“Did you really need to scare her off?” Vesper snapped at Kyrith.
She grinned, a little too proud. “Didn’t have to. Also, wasn’t my intention.”
“You could try being nicer.” Vesper retrieved his mask from around his neck and slid it over his mouth. “Actually, I'm pretty sure it might kill you.”
“Maybe,” she sang. “But at least I know how to use my own magic.”
Thorrin cleared his throat. “Would you two break it up? I’m already exhausted listening to you.” He strode across the cavern to his mount. After he took a knife from his belt, he swiped it across his palm. As the blood bloomed, he placed his hand on the skeleton’s snout and willed his magic forward. His grey vestige pulsed like a deep, steady heartbeat. Those threads, or tendrils,or whatever they bloody were, flowed from his fingers, then took hold of the bones.
Vesper had watched it a handful of times now, and it never ceased to amaze him. Flesh formed, as if Thorrin had created life itself. Muscle and tendon and flesh gathered and compressed as the dragon became. As it stood.
Completely fucking brilliant.
The dragon’s eyes, the same hue as Thorrin’s vestige, surveyed him, entirely at his command as if Vesper or Kyrith didn’t exist. Its black scales glittered in the cavern’s low light, the iridescence held within its hide nothing short of magical.
Vesper choked out a laugh. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”
“Stop kissing Thorrin’s ass,” Kyrith said.
“He can kiss it all he likes,” Thorrin replied. He winked at Vesper then climbed atop his mount with ease and slid his mask over his face.
Kyrith thrust something in Vesper’s line of vision, about a whisper from his nose, and said, “Here.”
He blinked, unable to believe what he saw.
The knife held similarities to Kyrith’s, but this one had Kaida’s draconic face carved into the handle, her peaked horns and eyes captured in pure perfection. The blade’s enchanting glow devoured light and shadow and everything in between. His breath caught as he looked it over.
“Is that—did you make that for me?” he asked.
“No, I made it for the other scrawnyShadowheartwielder." She shook the knife at him. “Take it before I change my mind.”
Hesitantly, he took it from her. The knife felt made for him, and as he held it, the blade seemed to hone in on his magic more than Kyrith’s did.
“Thank you,” he said, his voice thick. Because this gift, whether she wanted to acknowledge it or not, was special.
“No thanks needed,” she said, and almost smiled. Agenuinesmile, not one of her maniacal grins. Then she tugged her mask over it and shattered the moment. “What are you waiting for? Summon her already.”
“You could say please,” Vesper mumbled. He shucked off his glove and placed the knife over his hand anyway. Better to comply than argue with her, especially since she’d agreed to help him out of a fragile sense of comradery. He cut his hand and slid the knife into the empty spot in his belt that seemed like it had been waiting to hold the blade. As if the knife he’d forgotten at Castle Dusk that day had been intentional. As if the empty slot in his belt had known this new blade would fill it.
“Remember,” she started, “the more blood you offer, the less she feeds off your vestige.” He couldn’t believe he’d never thought of it before. If he bled profusely or became severely wounded, Kaida could protect him and use his blood rather than feed off his vestige and risk Collapse.
Vesper stepped back to put space between Thorrin, his mount, and Kyrith. He felt Kaida’s eyes flick open as he reached inside himself, into his soul, where the dragon resided. He leaned into her familiar fluttering and, as his back arched, Kaida clawed free.
He doubled over. “You don’t have to do that every time. You could …fuck,” he wheezed. Gods, his ribs ached like he’d been run over by a wagon stacked with lead. “You could behave for once.”
The dragon surveyed him with far too much intelligence to be unaware of the pain she put him through. Her tongue flicked across her lips as her voice echoed in his head in a typical one word response, “No.”
“Play nice,” he said, his voice rough. He straightened to stand. If she didn’t stop this bloody nonsense, his back would be shot. He was too old for this.
She shot him an irritated look that was all dagger-sharp teeth.
And like it always did, his blood lifted into the air, sucked towards Kaida like a syphon. Her eyes reddened, no longer pale like his, but a crimson blaze as power filled her. A low growl sounded in the back of her throat, almost a purr, as she nudged Vesper in the gut.
He took her long snout between his hands and placed a kiss between her nostrils. “See? You can be sweet if you want to.”
Thorrin shook his head in awe. “Such an incredible gift.”
Vesper snorted in response as he stroked the top of Kaida’s head. “Depends on who you ask.”