking their duel into the air.

Kael watched from the corner of his eye as Eithne swiped her opponent with her talons, and in turn, the blue dragon brought her massive tail around and slammed Eithne’s side.

Kael’s heart faltered as he watched his dragon suffer the blow and struggle to regain her balance in the air.

Eithne was evenly matched with the skilled dragon. He would need to make quick work of the smaller one so that he could assist her.

The purple dragon made up in speed for what she lacked in strength. She deftly maneuvered around his attacks.

Kael’s sword felt clumsy in his hand, which was a sensation the skilled fighter was not accustomed to.

He plunged the point of the blade forward, and the dragon dodged left.

It blasted a thin stream of purple flame at him. Though Kael managed to avoid the direct blast, sweltering heat enveloped his free hand.

“Ah!” Kael cried out in pain. He would need to Heal himself later, after the battle was won.

Just then, Kael caught sight of Alik and Colmen.

The reinforcements had arrived.

Bolstered by the presence of his companions, he charged, raising his blade over his head.

All it would take was one sure swipe to end the beast.

“STOP! Don’t hurt her!”

A voice cut through the air, stopping Kael dead in his tracks. The words struck him like a physical blow.

The voice was sure and powerful.

He turned to see the slave girl distraught, but full of conviction.

~No…it couldn’t be,~ Kael thought to himself.

But by the way her chest was heaving with belabored breath, he knew the voice that had stopped his heart was the girl’s.

He’d finally heard her voice for the first time, and it was just as powerful as he’d imagined.

ANDRA

Andra’s own voice echoed in her ears. She stood in as awed a silence as her compatriots, who stared at her with their mouths open.

Eithne and the blue dragon disengaged and flew back down to the ground. Kael lowered his sword.

Andra blinked, still stunned by the sensation of words passing through her lips.

Kael stepped forward, moving his left hand gingerly, as if it were injured.

“I need an explanation,” he demanded.

Andra gulped. She took in the scene around her once more. The purple dragon stared at her inquisitively.

Eithne glanced warily at Ena. Alik raised his eyebrows at Kael—and Colmen beamed at her.

Embracing his encouragement, Andra spoke up again, her tongue feeling clumsy and uncertain as it struggled to form the words.

“I’ve met these dragons before,” she admitted, “back when I lived at the Hall of Riders.”

Kael’s expression shifted with this new information.

Andra turned to the purple dragon, and once again she was overcome with joy. Proximity to the creature made her feel capable and alive.

“I feel a connection to this dragon, but I don’t know why.”

Andra’s final statement echoed through the room.

The small dragon’s purple eyes wrinkled with emotion and understanding.

~“I remember her too…”~

The soothing voice filled Andra’s mind. It was like a crackling fire and a gurgling stream at the same time.

It was the purple dragon’s voice.

Ena let out a long sigh. When Andra turned to the great blue dragon, her eyes were closed. It was as if she was absorbing a great realization.

~“You two remember one another,”~ the maternal voice of Ena began, ~“because you share a sacred connection.”~

Andra hung on her every word. She was brought back to the fateful day in the Hall, when she had seen the purple dragon for the first time; after that, her whole life had unraveled.

Andra sensed that finally she would learn what all the pain and loss had been for.

~“This young servant and Tiri, my daughter, were meant to share the most sacred bond of all…”~

~“She was meant to be Tiri’s Rider.”~