“I won’t do it unless you both agree,” Tate continued.
Something like this, the breaking of a bond and the possible death of one, wasn’t an endeavor to be taken lightly. If Tate was to do it, she wanted permission from both parties.
There was sound at the Rift as Jacob and Blaise barreled through, their expressions wild as their gazes landed on Thora’s twisted figure. They hurried toward them.
The dragon’s gaze turned inward in an expression Tate recognized. Ryu and Tate got that same look on their faces when they were conversing with their dragons. It was something Tate hadn’t realized Thora and his dragon could do until right this moment.
“We are willing to risk it,” the dragon rumbled.
Tate squeezed his hand. “Very well. Will you allow his friends to say their goodbyes? Just in case this fails.”
The dragon inclined his head with a pained grunt.
Tate stood, withdrawing to allow Ryu and the rest privacy. Thaddeus joined her, staring in the direction of the snowcapped peaks beyond the hazy fog.
“I’m not sure how I feel about you releasing the minor goddess. The idea that such a powerful entity is in my territory fills me with unease.”
“To tell the truth, I’m not sure either,” Tate confessed.
At that, his gaze came to rest on her. “Then why did you?”
“Once upon a time, my friends advocated for the death of all the Creators’ creations. They stayed their hand because of the possibility those creations might become the very thing this world needed one day.”
And because of that, people like Ryu and Thaddeus were born.
“Ai, her brothers and sisters, they deserve the same chance to make their own fate.”
“Will they become a threat?”
“Who is to say?” Tate slid him a sidelong look. “I guess part of that depends on you and the rest of the humans.”
Thaddeus’s lips twitched. “At least we’re on the same page.”
Tate didn’t know about that, but she was okay with letting him believe it.
Ryu lifted his head and beckoned Tate. They’d finished saying their goodbyes.
“Good luck, lady dragon,” Thaddeus said softly. “I pray for your success.”
Tate walked slowly toward Thora as Blaise and Jacob backed away, their eyes and noses red from crying.
Ryu offered a hand to Tate that she took, allowing him to steady her as she knelt at Thora and the dragon’s side again.
“Are you ready?”
“I am,” they answered.
Tate closed her eyes and reached for that part of her that she’d come to realize was the Apportens Mortis. It answered her call, painting her vision in dozens of colorful lines. She felt carefully, identifying those that belonged to Thora and his dragon. Mentally, she gathered them to her.
“What is your name?”
His name came to her on a whisper. “Naido.”
Ilith rose to share her conscious, lending Tate her strength.
“Goodbye, Naido. Safe passage to the other side.”
Her will moved, the Apportens Mortis flexing. One by one the strands interlocking the two lives severed.
