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5. The White Knight

Kemy

My eyes open in a wild surprise. That couldn’t be, I thought it was impossible.

I felt Ember, I felt her communicate with the wolf within the man.

“Ember, how could you reach him?” I asked in shock.

Dragons could only communicate with their human counterpart and with other dragons when they both were in their reptilian form.

I could feel her shuddering, she didn’t know how she could reach him either. She let me know that she sent him a mental image: the witch’s stones, known to humans as Stonehenge.

It was one of our favourite places to play when I was young. I used to run around it, playing hide-and-seek with my sister, Mallory. Ember took her first flight there, or at least tried to since she ended up crashing her snout against one of the stones and falling on the ground, making Mallory fall on her back after laughing convulsively.

My eyes watered at the sweet memories, those stones were near our home before everything was destroyed and the Red Dragons captured us.

When my eyes looked back in his direction, man and wolf were gone. Having him leaving, fading away in the sunlight made my heart clench painfully, as never before.

“Do you think a knight in white shining armor or white shining fur will save us?” I asked with a sigh.

I wanted to be saved, to be out of myself, out of my mind, but I was starting to be afraid of having hope.

I felt Ember's warm outline move behind me, making me turn around. She could materialise herself in our dream once again, as she did sometimes because of our uncanny and strong connection. I looked intently at her light golden eyes, and I saw vibrant red locks dancing with the soft rhythm of the wind, surrounded by sparks of fire reflected in my Dragon’s irises. It wasn’t normal fire, but rather something beyond it, something gold, fluid, translucent.

A gasp left my lips as I realised what she was trying to say; she didn’t expect that the white wolf could help us, but rather the fire-haired woman.

“Ember, what have you done? You exerted yourself again trying to find help.” I sighed, shaking my head.

I was afraid, every time my dragon went away and her soul tried to reach someone, anyone outside of our shared dreams, she would grow weaker. How didn’t I notice it? I had felt an unfamiliar warm sensation enveloping me like a blanket a few days ago, maybe that was the reason; it must have been the red-haired woman’s gentle fire embracing my soul.

My eyes narrowed at the translucent outline of my Dragon as I placed my hands on my hips. Ember had disappeared a couple of days ago, yet I could feel the fire in her soul dimming only now. The sneaky dragon hid it from me for as long as she could. I was quite sure that she sneaked away when my eyes were lost in a certain wolf, I covered my face with my hands, sighing in frustration.

Ember roared in protest, but I wouldn’t have it. She couldn’t put herself at that kind of risk, she was all I have.

I just hoped that all the risks taken and the hopes raised wouldn’t be in vain.

Suddenly, my heart swelled in my chest as I felt the warmth, the voice, the sweet feeling of home.

It was my sister’s voice. It was Mallory.

Was she still alive? Was she close to me?

Ember nodded her huge head and nuzzled me gently, her muzzle wasn’t fully materialised, so I could only feel the tingling jolt of her energy.

It was Mallory! My sister found me, she was close to me once again!

Besides that, there was warm peace around my soul, I don't know how it happened, but there was no doubt that I was at home, I was safe. Or at least my body was, the rest of me was still a prisoner.

I had to see my sister. Now, I had an even better reason to wake up, yet I couldn’t.

~ * ~

Mallory

“Now I finally understood that Ember and Kemy are two halves of the same being. Apparently and precisely because they stayed alone together for so long, they formed a much stronger connection than anyone else ever had with their dragon. So, one can’t survive without the other, at least not fully; Kemy’s life without her dragon will only be an eternal slumber.”

Alma’s words made my heart sink. I looked into space, losing myself in silence and memories.

Memories of Kemy and I before the Red Monsters attacked us, memories of the day we were captured, memories of all the pain that came after it.

I was afraid. I was more afraid of losing my sister now than when I was in that laboratory when my life was hell.

My dragon Alessia whined in my mind, they didn’t hurt her physically, but she hurt for me, for us. She was the only witness of my torment.

My legs walked absently. I was feeling distant from all the people around, all the sounds and voices. When I realised where I was, my feet were slightly sinking in the fluffy sand. I sat down on the almost completely empty beach and my gaze met the sea, it brought me an ounce of comfort in the middle of the aching chaos inside my head.

A sigh left my quivering lips, I knew that Kemy could lose Ember because of her coma, Alma told us so when she told us that Ember’s spirit reached her in her dream. My heart hurt for Ember, it really did. But now, knowing that Kemy might die, made me feel like crushing and ripping my heart off my chest.

A quiet sob broke through my throat as I hugged my legs and rocked my body slightly, just like I used to do when I was afraid and alone in the laboratory after my body was used and abused by those monsters.

“My little sister, my only family, I should have protected you better,” I murmured to the wind, my voice blending with the soothing sound of the waves.

I was training to become a warrior, it was my first year, but I should have been able to protect Kemy, to save her from our bloody attackers or die trying, yet I failed.

I failed her, now her death seems only a matter of time.

I didn’t know what to do to help her, to wake her up. I was failing her once again.

“Forgive me, Kemy! I won’t ever be able to forgive myself.” The wind silenced my words, and all that remained was the pain.

My body rocked back and forth once again, tears sliding down my cheeks, the gush of the wind making me shiver a bit.

My dragon Alessia hummed in my mind, it was some kind of soothing song she used to sing for me, to calm me down. She was what kept me sane in the middle of my personal hell.

I knew she blamed herself for what happened to Kemy and Ember too, but she put all her pain aside and tried to take care of me. She was brave, strong, and kind; she was the best part of us.

I heard the noise of approaching steps and turned around slowly. It was Daniel.

My body started trembling inadvertently as it did every time a male got close. It was used to it, it wasn’t something I could control. I clenched my eyes shut as quiet sobs left my mouth in the form of gasps.

I felt the mate bond, but my fear was bigger than my urge to be close to him.

My fear surrounded me and took me back to the dimmed-lit laboratory, to the times fear was all I could feel, and all I was.

Alessia took control of my body for a split second, trying to calm my racing heart along with my jolting nerves and when my eyes opened, Daniel was sitting close to me, but not close enough to make me panic.

A sigh of relief left my suffocating lungs.

“We will bring her back, Mallory. It doesn’t matter what it takes, we will find a way. We will never leave you and your sister alone,” he said, looking at the sea in front of us, his words carrying the determination of a vow.

A smile formed on my lips and I nodded. He probably didn’t know that, but those words were all I needed right now.

“Thank you, Daniel,” I replied.

**My heart got a bit warm from having him here, as far and as near as I needed him. **

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