Page 150 of Salt in the Seas
He realized it too.Wait.
The tension remained, and Aeliana sensed she could return to Durriken and relieve the tension, or she could continue leaving and permanently snap whatever bound them. Perhaps not the brand, but the other thing that now tied them together.
Either direction would give her room to breathe, space to think. But she didn’t want that. Sitting in this tension gave her an alertness, and this decision would require focus.
I don’t know much about tethering either.Durriken’s admission held a foreign humbleness.I refused it long before the Great Divide, when I saw the corruption of men. There were none I wished to be tied to in that way. My family chose differently.
Aeliana sensed the dragon go completely still, and she longed to sit with him and lean against him, because the pain that coursed through him now crossed the tether and poured into her. The tension abated as she subconsciously drew closer.
You lost them.She shouldn’t have been surprised. He was the last dragon, but that didn’t mean he’d always been the only dragon.How did they die?
They didn’t all die. My father died in this last span of time. His tether snapped with the Great War, when his half-light died, and he was never thesame after. My mate and hatchling… as far as I know, they could still be alive. At least, they were when I last saw them. The Stars put the barriers in place to punish their descendants. But the half-lights aren’t the only ones who were sentenced to a prison that day.
Understanding left her more than just curious. The longing that coursed through him filled her as well, along with a frightening flicker of hope, one that felt too dangerous to fan.
Which side of the barrier are they on?
He growled in frustration.My guess would be Dehvlon. That’s where we nested. But it’s a harsh land with little to sustain dragons. It’s full of burrowers and caves that are not fit for creatures who fly.
She wondered why a dragon would bother nesting in such a place, but as if he heard her question, the answer came.
It’s also not fit for half-lights. It provided plenty of solitude.
She let him sit in his grief for a moment, but her need for knowledge eventually bubbled to the surface.What else do you know about Dehvlon?
With that question, a dozen others poured out of Aeliana. She told Durriken of their time on Sayhla Island, the emotions she’d felt through it all crossing through their connection the same way his had. The shared empathy somehow made their tether feel stronger, but also less constricting. Durriken told her of Adella and Ahndru, and how from a distance he’d seen their grandfather move them to another city, away from the beast that had murdered their parents. She took on his loneliness the same way he absorbed her sorrow.
Instead of feeling tied down to the dragon, she felt anchored, and she sensed the agitation she’d carried with her over the past several days slowly abating. Perhaps she hadn’t really been so frustrated over her lack of options, but rather, subconsciously, she’d been growing agitated over her lack of contact with Durriken.
My knowledge holds no power.Durriken’s admission dripped with regret.I know nothing of a curse that binds lives. And the Dehvlonian Oracles are still out of my reach.The barriers rise above the highest distance I can fly.
She’d suspected he’d attempted such a thing, but it was stilldisappointing to have him confirm it.Can you travel across the barrier with the starbridge?
I’m willing to try.Something in his voice made it clear he held no hope, and she couldn’t blame him. The starbridges seemed to be connected to the people groups they’d been created for. It made her want to test one on Felk too. Perhaps if they landed across the barrier with a dragon and a winex, things would go better from the start.
We plan to cross that barrier next, Durriken.Her promise felt thin, but it was all she could offer.If the starbridge can’t take you there, I will find your family.
Knowing they’re safe would be good.
Aeliana sensed the half-truth in his words.But not as good as being reunited with them?
The hum of his agreement was like the purr of a kitten that she felt from her head to her toes.
The barriers need to come down.Durriken’s thought was a whisper between them, an echo of Orra’s premonition.
I think you’re right. But in the meantime, can you check on my mother? Make sure the fortress is still secure?
Durriken rumbled his assent.
As Durriken took flight toward the Myndren Mountains, Aeliana let herself fade from his mind, loosening the tether but not fully letting it go. She blinked against the darkness at the forest’s edge near Bayla’s home, her eyes never quite adjusting because she no longer had Durriken’s vision.
And still she sensed the tether, a tiny thing niggling at the back of her mind, always present like a safety net rather than an invasive brand. Was it possible the tether could grow strong enough that the brand wouldn’t be needed? A warmth settled deep inside her, a strange peace that didn’t abate even with the disappointing realization that she was back at square one, with no way of finding out how to break the curse.
As she rose, a strange whimper met her ears. She went still, glancing at the new moon. Were there baby winex nearby?
She followed the sound deeper into the woods, always wary of the distance behind her. The winex weren’t dangerous at this point in theircycle, but that didn’t mean there weren’t other predators about looking to take advantage of their newborn state. But as the sound grew louder, she hesitated, recognizing it wasn’t winex. In fact, she suspected it wasn’t an animal at all.
It sounded like a person.
