Page 154 of Upon Buried Embers
I glance at the dragon in question, his purple eye on us. “He was in The Glade?”
“He lived there.”
No wonder he flew off as soon as he was here, and he’s comfortable with Frelia. He knows them.
“He was furious, of course.” Rohan continues. “Who dares enter his presence without his say so?” I laugh, and Rohanechoes it. Drogonah growls. “But I stared at him, uncaring, standing my ground and he must have seen something in me, because I left a Dragonbond, Morana’s magic binding us.”
I listen to his every word, fascinated with his story.
“I never wanted to become a leader, but my mother vowed I would become a mighty Dragonbond someday.”
“She was right,” I say softly, and he glances at me.
“I hope so,” his reply is just as quiet.
“How do you bond?” My hand goes to the ribbons on his arm.
“You are full of questions tonight,” he hums, clearly amused. He looks up at the night sky, arms resting behind his head. “The dragon begins it, and their chosen ends it. We don’t speak of it, the bonding is generally a private thing between those involved.” He lifts an arm and looks at the ribbon wrapped around it. “Drogonah didn’t do anything but stare at me, and I stared back.”
“Really?”
“Really. And then I cut my palm and placed it upon his chest, completing the binding.”
“What about…” I start, wanting to know but afraid to ask, looking at his forearms. Knowing that the scars are hidden beneath them.
Rohan glances at me, and he must see the question in my eyes. “Drogonah is the largest dragon, fierce. Known for many others failing to bond with him. Many have gone up to him and tried—and failed, frightened to ever attempt it again after he scared them off. So when I walked out of The Glade, Drogonah at my back, it’s hard to deny that I’m a Dragonbond, scales or no scales in place.”
That makes sense.
“That’s all it takes? Just walking up to a dragon to see if they will bond you?”
He shakes his head. “It’s more than that. It’s like these tiny invisible strands wrap around you both, unseen but tied. Unbreakable, yet fragile in the right circumstances.”
“It can break?”
“It can. Though it doesn’t kill them if they break it, and they can bond to someone else to become a Dragonbond. Though there’s only one instance I know of that had a bond broken.”
“Who?”
He smiles sadly. “My mother.”
His mother was a Dragonbond, I realize. The last leader of the Blackscale Clan.
I curl up next to Rohan, my hand wrapping around his forearm. “That makes me sad.”
“It was sad,” he mutters before taking a deep breath.
“What happened to her dragon? Your mother’s?”
He sighs. “I hoped she would be free to go where she pleased.”
“I hope they’re okay.”
“She. She’s female.”
“What was her name?”
“Herja.”
