17: Promised

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There was a warm, tingly feeling on my skin that caused me to stir. I moved—and quickly realized that my entire body was aching. So instead of moving more, I kept still and opened my eyes. Greeted by nothing but darkness, a frown creased my forehead. I wondered why there weren't any stars to be seen. Normally, at this time of night, there were at least a hundred stars shining in the sky! Yet now, there was nothing. Either that or it should have been daytime.

Was this normal? Could it be that there were no stars in the sky above the rest of Espheros? Surely more than just Everett Valley had ever seen stars!

Despite my body screaming in protest, I turned from laying on my back to sitting upwards. Blood rushed to my head quickly and my vision failed. After waiting for a few seconds, my vision cleared again and there was only blackness right in front of me, too. This was strange.

Why couldn't I see any hills? Had I dreamed about everything? Even if I had, why was I trapped in complete darkness?

I put the palm of my hands on the ground I sat on—grass. So I hadn't imagined it all? Looking down, though I barely saw anything, damp grass poked out between my fingers and my frown deepened. Had someone locked me up? Was I in some kind of prison? My heart started to beat faster and faster.

What if someone had hurt the others? Reece, Emmet, Kendra? No.

No, with four dragons around, nobody would dare and attack us. Would they?

Calm yourself, leiirin, a voice suddenly said in my mind and a rush of warmth went through my entire body.

Suddenly, like curtains being drawn in a dark room, it disappeared and light blinded me.

As soon as my eyes adjusted to the sudden beam of light, I saw the sun on the horizon and a few clouds scattered across the sky. I turned around and when I met golden irises staring straight at me, my heart skipped a beat.

It was still raining when I woke up. Thought you might appreciate drying sooner rather than later.

Speechless, I nodded, not finding the right words to say. I couldn't believe that despite the fact he was probably in a lot of pain, he had thought of my well-being. It warmed my heart just thinking about it.

"What does leiirin mean?" I asked, trying to avoid getting into a more promised-related conversation. I wasn't ready to hear anything of the sort quite yet.

Reagan's large but sleek head moved from hovering just a few meters in front of me to face the sky. He folded both his wings securely against his body, a movement that created a waft of air that nearly knocked me down. He craned his neck so the sun shone directly onto his face, making his black scales shine like a smooth surface of obsidian. The towering beast, only an arms-length away, was purely magnificent.

How could one ever even think about killing such a beautiful creature?

It means beautiful flame, he said in my mind, using our link instead of speaking out loud. There was something intimate about ithearing his voice wasn't the only thing that entered my mind when he spoke to me. There was always a small part of his soul that seemed to touch mine. It automatically made me want to complete the third stage. To kiss him.

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