Page 97 of Draekora

“Of course,” she said. “But… Not that I’m not grateful that you’re no longer attacking me over it, but why the sudden change of heart?”

Niyx took a moment to respond, choosing his words carefully. “The future I just saw, I don’t know how far away it is, but forever isn’t considered long for a race of eternal beings,” he said. “If you’re the only one who can stop that destruction befalling this world, then I’m going to do what I can to help you, even if that means I must relinquish my free will for the time being.”

Alex wasn’t sure if she’d heard him right. “You’re going towhat?”

“You said Roka isn’t training you properly because he’s afraid to hurt you, correct?”

Alex made an affirmative sound, not quite following.

“And as you’ve clearly seen, I hold no such reservations towards you.”

She nodded, still feeling the throbbing of the bruises.

“Then the logical conclusion is thatI’lltrain you so that you’ll be ready to fight this Meyarin when you return to the future,” he said. “Or at least be better prepared than you are now.”

Alex couldn’t believe the magnitude of what he was offering. It was actually the perfect solution, since she knew Niyx wouldn’t hold back like Roka did. And he’d clearly proven himself an expert swordsman. But still—

“I’m going to regret saying this,” Alex said, “but since you’re making that offer, I’m presuming you’d be equally willing to keep it secret along with everything else you’ve learned tonight. So why are you okay with me keeping my Claim on you until I leave?”

A strange glint came into Niyx’s eyes, part dangerous, part mischievous, as he reached for her wrist and pulled her non-scarred hand towards him. In a flash of movement he drew a hidden dagger from his belt and slashed it lightly across the back of her knuckles.

“Ow!” she cried, yanking her arm back and curling her other hand protectively over the wound. “What the hell, Niyx?”

In response, he held up his right hand. In the exact same spot as where he’d sliced open her skin, he had a matching cut on his flesh; his bleeding silver while hers bled red.

She looked from his hand to hers and back again. In a strangled voice, she asked, “What just happened?”

“The safest way for me to train you, especially if I’m not pulling my punches, is to know how injured you are, how much strength you have and how much further I can push you before you break,” Niyx said, tearing off part of his ripped shirt and reaching for Alex’s hand, tying the wet material around her cut before repeating the process with his own. “The bond between us will allow me to know all that without the guesswork in between.”

“That didn’t happen last time I was Claimed,” Alex responded shakily. But then again, neither Alex nor Aven had been injured while she was under the effect of his bond. She’d only been stabbed by A’enaraaftershe’d freed herself from Aven’s Claim.

“It wouldn’t have,” Niyx said, “because you didn’t perform the ritual, it was performedonyou.”

As if to help her understand, he pressed his dagger against his own flesh this time, on the skin further up his forearm. When blood started welling out, Alex turned to look along the line from her wrist to her elbow, but there was nothing there at all.

“I don’t understand,” Alex said. “Why do you get hurt with me, but I don’t get hurt with you?”

“That’s just the way the bond works,” he said. “It’s your life force that’s shared with me, not the other way around. That means what you feel, I feel. You healed me when you performed the Claiming ritual, but from what I understand, that’s a one-time deal, which is for the best since all that glowing was a bit too weird for me, if you know what I’m saying.”

Alex did. She absolutely did. But she still didn’t quite understand the rest. Even so, she let it go and summarised, “So if I get hurt, you get hurt, which is how you’ll know if you’ve pushed me too far in the training?”

Niyx nodded.

“And you’re willing to give up your freedom just so you can know how much pressure I can take?”

“It’s quite noble of me, if you think about it,” he said pensively. “Giving up my will in order to save the future of the world.”

Alex felt a crushing weight settle on her chest. “Niyx,” she said, “about the future—aboutyourfuture…”

She didn’t know what she was going to say, but in the end, she didn’t have to say anything.

“Don’t, Aeylia,” he said, reaching forward to press a finger to her lips. “I don’t want to know what my future is. I just want to make sure Idohave one, along with everyone else in Meya. Okay?”

Slowly, she nodded and he took his finger away. He then seemed to brace himself.

“Give the command,” he said, the light of the city casting shadows over his face. “Tell me to keep it all secret.”

“Ni—”

---