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“Da?” I began, but he was mumbling to himself, pulling our exhausted horses out of their stalls and throwing both me and our bags on the back.
“Go. Now.” He gave my hair another look and then grabbed my reins, pulling me and my horse out of the stables after him, as if he was afraid he would lose me.
My ass quickly reminded me of how sore it was, not having enough rest since the last time we rode the horses. I couldn’t even enjoy the city now, even if it was haunting in the inky silence. The only sound was the clop of our horses, and the endless muttering from Da as he pulled me forward at a pace that was only going to drive our horses to an early grave.
He was starting to scare me, his frantic gazes, the way he was looking everywhere.
“Are you okay?” I hissed, leaning over my saddle. He gave me one look before he turned away.
“I will be once we get you where you belong.”
My heart sank and I sat back. Where I belong.
We left Xrotte through a different gate, coming out facing the massive mountains. From down here, the towering peaks were even more dark and looming, we might have been riding into a dark gash in the earth. The peaks had already swallowed the sun, I could see the faint glow of it around its rocky spires as it tried to escape, the jagged lines cutting over the shimmering stars. It should have been beautiful. I was horrified.
“Stay with me, Rayna.” We raced toward the mountains and what I could only assume was death as the forest line grew closer, darker. The trees truly were bigger than I could have ever imagined. The little bit of light source we did have from our lanterns did nothing to help break through the wall of darkness waiting to welcome us.
“Maybe waiting during the day would be better,” I mumbled to myself, as my horse slowed.
“It’s going to be a long journey and we need to cover as much ground as we can.”
I snorted, there was no way in hell I was going to believe that lie. “Admit it, you just want to outrun the dragons.”
Da scowled at me, his face angry shadows in the lantern light. “I know this is hard for you to understand, Rayna, but once we get there and you meet your dragon. Your mate. You’ll understand. You only get one, and I don’t want you to ruin that. Staying pure until reaching your training is imperative, and we can’t ruin your future over the first dragon you meet.”
I was too tired to fight him, so I kept my mouth shut. Pure. If he was right, then why did it feel all wrong? When I met Landers, it felt like I was given back a part of myself that I had lost. Now that I was away from him, now that there was so much distance between us, it felt like I lost it all over again.
I stared down at my reins, trying to use my short but explosive moment with Landers as a distraction when a sound caught my attention. It was a loud rustling, almost covered by the wind, but not quite quiet enough. I looked around briefly, but the sound had gone. It was only crickets and hooves in the dark.
“Da?” My voice shook as the wind blew by again, the same sound carried with it.
A rustle, but not a natural one. It was off somehow, going against the usual cadence of the forest.
Da turned to me, but he didn’t seem to notice it. He just continued forward, toward the sun that was beginning to cast light all around us, giving everything a warm gray hue.
“We’ll enter from up ahead. Another thirty minutes or so, then we’ll be in the forest.”
I only nodded, still staring around us. It was still happening. The wind would blow, I’d hear that unnatural rustling, and then as soon as the gust of wind stopped, it’d be silent.
Like the wind itself was coming closer. No, like someone was traveling inside of it.
Da had talked about it before, using the wind to your advantage during hunts to help sneak up on a target.
Something was coming, and we were the target.
“Da?” I called out, my anxiety slipping into my voice.
“What?”
“Something is in the wind.”
He twisted toward me as the wind blew. The sound roared to life, as he listened.
Da shook his head. “What are you talking about? There’s nothing there.”
“No, Da–”
“Rayna, we’re near the forest. Stop playing games. We need to keep moving. This trip isn’t going to be easy for you, but once it’s over, you’ll understand why I pushed you like this. You’ll meet your dragon and bond, and you’ll train as a rider. But until then, you need to hang in there—”
