Chapter 57: Iniko

I wake up, smelling Eliane’s scent nearby. It’s faint, but it’s here. I need to make sure the Mean Ones didn’t get her. If they did, I need to help her!

I force my eyes open and push myself to a seated position. There are voices all around me and someone puts a blanket over my back which still feels raw from my last whipping. I feel weak, barely able to sit up. I can hear a lot of voices around me, but I can’t seem to make out what they are saying until I hear one in particular. The only one that matters.

“Let me through!” Eliane’s insistent voice says.

“ELIANE!” I cry and even to my ears, my voice is weak.

She’s pushes through the crowd of people surrounding me. “Iniko! You’re awake!”

“Oh Eliane! You’re here! You’re safe!” I say, pulling her into a hug.

She carefully wraps her arms around me. As gentle as she is, it still makes me flinch.

“Of course. We came to get you, the dragons carried you back,” she says.

The dragons?

“How are you feeling?” she asks. I can feel my rider’s strengt