Page 1 of Ashborne Forged

1. Mine

SOUNDTRACK: Tomorrow Waits by Klergy and Mindy Jones.

~ VOSKI (Pronounced VOSS-kee) ~

The meadow had always been my sanctuary. Hemmed by tall trees that blocked the view of anyone on the ground from flyers, the open space blanketed in lush grass year round, and peppered with wildflowers in spring. Even on a gray day, this place held joy. Quiet, lit only by the sun, and accompanied by the music of nature, it was the first place I fled when I needed peace.

I called it the solitude because it hid me from every eye by God’s.

The fact that Grace had found me here twice was harrowing. Or should have been. Today felt different. I was so weary of fighting the draw to her…

Grace, in this place, was sunrise. The light glimmering on her hair. The rose in her cheeks. The sparkles in her bright blue eyes. She should only have been here in peace. In welcome. In joy.

Instead, the chilling, dissonant notes of my fear had brought us both here.

She stood at my toes, tears in her eyes, her skin blotched by her grief. And I was given a front row seat to her heart break.

I’d deceived myself. Ignored the truth. Not wanted to hear it.

Ignorance of the bond hadn’t kept Grace free of its pull. It had confused, and wounded her. My denial hadn’t freed her, it had stolen her spark.

But that fact sucker-punched me two minutes too late.

Pure, unadulterated panic lit my blood on fire when she denied our bond.

Pain sang through my chest and stole my breath, but it was the tearing, the shrieking loss, the grip of dragon talons on my heart that sent me diving for her.

“Grace—no!” I threw myself to the grass beside her, reaching for her, trying to pull her face up so she’d see me, but she pulled away, the bond, that tugging, pulling drive, suddenly frozen. Painful.

“D-don’t want your c-comfort when you wish you d-didn’t have to g-give it!”

I grimaced “I was scared—I am scared. But I was trying to explain, not—”

‘Voski, what have you done?!’ Kham and Koa screamed in the distance and my stomach dropped to my toes. This hurt them as well.

Grace whimpered and grabbed at her chest—the pain there. My pain.

‘Kham, what’s happening?’ I sent at the same moment I pleaded with her, “Grace! What are you doing?! Stop!”

“I’m f-freeing you…” she mumbled through thick lips and my heart went into spasms.

‘Kham?!’ Why wasn’t he answering me?

“…No more torment for either of us. Koa says it will die. And we’ll be free. That’s what you wanted!”

Pain. Like a blade laid to a fibrous rope, sawing. Strands frayed, snapping under pressure. The bond would be severed if she didn’t stop.

“Grace, no. No!” I stared at her in horror, no longer able to deny that I had done this. I’d pushed her away, denied the bond, resisted the pull toward her, and vented my anger because I was too damn scared to take the risk.

I was still terrified. But as the cord between us was abraded, it became clear: I was more frightened of this.

“Please, stop, Voski, I can’t do this any—”

“You can—we can! Grace, we will!” I rasped, cupping her face and pulling her chin up, forcing her to meet my gaze.

My heart broke—tears trickled down her cheeks. Her skin was blotched and dirt-smeared where she’d tried to wipe them. She was devastated. And I’d done that.

“I should never have said those things about begging God to take it away. They aren’t true—please, Grace. Don’t give up. Please.”