Page 88 of Ashborne: Defiance

I shoved up and away, out of Kham’s embrace, tearing my gaze from hers and railing at my body to relax as my heart thundered in my head and I scrambled to get away.

“I need to walk.”

“But, the rain—”

“I’ll be fine,” I said, too sharply, turning away from her so she wouldn’t see the telltale bulge in my leathers, pretending I searched for something in my bag. “Rest while you can. You’re going to do well. I’ll tell the captains that you have a warrior’s heart. The wing leaders will fight to adopt you into their squads.” And your so-called brothers will fight to make you theirs.

She sat up and for a moment I was terrified she’d follow me into the rain. I set my jaw and she hesitated.

“You really mean that? You really think that?” she murmured, her eyes big and round and pleading with me.

“I do. And yes, you are.”

“Voski… Thank you.”

I froze again, gaping at her over my shoulder.

I should tell her she was welcome. I should compliment her, because I was impressed. But I couldn’t.

‘Truth is truth, even when inconvenient.’

‘Please, Kham. Not now.’

My dragon rumbled, but I forced myself to move, patted his rump, and stepped out from under the shelter of his wing.

“Sleep,” I instructed her sharply. “The dragons will watch over you.”

“What will you do?”

“Sometimes, I just need to move,” I said abruptly, pulling up the collar of my jacket as I stepped into the rain. I thought she’d just take my order and curl up for sleep, so I was half a dozen steps away before she answered.

“I know how that feels. I hope you find what you need,” she said quietly. So quietly, I shouldn’t have heard it.

Yet, it echoed in my head.

I looked over my shoulder, away from her, glaring back at my dragon, because that was his work.

But Kham had his head buried under Koa’s wing. So, I walked on and didn’t look back again.

Much, much later, I finally slept in the curl of my dragon’s foreleg, and dreamed of a whistling, drafty castle that felt familiar, though I couldn’t name it. I was looking for something, but even though I could sense it drawing me forward, always forward, I never found it.

As I moved through those chambers and the tall, dusty corridors, I heard Kham outside the castle, calling. But he couldn’t speak into my mind. I picked up my pace, convinced at every corner, and every door, I would find what I sought just one step further.

But it all turned to nothing. Each room empty. Every doorway leading to another.

Every drawer and shelf dark, dusty, hollow.

After what seemed like hours of searching, I heard Kham’s roar outside and startled—

—and sat bolt upright, sweaty and panting. My lungs inflated, but took nothing from the air. I threw out an arm to find Kham’s shoulder, his long neck curling to bring his eye even with mine.

‘It was the dream. And you shut me out once more. Even in your sleep, you keep me out. Why? What do you believe you must hide, even from me?’

‘Nothing. Nothing, Kham. It’s just a dream.’

The dream wasn’t new. I’d had it for years. And it bothered Kham every time it happened. I was always unsettled by it, but I told myself it was nothing.

Except, one small detail had changed tonight.