Page 71 of Dragonbound

‘She can’t see them, when they hit the rest of the snow. She doesn’t see how you do,’ Erann offered softly.

Again, Erann felt the dragon’s amusement and then that attention turned to him.

I see you’re improving day by day, Erann. Your pain seems much reduced. Are you nearly well?

As ever, Erann was a little startled by Skaldi’s attention to his well-being. After all, Skaldi was an enormous dragon. He wasn’t even the same species as him. Why did he care so much about Erann? Although, well, perhaps that was because of his connection to Emma. Which reminded him.

‘How is Emma?’

She will be well. Skaldi thought to him. The news cheered him. He still couldn’t understand what had happened to her.

‘I’m going to try without my crutches today. Maybe then we can leave this place once and for all.’

Skaldi let out a rumble of what Erann had come to understand was laughter.

Please try not to push yourself too hard, too soon. I think you’ve already done more than enough damage to yourself, don’t you?

Erann accepted that with a wry smile, which slipped from his face quickly. Skaldi had given him the perfect opening, but he felt hesitant as he spoke.

‘Of course, you’re right. But there’s Sereh to consider. I need to make her trust me. I know she has questions and I need to give her answers.’

Erann waited nervously as Skaldi considered his response.

‘Erann, I have looked inside her. I have looked for the differences in you. I cannot find anything. She is as you are, yet still, she cannot see me. There is something different about you. She felt my shadow move this morning but thought nothing of it. She has accepted my help but has not thought to question her strength in carrying you away from the avalanche.’

‘But she doesn’t know to expect it, does she? I knew it was you because I can see you. If she knew about you, wouldn’t she see a sign of you in what’s happening? You tried to help her when she was unwell. Didn’t she sense you then?’

She pushed me away, Erann, and so I do not know. How can you explain to her or make her see when right now she can’t see? The wolf can see me, or at least some approximation of me. You can see me. Sereh, I fear, will never see me. You will have to think of another explanation, Erann, for the things that have happened. I do not know what it will be. I am sorry, my friend.

Skaldi’s voice rang with sadness.

Erann felt his heart sink. Skaldi was right. Sereh was logical and pragmatic. She believed in what she could see in front of her, things that could be proven indisputably. He thought quickly. While he could conjure up other explanations, they’d all be as equally fantastical as the truth. All he needed to do was tell her the truth and then try to find a way to prove it so that Sereh would believe it.

Skaldi put his huge golden head inside the cave, drawing his green eyes level with Erann. Erann reached up and ran his hand over the bulbous eyebrows.

He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve to know a creature as magnificent as Skaldi but knew he was unaccountably blessed.

‘You’re a good friend, Skaldi. I thank you for everything. I have to try to make Sereh see. I have to try – you understand, don’t you?’

I do. I will help if I can, but I think it is unlikely. It is as I have been told. Your kind cannot see mine. Apart from you.

‘Thank you for understanding.’ With that, Erann leaned his full weight against Skaldi’s head and rested there a moment. Skaldi filled him with a strength he didn’t currently feel. He would need it.

51

SEREH

Sereh found Erann leaning against nothing. She shook her head in disbelief, feeling disquieted. She’d intended to demand the truth. But seeing him like this – peaceful and calm, balancing on nothing – all her arguments tangled in her mind.

She approached him, her footfalls loud in the stillness of the day. He either didn’t hear or chose not to. ‘Erann?’

She stopped in front of him. For a moment, the sheer beauty of his face took her breath away. The sunlight slanting across his face highlighted his perfect nose and jaw, his beautiful green eyes, the way his hair threatened to curl over his forehead, the stubble over his cheeks and chin. How quickly he distracted her.

She opened her mouth but he spoke first.

‘I know, Sereh. I know what you want. Give me a day or two. A bit longer to heal for both of us. You’ll have your answers – I promise.’

Erann spoke softly and insistently. His voice was rough with emotion. Any frustration, any unease Sereh had been holding on to fractured. Of course she’d give him time. He’d saved her life. She couldn’t refuse him. Not when she needed him so much.