Page 15 of The Last Syphon

One thing was absolutely clear, however, and that was she needed to get out of Deadhaven as soon as possible. If anything Venerable Cias said was true, and Inara had every reason to believe that it was, it meant the Crowned Family would be coming the moment they found out Fraener was out of hibernation. They would track him to Deadhaven because word of a massive dragon hanging out in the Borderlands would circulate—people loved to gossip after all—and then they would come.

She had to leave.

There was no other choice.

When Inara got home, Felix was sitting outside, the light from the fire in front of him dancing across his tanned skin. The scent of cooked meat wafted into the air, making her stomach rumble. Fraener was beside their hut, head resting peacefully on his crossed arms. His eyes were closed, but he wasn’t asleep. She was sure of it, could almost feel his consciousness wide awake and alert in her mind.

The whole thing felt so strange; so bizarre, to feel another like that. Inara wondered if she would ever get used to it.

Felix offered her a kind, sympathetic smile when he saw her. “How did it go?” he asked, turning what looked like a rat over the fire to cook it from all sides.

Exhausted, she blew out a breath, sitting down next to him. “In short? I’m fucked with a capital F.”

He laughed. “That bad, huh?”

“Worse.” She relayed everything to him. Everything she’d learnt. Everything Venerable Cias had told her, including all of his warnings about what was to come. By the time she was finished, Felix had gone deathly pale, mouth wide open in shock.

“Wow. Okay. Yeah, you’re definitely fucked.” He cleared his throat, eyes searching her face. “You’re losing your mind a little bit, aren’t you?”

“Yep.”

He laid a hand on her shoulder, offering her support, which she gladly accepted. “Well, don’t worry. We’ll figure it out. I’ve got your back. Always.”

“Thank you.”

“You need to eat something. Food always makes you feel better.”

Inara eyed the small, charred meat rotating slowly on the stick above the fire, hunger flaring in her stomach. “No, I’m good. You take it.”

He shook his head. “We’ll share it.”

“You take it. Honestly. I’m not even hungry. Plus, there’s barely enough meat on those bones to feed one of us, let alone two.” She pointed out.

Guilt flashed in his eyes. “I know. I’m sorry it’s not much. It’s getting harder and harder to find game in the forest.”

“I know. It’s not your fault.”

There were miles and miles of plush, overflowing forestry just before the Borderlands. It signalled the beginning of Arelia, and it was where they got most of their food because nothing grew in Deadhaven. It was just dirt, dirt, and oh yeah, more dirt. Over the past few years, however, the game had slowly started to disappear. What had once been teeming with an abundance of life now had barely anything at all, forcing them to travel further and further onto Arelian soil to hunt for food, which was risky all in itself. The Arelian citizens didn’t really like them coming into their land to start with. If they caught them taking their livestock…Well, all hell would break loose.

“I’m not hungry,” Inara repeated, lying effortlessly, ignoring the pains in her stomach.

Fraener shifted, raising his head to release a wide yawn. His gold-and-black eyes found hers, and warmth bloomed in her chest. He picked himself up and shook out his monstrous body. With one pump of his mighty wings, he jumped into the air and took flight, disappearing into the distance.

Felix glanced over his shoulder. “Where’s he going?”

“No idea.” Inara shrugged, but as she watched him fly off into the darkness, she felt this strange sensation flutter in her soul. The further he went, the more stained it became, like a tether reaching the end of its rope. It was difficult to put into words, but the resulting effect left a terrible ache in her soul.

“How do you feel about this whole ‘soul-linking’ thing?” Felix asked, removing the stick from the fire.

“I know how I should feel. I should feel terrified.” Her life was forever intertwined with another being. It would never be her own again. Everything she did from this point forward would have to be with Fraener in mind.

As a thief by trade, she’d lived her life in the shadows. Being sly and sneaky. Covert. Slinking through the darkness. It was kinda in the job description—if one wanted to be a good thief, that was.

There was nothing covert about Fraener. One could see him coming from hundreds of miles away. His aura, the power he exuded, was both mesmerising and terrifying all at the same time. There would be no hiding him.

“But you don’t feel that.” It wasn’t a question. More of an observation.

“No, I don’t. I feel…excited. This is the adventure of a lifetime. Yeah, it’s probably going to be dangerous, but it’s also going to be exhilarating as fuck.”