Page 37 of Terragnata and the Heir of the Earth

I swore under my breath.Could he accidentally shift from being too worked up in a dream state?

I crawled to him and gave him a gentle shake by the shoulders. “Ezren,” I whispered, “Ezren, you’re dreaming.” He stirred, slowly pulled from the grips of his nightmare. “Wake up,” I pleaded. His eyes fluttered open, sleepy at first and then wide with terror. For a moment, I thought he would push me off or attack. But he only shuttered his velvet eyes once more and let out a long breath, his body relaxing into the ground. I could have sworn I saw two tears escape down the sides of his temples before he pulled me into his chest, his hand on my mid back, gentle. My mouth fell open at the smooth and natural move, more familiar than he’d ever been with me. And maybe it was the shock—but I went willingly, laying my ear on his heart, absorbing its elevated beat. He fell back asleep, soft snores evidence of a more peaceful rest than before, and I wondered if he was ever fully awake to begin with.

Despite my acute awareness of our close proximity, it lulled me to sleep. The next time I woke, I was back on my own bedroll, with Parson asleep beside me and the fierce-eyed Dragon Fae nowhere in sight.

The following few days,Ezren continued to ignore me, but his energy seemed softer. I knew for sure it was him who left me food each morning, him who rolled up my bedroll if I went to relieve myself before packing my saddle bags. He always stayed near but never too close, and though part of me was driven insane by it, the other part of me relaxed into the routine. At least it didn’t feel like the dead of winter in his presence. He was kind, but seemingly uninterested. Something held him back. I had to accept that.

“We will crest the top of the final peak today,” Jana said to Parson while we rode. “After that, we descend toward the valley.”

Parson only grunted in response. We were all weary from almost a week of riding through the steep, rocky cliffs. Jana wanted us to cross many miles south of the sea, to deny Fayzien the advantage of nearby water should we meet him.

I had seen glimpses of the Nameless Valley through small clearings in the trees or trail bends around the mountain. The vast arid landscape that I knew as the Endless Ocean actuallylookedlike an ocean, in a way. The plain spread wide, barren of trees and boundless. Something struck me every time I laid eyes on it; the valley felt wrong… as if it dipped below the sea level, and I wondered if they withheld some detail about the place—a piece of the puzzle that was missing.

“Terra,” Parson said, snapping my attention up. “Be on alert. This is no time for daydreaming.” His eyes shifted to the warrior behind me, and I turned back on instinct.

Ezren’s gaze narrowed on me. Over the last few weeks, I had done my best to resolve my mind and train my emotions to accept the Dragon as a neutral protector. But just then, the wind blew past him, sending his scent to me. Piñon and the forest after rain. I’d noticed his scent before, in a subtle way, but this time it hit me like a wall. I faced forward, my skin beginning to itch as the friction of the saddle beneath my womanhood became quickly unbearable.

Parson cocked his head at me, his nose crinkling. “Are you all right, Terra?”

I nodded, gritting my teeth, attempting to survive whatever bizarre reaction my body was having. Then his eyes widened, and he whipped back forward, the tips of his ears reddening.

I continued to breathe through the reaction, and eventually the discomfort reduced from acute to bearable. As weapproached the Nameless Valley, the energy turned tense in our group. Ezren remained a bit closer and Parson a bit more watchful. Quiet chatter grew into sharp silence. I tensed, too, seeing each rock as a weapon, each tree as potential shrapnel.

We stopped to gather and hunt once more before crossing over to the other side of the mountain for our descent. It was Parson’s turn to search for game, and Ezren’s to hold my sack of berries and root vegetables. I could’ve just summoned them, but Jana insisted we conserve all magic, even when I argued that using mine made me feel stronger.

I searched for anything in the rock rubble that lived above the tree line. Finally, I found a patch of fungi that I knew would be delicious with whatever rabbit Parson caught, and I yelped with glee. Ezren dashed to my side at once, eyes wild in search of danger.

I just looked at him and laughed, shaking my head at how on edge he was. This seemed to irritate him, and he broke his silence.

“What?” he demanded, his arms folded across his chest.

His direct address caught me off guard, and it dawned on me how starved of his voice I’d been.

“Oh, now you speak to me.” I snorted, turning back to the mushrooms. He walked over and said nothing, opening up the sack for me to place my spoils into. His scent hit me again, and the itching on my body resumed. I clamped my jaw shut and only took small necessary sips of air until I finished loading the sack and stood.

He turned and made to walk away.

“What do you dream about, Ezren?” The words escaped me before I had time to process them. There had been more of his nightmares, and I always woke him with my touch. But I’d never stayed with him again like I had that first night. “It’s my turn to ask a question.”

The Dragon froze. After a few long moments, he took what seemed to be a pained breath and turned to face me. “I dream of your screams, Terra. I hear them, the ones from the cleansing, the ones from the crevice, over and over again. And I hear ones that I know you have not yet let out but that will come. And I wake, in terror, that I will be able to do nothing to stop them.”

“Why?” I asked softly, feeling my face redden. “Why do you dream of me if you can’t bear to speak to me? If you were so repulsed by my touch when Leuffen saw us?”

I could sense the stillness in him now, unmoving. “Not your turn.” His stony expression gave nothing away, but a whisper of challenge laced his words.

I crossed my arms and shrugged my shoulders at him to go on.

His eyes danced. “Why do you think I dream of you?”

My heart thundered in my chest.

“That’s not a fair question,” I whispered, retreating a step.

Ezren took a step forward. “Fine. How do youthinkI feel about you, then, Terra?” His voice was near a growl.

“How you feel about me?” My breath hitched. “You barely look at me. You—youleftwhen I had tohumiliatemyself in front of everyone by recounting what happened with Fayzien.” I threw my hands in the air. “I suppose you’re kind, but uninterested.”

Darkness flickered in Ezren’s expression. “No one has ever accused me of being kind. And for what it’s worth, I left that room so I wouldn’t destroy it.”

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