Page 128 of Of Blood and Banes
“So, if they speak to us…it establishes a bond?”
“Not quite. But it makes it much easier to do so. And in previous generations, humans have been known to exploit magic to bond a dragon.”
“Like through the Blood and Bone Ring?”
He shrugs. “I’m not quite sure how. The ways have been lost to translations. But that’s beside the point—what did it say to you?”
“It said for us to‘find him in there and set him free.’”
“Who’s he?”
I peer up at Daeja. “I have no idea.”
CHAPTER 41
BLOOD MAGIC
The horses whinny, throwing their heads back and scraping at the ground with their hooves, refusing to move further than the entrance of the bridge. Sethan scans the skies, the water, and the mountains around us.
“What is it?” I ask. “Why won’t they move?”
He shakes his head. “I’m not sure.”
The handlers attempt to get them to move, kicking into their sides, bribing them with apples, and hopping off to tug their reins forward. But nothing works.
“Commander?” one rider asks Sethan.
“They must sense something…” Sethan glances up to A’nala.
A’nala speaks, her voice echoing inside of my mind like a slippery snake. “A great tragedy has happened here. The horses can sense it, and they will not move forward. If you force them, you’ll spook them.”
Sethan directs two finger points at all of those aside from the dragon riders. “You all stay here with the horses and wagons. The rest of us will continue. If we aren’t back by tomorrow evening…”
All of them dip their heads, while our Arterian squad’s faces twist in disagreement. I turn to Sethan, tossing him a look until he rolls his eyes.
He groans. “Fine. Arterians may come with us, but we only have enough provisions to take ten into Vitalis.”
Easy enough for me to weigh in. “Marge, Cole, Archie, Melaina, Gavin, Nolan, and Darian.”
It’s Sethan’s turn to whip a pointed look at me. “That gives me only one other person to take with us.”
I shrug. “That’s who I choose.”
With a grumble, he motions to one of the dragon riders and we all gather at the edge of the bridge. Nolan seizes Darian’s shackles, and I help Marge to Daeja.
“I am perfectly capable of walking on my own,” Marge sneers.
“Yeah, but we won’t get there for another three days at your pace, Margie,” Darian taunts as Nolan tugs him by the chains past us.
I have to hide a laugh, because he’s right. Marge is the slowest one in the group, and at her pace we won’t have enough provisions to last us that long.
Marge swings out her staff, smacking Darian in the calf with mild effort. “Wretched boy.”
I pull her away from Darian before he decides to retaliate, and Daeja’s slight annoyance ticks in my side as if it were my own. Cole joins in to help Marge up into the saddle. After Marge is settled, he lifts me next, and I slide in behind Marge and clip her into the belt. Her narrowed side eye peers over her shoulder at me. But before she can try and decline the extra support from the belt, she faces forward, her old, withered hands gripping the saddle horns.
“If she falls off…I’m not stopping,”Daeja quips and begins to walk forward.
I snort, smacking Daeja’s shoulder playfully.“Stop it. Why do you hate her so much?”
