Soulbound

The sun began making its way down after we finished eating and making the finite details for the escape. It was easy to walk around the fort to find the best routes for our exit. Grayson was more concerned about the dragon we knew Darius had but we hadn't seen yet. I was more worried about getting Jacob into some armour we had swiped without the guards knowing; they constantly patrolled the edge of the fort, watching inside and outside the gates. There was no break in the cycle, as soon as one left another came to take his place instantly.

I suggested a distraction. From what I'd seen, they didn't have anything that could take down a dragon, so what if Arkon flew over the fort? They'd run after him, Darius would probably leave, taking his dragon with him, which would be even better. All Arkon had to do was stay in the clouds, he'd be invisible to them, and wait them out while we snuck around the fort.

Grayson chewed the inside of his cheek, having other thoughts about my plan. "I'll get Eran to make some noise," he countered thoughtfully. "It's too risky for Arkon to be seen. Once Darius knows you're in the area, he won't let Jacob out of his sight."

I couldn't argue with him there. He knew his brother better than I did.

We stood off to the side, hiding underneath the canopy of the watchtower, waiting for everyone to quiet down for the night. Once the last of the off-duty soldiers clambered into bed, Grayson gave Eran the signal to fly over. Minutes later, Eran flew over the fort, low and growling to get everyone's attention.

Alarm bells went off. Every soldier ran to their stations, shouting orders to gather the horses and man the ballistas. We crept back into the shadows to keep from getting caught in the flurry. After minutes of everyone running around, there wasn't a single soul left. Just to make sure, I scanned the area with my senses; the courtyard was clear, and a few soldiers inside the mess hall, but they were busy in the kitchen, nothing to worry about. When I reported as such to Grayson, he nodded. "Let's move. We don't have much time."

Stealing a breath, I ran for Jacob.

Hearing me coming, Jacob lifted his head in my direction. He sat up stiffly, preparing himself for whatever came his way. He least of all expected me to hug him. Grunting, he kicked me back; I fell onto my rump. "Get your fucking hands off me, you creep."

In my excitement, I'd forgotten that he didn't know who was hugging him. I took my helmet off.

His eyes went wide. "Oh. Oh! Nononono. You can't be here, Eva." In panic, he peered around the fort for anyone to witness his escape.

I snorted, reaching for his chains. "No, 'thanks for rescuing me, Eva. You're my hero, Eva! You're an angel, Eva!' You're so sweet."

"Enough chit-chat, Eva," Grayson barked. He was standing guard, scouring the courtyard for anyone returning from their hunt.

I whipped out my dagger, hitting the chains with the hilt. When that didn't work, I tried to pry the joints apart with the blade. Nothing I did seemed to make a difference. Sighing in defeat, I glanced at the boys. "I can't unlock them."

Grayson sheathed his sword and came over. "Keep watch. I'll get them open."

We traded places. I kept my eyes peeled for any signs of anyone leaving the kitchens-

As if waiting for this exact moment, Darius came out of absolutely nowhere and tackled me to the ground. My training kicked in before I knew what I was doing. He moved to pin me, but I tucked my foot between us, bracing it on his hip, and sent him flying overhead. I rolled to my feet and drew my daggers.

His eyes held mine, glistening with excitement in the moonlight. He smirked, pulling out my grandfather's broadsword. "This is going to be fun."

"You bet it is," I growled. For months I had been dreading this moment, but now that he was in front of me with that nasty sneer, I was ready.

Only, Grayson stood in front of me, his shortsword aimed for his brother. "You have to get through me first, Darius."

Darius twirled the sword around on its hilt, feigning to give his brother's request some thought. "Fine by me."

He charged. Grayson braced himself and met his sword mid swing, managing to knock him back. Darius moved in one smooth motion, stepping back then sweeping his foot under Grayson's. Grayson jumped over his leg, but he wasn't fast enough to dodge his other leg whipping around for his head; the strike was enough to push Grayson aside. Without missing a beat, Darius ran for me, sword poised with deadly accuracy. I ducked under the swing of his blade effortlessly then spun around and sliced at his back. Howling, he swung again. I rolled, dove, then cut at his legs.

He fell to his knees, groaning. "You've learned some new moves, girl. I'm impressed."

"Not as impressed as you'll be when I have your head!" I ran for him.

Grayson yanked me behind him. Blood ran down the side of his face, but that didn't seem to slow him down in the slightest. "He's baiting you, Eva. Don't let him."

Darius' eyes moved from mine to the fierce look in his brother's. He grimaced disappointedly. "Oh, Dexy, you could do so much better than a peasant girl." He waved his sword slowly in the gap between them, teasing Grayson with fake swings. "You were a prince once. You had so much power. Now look at you--defending commoners. Pathetic!"

"There are some things you'll just never understand, Darius," Grayson said in a low, disappointing tone, ashamed of his brother. "There's more to life than riches and power."

He rolled his eyes dramatically with a groan. "But then everything would be so boring."

He dashed for him. Grayson blocked with his shortsword, dancing around Darius in a whirlwind of steel. They went back and forth, jumping for one another, jabbing a kick or punch whenever they could. This was the most evenly matched fight I'd ever seen. They both struck with such certainty, but the other was always ready to block or evade.

With Darius seemingly preoccupied, I went back to the reason we came here and hurried to Jacob with a rock, bashing at the shackles.

"Hurry up," he hissed, shaking the chains in his frustration. His eyes were glued on the brothers, whole body tensing with every blow they dealt.

"Shut up." There were too many things on my mind--like not hitting his hands as I smashed the rock down on his cuffs--I didn't want to add conversation to the mix and risk missing my target.

I peeked over to see how Grayson was doing--he hadn't been exaggerating when he said he was the best in Dragon Canyon--then back to Jacob's hands, cursing. The damned things would not break!

I should have asked Grayson to teach me how to pick locks when I had the chance.

I heard a sickening thud in the courtyard. Grayson had fallen to his side, face bloodied. He wasn't moving. Darius stood over him, sword poised to cut his throat.

I threw one of my daggers, hitting his blade out of his hand. Then, before I could stop myself, ignoring Jacob's cries, I ran at him with everything I had, ramming him to the ground. As we rolled, I gathered my dagger and stood in front of Grayson, ready to protect him.

"I'm going to enjoy beating your face to a pulp!" Darius shouted, angry I'd taken his kill from him. Grayson had gotten a couple good jabs in; half the prince's face was covered in blood with a few scraps on his arms and legs.

I laughed, suddenly unafraid. He was steadily losing his cool, while Grayson had given me the chance to remember my training and I remained calm. "I'd like to see you try," I taunted, only adding to the fire.

Roaring, he came at me.

Gods it felt good to be the one in control for once.

I spun to the side and kicked at him. He knocked my leg to the side then heaved his sword down on me. With both daggers, I blocked it, holding them and his blade above my head as he tried to push it down on me. Groaning from the strain, I kneed his gut. While he stumbled, I smacked his hand, forcing him to drop his sword. Cursing, he tackled me to the ground. He got in two good punches before I bucked him off.

"Kamadon!" he called, swerving out of my attack.

I didn't know what he was yelling for until his dragon dropped from the sky, roaring in my face. I stumbled back, faintly hearing Jacob's cries over the dragon's growl as fire built up in its throat.

Arkon swooped down, grabbing the dragon by the neck, and dragged him into the fort wall. Kamadon snapped at Arkon's throat, but he whipped his tail around, smacking its face. He took off to the sky. The dragon chased.

Before I could check to make sure Arkon would be okay, Darius came out of the dust, grabbing my neck. His sword was level at the base of my throat, a cunning smirk plastered on his face. He stepped forward; the only thing I could do was back up, save getting my throat cut. I knew he wouldn't kill me, but he was sadistic enough to make sure I hurt in every way possible.

A gasp escaped my lips when I hit a wall. He pressed himself against me, body completely flush with mine.

"I win." The smugness oozed out of his voice. That nasty grin was hungry for blood. His eyes were soulless, merciless as he basked in the glory of his win.

"Fuck you."

I sacked him.

Groaning in pain, he collapsed on his knees. Furious, upset, and fed up with his stupid face, I kicked it like a ball. He tried to get to his feet. I jumped on his back, securing my arm around his throat and held strong while he thrashed desperately to throw me off. He backed us up to the wall, clawing at my forearm. I held tighter. He fell to his knees. I steadied myself on my feet, still holding him. With one last heave, he threw me over his shoulder. As he gasped for air, I swung my leg around, heel landing squarely on his temple. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

I'd never felt so good in my life when I pulled him up by the hair, dagger ready to slice through his throat.

"Eva," Jacob called, "don't kill him."

"Why?" I snapped. Why would he take this from me? Why should we spare him after everything he'd done? Why did he deserve mercy when we got none?

"Because we're not him," he said calmly, eyes steady as he gazed at me. "It's done. You won. We'll take him prisoner. We can end the war with him. Let him suffer knowing you beat him and he's the reason his father lost this war. That's much better than a swift death." His gaze was unyielding, as if I had to obey, for the better of my soul if not for anything else.

He was right, though. We were better than him and he deserved to live the rest of his days knowing that I was the one to defeat him. On the other hand, I was still angry and hurt, so I kicked him in the balls as hard as I could, hoping he'd feel it when he woke up.

I ran to Grayson's side, touching his face gently. A bruise was already forming where Darius had hit him. He woke up to a start, grabbing my hand, eyes wide. "What-"

"Hey, handsome."

Bewildered, he blinked at me then looked around the courtyard, eyes resting on Darius. "Did you. . . ?"

"No," I grumbled, a part of me wishing I had. "He's still alive. Are you okay?"

He touched my face where it throbbed the most. "It looks like we both took a beating. I'll be fine if you're fine."

I smiled at him. "I'll live."

"Hey, Eva, can you finally get me out of here?" Jacob asked, kicking the ground like a spoiled child.

"I told you I couldn't, you idiot!" I didn't know what I wanted to do more, hug or kick him.

Moaning, Grayson got to his feet and stumbled over to Jacob. He brandished his pick lock set and worked the lock until everything clicked into place.

Jacob swung his arms around me as soon as he could, squeezing me tight. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Me?" I asked dubiously. I wasn't the one held hostage. "I'm glad you're okay!" I held him tighter than I thought possible.

Darius mumbled off to the side, coming to. Growling, Jacob released me and kicked him in the head, knocking him out again. "Bastard!"

I snatched my grandfather's sword away from his side and handed it to Jacob; it was far too heavy for me to use effectively, but it was the same style as the one Jacob already wielded. It seemed fitting someone from our family used it.

Somberly, Jacob inspected the whorls engraved in the steel; from a distance, they could have been mistaken for leaves dancing in the wind. It had been carved by a blacksmith whose life our grandfather saved. Apparently, whenever someone asked him of his name, he'd always say, "Greene, like a leaf, but with an 'e' at the end." Guess the blacksmith found some inspiration for his work in that.

Jacob tossed his old one to the side and sheathed our family sword contently at his hip.

Grayson stared at his brother without remorse. "Why didn't you kill him? He took everything from you." He genuinely couldn't understand why we chose to spare him.

Jacob put his arm over my shoulders. "That's not how our family works. We kick ass and take names, but we're not murderers."

Grayson dropped his eyes to the ground. "I would have killed him. I'm no better than him."

Jacob punched his shoulder, winking. "Dude, you left Estrus, your home, your life, because you couldn't stand the way they did things there. You're more of a man than anyone in your family."

Grayson smiled at his partner then to me. "I like things much better on this side of the water."

Eran must have called him, because he glanced up at the sky then the large blue dragon came into view and landed inside the fort. Seeming to quite enjoy it, he swatted the walls down with his tail. "Consider everyone thoroughly distracted--and floating downstream," the dragon quipped smugly. His eyes landed on Darius. "He's still alive?"

I really wished everyone would stop mentioning that. There was still a part of me--the one that held the dagger--that would be perfectly fine piercing his heart. It would still be a possibility until he was out of my face.

Arkon landed behind us and rubbed his snout along my side. "I'm proud of you, Little One. Very good control."

Tired of everyone saying how pleased they were with my control, I kicked Darius in the balls again. You know, for good measure.