Page 61 of Phixmery

I can’t breathe. The breath I was trying to take hitches in my throat as his finger runs down to the chain around my neck and along my collar bone. His eyes widen as he stares at my necklace, before bouncing back to my face. A look of shock and disbelief crosses his features before he masks it.

The door slams open and Nero flies in, heading straight for Verlice’s face, Ember and Melissandre running in after him.

“Ravina! Are you okay? What happened?” Mel shouts before realizing that our Sergeant is standing against my naked form with only his shirt covering the front of me.

Nero makes contact, sending him flying backwards as he scratches up his face, aiming for the scar on his bad eye.

“Nero wait!” He swoops, flying back over to me but not taking his beady black eyes off the male. “He saved me, believe it or not.”

His eye twitches as the scratches Nero inflicted drip red. “Well, I believe you have it handled here. Keep the shirt.” His gaze brushes over me once more and he strides out of the bathroom, his boots thumping heavily against the stone, echoing the further away he gets.

“Why did you stop me, Rav? I was so close to collecting my first official eye,” Nero pouts, panic and so much anger coursing through his small feathered body.

Ember takes a step closer, her eyes lingering on the bloodied wound on the side of my head. “Did he do that? You said he saved you?” Her body is vibrating with Vopn Fö rage, her magick practically coating my tongue.

I shake my head, clutching his shirt to me. “It was Cresida and Evera. I guess they saw me coming in here and decided it would be fun to try to take my ear. He came in before they could finish and kicked them out.”

Mel gestures to my naked form and thankfully doesn’t ask about the scars—neither of them do. “And you’re naked because…?”

“They incinerated my clothing and towels. Now if you don’t mind turning around, I would like to put this on.” I raise my brow and they spin, Mel smoothing her giggles which surprisingly lightens the mood. I know she’s just dying to ask me about what they walked—well, ran in on.

As quickly as possible, I slide the fabric over my head, the bottom of the tunic brushing against the tops of my knees, and I catch a whiff of crisp ocean air and mint. Unable to stop myself, I inhale deeply and something settles in me.

When I glance back up, Mel is smirking and Ember is gone.

She notices my questioning gaze and answers, “She went to grab you a pair of pants. We figured you wouldn’t want to go back with everything exposed.” My scars. “So, you and the Sergeant, huh?” She wags her brows.

“There’s nothing there,” I state succinctly, leveling her with a glower that hopefully gets my point across. It doesn’t.

Her grin widens. “Really? Because to me it looked like he wanted to devour you right then and there.” When I don’t say anything, keeping the ‘would you shut up’ expression on my face, she sighs. “Come on. While we wait for her to get back, we should clean your ear, and get the blood off your face.”

I know she’s right.. It would only just raise more questions considering Nero probably woke everyone up, trying to get to me.

Nero shuffles on my shoulder. “I may have started pecking them until they woke up, and then it was a massive game of figuring out what the bird was trying to tell them. I wasn’t sure what was happening until I felt the panic… It reminded me of before.” In Shalo, the iron I’m assuming.

I stroke his feathers, letting the warmth from him soothe me as I move over towards the mirror. Mel has grabbed another towel and is wetting it as she gently removes the dried blood from my face.

She hisses. “Those bitches used iron? How did they even get a hold of something like that? It’s forbidden in Phixmery.”

I don’t reply, because I don’t have an answer. She goes back to working in silence and I barely hear Ember come back. Throwing on the pants, I feel safer, and we quietly make our way back up to our squad chambers. I ignore the questioning stares from the others and Lennox quietly whispers to Bracken when he tries to come to me. I couldn’t care. The smell of the soft ocean breeze is making me more drowsy than I care to be.

As I crawl into bed, Nero hops close to me on his perch. “Go to sleep, Rav. I’ll wake you if anything happens, okay?”

I think I respond, but before I know it, I’m out.

I’M PULLED INTO the wintry dreamscape so quickly it’s almost startling. Snow falls rapidly around me, yet it’s not cold. I’m as warm as I would be nestled in my bed. I glance around and I don’t need to wait long for the white dragon to appear, although this time he’s flying in at an incredible speed, faster than I’ve ever seen a dragon fly through the sky before. And I’ve seen quite a few while at Phixmery.

He lands shockingly gracefully as he steps towards me, lowering his snout a few feet from my face. “Where have you been, Little Dream? You’re not where you’re supposed to be. I told you to leave Phixmery.”

“I will be leaving, after The Choosing. I need to learn how to use my magick, and then I’m keeping my promise to my mother, making sure no one ever discovers who I am,” I snap back at the pushy beast.

His head pulls back, towering above me, but his red eyes narrow. “Your mother made you promise that? No, you’re needed once the war is done. You have responsibilities. You need to leave before you’re killed. It’s not safe there.”

My arms cross over my chest. Why am I arguing with a figment of my imagination? “Why isn’t it safe here? I’ve been careful. We only have a month until The Choosing, and no one has figured out the full truth yet. I’ve chosen the easiest faction, and when it’s time, my friends and I—if they want to come—are leaving.”

The dragon paces, blowing light blue steam from his nostrils before stopping in front of me again. “Friends? Is this what they need to speak with me about? They can’t know about you yet; it will throw everything off,” he mutters, to himself, I think?

Is it possible to go insane in your dream? Because I think I might be. I furrow my brows at the large beast, wondering what he’s going on about. Maybe this is my way of working things out, or maybe it was a result of last night in the shower.

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