Page 90 of Draekora

“Of course it’s occurred to me,” Roka returned instantly. “But short of conscripting him unwillingly into service, there’s nothing I can do. He has towantto becomeZeltora. No one can make him. And believe me, Aeylia, with his history, the chance of him ever making that decision seems impossible to me, regardless of what you imply the future holds. He wasn’t always a criminal, you know. As much as I disagree with what he does, I can’t blame him for travelling down that path, not after everything that happened to him.”

Alex didn’t like the sound of that at all. “What are you talking about? What happened to him?”

Roka shook his head. “That’s not my story to share, nor do I even know the full extent of it. Just trust me when I say I’m doing everything to follow through on my end of the deal to convince him to join the ranks of the guard, but at the end of the day, I can only do so much. The rest is up to him.”

While frustrated, Alex nodded reluctantly. “Okay, fine. I’ll leave that one with you,” she said. “And since you’re deserting me, what are my chances of convincing you to fight me properly now, enough that I at least get a bruise to show we actuallyfought? Consider it a gift to apologise for your upcoming negligence. What do you say?”

“Onlyyouwould consider the idea of me injuring you a gift.”

“Punched with love,” Alex said solemnly, but she was unable to keep a straight face when Roka rolled his eyes.

“Here’s a compromise,” he said. “If you can disarm me in the next ten minutes, I’ll give you one match with a real sword before we call it quits for the night.”

“That’s not a compromise,” Alex argued. “You know there’s no way I’ll be able to disarm you.”

“Take it or leave it, Aeylia.”

“This is a sucky deal,” she grumbled in acceptance.

She tried her best to disarm him, but with his strength and agility so completely natural to him, all he had to do was duck and dodge and swivel away from her, keeping her at arm’s length the whole time. She didn’t come close to separating him from his sword, let alone landing a single hit on him.

With an apologetic shrug at the end of the ten minutes, he promised to dedicate more time to their sparring once he returned. He then squeezed her shoulder, knowing how unsatisfied she was, and escorted her to her room.

Disappointed and edgy with unused adrenaline, Alex knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep anytime soon. She needed to go out and clear her head, get some fresh air. Ideally, she would love to go flying with Xiraxus, but when she called to him, he warned her that a storm was coming and unless she wanted to risk ending up on the back of a roasted chicken, she would have to wait until it passed.

Sighing, Alex stepped out onto her balcony and looked off into the night. True enough, far on the horizon beyond the Golden Cliffs and distant forests she saw the tell-tale flash of lightning high up in the sky. But it was still a long way from reaching them.

Coming to a quick decision, Alex grabbed a cloak and stepped out of her room. Still attuned to her Meyarin senses from her time with Roka, she called up theValispath, directing it until she came to a rest atop the cliffs overlooking the city.

Taking a seat on the edge of the rocky precipice, Alex pushed back her hood to feel the night breeze in her hair and brazenly dangled her legs over the side, confident for once in her ability to call up the Eternal Path again should the ledge crumble beneath her.

Looking down, she chuckled at the memory of her first experience using theValispath, when the future Kyia deviously made Alex, Jordan, Bear and D.C. jump off the cliffs and onto the invisible Path. Alex now knew that the stunt hadn’t been necessary at all, since Kyia could have easily activated theValispathfrom atop the cliffs—or even back at Raelia—and saved them all from shaving ten years off their lives from shock alone.

Feeling nostalgic, Alex wondered what her friends would be doing right now if they weren’t frozen in time; if Bear and D.C. would be busy concocting plans between classes to rescue both Jordan and herself. She knew they wouldn’t give up on either of them, that her friends would travel to the end of the world if it meant the four of them could be together again.

A sick taste entered Alex’s mouth as she thought about Jordan and the horrors he’d endured being bonded to Aven for a number of weeks before the showdown in Raelia. More than ever before, she was determined to save him from being Claimed. She just had to figure out how to convince Aven to willingly Release him.

With her thoughts drifting over her parents, her teachers—and lingering perhaps a little too long on Kaiden—Alex sat for what might have been hours, watching the moonlight bounce off the Myrox. Even when the storm clouds started rolling over, the brilliance of the city didn’t dim, so radiant was the silvery metal on its own.

When Alex felt a water droplet tickle and roll down her forehead, she knew it was time to head back to the palace, unwilling to linger further and risk having to use theValispathin the impending electrical storm.

Carefully wiggling away from the edge, Alex made sure she was stable enough before she pushed up to her feet. As she did so, the rain started sprinkling, not quite heavy yet, but enough to be a nuisance. Since she’d been sitting there for so long, she had to take a few moments to clear her mind and tune into her Meyarin senses again, and when she did, she was just about to activate theValispathwhen a noise caused her to pause.

It sounded like a moan, coming from the forest.

Frowning, Alex channelled her inner B-grade-horror-movie skills and called out, “Hello? Is someone out there?”

When no answer came, she figured her imagination had been playing a trick on her, but then she heard it again, followed by what sounded like something crashing through the bushes.

Not sure whether to take off or investigate, she didn’t have time to make a decision before a dark figure stumbled out of the dense trees, collapsing in a heap barely ten feet from where she stood.

That was the moment the heavens decided to open, the rain falling down in earnest now as a crackle of thunder rumbled overhead and the storm blew in at an alarming speed. But Alex didn’t move,couldn’tmove, because a flash of lightning highlighted with startling clarity exactly who the figure was.

It was Niyx.

And he was covered in blood.

Twenty-Eight

---