Soul Bound

Chapter 18

Jacob and Grayson were given this mission at the beginning of the week. Jacob didn't know which one of them hated it more. If he could have traded it with anyone he would have, but as it was, unfortunately, he and Grayson--more his partner than himself--were the only ones truly equipped for this task. 

It was bad enough that he had to stay at Kain Castle, away from Eva and Anna, quite possibly the only two people who could stop him from going insane, he also had to stop Grayson and Leo from killing each other.

For the past few weeks, they had spent endless hours together in the war room going over what Darius' next move might be. He used to think the room was quite large, but now, it felt smaller than his apartment back at the base.

The tension was high for everyone, but it was particularity high for these two, and Jacob wasn't entirely sure why. Something had changed between them. Grayson could no longer brush off Leo's scurrility, and Leo was pushing him harder than he normally did. Now Jacob had to go out into the field with both of them. Gods help him. He'd take care of his own demons later, but right now Aboria needed him to keep his partner and the Prince of Aboria at least on agreeable terms for the next few days. 

After Jacob finalized their plan with Commander Hargin, he and Grayson left to meet with King Renkon and Prince Leonidas in Riverwood. Since the valley had been evacuated, the population of Riverwood had increased dramatically. The refugees had set up a camp on the western side of the city along the river; the camp city was almost as big as the city itself. 

Jacob and Aries landed on the southern side of the river, the opposite side from the tent city, while Grayson and Eran did one more lap over the city. A crowd quickly formed at the river's edge to admire their dragons. Children called out to Aries, waving and jumping; despite having lost everything and living in a tent for the past month, they wore the biggest smiles on their faces when they saw his dragon. 

He let out a ragged breath, the ache in his chest too painful to ignore. Erika had been one of those kids. She always had a smile on her face, even in the harshest winter, and if she saw anyone in distress, she'd sit with them until they were smiling with her. 

"Dragon Knights have always been a symbol of hope," Aries said quietly to him, sensing his mood. She lowered her slender head to his level and pressed her snout into his chest affectionately. "We are here for the people, big or small."

"Not always," he replied grimly. An image of Brar razed to the ground crossed his mind. He still sometimes caught the scent of ash in the breeze. 

Her golden eyes locked onto him; they had hardened with age yet they held so much empathy for him. "There was no way for us to know what would happen to Brar."

"But we did know." And the guilt ate at him every single day. "We knew Eva was Bound to a storm dragon. We knew Sylus would come after her because of it. We told nobody and now Brar is gone. My parents--my baby sister--are gone."

"Knowing what will happen, would you have changed what you did? Would you have forced Eva and Arkon to become Dragon Knights, whether they wanted to or not?"

He sagged against her in defeat, clutching her rough scales as if he might plummet to his death if he let go. "No. I could never do that to her--to our family. She stayed behind so I could live the dream we shared. I know how much it had killed her to have to choose to stay or come with us. I wouldn't make it worse."

"That is why you asked Grayson to do it, is it not? You were afraid she would come with you if you'd asked her." 

"Yes." Did that make him a bad brother? He wished it had been different, that they could both be Knights together, but when the time came, they knew only one of them could go. Eva insisted it was him. She'd promised to look after their family--and she had. She fed them, protected them, to the bitter end. He'd vowed to make a difference with Aries so that Eva's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain, which he did, but it hadn't been enough when it really mattered, when his family needed him the most. Now, here they were, Dragon Knights, but their loss would forever haunt them.