Through Smoke and Ashes

Twenty Eight||Building on Trust

"Gods, why does this keep happening to me?" I said under my breath as I put on the clothing Kayne had given me. The shirt and pants were a little large for me, but I would eventually get clothing of my own that was mine. Right now, these would do.

The guy on the ground started to stir. I shouted for Kayne, and he came barreling into the room. I crouched down, examining his eyes. Their colour was brown, and he looked confused.

"What happened?" He looked at the blood on the floor. His eyes went wide.

"You were possessed by something," I said, helping him to his feet.

He scratched his head. "I don't remember a thing."

Kayne stepped forward, turning the male to face him. "What was the last thing you said to me, Wex."

He looked sheepish, turning his gaze to me and then back to Kayne. "I said that the female rider was hot."

I nearly had to slap a hand over my mouth as a smile crept up from his expression. He was turning redder by the second.

"Get out of here," Kayne pushed him to the door. Wex happily left the room, leaving Kayne and me alone.

Kayne's eyes wandered over my attire and gave an approving nod. "Those should work for now."

"Thanks for that," I smiled. Pushing open the door and exiting the chambers. Kayne followed after me but stopped me from continuing forward by grabbing my hand. I looked down at our conjoined hands.

"How are you doing?" Kayne asked with a serious expression.

I gave him a soft smile. "I'm fine." And I was. Things could have gone a lot worse, but they didn't.

We stared at each other for a while. I took in every part of his face. His dark hair had fallen in front of his eyes, covering them slightly. His eyes were dark, but they still glowed from within. His lips were slightly parted, and they looked so good right now. I felt myself leaning closer to him, wanting to feel his lips against mine.

"Navi!" Someone shouted as they climbed up the stairs. Kayne and I broke our gaze from each other. I stepped back as Tomi stood before us. "Your dragon is going berserk! You need to go and calm him down before he eats one of us."

I groaned but followed after Tomi. "Nax?" I called through the bond. I could barely feel him there. It was like he had disconnected himself again. "Nax!"

"Twoleg?" I heard him say. All of his raging emotions came racing into the bond at once. I had to stop and gasp for air at the assault on my lungs. I felt rage and fear the most. It was like a plague on my mind. Kayne placed a hand on my shoulder as my breathing began to settle.

"Navi, come on!" Tomi said from below me. I nodded my head, continuing my way down the stairs.

"I'm coming, Nax. You can stop worrying."

As we reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw a crowd of people inside. They were speaking in a loud volume, and the walls made their voices echo even louder. Tomi and Kayne pushed past them with me trailing behind. Some of them gave me nasty looks as I walked by. We made our way to the front of the group where Hames and Colin were.

Hames turned to me with a scowl. "Get that thing under control." His voice came out in a growl.

"Don't call him a thing," I spit back, walking into the open field. I looked up and saw that Naxan was flying circles around the Academy. He came lower to the ground and landed with a shuddering quack in front of me. His nostrils flared as he took in my scent. His eyes were darting over my body with a hard intensity. Smoke billowed from his open maw as he panted from his emotions.