The same realm that is supposedly on the brink of breaching Oryndhr’s borders in search of this very creature. Perhaps I can proactively help Roshan to stave off a siege without bloodshed. I’d much rather try a peaceful way of resolution than be used as a weapon of warfare, and this animal is clearly intelligent. It’s worth a shot.
The azdaha shifts, one giant wing flexing. A pained hiss escapes his mouth, and I glance up. The membranes of his wings are so tattered, webbed with blackened and cracked burn scars, that I inhale a horrified breath. I shift to skim my hands along the rough, scaleless hide of his warm underbelly. “Are you hurt?”
A constant state, I fear, Starkeeper.
“How come? Can’t you heal yourself with your magic?”
My magic has become too weak. My bond with my mate is fraying, and it is taking all my might to hold on to that.
I gasp as his sorrow surges through me. “You have a mate?”
Yes.
Stars.Somehow I have to help him get back to where he belongs. But how? I don’t know how to get to Everlea, and even if I attempted a portal, I wouldn’t know where to anchor it.Think, Sura!
I glance at his wings again. If he was in better health, maybe he could use his strength to fly. That’s something, at least. I’m not too adept of a healer, but Aran has taught me enough to mend small wounds for others. Healing the azdaha’s colossal wings isn’t a minor undertaking by any means, but I can still direct my magic to do what it can.
“Hold still, I want to try to heal you,” I say, and sketch the rune for healing in my mind’s eye. I imagine a conduit between us and focus on feeding my magic to him in small consistent, curative bursts.
Starlight kindles between us, and I watch in wonder as silvery ribbons seep through Razulek’s veins beneath his emerald scales, making them glow chartreuse for a moment. I manage to contain my shout of triumph when the gaping lacerations start to mend. Before too long, the webbed skin is supple and unmarred.
“There, good as new,” I say with a gasp as an unexpected surge of weakness makes me waver. “Keep your wings folded so they don’t see.”
Thank you,he says reverently, his snout bumping the crown of my head.
“You’re welcome,” I say, feeling the drain of what I’d given him keenly but not caring. I’d give anything to see Razulek in flight, soaring across the skies like a king of his domain. He’d be magnificent. “How did you get trapped here?”
I was tricked into a portal when my mate’s eggs were nearly sto—
But his answer is interrupted by shouts and the score of heavily armed guards who march into the paddock accompanied by a half dozen runecasters, Clem, Hamid, and the king himself. A very furious king, by the look on Roshan’s face. I shove my guilt away, feeling the newly healed azdaha stiffen menacingly beside me.
“Suraya, move aside!” Roshan’s voice snaps like a whip, clipped and cold. His kingsguard form a half circle at his back, the runecasters already beginning to weave containment spells. The collar and bracers start to glow that ominous red from earlier, and suddenly, the azdaha’s nostrils flare in distress. With the open connection between us, I feel his pain like a stinging echo, until he brutally throttles the link. I still feel it, but I know it’s a hundred times worse for him.
“Call off your dogs,” I shout to the king. “I’m not in danger, but I can’t promise that they won’t be.”
Razulek whines, his barbed tail whipping out as his long neck undulates in a serpentine motion. One well-placed swipe of that thick tail or his wing, and these idiots would die.
“You’re hurting him. Stop!”
The azdaha’s huge head sways forward, putting me slightly behind him, and for a moment, it seems like Razulek intends to protect me, even while he’s being battered by the runes on the collar. Clem lets out a loud curse, her features tight with worry. Considering the guards’ reactions and their raised jadu weapons, I suspect it looks different from their perspective—like the azdaha is about to consume me as his next meal.
“Don’t harm him,” I yell, ducking under Razulek’s head. Then I form the words in my head and push them toward him, wondering if he can receive my thoughts as I’d heard his.Razulek, what are you doing?
Protecting you,he replies weakly.
“They won’t hurt either of us,” I say aloud. My eyes flick to the runecasters and meet the king’s livid face. “Roshan, please. Call them off. He’s in pain, but he’s defending me.”
For a heartbeat, a seething penumbra slithers through his gaze, his armored fist clenching, but then he tilts his head, his voice soft and discreet. “You disobeyed me.”
“You’re overreacting, it’s—”
He doesn’t let me finish. “I forbade you, and you defied me.”
His words are like blades, eviscerating me publicly. My ears burn with humiliation as I swallow and survey the guards crowding the corral. I’m not a child to be scolded, and he shouldn’t treat me like one. I was never in any real danger. And if he’d trusted me in the first place with information, I wouldn’t be so eager to ferret out secrets on my own and break his asinine rules in the process. My jaw sets as he shows no sign of relenting. Very well. If he wants to play this game in front of an audience, we’ll play.
My chin rises. “I didn’t defy you. You said not to go to the arena.” With a calm I don’t feel, I sweep my hand around, keeping my expression neutral. “We are not in the arena, and I wanted to assess the condition of the azdaha for myself.”
He frowns at my composed reply. “And Itoldyou, it is dangerous.”
