The Dracones
Chapter Twelve

I wake to the sound of people talking. I recognize the owners of the voices. Freiah and Trayvon are talking in hushed tones. “I’m telling you, Trayvon, there is nothing more I can do to help her. She’s suffering from dragons’ blood poisoning. I can only let her fight this off herself. You, on the other hand, can teach her to heal.”

“I can’t.” Trayvon snaps. “She’s too weak. Is there any place you can think of that can be of some help?”

“There is, but you’re not going to like it.” Freiah hesitates. “A town within the North District. Only one healer has been successfully known to heal this.”

It falls silent for the longest time. “Where is it?” There is a dark undercurrent in his voice.

“Niphi City.” She answers. “You need to take her there.”

“No,” Trayvon says quickly. “Absolutely not.”

“It’s her only chance at this point Trayvon. She would have healed just fine, if not for the Beltrise the Adversantem had given her, and the infection from her wounds. It stalled her system for far too long. You’re lucky that her fever burned off the Beltrise as quickly as it had.”

I hear him breathe long and hard through his nose. “How long does she have?”

“Three days at best Trayvon.” She falls silent and speaks when he doesn’t. “What is it that has you scared Tray? I’ve never seen you so nervous. Are you afraid she’d run?”

“No,” He sighs. “I’m afraid she’ll stay.”

That shocks me. Apparently, it had stunned Freiah as well. “What do you mean by that Trayvon? Don’t you want her to stay?”

“I do, but she’s barely surviving as it is. She’s been here less than a month and she’s very near death.” Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ FindNʘᴠᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Only because she was vulnerable. And even then, she saved herself. Your wound is testimony to that. She also held her own in the field and fought the Adversantem valiantly. She won. Her opponent is dead.”

“Don’t you understand Freiah? I’m the one that left her. I’m the one that she protected when Malbright swooped to grab us. I’m the one she had to fight because I got possessed.” He hesitates. “She told me not to leave Freiah.”

More silence follows. “You couldn’t have known about the Adversantem attack Trayvon. You are not to blame for this. She knew-” She hesitates.

Trayvon cut her off. “She knew what she was getting into?” His voice is now dark. “That’s just it Freiah, she didn’t. I never took the time to explain this to her. I didn’t even ask for her help. I was so obsessed with tracking her down, and bringing her back here, that I never took the time to see if she would help. To even get to know her.”

“What do you mean Trayvon?” Freiah demands. “Did you even ask her name before you took her?”

I hear cloth rub against the wall as someone sinks against it. “No. I nearly had her outside a bandit city, but she didn’t go through the city like I expected. She went through the canal. I...distracted that girl for nothing.” He breathes through his nose. “I followed her trail and lost it in the tracks of other horses when they met up with their clients. The man I had found on the ground was no help. I followed the wrong tracks to this prince’s place.”

Trayvon snorts. “He thought I was surprised the shooter was a woman. I was surprised that she had made the shot.”

He breathes out harder. “That only motivated me more, Freiah. Her skill is legendary in this land of hers. People would speak of her partner Ivan, and his hand going by the name of Kit. No one knew the girl and just gave credit to Ivan. It didn’t take me long to find the pattern and realize that it was Kit who did most of the stuff Ivan had supposedly pulled. Only they all believed it was this fellow by the name of Ivan. It was brilliant. She was protecting herself by shielding her name with Ivan’s.”

Trayvon sighs. “I finally caught up to her in Maycrest, and that was by sheer luck. I overheard two blokes calling themselves Coyotes gossiping about the Wolves’ involvement in Maycrest, and that Ivan was supposedly the one leading the charge.”

He hesitates. “I found her in this little rustic shop. She was in the attic and had just shot the king’s son in the calf, exposing his plans. I had just almost captured her when she surprised me and had me pinned and drugged in seconds.”

There is more silence before he speaks again. He breathes hard, trying to control something. “She was wearing a mask, to blend in with the festival that had been taking place. It was driving me mad. I had been hunting this girl for nearly a week and I couldn’t even see her face. I didn’t even know what this girl looked like. She just knelt over me and tried to get me to sleep, completely calm. Her sleeping draft was strong. It was working within seconds of meeting my blood.

“I would have slept, only my obsession was driving me insane. I had to at least know this little girl is the one I am after. I knew of only one way of finding it out and asked to see her hand. Eventually, she gave it to me.”

He breathes harder, it starting to grow faster. “When I knew it was the Dracones I was after I went insane. Anger ran through my system, and I ripped off her mask, finally facing that faceless creature that had been causing my mind so much torment. I was going for her. I was going to take her, but her draft had won.”

Trayvon gives a hard laugh. “You should have seen her face when she realized I escaped. She was so angry that I could see a fire in her eyes, though I was a few yards away.” He stops for a second. “I went nearly mad with the image of her face burned into my brain Freiah. I was more than obsessed with capturing this girl. I was a man consumed with just the idea of being even close to her.

“Since she kept slipping by me, I hired a bounty hunter to help me get to her. We found them while they set up camp. I watched her every second since I laid eyes on her. I even followed her when she headed off to bathe. I very nearly took her there, but she kept looking over her shoulder as if she could sense me watching.”

He stops again. “I just couldn’t attack her unarmed and unclothed Freiah. It didn’t seem right. I was going to take her when she was heading back to the camp, but Ivan kept listening and waiting for her like a good little partner.” He chuckles darkly. “When he left to shower, I just watched her, trying to figure out how this little girl was supposed to help us. She’s valuable there yes but what about here? I remembered her in the market then, when Gracial flew overhead. She didn’t hide but prepared to fight. She didn’t strike though, since Gracial appeared to be flying overhead instead of providing a distraction for me to hide.”

Trayvon breathes hard. “I grew angry at her and myself Freiah. I had tracked her for over a week and all I could do was stare at her. My obsession had finally waned, and my anger had peaked. I wanted to kill her as I watched her completely relaxed and just sitting there stitching, just waiting for her friend to return. What did this girl have that I didn’t have? What could have possibly possessed Nylarth to choose her? She appeared so weak and fragile as if a girl camping with her father. There was nothing stopping me from taking her.

“It was at that point that I was going to take her, but my companion stopped me. He wanted to wait for Ivan and claim the bounty on him. So that’s what we did. I watched her while we waited for her vanity-driven companion to return. My companion and I waited for them to sleep.”

“Trayvon,” Freiah warns. “Do not go there.”

He continued, ignoring her warning. “I watched her as she slept Freiah. I wanted to kill her for a split second. The bounty hunter woke her up before I could though, not that I was going to. She fought me, even though I had given her your sleeping draft, Ilrys. She punched me and had me on the ground in seconds. If the bounty hunter hadn’t shot her with a dart she’d have succeeded in escaping, or at least causing damage.”

Trayvon licks his lips. “The bounty hunter and I went our separate ways after I placed a dagger on Ivan. I was afraid of waking her. Every time she stirred; I would stick her with more Ilrys. Then I made the mistake of leaving to get some more firewood. She woke up.”

He chuckles. “She was terrified Freiah. She had no idea as to what was going on. No idea where she was or who I was. She didn’t even know what she was for Locksbeard’s sake Freiah. She didn’t know what an honor this was for her. She thought this was some kind of silly club or a twisted joke played by her friend Ivan. I tried to make her come with me since I had run out of darts, but she fought me and won easily.”

Trayvon chuckles darkly. “She had tossed me out of the cave, so I made Gracial go after her. She escaped and I still have no idea how. I was so angry when I realized this. I started thinking that perhaps Nylarth made the right choice. But I was so angry and my obsession with taming her started to grow Freiah. I needed to capture her and break her down. Make her into what I am. A broken and trained soldier, like the other Dracones before me.

“It took me hours to find her and that is only because Alienis told us where she was. He had established a link with her. They were communicating, she could even understand Gracial in the cave, only I didn’t fully realize it until then. I became angry and jealous then. I had to break her. I had to keep her with me Freiah. You have no idea what relief came through me when I found her sitting by the window that day I brought her here. Or when she had two beaten and bloody men at her feet when I realized they’d have someone waiting to kill her. It wasn’t because she was alive. It was because I could still break her and mold her into myself.

“Only the other day when she nearly died, before all of this mess, did I realize I hadn’t been succeeding. Just the opposite, she’s been changing me. When she saved my life on that cliff, I realized I had done this to her. I had been so obsessed with breaking her and making her become me, that I prevented her from being able to protect herself. And yet, somehow, she is still breathing and fighting for herself. She had been so insistent that I checked on Alienis, not caring for herself. She wasn’t thinking of herself or her home anymore. She was thinking of her dragon. She was playing a Dracones role without truly being one. I truly hated her there for a moment.

“It wasn’t until last night that I realized my actions were hurting her. That my anger and growing jealousy and hatred had blinded me so much that the Adversantem was able to control me. And that she, yet again, rescued herself without aid from me. I’m killing her Freiah. What I am is killing her. She may be a Dracones, but she’s not broken and forced into this life as I am. She still fights. Even in death she fought and came back. If she stays with me, Freiah, I’ll get her killed. Her only chance of survival from the Adversantem, and me, is to stay in the north.”

Freiah slightly hesitates before speaking. “You realize your actions Trayvon. That is what is important.”

“You asked me if I even asked her, her name, Freiah, before I took her,” Trayvon says in a hard tone. “I hadn’t. I knew who she was, but she never knew who I was until she was mine.” I hear him stand. “I’ll get the dragons ready. We’ll leave at first light.” I then hear a set of feet stomping off, whom I assume is Trayvon. I hear Freiah sigh and walk away in the opposite direction.

I sigh and look at the ceiling. Looks like I’m going home, and I have a lot to think about.

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