Page 69 of The Dragon Queen

When night came, I lit the fire. Khazmuda didn’t offer his flames.

Weeks had passed and my body had changed from the lack of food, but I simply had no appetite. Khazmuda looked different too, his body smaller because he no longer indulged in bears. He slowly withered away.

Khazmuda stared at the fire across from me, not blinking or moving, still as a statue.He would want me to fuse with you.

I pulled my gaze away from the flames and looked at him.

He would want me to care for you in his place. He would want you to live forever.

“I barely want to live now…let alone forever.”

At least we can get through this together. I can feel your pain and you can feel mine…and remember, we aren’t alone.

I gave a slight nod in agreement.

Will you fuse with me?

I could hear his mind, but I couldn’t feel his emotions with the same intensity I could with Inferno. We’d become two parts of the same being, and I missed that closeness. There was no one else in the world who understood the agony that afflicted me. No one else who could carry it with me but Khazmuda. “Yes.”

I left the log that supported my back and drew close, pained that I would take Talon’s place, even if he wanted me to take it. Myhand went to his snout, and I looked into one of his eyes, seeing a sea of sorrow that matched the pain in my broken heart.

His eyes dropped at my touch, the guilt eating at him.I thought we would be together forever.

“I know.”

I don’t know how I’m going to do this.

“Neither do I. But at least we’ll do it together.”

He closed his eyes before he gave a breath that flared his nostrils. Silence passed, the quiet before the chaotic energy, before the storm, before our souls were bound together by the magic in his veins.

But the silence continued…and nothing happened.

I waited, wondering if he wasn’t ready for such an emotional connection with anyone besides Talon.

Then his eyes snapped wide open.It can’t be done.

I pulled my hand away from his snout. “It’s okay, Khazmuda.”

You don’t understand. It’s not possible.

I took a few steps back so both of his eyes could meet mine. “What do you mean?”

It’s not possible, because I’m still fused to him.

I stilled at the statement, feeling a rush of pain and confusion. I tried to gather my bearings and find a suitable response. “But…I don’t understand. How can that be possible if he’s…if he’s not here anymore.”

I do not know. But when I extend my soul and try to find his, I can feel it. Distantly. Faintly. Remotely.

“Does that mean he hasn’t passed on to the afterlife?”

I do not know.

“If that’s the case, why would he stay?”

I do not know that either.

“Can we even choose to stay…?” Did we have a choice before we passed on? To remain as the wind on this earth? To be a spirit that roamed endlessly? Why would he not pass into the afterlife to rejoin his family?