Page 19 of Dragon Fight

Pippin!Glimmer cried.

Despite my best intentions, I lost my grip—my fingers were numb from holding on and had been torn bloody from the reins sawing on them, lost their grip The power of Whiskey’s momentum sent me hurtling through the air. I had no time to do more than pull my injured hands towards my chest before I slammed into the earth and stones with brutal efficiency. Every breath was driven from my lungs, so I couldn’t cry out as it felt like all of my bones shattered simultaneously. I just lay there, blinking, unable to even draw a breath, my eyes filling with tears as everything swung around and around. I caught sight of my men rushing over, right before the world turned black.

13

My first awareness of regaining consciousness was that my world was somehow composed entirely of pain. I existed in darkness that was being cut by knives of searing agony. I shifted restlessly on the bed and an inadvertent whine escaped me as my face contorted in response.

“Gods, Pippin!”

My eyes opened but a crack to see a dark figure rush forward.Ged. He squeezed my hand and, while it hurt, his touch somehow eased as much pain as it caused. I still whimpered though, unable to do anything to control my reactions. All I could do was feel: feel his touch, feel all the places my body was hurting, feel everything that wasn’t right. Even the sheets and the soft mattress were too hard; everywhere they touched me, I ached.

“It’ll be alright, love,” he told me in a desperate voice, stroking his hand across my forehead. The quaver in his voice robbed me of any sense of assurance from what he said. “All will be well.”

“She’s awake?” Another gruff voice. This time it was Soren’s. This was followed by a desperate squawk and the shuffling sound of scales against cloth. “I had to bring the little queen. She’s been beside herself since Pippin was injured. Apparently, she’s been trying to claw through the front door. Cloudy was about to burn it down to let her in.”

“Of course, he was. Gently, little queen. Your mistress is hurting very much.”

But she already knew that.Pippin. Her voice was sharp and imperious inside my aching head.Pippin. Pippin!

Hurts!was all the reply I managed.

Glimmer seemed to not care about that as she climbed her way onto my chest, her weight forcing a long groan from me. I couldn’t hold her, couldn’t be her bondmate, not when I was stuck so deep in my own pain. And she was only adding to it. She was heavy enough normally, and too much for me now. I tried to reach up to push her off, but my hands moved in a clumsy, ill coordinated way, barely pawing at the air.

Then the pain must go, she announced, as if that was the way it worked.

Didn’t she understand how much I wanted that? My body was a cage of agony, every move, every breath, causing me to regret it. But she was merciless. I heard the sound of her low hum as it twined with my moans, but not for long. That sound—her song— always seemed to vibrate through me and the effect as she crouched on my chest was more pronounced than ever. Stronger, deeper voices joined hers from beyond the walls, and the resonance carried me up and out of my suffering. My hands relaxed onto the coverlet as my fingers lost the claw-like rigidity they’d taken on as I’d tried to endure the torment. My back sank into the bed rather than tensing in anticipation of another wave of pain. The tight bands around my head melted away. Once I was able to think with clarity, I opened my eyes.

Ged, Soren, and Kay, Brom’s mother, were standing around the bed with their mouths wide open. And why shouldn’t they? It wasn’t every day you saw the healing power of a golden dragon’s song, as she glowed brighter and brighter, filling the air with motes of gilt light. The light and the sound together seemed to be driving the pain from me with every breath I took. My dragon sang and sang, her eyes focussed entirely on mine until finally I let a long breath out, the last of the pain going with it.

“You are well?!” Kay’s question was one part stunned shock and one part hopeful plea. She stepped forward to cautiously put her hand on my forehead. When I neither winced nor whimpered, nor showed any sort of pain response, she ran her hands down my arms, pulling the covers back to let in a blast of cool air and their collective gaze. “The bruises are gone. The broken bones…” She looked around for answers but she didn’t get any.

“We must never speak of this, Lady Emberly,” Soren said, in his best drill sergeant voice. It was soft enough to be respectful, but the expectation was clear.

“And what would I say?” Her hands fluttered in the air before she laid them on her chest, as if to push down on her wonder and confusion. “She… I…”

What did you do?I asked Glimmer, her body now a comforting weight.

I made you whole, just as you did me. Her words were clear but I could see her exhaustion in her colour, in the way her eyelids hung down heavily.I’m very tired now.

Sleep, I said, putting her on the bed beside me, feeling the same languor falling over me. I curled my body around hers then closed my eyes, falling into a true sleep moments later.

When I woke up again,I found that Glimmer and I were not alone in the bed. Ged lay on the opposite side of my dragon, his head propped up on one elbow. As my eyes flickered open, I realised that he had been watching me intently.

“Pip!” He reached across and grabbed my hand. I flinched instinctively, expecting to be racked with pain. But there wasn’t any. I relaxed into his grip and his body lost its tension in response. “Pip, are you—?”

“I’m fine.” I stretched, feeling my muscles move, my joints pop, but nothing that was different to any other time I woke from a deep sleep. That almost seemed odd, when pretty much everything else about this day had been so very different. “Is Whiskey all right?”

Ged snorted at that, then pulled me closer, not seeming to care he was squishing Glimmer at the same time. My dragon’s head popped up from the gap between our bodies and she clawed her way free with a disdainful look at both of us.

You are well now. I’m going to go eat more of the oinky things. My mates have kept back the choicest cuts for me.

Of course, I said, smiling. Then my smile dropped away as I looked into her eyes.What you did—

I will do over and over if I have to. The ridges over her eyes twitched.Though I may need to be bigger to do so.That… took something from me, something I’m not sure I had to give yet.

Then don’t do it again, I admonished.I can heal, but I won’t recover if anything happens to you.

Her gaze softened and she clawed her way forward, pushing at Ged, until she could press her forehead to mine. As she did, my eyes fell closed. Our bond was always a living, breathing thing inside me, but it felt even more intense. It was as though that rush of love, of connection, that had blossomed inside me the moment I first held her, was blooming even more, like it was a great fiery flower in my chest. I just breathed in, feeling her physical touch, feeling Ged beside me, feeling that bond like it was a tangible thing.

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