by Eric Vall
“Us, too,” Eleanor announced and linked arms with Emily. “Not one of those creatures will be able to pass us.”
Though the ladies-in-waiting were mere humans, something told me they had something up their sleeves when it came to protection.
“Alright.” I nodded. “You three go to Valerra’s chambers. We’ll take care of whomever is at the gate.”
“I’ll rip them to shreds,” Valerra thundered as she headed for the door.
I stormed after her with Alyona, Nike, Aaliyah, Rebecca, Naomi, and Miraya at my heels. As soon as we were outside the Lunar Palace, I sprinted to catch up with Valerra, and we shifted into our dragon forms in synchronicity.
The black scales of my forearms rippled across the rest of my skin as my body grew in size until I towered over the buildings of Hatra. I felt the fire build in my chest as I looked at my dragon mate in her crimson glory, and we waited for our companions to climb onto our backs before we took to the sky and flew above the gates.
I looked down to see Kover hadn’t exaggerated in the slightest. At least four or five-hundred furry creatures stood in perfect rows at the gate to our city, and each held a weapon, from bows and arrows to swords to staves. I could see now they resembled wolves, but they weren’t wolf Demi-Humans like Laika. They seemed to be almost feral, and I got the distinct feeling they were much more wolf than human. Instead of human features, they had long, narrow snouts and sharp, yellow fangs, and their hands were only a step above paws with spindly fingers and dagger-like claws. They were definitely not like anything I’d seen before. This was something else, and they growled and bared their sharp teeth until we appeared in the sky above them.
“Now!” one of the wolf-like creatures barked.
Suddenly, a flurry of arrows flew toward us, and Valerra and I split in opposite directions to avoid the barrage. I knew the arrows would never be able to penetrate my scales, but they could certainly harm the people on my back.
“Drop us off over there!” Alyona pointed toward the edge of the wolf army.
I nodded as I opened my maw and released a column of flames onto the attacking soldiers to clear a path. Their fur caught fire, and they whimpered and scurried away from the landing zone. Valerra and I flew low enough for our passengers to jump to the ground, and then we returned above the army to continue our attack.
We flew over them and bellowed flames onto their heads. Several dropped to cover themselves with their shields, but most of them caught fire within seconds. I looked back to see Alyona and Naomi had joined hands and began to cast various spells that sent the wolves flying backward. Miraya and Nike wielded swords and were engaged in hand-to-hand battles with their furry opponents, while Aaliyah and Rebecca had cut right to the chase with their long claws. They all left the soldiers in bloody shreds as they tore through the waves of wolves.
“Savage dragons!” one of the wolves bellowed as he threw a dagger at me.
The metal blade cracked against the scales of my chest and fell to the ground with a clatter.
“We aren’t the ones attacking an innocent city!” I snarled before I released another round of flames onto the furry soldier.
He blocked the fire with his metal shield and cowered beneath it as I poured more and more flames onto him. I knew his shield had to be growing hot from my fire, but he continued to guard himself with it, so I snorted and kicked at the shield with my foreleg.
The metal dented in the perfect shape of my talon, and the wolf stumbled backward with a growl.
“You already did!” he yelled as he unsheathed his sword.
“Already did what?” I was confused with the wolf’s accusation.
“Attacked our city!” he snarled and held his sword out as though the tiny blade could hurt me.
“I’ve only just returned to Hatra,” I retorted. “I couldn’t possibly have attacked your city.”
“We know what we saw!” the wolf exclaimed with wild, angry eyes. “The damage of a dragon has been told for centuries! The flames, the destruction!”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard.” I rolled my eyes and flicked his sword out of his hand with my talons. “Who said it was me?”
“You and your dragon mate are the only ones left in this land!” he insisted. “Who else could it be?”
“Okay, listen,” I grunted. “It wasn’t us, so I need you to take me to your leader.”
I grimaced at my own ridiculous statement, but I had to figure out what the hell was going on. I knew Valerra and I hadn’t attacked some wolf city, and if another dragon was out there causing trouble, we definitely needed to know about it.
“He won’t speak with you,” the wolf growled. “The decision has been made to collect blood as punishment.”
“Then it’s your blood that will be collected,” I snarled as I opened my maw to finish off the stupid canine.
“Wait!” I turned to see a much larger wolf stride across the battlefield toward us. “I am Tunkay, the Alpha of our pack.”
Tunkay was covered in copper-colored fur, and his giant ears were pressed against his head as he walked toward me. His eyes were a pale yellow that looked nearly white, and they stared at me with a mixture of caution and curiosity.
“My name is Lord Evan of Hatra el Shamash,” I announced. “And I will call off my warriors if you do the same. Then we can talk.”
Tunkay eyed me carefully before he lifted his head and howled.
The other wolves immediately retreated from the battlefield and leaped toward him. Some sat on their haunches, while the rest stood at attention behind him.
I hovered above them for a moment, and then I nodded and looked over to my people.
“Stop the fight,” I ordered. “We need to talk.”
Naomi called the black fireball she held back into her palm, and Aaliyah withdrew her long claws and glanced over at Rebecca, who lifted her huge paw from the throat of a wolfy soldier. Alyona and Miraya shared a look of obvious concern before they lowered their magical weapons while Nike sheathed the Sword of Light, and then they all walked toward me.
“Why should we waste our time talking when they came to attack us?” Valerra hissed as she flew next to me.
“Because they may have been misled,” I muttered before I looked down to Tunkay. “I’m going to take my human form.”
The wolf nodded his agreement, and I shifted into my smaller body as I dropped to the ground and used my healing magic to cushion my fall. Then I gestured for the Alpha to follow me away from the others, and we walked far enough away to continue our conversation without his soldiers overhearing.
“Okay, dragon, I’m listening,” Tunkay said with a sideways glance at my human form.
“First of all, you have me at a disadvantage,” I began. “You know I’m a dragon, but I have no idea what you are. You aren’t wolf Demi-Humans.”
“No,” he snorted and rolled his eyes. “Those half-breeds are merely a very distant cousin of ours. We are Mahigans, but you should know that already.”
I bit my tongue at his half-breed reference and thanked the gods Laika wasn’t here. I had to do what I could to protect my city, and that did not include restarting this battle. Even with the Mahigans we’d already killed, hundreds more remained, and I preferred not to kill anyone else if we didn’t have to.
“You guys seem to think I know a lot more about you than I do,” I retorted. “I have no idea who you are or why you’re here. All I know is you brought hundreds of your guys to my city, and we had to defend ourselves. In case you forgot, you fired the first arrows.”
“Today, yes,” Tunkay hissed. “But one of you dragons attacked our village four nights ago.”
“No, we didn’t,” I replied as I narrowed my eyes on the wolf. “I have no idea where your village is, and I was at the White Jade Temple four nights ago. And, as for the Crimson Dragon, she doesn’t go on the attack. She only defends.”
“She sure looks happy to attack today,” the wolf spat out.
“Because sh
e’s defending our home,” I snarled and took a step closer. “She wouldn’t have done anything if you weren’t right outside our walls with an army and hundreds of weapons that could harm our people.”
“Then explain to me what dragon burned half our village to the ground and killed hundreds of innocent people!” Tunkay thundered.
We stood mere inches away from each other, and I could see the nostrils on his snout flare with every angry breath he took. His hackles stood on end, and his fangs were bared as he waited for an explanation, which I, unfortunately, did not have.
“I don’t know,” I murmured after a moment. “I was under the impression we were the only two dragons who remained after hundreds of our species were slaughtered by the Sage.”
I thought about Eskandar, the white dragon we’d recently discovered had been under Olivier’s geas for years, but no one else needed to know about him, and I knew he wasn’t responsible for the attack on the Mahigan village.
“That is what we learned as well,” Tunkay agreed. “So, we surmised you or your mate were responsible for the attack, and we came here.”
“Well, we weren’t.” I shrugged. “But, if we can stop this bullshit, I’ll help you find out who really did it.”
“How will you do that?” the Alpha asked as he narrowed his pale eyes on me.
I hesitated. As much as I wanted to go to Leyte to find the first Noble Spirit, I knew we couldn’t ignore whatever had burned the Mahigans’ village. It wasn’t fair to this group of my people, even if I didn’t know they existed before they’d come to attack our city.
“We’ll go to your village and investigate,” I finally answered and glanced over my shoulder toward my companions, who looked to be in various stages of confusion. “Let me talk to my group.”
Tunkay dipped his head, and we separated to discuss the situation with our own people.
“What the hell is going on?” Nike asked under his breath. “Why did they come here?”
“They said a dragon burned down their village,” I explained. “We obviously know it wasn’t us, so we need to find out who it was.”
“There aren’t any other dragons,” Valerra said with a bored yawn. “Let’s just destroy them and get back to sleeping.”
My dragon mate had laid down on the ground a few feet away with her long tail providing a scaly barrier between the wolves and my group, and she lazily examined her talons as I rolled my eyes.
“We already discovered that may not be true,” I reminded her. “We found Eskandar, and there could be others. Maybe they’ve just been in hiding.”
“And now, they decided to go attack some random village?” Aaliyah scoffed. “Seems like a stupid way to come out of hiding.”
“I agree,” Alyona sighed. “So, what do you suggest?”
“I think we should go check out their village,” I replied. “If it’s another dragon starting shit, then we need to end it. If it’s something else, we can stop that, too.”
“You still want to defend them?” Rebecca pursed her lips.
“I will be king someday, so they’re still my people,” I said with a gentle smile. “I can understand their desire to avenge their city. They were just wrong about who to go after.”
“My lord, what about…” Miraya nearly whispered and wrung her hands together.
“We will still look for your sisters,” I assured her. “I know we planned to go to Leyte today, but we have to do this.”
“He’s right, Miraya,” Alyona agreed and grabbed the spirit’s hand. “If there’s something attacking these people’s city, we can’t let it go on.”
“We don’t even know what these people are,” Valerra interjected with a smoky huff.
“Mahigans,” I filled in. “That’s what they are.”
“I’ve heard of them,” Nike mused. “They normally stay to themselves. It seems odd they would travel to another city for an attack.”
“I think this Alpha guy wants to prove himself,” I said.
“He must be a new Alpha, then,” Miraya murmured.
“Why do you say that?” I wondered.
“A new Alpha would have to prove that he earned his place,” the spirit explained. “He had to win a fight with the old Alpha to become the new one, but sometimes the other members of the pack don’t approve. This may have been his way to prove he was a worthy leader.”
“You know about the Mahigans?” I arched a surprised eyebrow.
“One of your ancestors had seen them before,” she replied and closed her eyes. “He was a traveler, and he only stayed with them for a few days before he moved on, but one of the Elders in the pack told him about their ways.”
“Have you come to a decision?” Tunkay called out.
I turned to see the Alpha had turned to face us with his pack behind him. A few of them still looked enraged, but none of them dared to disobey his order.
“Yes,” I confirmed as I walked closer. “We will go to your village and find out who attacked you. Then we’ll handle whoever it was.”
“No, we will seek our own revenge,” Tunkay growled. “You merely catch the culprit, and we will handle the rest.”
“Fair enough,” I agreed and held my hands up. “We’re on your side in this. I can promise you, we had nothing to do with the attack on your city. Now, I need something from you.”
“What?” he asked with narrowed eyes.
“I need your people to leave my city,” I replied in a low, dark voice. “We’ll follow all of you back to your village, and none of your people will stay here.”
There was a moment of complete silence as the Mahigan looked me up and down before he released a slow breath.
“Fine,” he conceded. “We will lead you there.”
“Let me tell my city they’re safe,” I said. “Then we’ll leave.”
“It will take us two days to journey there,” Tunkay advised. “We should leave as soon as possible.”
“Two days, huh?” I glanced over at Alyona. “I think we can get there much faster than that.”
“Ah, your priestess,” the wolf mused. “She can transport all of us there?”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “We’ll be right back.”
“I can tell them what’s going on,” Valerra offered as she casually rose to her feet. “I’m not going anywhere with them, and I’d rather stay here on guard.”
Her golden eyes traveled past me toward the wolves, and I could tell she still didn’t trust them. I didn’t blame her. She would slaughter anyone who came close to the eggs, and I wasn’t surprised she didn’t want to go with us now.
“Are you sure?” Aaliyah gaped. “You don’t want to go tearing into whatever beast sent them here?”
“Not at all,” Valerra replied and shook her head. “I’d rather stay here in case anyone else gets the stupid idea to take my eggs.”
“Okay,” I said. “I imagine Laika will want to go with us instead. Tell her we’ll wait for her at the gates, and the others need to be on their guard. We don’t know if this mysterious dragon has attacked anyone else that might be seeking revenge.”
Valerra nodded and leaped into the sky to soar over the gates into Hatra, and we didn’t have to wait long before Laika stormed out of the gate to join us with a wary eye on the Mahigans.
“Who are they?” she demanded.
“Mahigans, and they may not be your biggest fans,” I explained carefully. “So, let’s just keep this mission short and sweet. Okay?”
“I don’t need fans anyway,” Laika huffed. “Let’s go.”
With that, Alyona and I led the others toward Tunkay, who obviously regarded Laika’s presence with disdain.
“You traded a dragon for this?” he sneered.
“She is the leader of the Blue Tree Guild,” I hissed. “And she’s an incredible warrior who will be treated with the respect she deserves. Unless you’d like to fight a dragon on your own since it went so well last time.”
Tunkay and I glared at each other for several
seconds until he finally barked a laugh and looked at Alyona.
“Go ahead with your magical transportation, priestess.” He waved a dismissive hand in the air.
“It’s Princess,” I corrected him with a menacing growl. “I may only be the lord of this city, but she is the daughter of King Rodion. If you can’t respect my ladies, we can part ways now.”
“Fine, fine,” Tunkay sighed. “Your Highness, if you would, please.”
“I need you to point out your village on this map,” Alyona said as she pulled the paper from her spatial storage. “Then I’ll open a portal to it.”
Tunkay looked at her in surprise before he pointed a clawed finger to a small town on the southern border of Rahma surrounded by desert with only a single river that ran next to it.
Alyona nodded her head, rolled up the map, and stowed it in her storage before she murmured the words of her spell. In a few seconds, the sparks of her pure white magic erupted in the air before us, and several of the Mahigans stepped back and growled with shock as their city appeared in the magical doorway.
“After you,” I said and gestured for Tunkay to lead the way into his village.
He furrowed his brow but stepped through the portal. I followed behind him with my group, and the rest of his army filed in after us. As soon as we stepped into the town, I could tell he wasn’t lying about the destruction. The acrid stench of smoke and burnt bodies filled the air, and I quickly sent a wave of healing magic to my companions to protect them from the smell.
We followed Tunkay up a cobblestone path that wound through half-burnt buildings, blackened grass and crops, and disheveled houses. Soon, other Mahigans began to show their interest in our sudden appearance, but they were less than thrilled to see me walking behind Tunkay.
“He brought the dragon back!” one of the females hissed.
“Traitor!” a male Mahigan growled.
“All will soon be made clear!” Tunkay assured them. “Wait in your homes until the Elders call for you.”
The Mahigans looked at each other with obvious doubt before they scurried out of view, and when we reached the end of the road, we stood before a large hut. It was only one story, but it was nearly as long as the entire village, and it was one of only a few buildings that hadn’t been scorched in the attack.
