Okay. Someone said "do more Violet takes care of Xaden", and my brain got mean. Sorry…not sorry. Kinda sorry. If you need to take care of Xaden…something hard has to really shake him, right? Here we go.

…

I. Feel. Everything.

The pain in my arms as I block a heavy strike with my sword, only enough that it doesn't go through my chest like the venin planned. Then I feel the blade as it cuts into my upper arm in a white hot streak.

Sgaeyl's heavy foot lands on top of the young man with bleary red eyes, and I twirl the last dagger in my off-hand before bringing it down into the back of his head. Gray wings beat over us as one of the monsters crashes like a fired crossbolt into her injured side. The roar she rips into the sky and into our minds tells us exactly how much it hurts as it jars her broken wing and claws into her ribs. Its teeth sink into her shoulder, and blood gouts between the scales and its fangs.

The bond between all four of us conveys everything: Tairn's terrified and furious bellow, Violet's promise that they're on their way, and…my Sgaeyl's heart-shattering, pain-filled cry.

My heart slams against my ribcage so hard I think it'll explode as I wrap a shadow around the wyverns throat and drag it down to where she can sink her own teeth through its flesh. One sickening crunch later, it falls limp between me and her, and I look wearily into her golden eyes.

"This is not…how I saw this bond - ending, my Scarred One," I can hear the pain as she speaks, and her voice is so quiet.

We're stuck on the ground - her fractured wing hanging at an obscene angle as the bone shards splinter through the hide in a cream and red-colored mess. She's still a ruthless creature of teeth, claws, and fury, but fuck if we're not losing ground as fast as we can take it.

From the corner of my eye I see the black monstrosity that is Tairn in the distance, wings folded, body as streamlined as he can make it, and the tiny rider at his back lying nearly flat to keep herself from being a detriment to his speed.

Tairn won't get here in time. Not when I'm have three dark wielding assholes to hold off as their fucking abominations take bite after bite out of Sgaeyl. Two of the armless monsters land, and I genuinely think this is it.

The third venin jabs forward past my defenses with her blade, and I have a terrible choice to make.

Get the wyvern off Sgaeyl before they rip her apart, or block the blade that will impale me.

Throwing both feet onto my Aretian hillside, I ground in the power and close every bond except hers. Hers I throw wide open.

If I burn out, I burn out. I'll die once she does anyway. At least this way, she might be able to survive my death if this saves her.

I pull my heavy, shaking, steaming arms from my sides to above my head, my fingers tensing and muscles straining as if I'm pulling on tethers chained to impossibly heavy weights. The shadows stream from the ground and wrap around the two beasts' necks, and once I have them, I close my fists as hard as I can. The roaring that's pulled from my throat is shared by my dragon as the blade slides through my stomach, piercing the leather armor at my back.

Still, I channel. With the last burst of energy I throw my arms wide and the shadows rip the heads from the two bodies, their snapping jaws going limp just inches away from Sgaeyl's ripped skin.

The power is too much - overwhelming - all consuming - and I can't let it go. I'm burning out.

"You will not die this way!"

Sudden blue crystal slams around me, knocking my feet off the hillside before the roaring power could finish consuming me, and I know I grew weak enough for her to force me out. Every last ounce of energy is gone - my muscles seize - my body gives up and I fall to my knees.

The dark wielder rips out the blade she'd thrust into me before raising it for a death blow. From the corner of my eye I see Sgaeyl stretch her neck impossibly long and snap her jaws closed above my head at the venin.

Just a few inches short.

I feel her crushing disappointment across our bond as she misses the strike, and the ground shakes when her back legs give out and her body hits the earth.

"Wait," a familiar voice calls, the Sage walking forward from wherever the fuck he's been this whole time. "Do you want to save her?"

I can taste it. The coppery tang of blood against the back of my throat.

"Yes."

"Stop using her power. You're weakening her. You're killing her," the blue robes swish against the grassy field as he walks to stand before me.

This fucking asshole. Always with his same demand, his same offer.

"I…can't save her without - power," I wheeze, my weak fingers pressing uselessly against the wound in my stomach as my life pulses out.

His hand grabs the hair at the top of my head, rough and tight, and he yanks my face low to the ground. My good arm catches against the sun-warmed grass, palm flat to the land.

"Then take what you need from here."

Sgaeyl begs. "Do not. You cannot."

"DO IT!" The dark Sage demands, and I can feel it. The pulse beneath my fingertips.

"That way leads to ruin."

"But…I can save you."

"You cannot save us. This will not save us. Xaden!"

My eyes meet hers as I turn and see her body flat to the ground, her chin nearly touching my heel as she reaches for me. It's the first time since Threshing since she's uttered my name and it terrifies me.

"Xaden."

"Xaden! Wake up."

My eyes fly open, and gone is the sun-drenched sky and bloodied field of battle. Gone is the Sage and his ominous demands. The voice calling my name isn't my dying dragon, it's Violet.

I can feel her hands against my wet cheeks and the worry shining in her hazel eyes is all I can focus on until I find the breath in my lungs.

"It's okay," her promise is a soft croon, and her thumbs brush against my cheekbones while she leans in and presses a kiss to my sweaty forehead. The curtain of her hair falls around me, a physical shield that hides me from the rest of the world.

I whimper when she pulls back, when her hands leave my cheeks. I actually whimper. Malek take my warrior's soul, what is wrong with me?

"Accept it, Scarred One." Sgaeyl. She's so gentle in her demand, I can't help but follow it.

I lie a panting mess with my heart threatening to break fucking free from my chest, but I know Violet is still there with me. As the fog begins to clear, I can feel her in my mind. The concern that was there a moment ago is gone, and all I can fathom now is…comfort.

I feel her fingers trace lines down my arms, her lips pressing a soft kiss over my thundering heart, and she laces those fingers through mine before pulling at me to sit up. I know she can't physically yank me upright, so I test the muscles of my core and find that everything still works, I just feel disconnected. I'm not, but…it feels like my damn muscles aren't my own.

She moves, but her hands are still linked with mine. Then, she's standing before me, and I automatically pull her close, the scent of her floral perfume and leather overtaking me as my forehead hits her collarbone. Only then do her fingers release mine, one arm wrapping around my shoulders as her other hand dives into my hair.

Gods, I need this. I lean into her touch, my hands fisting the dressing gown at her back.

Streams of…something flood my mind. Soft, comforting words in a language I do not understand. But I know what she's saying despite all that. After long minutes, she pulls back a little, and I don't want to let her go, but I can only imagine how sore her body must be from standing at an awkward angle with me clinging to her like a child afraid of the gods damned dark.

Amari knows I can't help it - I look up into the eyes that have held me captive since the fucking parapet last year, and the gentle love I see in the ever changing colors is mesmerizing. One hand slides over my heart, but her gaze doesn't leave mine, nor does she step away and force me to let her go.

"Breathe in with me," her order is as soft as Sgaeyl's. She pulls in so I do too, mine considerably more choppy, and I follow only when she lets it out. "Again." We tandem breathe in, hold it for a few longer seconds, then release it together. Over and over again, those amber and aqua shifting eyes connecting my soul back to hers, giving me the chance to find and reclaim it for myself.

After a dozen breaths, lengthening the seconds in-between where we hold them together, I feel my heart slowing and I know she can tell through her palm. Gravity finally shifts back to normal. I break our stance and I let her go enough to have one hand come up and press over hers at my heart.

"I don't deserve you."

Her smile is soft and just for me, and she climbs back into the bed holding her hand out to me. The moment I'm in she wraps around me like a blanket, my cheek over her steady heartbeat as her legs tangle with mine, arms around my shoulders.

"You can keep me all the same."

Hearing my own words repeated back is humbling.

…