Free Gift of Gold (The Year of Churning Bloods) by Hudson Leone Page B

quickly bringing myself upright. Preston shrank back a few paces. “You think I wasn’t worried for your sake Preston? If I had fallen, it’s entirely possible I couldn’t have mustered the strength to save myself.” I left my mouth unhinged to continue, but suddenly realized that my volume had doubled. I quickly closed it and sighed quietly. “What is my life compared to yours Preston?” I asked before withdrawing a damp pebble from the river brook. “For you, there is so much I can do. So much to protect and so much to cherish. It’s no wonder that I found the energy to move a mountain for you Preston. But me?” I chuckled bitterly and threw the stone into the canyon. “How can I save something that’s already gone?”
     
    Preston’s complexion eased. “You’re acting like all life isn’t equal. That’s what the Grimlars want you to think.” Preston placed his hands behind his back and slowly swayed on the spot. “No matter what you think, you need to always consider the other choice

              “But we didn’t have a choice!” I insisted stubbornly.

              “ You didn’t have a choice,” Preston corrected. “I did.” The way in which Preston calmly countered all my points with a little less than a blink was an eerie reminder that this was someone, who unlike myself, had received nearly five years of education in a classroom. I resented him for it.
     
    “Jacob, You need to remember that it was my choice to follow you. You could say that I followed you because survival is more likely with two people. You could say I risked my life for you because I want to survive. But the real reason I did all of that is because we’re a team.”

              “I don’t want to lose you,” I responded weakly.
     
    “Then don’t risk me,” Preston insisted.
     
    I sighed with something close to defeat, and slowly began gathering all my belongings. We wordlessly saddled our bags, before trotting out. Despite the proximity of the river, the plant life around us appeared to be near dead. Remains of the snowstorm appeared present in the higher altitude, where large splotches of the ice remained even despite the sunlight.
     
    “You do know that If we survive we’ll be living together, just like old times?” I asked suddenly.
     
    Preston beamed, although didn’t say anything. Immediately after I had said this though, I had to consider what the Grimlars would think if I came out: Would they assume I had cheated? Would they have any evidence to show I got outside help? Would they connect this to Professor Wenchenberg somehow? Would they be able to prosecute me when even I didn’t know what was happening?
     
                  Everything I had seen so far made me think that that I had become one of the Quenched. I survived against all odds and that truth made me both slightly nauseous and giddy from excitement. How did the soul wind up in my possession? That wasn’t logical. The professor should have sold something as valuable as this, assuming of course it was his to sell. The professor could have drunk it himself, yet he didn’t. Did he not trust himself to survive? If that were the case, why on earth would he give it to me?
     
                  The deep eyes of the dragon gazed at me from just above my line of sight as I thought about all of this.
     
    “You need a name,” I remarked, looking to him for confirmation.
     
                  “Why?” The eyes growled.
     
    I flinched, not expecting to hear a response. “Well... We’re a part of each other now... It seems only natural.” Immediately after I had said this, a thick roar of denial came from the creature, screaming obscenities at me. Instinctively, my hands flew up to my ears, however that didn’t stop the noise in the slightest. After the rage of the creature settled only slightly, he began to address me personally.