Peri sat on a rock watching Torion and Galan chasing each other in the forest clearing. Maybe she should have been concerned that the adolescent dragon might accidentally stomp on the kid or knock him over with his tail. But so far, Galan had managed not to kill Torion, so Peri figured worrying was a waste of time. Peri wondered how long the boy’s mother and Skender would need to handle their private business. She couldn’t deny that she was envious of the couple. Though they would have tremendous obstacles to overcome, they would overcome them together. That’s what true mates were meant for, to have someone to lean on, someone who would stand by your side no matter what. And Peri had thrown that away. Not because she didn’t love Lucian. Quite the opposite, in fact. She’d pushed him away because she loved him, and she’d already known that she was going to be the one to destroy the Order. Knowing that her death would also mean his was more than she could stand. Lucian had suffered so much while being trapped in the Dark Forest for all that time. And if that wasn’t enough, she had his nephew to think of. Fane had lost plenty already; he didn’t need to lose his uncle as well.
“True mates are not meant to exist without one another,”her subconscious whispered. No, that was a lie. It wasn’t her subconscious that was speaking. It was her soul. Ever since the bond between her and Lucian had been momentarily opened, her soul, the other half of his, had relentlessly nagged her. “Did you have the right to decide for him whether he would live without you?”
She didn’t have to answer the annoying voice because her attention was suddenly grabbed by Torion’s high-pitched giggles. She watched him trying to climb Galan’s leg. The draheim stuck out his snout and lifted the boy until Torion was perched atop Galan’s back. Peri growled and stood, holding out a hand. She pushed an invisible barrier around the young draheim. When he tried to unfurl his wings, they bumped into the barrier with a thud.
He looked in her direction and gave a growl.
“Free my wings, fae.”
“What are you doing?” Peri asked, ignoring his command.
“The boy wants to fly and so do I.”
“Not gonna happen,” she replied.
“I will not let the child fall,” Galan said. He shifted his enormous feet and tried to stretch his wings again, but Peri’s magic kept them still.
“The child’s mother doesn’t want him going on a joyride,” Peri said. “And though I would normally be fine with disregarding the parents’ wishes, especially if they’re wolves, I promised no harm would come to him. I can only assure that if he is within my reach.”
“You could come with us, Peri,” Torion suggested, his voice full of excitement as if it was the greatest idea in the history of ideas.
She planted her hands on her hips, tilted her head, and stared at the two troublemakers. Peri assumed it would be some time before she could take Torion back to his parents. What else did she have to do but sit around and listen to her soul pining after Lucian until it drove her crazy?
“What the hell?” Peri threw her hands in the air. At the same time, she removed the magic that kept Galan grounded. She took a few steps and then bounded up onto the draheim’s back, just behind Torion. Peri wrapped an arm around the boy and pulled him tightly against her. “Have your takeoffs gotten any bett—” Her words were cut off when the young draheim launched them into the air, his powerful wings beating rapidly to help him climb up into the sky. His body rocked from side to side, and Peri used her power to keep her and Torion still so they wouldn’t roll off the side of the beast. “Guess that answers that question,” she muttered.
After several minutes, Galan finally stopped climbing and leveled out. His wings spread out on either side, allowing them to glide, using the wind currents to float through the air. Every now and then, he would give a lazy flap of the giant wings to keep them in the airstream.
Torion threw his hands in the air. “WHOOOOP!” Laughter bubbled out of him. “Isn’t this awesome?”
Peri opened her mouth to answer, but Torion shook his head and said, “Never mind. Don’t answer that. You’ll ruin the awesomeness.”
Her brow rose. She leaned closer so she wouldn’t have to shout. “Believe it or not, there used to be a time when I was awesome.”
Torion turned slightly and narrowed his eyes. “Prove it,” he challenged. Then he turned back around and continued to howl with glee.
“I cannot believe I’m letting a child manipulate me,” she said under her breath as she lifted her hands. Gathering the power inside of her, she shot pulses of light upward in varying colors from her hands, one after another. The pulses exploded in dazzling starbursts of color above them. Humans would have called them fireworks, but Peri didn’t need fire in order to create a light show in the draheim realm’s sky.
“Yes!” Torion threw his fists up in the air as if he’d won some glorious victory. “Is that all you got, the mighty Perizada?” he asked.
“Bloody hell.” She groaned but then continued to throw out huge balls of fire that exploded, one after another. Soon there were so many that Galan was dipping and dodging the falling sparks from the explosions. The acrobatic flying only made Torion shout louder as his excitement grew. Apparently, the fae boy was an adrenaline junkie.
They flew for a half hour before Galan slowly started making his descent. Peri looked down and saw that the draheim was heading for a clearing where his mother, along with several other of the beasts, gathered. Thankfully, his landings were much smoother than his takeoffs.
As they landed, Peri flashed herself and Torion from the dragon’s back to the ground. The fae boy turned around and wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. “Thank you so much,” he said. He released her and ran to Galan. The hug was so quick it caught her off guard. Peri was still processing it when Serapha sidled up next to her. Peri noticed again how the draheim moved with eerie quietness for such an immense beast.
“You’ve finally decided to grace me with your presence?” Peri asked the elusive draheim.
“I don’t know why you have such a hard time finding me. It’s not like I can hide behind a tree,” Serapha goaded.
The image of the huge female dragon attempting to conceal herself by a mere tree nearly made Peri laugh. She felt a little carefree after the flight with Galan and Torion, and a little more alive. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, considering Peri hadn’t fully decided that being alive was what she wanted.“Then it’s a good thing it doesn’t matter what you want,”her pesky soul whispered through her consciousness. Peri ignored the inner voice. Perhaps if she stopped acknowledging it the voice would go away.“I’m your soul, moron, not a stray dog.” “Good grief, am I really that obnoxious?” Peri asked out loud despite the fact that Serapha wouldn’t have a clue what she was talking about.
“Do you really want an answer to that question?” the female draheim asked.
Peri held up her hand. “I already know the answer. I don’t need confirmation.”
Serapha settled next to Peri, her colossal form resting gracefully on the ground.
“Are you going to tell me what you meant when you said I had been saved by a draheim?” Peri asked. She wasn’t hopeful Serapha would give her an answer.
