Chapter 14:

Xavier stopped just as he got to Bane's foreleg, and I looked up, and up... and up. 'There's no way for us to just take a horse or something?' I asked Nova, but instead of her soft, feminine voice, a deep, rumbling, masculine voice answered me.

'Don't insult me, girl. It's not like I would let you fall... very far. I'd catch you before you hit the ground, for Nova's sake, of course.' Well, I see their bond is increasing, and the dragon absolutely reflects his rider.

'And just exactly how do you expect me to get up there, let alone fly?' I shot back, and he huffed out an exaggerated sigh as those piercing golden eyes looked me over. I'm sure if a dragon could roll his eyes, he absolutely just would've.

Xavier chuckled behind me, and I glared over my shoulder at him. I was not going to be taking their shit today. Any of them. "What are you laughing at?" I questioned, making him grin even wider.

"The fact that he just called you a fiery, demanding little girl," Xavier answered, and Bane snapped at him, mere inches from his back, causing me to let out a startled little squeak, as I stumbled back several steps, but Xavier hadn't even so much as flinched as he shot the huge dragon a glare over his shoulder. I, on the other hand, wanted no part of that disagreement. There were way too many teeth that were easily half as large as I was.

Bane growled at Xavier, but he just raised an eyebrow at the huge beast as if he was entirely unfazed by Bane's less than friendly attitude. Bane grumbled a little more before stretching his foreleg out in front of us, making something of a ramp that I could easily walk up. "Thank you, now was that really so hard?" Xavier called, throwing a hand up in front of the huge dragon's snout just as he snapped his teeth again, this time close enough that the breeze from it ruffled Xavier's hair as the man glared at the beast. Well... at least now I know why they got along so well... They were both surly assholes.

'I would start climbing before he decided you're not worth it.' Nova warned me, and I took her advice. Without another glance at the bickering pair, I started making my way up Bane's leg and onto the ridge of his shoulder towards his back. The mane of different-sized, very sharp spines that ran the length of his back smoothed where his wings connected to his shoulders before continuing all the way down to the tip of his tail. They ranged in size from as tall as I was to the size of my fist, the further they dispersed from the center of his spine, and I finally realized just how cozy I would be getting with Xavier. The spot where they smoothed was just large enough for one person... I would literally be riding on his lap if I didn't want to be impaled on those sharp spines.

Bane shifted positions, moving his leg back under him now that we were both up there, and I threw my arms out to the sides, trying to balance myself before I fell off the huge dragon, when a strong arm banded around my waist. Xavier pulled my back against the hard muscle of his chest, steadying me as he didn't even so much as wobble as Bane settled once more. To be fair, this was probably practically second nature to him at this point, but between arguing with a dragon that could make dinner or charcoal out of him and this, I wondered if there was anything that could actually rattle this man.

Once Bane settled, and I found my feet again, Xavier simply lifted my bag from my shoulders like it weighed nothing before walking up a little further onto Bane's back. He tied it down with the others to one of the spines directly behind the seat, where he had already stashed all of his gear.

I didn't know what to do as I just watched him take his seat, and very quickly realized that my earlier assessment had been absolutely correct. I would literally be riding on his lap... this was going to be a very long... very awkward journey. Three days of this was going to be absolute torture.

He gave me zero warning as I went from standing there gawking at where I would be sitting to him pulling me to actually sit there. "Hook your legs to the inside of mine so you don't fall when he takes off, and generally I prefer to hold onto these spines, but you can hold anywhere you feel comfortable." I sucked in a sharp breath as he leaned over me to take hold of Bane, before I forced myself to focus as I tucked my legs in the space he had made for me. I was too small to reach the spines that he was using as a foot brace, but I could still wrap my knees over the ones he was using to rest his on. Placing my hands on the inside of his I quickly pulled myself as far forward as the tight space would allow. I'd much rather be sitting on his thighs. It was far less dangerous than if I slid backwards even in the slightest.

That mentality quickly went to shit, though, as Bane picked his neck up almost vertically, and I slid backwards, unable to hold onto my forward position no matter how hard I tried. No matter what I did, I just kept sliding right back until I was practically plastered to Xavier. It wasn't that it was anywhere even close to unpleasant. Honestly, it was quite the opposite. All the strong lines of his frame against my back felt far better than it should have. God, he was even warm, and still smelled so good. Even with taking my weight, his body hadn't given even in the slightest. He felt like absolute solid safety pressed up against me.

That was until Bane took two steps before leaping from the ground, and I couldn't have stopped the panicked little cry that fell from my lips even if I had wanted to, as I was thrown back and pressed into Xavier by the force of him taking to the air. Xavier, on the other hand, was perfectly comfortable. He even let go with one hand as Bane climbed further into the sky before wrapping that arm securely around my waist.

"Relax a little, I won't let you fall." He told me, having to duck so close to my ear so I could hear him over the rushing wind, that his lips brushed the shell of my ear, instantly sending a shiver down my spine at the contact. However, something about the relaxed tone of his normally steely voice had me listening, loosening my grip just slightly, as I trusted in him to hold me there.

I couldn't fully relax into him, though, not until Bane finally leveled out, and I let out a small sigh of relief as some of the pressure was taken off my body. Seeing how high up we were, I quickly determined that I liked Xavier's hold on me a whole hell of a lot more than I liked the idea of falling to my death, and stopped trying to sit forward. Instead, I just relaxed back into him, letting myself take security in the fact that I hadn't even so much as wiggled in the way of sliding, let alone falling off, since he took hold of me.

Almost halfway through the day, we stopped by a lake, so the dragons could drink, and Xavier reached behind us, passing me a water skin before taking one for himself. It was the first time he had let go of me since we started this journey, and it felt a little shocking. After having his warmth pressed so close to me for several hours now, having it just gone was like a shock to my system. With how warm he was, I hadn't even really realized just how cold it was starting to get until now, and I rubbed at the goosebumps forming on my arms.

"The closer we get, the colder it will be, especially at night. It's known to drop well below freezing at this time of year around there," he told me as he tied everything back down onto Bane before turning and placing his other arm around me. This time, as Bane straightened, I didn't even care about boundaries anymore. I unabashedly tucked myself against Xavier's chest as Bane took off once more.

"You haven't told me where we'll be staying yet," I called over the wind and felt him sigh against my back.

"I was honestly trying to hold off from that for as long as possible. It's not a good place, Ari. Hell, it makes the Academy look downright enjoyable in comparison."

"All the center camps are known to be ruthless; it's not like I was expecting it to be enjoyable."

"You don't understand, Ari. This place isn't just ruthless. If you do the wrong thing there, it will quickly become your death. While I don't have much to worry about there, considering I've been there several times before, let's just say that there's a reason that female soldiers are banned from being deployed at this camp. It's gotten far worse over the last few years, and for the last year, any female who has stepped foot into that camp hasn't walked back out. They all ended up dead in the camp before they even set foot onto the battlefield. The commander who runs the place is so good at what he does that they won't change it, and under his laws, women in that camp are seen more as playthings rather than people." That left me stunned for a long moment.

"It sounds like maybe you should have told me about that before we left."

"I didn't have a choice in taking you with me. It was a direct order that I couldn't refuse." I couldn't help the shiver that ran down my spine at that. Why would they do something like this if they knew how that camp was?

"You have a plan then? Right? I mean, I'd rather not end up dead just because I'm a female in camp."

"Yes, I have a plan, but I don't think you're going to appreciate it too much."