Ember of Hope

Night had fallen outside and their torture chamber was almost bathed in darkness except a stray thick beam of moonlight falling around her. A fire was burning inside Raegan’s body… sweat pouring out like her body was a loose tap… and rage – rage like nothing she had ever felt before… utter and ferocious. She had no idea why she was feeling so much… how she even could with her broken body and spirit? Anger at being taken against her will – anger on her friend’s suffering – anger and so much sadness at being ripped apart from her mate and not have completed the bond when he had asked.

Her whole body was shivering… trembling… hands shaking uncontrollably. She looked at Sarah’s tired, sleeping form and that’s when sharp waves of pain hit her… wracking her body. She gritted her teeth hard to swallow the cry that wanted to rip from her throat. She pinched her eyes closed, but the tears won’t stop. The pain was so brutal; it felt like someone was sawing at her very flesh… crushing her bones to powder. Her body was straining against the shackles holding her prisoner.

An overwhelming amount of time passed in which she almost bit through her tongue, gritting her teeth hard enough to have probably cracked them. Breaths came like a steam engine. And then – she felt the shackles break and clang to the stone ground beneath her, but she couldn’t open her eyes. She fell on her hands and knees; panting through the agony. She was hissing in pain.

Then she heard Sarah gasp and call out in a tone filled with fear “Ray? Ray what’s happening to you?” finally the pain subsided giving way to a dull throb and she could open her eyes. She could see Sarah clear as day despite the darkness. She could clearly see the fear dripping from her eyes and her pale complexion… and she could have sworn she could smell her best friend’s fear.

She lifted a hand to swipe at her sweaty face and saw – what the fuck – a paw – with razor sharp claws at the end. She couldn’t believe her eyes – the pain had addled her mind surely – because this couldn’t be. Panic surged through her and she looked at Sarah who was now standing near her with her hand outstretched as if she wanted to touch her but was afraid. “Sarah what the hell is happening to me?” she asked – her voice guttural. And Sarah sucked in a harsh breath; finally touching her face, straining against her own shackles. “How is this even possible Raegan? You… you are a dragon – you are one of them” Sarah whispered.

Voice got stuck in her throat with shock and disbelief. What the fuck was happening to her and why? What had she done so awful that the suffering just wouldn’t relent? She’d turned into a dragon now? What kind of a sick joke was this?

“How are you a dragon Ray?” Sarah once again whispered like her voice had left her as well.

“Beats the shit out of me. I don’t know which one of us should be freaking out right now, because I’m this close to losing my shit Sarah. How did I become a freaking dragon? Holy shit – how am I gonna turn back? I have no idea how to work this thing. May be because I have a dragon mate? But why didn’t he tell me? Why didn’t he warn me? That bloody bastard. I’m going to kill him when we get back. How are we going to go back Sarah? Why didn’t they come yet?” She fired off at bullet speed.

“Calm down Ray. Take a deep breath. We can neuter him when we get back, but you know what this means right?” She looked pleased. “What?” Raegan asked.

“We can escape now. You can break us out of here. Maybe you can even breathe fire. You can definitely bash that door and fly us away”.

“Wait a minute. I don’t know how I became a dragon. You think I know how to fly this thing?”

“Yes you can if you stop panicking for a second and put your mind to it. This isn’t a ‘thing’ Ray, it’s you… so man up… or better yet; dragon up and let’s hit the road… sky, whatever”.

“I’m not so sure I can do this. It’s too much to take in”.

“Come on Ray. I know you can do it. I believe it. You can do anything you put your mind to. And you are one of the bravest people I have ever met in my life. If anyone can pull it off, it’s you. Besides do you think I’d be willing to ride you if I wasn’t sure you could do it?”

That made her baring her teeth in a grin, “you’re willing to ride me darling?”

“Ew, gross Ray.” Sarah wrinkled her nose, “And stop stalling. Let’s go”.

Sarah was right; this wasn’t the time to be a chicken. She could do it. She owed it to her friend and herself and above all her mate. She needed to get back to him. A renewed need of survival kicked in and she nodded her head at Sarah “Let’s do it”.

“That’s my girl”. Sarah whooped and immediately put a hand to her mouth. Raegan lowered herself in a crouch for Sarah and she climbed on her back with ease. Dimi had trained her well she thought with a smirk. “It’s go time. Hold on tight and keep your head low”. She warned Sarah before plowing forward. Sweet dragon sized doors. She sucked in a breath before head butting the wooden door to its demise. It was kind of flimsy to keep dragons contained, but they weren’t keeping a dragon inside, were they? She had no idea what or who or how many she’ll have to encounter on her way to freedom. But this wasn’t the time to dwell on what could be… the resilience in her gave enough adrenaline to push forward.

Surprisingly though, there was no one outside, luck was smiling upon them but now it was time to fly so she let the instinct take over and broke into a run; flapping the mighty wings along the way and kicked the ground beneath hard to take off. She could feel Sarah grab onto her neck tighter. She kept flapping hard, rising into the air and forward. So close to freedom… so close… high up in the air she imagined herself flying along Valiance, over the mountains of Evreux… water below shining with sunlight. Wind passing through her scales… and she flew – and flew… however jerky and uneven, she didn’t care. They were going home.

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