A Tamer’s Duty

The dragon raged after them. Though still a fair distance away, but his longer legs gained him more ground with every step, and he was not careful with the tilting of his long dead ecosystem.

Pulling his enormous sword, Roscrow clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Unfortunate to see. Might as well put it out of its misery.”

Jasper’s head whipped around to raise a brow at him with skepticism. “What are you going to do?”

Roscrow glared back and indicated his weapon, spinning it with ease. “As I said before– back of the throat leads straight to the brain stem.”

In a blink, S’re was standing between them, barely holding steady with each rock of Randel’s steps. Her breath came in gasps, her eyes wide and haunted.

Within the soul of the great bull, the eye of the Bond gaped open– searching, straining, seeping a darkness that engulfed the beast, drawing all of S’re’s focus. In the consuming void, a voice called the bull to an end it did not know how to reach. Incensed and distraught, it could only trek forward, unable to rest, unable to think or reason or remember itself.

More concerned with S’re, Jasper softly spoke her name. It seemed to jerk her back into the world. Sharply inhaling, she whispered, “He ... can’t die. He ... doesn’t know how. I ... I have to help.”

Peering at her with a thoughtful press of his lips, the Guardian sheathed his sword. “That is a power you have. I was taught most Tamer powers are magic memories, passed down from those before them. Focus, S’re. Let your instinct guide you.”

S’re could not turn away, shuddering in the icy grip of the Broken Bond. Every bit of her wanted to stop the ethereal coils that strangled his consciousness. The eye of the Bond held her, drew her in, and on the other side, she could feel the Bonded inviting his partner to join with cold and wispy whispers.

Sucking in a breath, her voice was as hollow as the void that called through her. “Rest. Rest and listen. Your Tender calls you. Go to him.”

The mountain did not need to hear her. All it needed to understand her was to feel her will. With a groan that quivered the trees and vibrated in their skulls, the bull swung his head back and forth as it slowed and came to an eventual halt on trembling legs. Weaving a bit, once one leg bent to lie down, it did not have the strength to hold itself and slammed into the ground with a dull thunder that seemed to echo forever.

Many of the blood suckers were thrown and crushed, their squeals part of the cacophony of dead vegetation cracking and tumbling into a heap. Even as Randel continued to hurry away, they could hear the painful explosions of air from the dragon– its final breaths.

Jasper and Slina’s jaws dropped. They turned to stare at S’re just before she swayed. All strength drained from her body, shuddering as a new coldness swept through her. Hovering above her in the first rays of the morning sun were the vivid yellow eyes of the very Tunk’ta lying behind them. A form as inconsequential as the dust in the air shimmered on the vision’s head, perhaps nodding to her before the eyes looked from her.

Or perhaps she left their gaze when she lost hold of her last string of consciousness and crumpled forward.

Jasper called her name in a panic, but she never heard it. Nor was she aware of Roscrow’s lightning grab as she went over the edge. Not even the Q’Hu could hold his balance tipped so far when Randel lurched sharply on uneven ground.

Drawing her to his body, he only had enough time to turn them. The impact knocked the air from him with a grunt. Staring at the faintly shimmering sky, he took a second to ponder the sensation that had caused his hearts to skip when he saw her fall. That certainly wasn’t something he was used to.

Looking down at her peaceful face, so warm and comfortable against his body, he jolted from his thoughts when the ground shook with Granger’s approach. Sitting up quickly to place her on the ground beside him, he rolled his shoulders and squirmed in his armor.

“Shit, I think I broke one of my toys.” Reaching behind him, he withdrew a small device, now shattered with exposed wires. Frowning, he muttered to himself. “Damn. My Glimmer detector.”

Hero hit the ground in an awkward landing near them, rolling into a run to nudge his nose against S’re’s face. “See-he!” he cried, glaring up at Granger nervously.

“She’ll be fine, saipaki” Roscrow assured him, hopping easily to his feet to pat his own dragon on the snout.