The Matchmaker - The Arrax Saga Book 1 Chapter 211

The late morning sun filtered through the trees, casting dappled light across the pack garden. Saphira stepped lightly, her boots crunching over fallen leaves.

Near the old stone bench, Raven stood alone, arms folded tightly across her chest. Her gaze was distant, fixed on the tall grass swaying in the wind, as if searching for answers in the way the world moved, answers she hadn’t known she’d been missing.

Saphira approached quietly, her voice gentle. “Hey.”

Raven turned, her expression softening. “Hey,” she said, low but steady, like she was still finding her footing.

Saphira sat beside her, the stone cool beneath her palms. “How are you taking everything?”

Raven exhaled slowly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m… okay. I think.” Her voice was thoughtful, laced with something fragile. “It’s strange. I always felt like I was stronger than the witches around me. Like something didn’t quite fit. But I thought it was just me being stubborn, pushing too hard, trying to prove I belonged.”

Her gaze drifted to the horizon, where sunlight shimmered on the leaves. “But now… it kind of makes sense. Maybe that’s why I was banished. Maybe they sensed something I didn’t. Something they feared.”

Saphira watched her, heart aching with quiet understanding. “It makes sense to me. You’ve always carried something different. Something deeper. You’ve never just followed the standard path, you’ve carved your own.”

Raven gave a soft, almost self-conscious laugh. “Well. That’s something I’ll have to unpack later. Right now, we’ve got bigger things to worry about.”

Before Saphira could respond, the sound of approaching footsteps broke the stillness. Nikolas appeared, a thick leather-bound book tucked under one arm, already flipping through its pages as he walked.

“Found it,” he said, holding it up. “My mother’s spell book. Figured you’d be better at making sense of it than I am. I can’t tell what’s Elder-level and what’s just… dramatic flair.”

He handed it to Raven, who took it with determination. Her fingers brushed the worn leather, and for a moment, she simply held it, like it was something sacred. Then she opened it carefully, flipping through the yellowed pages, her brow furrowing as she scanned the dense, looping script.

“Some of these are too dangerous to try,” she murmured. “Blood-forged bindings, soul-splitting… definitely not beginner-friendly.”

She paused, tapping a page with her fingertip. “But these two… they’re doable. One’s a spell that uses elemental energy to create anything of my will. The other is a shielding weave, meant to protect against psychic intrusion. Both require immense power. And focus.”

Saphira and Nikolas exchanged a glance, then stepped back, giving her space.

Raven stood, rolling her shoulders as if shaking off the weight of uncertainty. She took a deep breath. “Alright. Let’s see what I’ve got.”

She extended her hands, murmuring the incantation under her breath. The air around her shimmered faintly, then flickered out. Her brow creased. She tried again but still nothing.

On the third attempt, her voice steadied, low and echoing. Her fingers glowed with a soft blue light, the magic coiling around her like mist. A pulse of energy rippled outward, brushing over Saphira and Nikolas like a warm breeze laced with static.

Then the garden stirred.

Leaves lifted from the ground, swirling into a vortex of wind and light. A figure emerged. It swung its arms in slow, deliberate arcs, then began to draw water from the soil, droplets rising like silver threads.

Raven’s breath hitched. She held the spell for a moment longer, then released it. The figure collapsed into wind and leaves, scattering across the garden.

She blinked, stunned. “I… I did it.”

Saphira stepped forward, pride blooming in her chest like sunlight breaking through clouds. “You did.”

Nikolas gave a low whistle. “Well. That’s definitely not beginner-level.”

Raven looked down at her hands, still faintly glowing. Her voice was quiet, but certain. “I think I’m just getting started.”

Nikolas rolled his shoulders, eyes scanning the space around them. “What if we test it?” he said, glancing at Saphira. “The elemental spell. You and me, against it.”

Saphira arched a brow. “You want to spar with a conjured elemental?”

“I want to see what our bond can do,” he said, voice low but serious. “We’ve felt it, how it moves between us. Let’s see if we can fight with it.”

He turned to Raven. “Make it strong. As strong as you can. Don’t hold back.”

Raven’s eyes gleamed with something between excitement and caution. “Alright,” she said, stepping back. “But don’t blame me if it gets a little… intense.”

Saphira and Nikolas moved to the centre of the garden, their bodies already shifting, claws lengthening, eyes sharpening, muscles coiling with latent power. Not full transformation, but enough to blur the line between human and dragon.

Raven raised her hands, her voice a low chant. The air thickened, the ground trembling beneath their feet. Leaves spiralled upward, caught in a sudden gust of wind. From the centre of the garden, the elemental began to form, taller than before, broader, its limbs forged from wind and stone, its chest pulsing with water drawn from the soil. Its eyes glowed with eerie blue light.

It roared, and the trees shuddered.

Saphira didn’t flinch. She felt Nikolas at her side, not just beside her, but within her, his presence threaded into her awareness like a second heartbeat.

Then the elemental charged.

They moved as one.

Nikolas ducked low, sweeping left as Saphira vaulted right, claws flashing. The creature swung a massive arm, but Saphira was already gone, twisting midair, landing behind it. Nikolas met its strike head-on, deflecting with a burst of force, his body glowing faintly with the bond’s energy.

They didn’t speak. They didn’t need to.

Saphira felt his next move before he made it, pivoting to flank the elemental just as Nikolas drove it backward. She leapt, claws slashing through its watery core, while Nikolas struck from below, disrupting its balance. The elemental staggered, reforming, but slower now.

They pressed in, weaving around each other like twin flames. Every dodge, every strike, every breath was shared. When the final blow came, it was simultaneous, Saphira’s claws slicing through its chest as Nikolas’s fist shattered its core.

The elemental collapsed in a rush of wind and water, dissolving into mist and leaves.

Silence fell.

Saphira stood panting, heart racing, her skin still humming with the aftershock of the bond. She turned to Nikolas, wide-eyed. “Did you feel that?”

He nodded, equally breathless. “Every move. Like I was watching myself from your eyes.”

Raven stepped forward slowly, her expression unreadable. “I could feel it,” she said. “Through the elemental. Your bond... it’s not just strong. It’s… resonant. It amplified the spell. I’ve never felt anything like it.”

She looked between them, awe flickering in her voice. “There’s more. A lot more you haven’t tapped into yet.”

Saphira met Nikolas’s gaze, her pulse still thrumming. “Then we’d better find out what we’re capable of.”

And somewhere deep inside her, the bond stirred again, not just a connection, but a promise.

They were only beginning.