With a gasp, I shoved him across the cave. He stumbled away from me, back toward the open air. A fresh burn sizzled on his cheek from where he’d come too close to the dragons.
“What in fate’s name do you think you’re doing!” I shouted at him. “You could have gotten yourself killed.”
“I would do anything to prove myself to you, Daella. I’ll heal from this, I’ll survive. But you…if I had not come here instead of going to Midsummer, you might not. You must trust me and leave this place while you still have time.”
“You fool,” I whispered as an unrelenting wave of emotion burned through me. “You wonderful, ridiculous fool. You—wait. What are you talking about? Aren’t you still competing in the Games?”
“No, I came here instead. For you.” He scanned my face. “Despite what you believe, everything between us was real, and now I’m here to prove it to you.”
I strode toward him, my heart clenching. “You have to go back to Wyndale. You have to win the Games and ask the island to protect the folk of the Isles from Isveig.”
“It’s too late. The ceremony is happening now. I wouldn’t make it back in time, and I have nothing to offer up even if I did. No one does. Everyone has either quit or been ousted, including Viggo, for what he did. Now let’s get you going. You have so little time.”
I searched his face. “There’s more to this than you’re saying.”
For a moment, he didn’t speak. And then he sighed, running his fingers through his long, silver strands. “If you want to be free of Isveig, you need to return to Fafnir and find a book he stole from the orcs. It has instructions in there that can bind you to a dragon with magic that will destroy the ice shard in your body. It’s the only way you’ll be free of him.”
All the blood drained from my face, and I took a slow, stumbling step away from him. “You mean become a Draugr.”
He held up a hand. “Before you argue, let me explain. Being a Draugr is not the terrible fate we’ve always believed, as long as the bond between a dragon and its rider is done right. Mabel came to see me and told me everything she remembers from her time with the orcs.Youcan make that bond. You, Daella, as long as the dragon chooses you willingly. It’s only when others—elves, dwarves, humans—forcedragons to bond with them that the magic turns volatile. And when you do this, the magic will free you from Isveig.”
My heart pounded. “Rivelin, I—”
“I know it’s hard to imagine becoming the thing you’ve hated and hunted all these years, but you won’t be like them, Daella. When I look into your eyes, I know there’s no chance you could turn into that kind of creature. Go to Fafnir. Find the book. And then come back to me, if you still want me the same way I want you.”
I couldn’t believe I was even considering this, but…I glanced at Aska and my chest warmed. Doing this would mean becoming the thing I’d hated for as long as I could remember. It would mean embracing the darkness I’d fought so hard against. But what I’d hated and feared, it hadn’t been the whole truth. The full portrait had been smudged.
Somehow, deep down, I knew there was truth in Rivelin’s words. But that did not mean his wild plan was the answer to all our issues. How could I possibly find this hidden book? And then how could I ever get away from Isveig again? He would never let me leave.
“What if I fail?” I whispered.
“You won’t.”
I inhaled, trying to memorize the scent of his leather, his smoke, his steel. My heart ached at the idea of leaving him, especially now when we’d only just found our way back to each other. The six weeks had felt like years, like I’d known him all my life. It was not nearly long enough.
Forever wouldn’t even be long enough.
And now I would return to Isveig empty-handed. It was only a matter of time before he sent someone else to investigate the Isles, no matter what I told him. He would tear this land to shreds.
I couldn’t leave these people to that fate.
I pressed my lips together, then asked, “Did you withdraw from the Midsummer Games?”
“What?”
“You’re not there competing now, but did you formally withdraw?”
“No, but it doesn’t matter.” He tugged me closer, our hips locking together. “I may be fast, but I’m not fast enough for that. Besides, I need to take you to the harbor. You don’t know where it is.”
“I have an idea.” I smiled. “And you’re not going to like it.”
35
DAELLA
Rivelin stared in astonishment when I hauled myself onto Aska’s back. I gave her neck a quick rub as she slowly climbed to her feet, rolling off the last remnants of sleep. The warmth of her body enveloped me like an old hug, like one I’d known all my life, almost as familiar as my mother’s had once been.
“This isn’t the first time you’ve done this,” Rivelin murmured, noting how easily I settled in to the seat carved into her scales. “How?”
