Windrose

Chapter One

Jonah took a deep breath, letting the air flood his lungs as his stomach expanded. His head tingled with pressure as he held the breath at its crescendo, and then slowly released the air back out again. He did that two more times before reaching out to the cool night with his mind. Out of the hundred or so animals he could sense in that moment, he tightened his focus around just one: the owl. 

There were actually three owls that he could sense, but one shined like a beacon in his mind. He reached out to it, sending impressions of warmth, food, and welcome, then he lifted a dead vole by its tail and placed it in the wooden bowl on the ground in front of him. He breathed in, focusing on the smell of the rodent, and sent that through his mental impression as well. 

He’d done this every night for the last week, but the owl had never accepted his offer. The night before, the owl had seemed to consider him, but did not approach. This night, Jonah pushed the scent through to the owl once again and felt it considering him. It was hungry. Once the owl turned toward him and took flight, Jonah let his extended senses fade. 

He watched the treeline in the distance until, suddenly, there it was. Like a spirit drifting out of the trees, the heart-faced owl coasted through the air. It was like a gust of wind given form. Jonah’s heart raced as the bird came to a graceful stop on the ground. It wasn’t at the bowl yet, but it was close. Jonah waited. There was still the chance that the owl would get scared and fly away. He needed to be patient. So, he settled into his breathing routine and gave the owl time. Thankfully, it seemed its hunger was winning out against its fear. The owl took a step closer. 

The bird was mostly white, with brown on top, and big, round, dark eyes. It kept those big eyes on Jonah as it stepped closer toward the bowl. 

“You’re safe here,” Jonah said in a gentle voice. “I don’t want to hurt you.” 

The owl couldn’t understand him, of course, but many sources Jonah had studied made suggested speaking to a potential bondmate before attempting the bond. 

Finally, the owl reached the bowl. It lowered its head and clamped the vole in its beak. It looked as though it was about to fly away, so Jonah stretched out his mind to it. 

He’d rushed it. This was the most delicate moment of the bond, but he’d been gripped with sudden fear that he would miss his opportunity. As their minds met, Jonah held himself back. 

The mind of an animal was a strange, primal thing. It was built on a foundation of impressions and base needs. Hunger, thirst, rest, security, and mating. Even a glimpse of his mind would be incomprehensible for the owl and, as such, potentially terrifying. He wanted a bondmate, not a slave. 

Again, Jonah waited. He held his mind at the edge of the owl’s mind. All it had to do was accept him. Like a dog leaning into its owner’s hand, it simply needed to accept. 

And then, it did.

Its mind was suddenly open to him and Jonah was overwhelmed with a world he had never truly known. The night sky was suddenly lighter than before and shapes came into sharper focus. His sense of smell all but vanished, but his hearing expanded beyond anything he had ever imagined. The world was a symphony of sounds, all playing to the same rhythm. 

Jonah’s mind was somewhere between himself and the owl. If he pulled back to himself, he could see the world through his own eyes, but with the owl’s added insight. If he pushed closer to the owl, though, he could feel its wings, the vole in its mouth, he knew exactly how to take flight from this vulnerable position on the ground. He could see himself through the eyes of the owl, but more importantly, he could sense himself. There was a sense of interest coming from the owl. It was seeing into his mind just as he was seeing into its. 

“Can we fly?” Jonah asked. The owl didn’t understand the words, but it knew. It screeched, as if to mimic speech, but Jonah could sense its answer. 

The owl took flight. 

The world lurched in Jonah’s stomach and it took his mind a moment to adjust to the shift, but then he was high in the air. He could feel his wings beating, catching on pockets of wind like sails, and cutting silently through the night air. He was suddenly the gust of wind given form. From a distance, he could feel tears spill from his eyes. 

They flew over the trees of the forest, heading east. Jonah was familiar with this land as he often combed through those trees, foraging or hunting. He even saw signs through the canopy of the trees, a worn trail here, a broken branch there, that revealed his presence. The owl knew what to look for to spot a human. Jonah wondered if all animals were as aware of his comings and goings. 

Somewhere along their journey, the owl ate the vole. There was no taste, but a sense of hunger Jonah had only barely noticed before was quieted. A new sensation came, though. Cold. The owl wasn’t cold, but they had been flying for a while and, though his mind was in the air, Jonah was still sitting on the ground where he’d always been. The night was getting colder and so, with disappointment, he asked the owl to return. 

He wasn’t sure that it needed to return. He could still sense his own body, so he could still return to it. It just seemed right this way. And so the owl returned to where Jonah was sitting. Jonah pulled his mind back into his own body, closing off their bond, though not completely. 

“I need to sleep,” he said. “Can you come back tomorrow?” 

The owl screeched and Jonah felt a swell of affection for the animal. 

“Do you have a name?” Jonah asked. The owl seemed to understand the concept, but only because of its time in Jonah’s mind. It did not name so much as it felt. Still, it liked the idea of having a name, so Jonah considered it for a moment. 

“Windrose,” Jonah suggested, and the name seemed to settle around the owl like a mantle. He could sense its acceptance of it. Jonah smiled. “Come back tomorrow, Windrose.” Then he returned to the warmth of his small cabin. 

Chapter Two

The next day passed in a haze of excitement. Jonah went about his regular chores, chopping wood, checking traps, and doing routine maintenance on his cabin. Winter was coming and, bondmate or not, he still had responsibilities. Still, he found himself with enough idle time on his hands to commit some of it to research. When he’d left the city to live in solitude, he’d brought three books on the art of bonding. He spent most of the afternoon skimming through these to gather what information he could on how to proceed with Windrose. 

Then, finally, night rose over the land and he could feel Windrose stirring awake through their bond. Jonah opened the door of his cabin and watched the horizon until he saw the owl soar out of the trees. It flew low and landed almost directly on the small pile of voles Jonah had set out for it. As Jonah watched Windrose with admiration, the owl ate one of the rodents. 

“I’d like to see as much as I can tonight,” Jonah said. “I want to see the world from your eyes, so I’m going to shut myself in here where it’s warm.” 

Windrose blinked, which Jonah understood to be affirmation. He shut his cabin door and sat in the armchair near the fireplace. He focused on his breathing and stretched his mind out to Windrose once again. As before, he stopped at the barrier before truly entering Windrose’s mind. The owl let him in without hesitation this time. 

For the next several hours, they flew. Jonah looked down over the forest and the mountains. He wept at the sight of the valley from above and felt Windrose’s screech as though it was his own. Again and again, Jonah was amazed at just how much he could see from the sky. More so, how much he could hear. It was like the land itself had a heartbeat. 

He could feel his bond with Windrose strengthening. The owl was beginning to see him, not just as a curiosity, but as a friend. As that bond strengthened, something else came to the surface. A shadow that Windrose had been keeping from him. It was concern. Windrose was concerned about something happening in the forest. Jonah was surprised by the implication that Windrose would think to hide parts of itself from him, but it was in the nature of owls to be cautious. Perhaps it was not so strange. 

“What is it?” Jonah asked. “Show me.” 

And so, Windrose turned south and picked up speed. From their bond, Jonah was picking up impressions of fear and danger. He could feel his skin prickling, but he forced the anxiety out of his mind. He didn’t want Windrose to sense it. 

Eventually, something came into view. It was definitely manmade, but even with Windrose’s eyes, it was difficult to see. It was shrouded in trees and built to be as camouflaged as possible. Windrose circled overhead while Jonah examined it. 

“Can you go closer?” 

Windrose did, but Jonah could feel its hesitation. There was something dangerous about this place. Something Windrose could sense, but not something the owl could clearly identify. Jonah was suddenly struck by a primal impression. Predator. Something here saw Windrose as prey. There were not many animals that would be considered a predator for an owl. 

As they flew lower, Jonah could see people moving around. It was a compound with three buildings surrounded by a low wall. Windrose settled on the higher branches of a tree so that Jonah could watch the compound. The people were moving carts, but Jonah couldn’t see what was in the carts. He could hear some of what the people were saying though. 

“...doesn’t look like it…” 

“...make it happen…” 

Jonah listened for anything more than a broken phrase, but the workers were moving too much and he was too high. 

“Can we go any lower?” Jonah asked. Windrose didn’t want to. The owl seemed to refuse at first, but at the touch of Jonah’s disappointment, the bird gave in. It dropped to a lower branch, then to an even lower branch. From here, Jonah could hear entire snippets of conversation. 

“...Tired. How many more until we’re done?” 

“As many more as it takes.” 

“That last one put up a good fight. I’ll have a few good scars from that.” 

Then, Jonah noticed one of the carts. There were animals in them. Each cart carried at least one animal. Most were young and all were predators of some kind. They all looked as though they were drugged. 

“How many bondslaves do these people need?”

Jonah’s stomach plummeted and he could tell, on some level, that Windrose understood as well. This compound farmed and trafficked animals to be made into bondslaves. Jonah felt ill. He wanted to tear the place apart.

“Come back, Windrose,” Jonah said. “Come home. We need to tell the Wardens.” 

Windrose started to lift off from the branch, but that’s when they noticed the man standing in the middle of the compound. He was tall, slender, and everyone in the compound seemed to be avoiding him. What was more concerning to Jonah was the sudden touch of the man’s mind. It was harsh and intrusive. Jonah blocked the man’s attempt to break into Windrose’s mind, but that might have been a mistake. Even from that distance, Jonah saw the man smile. 

“Windrose, now!” 

The owl launched itself from the trees just as something else jumped through the branches. Sharp pain seared Windrose and Jonah as claws tore through Windrose’s wing. It was shallow, but Windrose screeched in pain as it fought to stay in the air. 

“Don’t stop! Keep flying,” Jonah called through their bond. He pulled back toward himself, hovering somewhere in the middle. He needed to move, but he couldn’t abandon Windrose. It was a delicate balance, but he managed to return to his own body while maintaining an open bond with the owl. He couldn’t see through its eyes anymore, but he knew where it was. He could sense its thoughts and perceive what it was seeing.

In his cabin, Jonah raced outside and grabbed the axe he used to chop wood, then he ran toward Windrose. The owl was still a few miles away, so Jonah would just meet it somewhere along the way. 

Jonah could sense Windrose trying to shake its pursuer. Whatever it was, it could fly, but it wasn’t a bird. It was something dangerous in a whole new way. Jonah urged Windrose on, though he could still feel its pain. Its wing was weak and growing weaker by the moment. 

The creature was getting closer. Windrose’s heart was racing as it sensed what could only be described as unavoidable death. The creature was faster, stronger, and seemed determined to fly Windrose into the ground. 

“Down here!” Jonah called. Windrose banked right and dropped into a steep dive. The creature followed so fast it may as well have seen the future. Still, Jonah and Windrose were connected now. The creature might be fast, but it couldn’t read Jonah’s mind. Windrose could. The owl flew straight toward him until, at the last second, it pulled up. The creature followed, but Jonah was already swinging his axe. 

It felt like hitting a rolling boulder, but with a shriek, the creature fell to the ground. It wasn’t dead, but it wouldn’t be long. Windrose lay nearby, wings outspread in pain and exhaustion. Its whole body trembled. Jonah looked at the creature in awe. It was considered good luck to see a dragon. As he positioned himself over the creature, he wondered what luck he would bring himself by killing one. He let the axe fall on the creature’s neck and then turned to Windrose. 

Chapter Three

The journey home was almost as stressful as the race to get to Windrose. Every shadow seemed like a tall man stepping out to greet them. Every noise seemed like another dragon leaping from the bushes. Still, they made it back to the cabin without incident. Jonah carried Windrose in one arm and the axe in his other hand. When he reached the cabin, he tossed the axe down and brought Windrose inside. 

He cleaned and bandaged Windrose’s wing as best he could and set the owl on his bed in a nest of blankets to rest. As he was straightening up from tucking Windrose in, someone knocked on the door. Jonah froze, his heart hammering. No one came to his door. Only a handful of people knew where to find him. He had little doubt that this wasn’t a friendly visitor. 

They knocked again. Jonah looked down at Windrose. The owl was staring at the door, heart racing. He considered opening the window and having the owl just fly away, but what if there were more dragons. Would Windrose be okay with a damaged wing? It was too risky. It was-

The door slammed open as though kicked. 

Jonah jumped and Windrose screeched. In walked the tall man, though he was no longer smiling. He looked at Jonah with eyes ablaze. There was silence as they stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, the man spoke. 

“You feel its pain, yes?” he said, nodding to Windrose. 

“Yes,” Jonah said. He inched to the right, attempting to shield Windrose from the man’s gaze. 

“Imagine feeling it die,” he hissed. And then he threw himself across the room at Windrose. Jonah dove in front of the man and they fell to the ground in a heap. 

They grappled with each other on the floor. The man seemed determined to kill Windrose specifically and Jonah found, in that moment, he would rather die than let that happen. He kicked, punched, and even bit the man. He didn’t care. He wasn’t going to let him get Windrose. 

Still, though Jonah was strong, this man seemed different. He’d bonded with a dragon and that bond had clearly changed him. He seemed unfazed by pain and all-to-capable of causing it. Jonah found himself losing ground as the man crawled toward Windrose with primal hunger. 

Jonah used the only weapon he had. He reached out with his mind. Not gently, as he’d done with Windrose, but with the subtlety of a raging bull. He slammed into the man’s mind with the intent to hurt. The man screamed and focused his mind on blocking the assault, but it was too late. He’d been taken by surprise and Jonah was already in. Jonah saw the man’s life, his broken childhood, the lives he’d hurt in response. He watched him enslave animal after animal, always looking for something that could match his aggression. Jonah tore at the walls of the man’s mind until all that was left was ruined fragments. 

When he tried to pull away, back to his own body, he found he was lost. The way back had been broken in his rampage. Despair crept into him then, but it was softened by one thought: Windrose was safe. 

As if like a beacon, the thought of Windrose lit up something in the caverns of the man’s broken mind. Windrose’s mind peered into the shadows, searching for Jonah. Jonah reached out to it and let the owl guide him back. It wasn’t an easy journey back, as what was left of the man’s mind still craved violence, but there wasn’t enough left to be a true threat. 

Jonah fell back into himself, gasping for breath and with tears in his eyes. He pushed himself away from the man who was lost somewhere between life and death. He pulled himself toward the bed, where Windrose was perched on the edge, watching him. Jonah curled around the owl, holding Windrose close to his chest, and wept.