The Column Racer Read Online Free

chest when her father told her the truth.
    “There was someone with him,” said her father, “someone else took the blow of the flames.” They both knew from the severity and location of the injuries, it could have only been done by the breath of a battle dragon. “But the thing is. These injuries, even though not healed, are not the freshest.” Her father’s eyes went to the other wounds that the boy had sustained.
    She felt sorry for him. But the boy was fortunate her father found him. Her father had always been proficient at experimenting with new procedures, and at times she feared that her father took this boy in as a project and not as a human being. Her father had to strip away layers of tissue and even clear muscle away from bone. For weeks, the boy lived in the bottom of a tub, covered in a solution her father told her was experimental, but if it worked, it would reconstruct his muscles, forming them again like a baby in the womb. And essentially, that’s what the boy was. Just a baby in womb, a tube sewed into his stomach in order to push him nutrients and another tube in his neck to provide him with air. Her father jumped around excitedly as the boy’s muscles and other injuries healed in the solution. Areli couldn’t help but be overjoyed as well.
    Next, were the skin graftations, paste-like medications in short supply these days, unless you live in Abhi. The boy seemed to be on a rotisserie, as he had pins sticking out of his legs, feet, and shoulders, to hold him in place above the thick creamy solution held in a wooden pan, so only half of his body was submerged. The wounds on the front of his body were bandaged, and the worst ones were stitched. Another week went by, and then he was placed in a bed, in a secret room her father had their servants create. He was going to be beautiful again. No longer deformed or scarred from his injuries. After a few days he awoke. He introduced himself as Talon.
    It was now a month from when he first spoke. His body had lost its swelling, and the bruising had nearly all faded. The hair on the back of his head was growing back in, and he worked hard with Areli’s father doing physical therapy to strengthen his muscles and flexibility. His beauty had returned. His black hair was long and his blue eyes crisp. If Areli had one regret about leaving, he was it. She wished she had more time with him. Time to sort out if the feelings she had for him were real or not.
    Areli took a seat next to him, poured fresh water into his glass, and pulled the sheets up to his chin. She sat and looked at him, wondering what was going to happen to him after they left. Would he come find her?
    She was ashamed at herself for how much she loathed her father when he first brought Talon there. His clothes covered with mud and blood. Areli was surprised to learn that Talon was a messenger. And she was even more surprised that he hadn’t sacrificed himself to the flame. But she was always grateful that he hadn’t.
    But suicide by fire was the way of death for messengers these days. They couldn’t afford to be caught alive. Now, more than ever. Their cause was noble. Carrying out the duties of Degendhard, helping the poor and the suffering. But even though their actions were high in ideals, no one threatened the power and the might of an Empire, especially one at the helm of a mad man. They were fools to think they would go unpunished.
    Suddenly, Talon opened his eyes and looked at Areli with both fear and hostility. His body jostled into an attack position, grasping her arm in the process. She stared at him, her heart racing, her eyes unafraid. He let go of her wrist and leaned his head back into his pillow.
    “I’m so sorry, Areli,” said Talon.
    “You have nothing to be sorry about, Talon,” said Areli. She sat on her hands, the only evidence that he had frightened her. Areli looked around the small room. She looked for a quick distraction. The walls were painted by her mother. They