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A question of practice.

The man had sounded almost derisory as he’d said it, and stalked away before Jai could ask more. In his heart of hearts, Jai knew why.

He had neglected Winter. Neglected the path too, the journey every soulbound attempted to grow in their power. Many never even ascended. Some, little more than that. Few would go on to become so powerful as a Gryphon Knight, or a fully fledged member of the Caelite.

There was little excuse for his slow progress, even counting the shackles of his imprisonment, the weight of his father’s legacy and his battle for his right to rule. He was bound to a dragon , one of the most powerful beasts associated with the soulbound. Yet he’d taken his good fortune for granted.

Taken her for granted.

He’d soulbreathed with her, true. Slept curled in her belly, made sure she was fed and cared for.

But he’d not explored their bond. Sought to know her, know her beyond her base needs and desires. And that was wrong of him.

He trudged back to his alcove, wishing he’d thought to do more than sip at the mana above. He felt the cold again, and yearned for the warmth of Winter’s head in his lap.

Even now, he could sense her down their umbilical. The weighty cord of living soul that bound them together, the strands intertwined like a braid.

Along it, their stray thoughts and feelings pulsed. He could sense what she was doing. Feel her soaring on the wind, exhilarated at the path below.

But he could not see it in his mind’s eye. Only picture it.

Now he called to her. He felt her hear it. More, felt her ignore it, until he called again.

She was as ever a stubborn thing, but she sensed his melancholy, how much he missed her. Perhaps too, she sensed his guilt... and his apology. Their connection was strong, he knew. Just... untested.

Winter flew. The exhilaration of it made him stagger. For to Winter, flying was like a fish that had lived its entire life in a shallow puddle, scraping its belly upon the sand, suddenly released into a great ocean.

It was a freedom like no other, as natural to her as the water for drinking, or meat for her belly. The skies were for flying, and she revelled in it, in the cold, high above the shadow of the mountains.

This was her natural place. Jai felt a pang of regret that she had lived so long upon the ground, sending Jai the mana she’d needed to break free of her earthly shackles.

She’d given everything, for him. Saved his life many times over, thrown herself in harm’s way again and again. But it was more than that. She’d lost her way of life. Been tamed to live in his othering world, where she understood little that went on around her, where she found her small joys in the scraps that were fed her rather than ruling the skies above.

Erica’s dragon, Regin, was everything she could have been. What she was supposed to be. Jai would not begrudge her it any longer – that he promised. And right now, he was gladdened by her freedom, and just wanted to see into her mind. Learn her deepest desires, whatever they might be.

Winter alighted with a flap of her wings, and a harrumph that told Jai just how she felt about his rude interruption. But behind it, he could sense the worry that had stained her night of freedom. Worry for him, alone on that mountain. Worry for herself that he’d sealed off her mind for focus, such that she could not know if he were alive or dead.

Anger, for how long it had taken for him to seek her out. Her reproaches hit him, one after the other, and he knelt at her feet, hugging her snout to his chest, kissing her growing horns, letting his tears freeze upon his cheeks.

‘I’m sorry, my love,’ Jai whispered.

It was as if the scales had been lifted from his eyes, in that one look from the Speaker. This had been too long a partnership of one.

Every bit of this realisation, he pulsed down their connection, letting her know his feelings even if they could not be explained. And in return, he felt... sorrow. For in the passing his regret of following that single, unyielding purpose, he had also shown her the great burden of his birthright. He had let slip the pain of his brothers’ slaughter, of Balbir’s brutal end, images flashing unbidden through his mind as he’d pondered what he’d done.

She let out another snort, and nudged him back, until he had been pressed safely into the cocoon of his alcove. His exit blocked, Jai sighed and settled into a cross-legged position, and began to soulbreathe.

It was amazing how much easier it was with Winter in his lap. She was like a weak magnet for mana, sapping it from the very walls of the cave, and from the thin air outside.

She stared up at him with her deep blue eyes, and Jai stared adoringly back. Her forgiveness was palpable, and Jai knew what she wanted in return.

Trust. To allow her to roam, to take the same risks as he did. To seek her own wants, her own needs. And Jai would give it to her. She was fast becoming an adolescent dragon, and he could feel the deepest drives, simmering beneath the surface. Her need to hunt. To eat.

And though she tried to hide it from him, he knew too that Regin was at the forefront of her mind. Another dragon. Another... her.

Jai felt, then, the loneliness. It was a feeling he knew all too well. To be one of her only kind, in a strange place. Where the wheels of the world turned without a care for what you wanted or needed. It had been much that way, in Leonid’s chambers.

She hardly understood the reasons for why Jai did what he did. Only the strength of his convictions. That would have to change too.

Jai held her close, stroking her the way she liked, reassuring her with soft nothings. He wanted to tell her his story, from start to finish. To let her know who he was . And learn the same from her.

He stared into her eyes, seeking the connection they so rarely made. To explore the meld that joined their twin souls.

But he was asleep, a moment later.