Exile

by Victoria DeLuis

  With the expansion of the Roman Empire, we’d forgone our place among the humans of Wales and sought to separate ourselves from their lives. The Silure humans were a collection of long-forgotten clans, but the clan of Silure Dragons remained. They once proudly fought side by side with their human allies. Pledged allegiance to the same great King. Now, every full moon, they gathered in the fields surrounding Caerwent and lamented the noble people and the existence they once knew. An existence they’d closed themselves away from.

  I understood their reasoning. At the time, I even believed it for the best. We may be long-lived, but we’re also few in number. We produced no more than one offspring during our long lives, and female birth rates were lower than male. We were strong, but we could be killed, and, if anything, the human world has shown that it lashes out at beings that are different.

  In our Welsh bubble, we’d existed safely with the people who knew and respected us, but Romans only respected the power of numbers. My parents were slain by a legion of soldiers. The risk of capture and the possibility they’d be enslaved to fight in an amphitheatre had prevented them from taking their powerful dragon form and cemented the decision of the tribal elders. The Silure Dragons threatened to become a liability to our human friends rather than a help. So, we vanished, faded into the background and watched the Silure people fade, too. Progress can be painful, but with our withdrawal from the world, dragons had stopped progressing. We’d stagnated. You couldn’t live in a world with seven billion humans and try to ignore them. You had to work with them.

  With this in mind, I circled above the forest and looked for the familiar clearing. As soon as I spotted it and the small cottage it housed, I descended and made my way to the ground. My wings beat the air as I came to land, showering the area with a spray of leaves and twigs. I may have looked like a regular bird of prey to the eye, but reality differed. Even before I released my glamour, the disturbance of my arrival made it clear something large had appeared in the clearing.

  I shook off the pack attached to my claw and changed to my human form just as Thomas and Summer ran from the cottage.

  Summer did a quick U-turn, covering her eyes, while Thomas smiled and shook his head.

  “You need me to grab some clothes?” he asked, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice.

  “I’m good.” I bent down to my pack, pulled out a simple jeans and tee combo, and pulled them on. Once dressed, I walked to the cottage.

  “Good to see you.” Thomas pulled me in for a hug.

  Heat warmed my being as I relished being amongst people who cared for me. I hadn’t known Thomas and Summer for long, but they’d been unwavering in their friendship and support and were amongst the only group of humans who knew my secret. Neither of them had batted an eyelid when they’d learnt my true nature, but I guess anyone would become accustomed to the unusual if they lived the life they did. Summer was a Rune Witch of the Ogham faith; she’s also half Tylwyth Teg and a princess of the Fair Folk. Thomas was her consort, an ordinary human by birth, but also a knight of the Fairy Realm. They hadn’t known all this when I first met them, but unlike in the dragon world, things have a habit of moving quickly in the human and fairy one. They’re good people. The best, and they’d reminded me I could be, too.

  “Sorry for the unannounced visit,” I said, and gave Thomas my best lopsided smile. “I should have warned you I was coming.”

  “Not a problem. You’re welcome anytime.”

  I smiled, knowing Thomas to be true to his word. “Still, a call would have saved Summer any embarrassment,” I noted.

  “She’ll be fine. You’re not the first naked man she’s seen.”

  I glanced at Thomas and compared myself to the impossibly handsome man beside me. In human form, I stood as tall as Thomas at six-feet, but where he had a lithe body with a muscular chest and arms, I spread a little broader all over. Though my six-pack matched his. He was slim, athletic, and moved like a dancer. You’d be forgiven for thinking the air of nobility to his presence was part of the powers bestowed on him by the Tylwyth Teg, but I’d met him before the events that led to his knighthood and knew he’d always been such a man.

  We joined Summer in the kitchen where she’d already put the kettle on. I swear, half their existence they spent drinking tea. She turned from the sideboard and gathered cups while giving me a quick up and down. A wicked smile played on her face. Unlike Megan’s gaze, Summer’s portrayed nothing sexual or demeaning. Amusement twinkled in her eyes, a gentle mocking of her own embarrassment.

  “It’s good to see you,” she said, flinging her arms around my shoulders and pulling me in for too tight a hug. “I particularly like the clothes.”

  I laughed. As a man who’d lived alone for an unfathomable amount of years, the ease I felt around the two of them often surprised me, especially given their penchant for physical contact. Something I’d evaded.

  “You could both just wait a few minutes, give me some time to change and dress before rushing outside.”

  Summer pulled back. “When a thirty-foot dragon lands in the garden, trust me, there is no way on Earth we will not run and look. Why don’t you give us a few minutes to stare at the mythical marvel you are, and then pop back in the house before you switch to human form?”

  I feigned mock affront and shook my head. “It’s so sad to realise my friends only like me for what I am, and not who I am.”

  Summer ruffled the hair on my head as though I were a five-year-old. “We love you for who you are, and you know it,” she said.

  Thomas laughed and moved to sort the tea when the kettle clicked.

  “I take it this isn’t just a social call,” Summer said as we sat at the kitchen table. “Given our proximity to Caerwent and the other dragons, I thought it was too dangerous for you to travel here.”

  I smiled at the way she whispered ‘other dragons’ as though they could hear us.

  “Trouble?” Thomas questioned me with his steady gaze.

  “Not for you,” I said with a sigh.

  Summer placed her hand on mine. “Your trouble is our trouble. Now spill.”

  I laid out the whole situation: the theft of the stone; Megan asking me to find it.

  “But that’s great news, isn’t it?” Summer asked, knowing how I’d missed my tribe. “I mean, the Silure Dragons asking for your help, not the theft.”

  “You don’t trust them,” Thomas stated, reading the look on my face.

  I sat on the edge of my chair and grimaced, trying to ignore the shiver that set my hair on edge and gave me the sensation I was headed for a fall. I certainly didn’t put any faith in Megan, but the others?

  “I guess, I don’t. No more than they trust me.” I leaned back in the oak dining chair and rubbed my hands over my head. “Megan suspected me of the theft, and she was right to. During the war, I’d wanted us to come out of hiding, to show humanity we existed. I thought we could help them with our leadership. Our rulers deemed it too dangerous. In many ways, they were right. The things I saw humans do to humans, I can easily imagine what they’d do to us.”

  “That doesn’t make you wrong,” Thomas said. “There’s no shame in wanting to help people.”

  “I know.” I finished my tea and sighed. “I’m just not sure yet if things are getting better or worse.”

  “Things will get better,” Thomas said. “Even if they get worse first, always believe they’ll get better.”

  He glanced at Summer with a depth to his eyes that glistened with steadfast devotion. She noticed and smiled.

  For a second, I wondered how good it would feel to be in a secure and loving relationship, to know that no other soul who ever lived could complete you the way your true love did. I envied the easy way they talked to each other; nothing was ever forced or hidden between them, but I could never begrudge them finding true happiness. They’d earnt what they had.

  Summer tapped her hands on the table and stood. “On that note,” she said. “Tea makes everythin
g better, so I’ll make another pot.”

  “I thought cheese made everything better,” Thomas said.

  Summer froze. “You are absolutely right, it is cheese. Cheese and tea. Who’s hungry? It’s always a good idea to put something in your stomach before starting work.”

  I chuckled and wondered how I’d ever managed without the two of them in my life.

  Three

  “You okay?” I asked, noting the pale colour of Summer’s face.

  “I’ll be fine.”

  Thomas reached over from the driver’s seat and squeezed her hand. I sat in the back of their Prius. We drove through the outskirts of Cardiff and moved towards the city centre.

  Following our cheese toastie and cup of tea, Summer had worked a spell on the hair Megan had given me and we now followed whatever trail she’d picked up towards its owner.

  “It’s all part of the magic,” Thomas said. “Summer has to create a connection between herself and the owner of the hair. That connection tightens the closer she gets, and well... that tightening can cause some discomfort.”

  Discomfort! I sat forward in the seat and looked at the pain on Summer’s face, the obvious concern in Thomas’ eyes. “Then stop,” I said. “No way would I have let you do this if I had known.”

  Summer raised her eyebrow, and a slight smile played at the edge of Thomas’ lips.

  “Let me!” she said. Her voice took on the tone of a stern teacher. “You wouldn’t let me. I’m pretty sure you have no say in the matter.”

  “Thomas,” I said, seeking support.

  “Don’t look at me. Whilst I’m one hundred percent on your side, as Summer said, it isn’t up to us.”

  “Exactly.” Summer closed her eyes and leaned her head on the rest.

  “Yep,” Thomas continued. “No matter what you say or do, she’ll only do it her way in the end. You’d think someone of your age would be smart enough to know how stubborn and pig-headed women can be.”

  He smirked and gave Summer the side eye.

  “I hear you,” she said. “I’m simply choosing not to respond. Now stop your fussing and let me concentrate.”

  “But—”

  Summer held up her hand when I started to speak. “No buts. It’s only pain. It comes and goes in waves.” She laughed. “It won’t hurt me.”

  “Like that’s not the definition of pain,” I muttered.

  Thomas looked at me in the rear-view mirror. “She’ll be fine. As soon as she releases the spell, the pain disappears with no lasting damage, or so I’ve been reassured.”

  I sat back in my chair and berated myself for not asking more questions about how Summer’s magic worked. The roads grew busier as the city gathered around us.

  “Turn right, just ahead.” Summer took a deep, steadying breath.

  “We close?” Thomas asked.

  “Definitely.”

  Thomas turned the car right. With instructions from Summer, he turned three more times until she called for him to stop. My heart sank. We were in the heart of the city. Hundreds of people wandered along the street travelling from one bar to the next. The crowds had a life of their own, a vibrant energy that buzzed with the joy of a night out on the town.

  “You sure?” Thomas asked.

  “Yep. Pull up. Over there in the multi-storey.”

  “Drop the spell,” Thomas said.

  Summer rolled her eyes. “You know better than to ask that.”

  “There are way too many people here for you to pinpoint whoever we’re looking for. We’ll find another way.”

  “We’ll wait. Whoever we’re looking for will have to move eventually.”

  Thomas maneuvered the car to the third floor and turned off the engine.

  “I’m not comfortable with leaving you in pain for hours,” I said. “You should stop the magic.”

  “You trying to tell me what to do again?” Summer asked while a smile played on her lips. “We can follow as long as I’m connected.” I went to interject, but Summer held up her hand. “I’m fine. This isn’t my first rodeo.”

  I wanted to protest, but Summer left the car and moved to look out at the street below. Thomas and I followed.

  “Best I can tell, whoever we’re after is in that bar,” she said, pointing four buildings down on the opposite side of the street.

  I looked at my watch: nearing ten. A river of sober faces drifted below. Night-time spread like a growing shadow over my head, darkening the sky to match my mood. The sun had set hours ago, but to them, the night had just begun. The bar wouldn’t close soon, and the possibility of spending the night waiting for our target to move had me champing at the bit.

  “You’ve never had to keep a spell like this active for more than a few hours,” Thomas said, unable to hide the concern in his voice. “You sure you’re up for this?”

  The LED luminaire flickered overhead and cast me in shadow. My head pounded, and I cursed myself for having put my friends in such a predicament. I should have known better. Too many times during the war, I’d seen human friends face impossible tasks. Sometimes they’d succeeded, but more often than not, they’d failed. With Summer and Thomas, I had to remind myself that no matter how powerful a witch she was, or how many protections Thomas had bestowed on him by both Summer and the Tylwyth Teg, they were still human, still vulnerable.

  “I think we should chalk this up as a dead end,” I said, unwilling for Summer to continue suffering on my behalf. “I sent out a list of the jewels stolen with the stone. Sooner or later, I’ll get a hit on the black market.”

  Summer sighed and rolled her eyes. “Seriously, the two of you are like a pair of overprotective mother hens. Sure, my tummy hurts. Yes, it’s uncomfortable. But at this distance, it’s no more pain than most women go through with stomach cramps once a month. So, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not a big deal.” Her eyes flickered from me to Thomas and flashed with steely determination. “Unless, either one of you is suggesting stomach cramps are something I am incapable of handling.”

  “Sounds like someone’s got the grumps that accompany those cramps,” Thomas muttered under his breath.

  Summer jabbed him playfully with her elbow. “I’ll show you grumpy in a minute,” she fired back before turning to glare at me.

  I’d once seen Summer blast a whole building out of existence. Hell, together with Thomas, she’d beaten a death curse. Not to mention, she’d once strolled out in front of two battling armies as though she never had a care in the world. I knew full well her power and capabilities, but, at the time, she wasn’t hugging her stomach as though an alien was about to rip through.

  Despite that, the steely glint of determination in her eyes and the strength of her voice made me sure I’d regret any further attempt to sway her actions. I opted for the safe course of action myself. I backed away and raised my hands in submission.

  With nothing to do but wait, we returned to the car. Thomas and Summer grabbed the back seat and I sat up front. Summer’s condition neither deteriorated nor improved, but my unease grew. I kept an eye on her as well as the club. She lay with her head against Thomas’ shoulder with her eyes closed while Thomas and I chatted companionably.

  “Right, that’s it,” Summer said after a while. “I can’t take it anymore.”

  I sat forward in alarm as my heart sank at the thought of her sitting there building to this point. “We should have stopped this sooner,” I said. “The pain is too much.”

  “The pain is not too much. It’s your bloody constant glances and sorrowful face. I just can’t take them anymore. You really need to get a grip.”

  Thomas laughed. I felt sheepish.

  “Here’s what we’ll do,” Summer said. “We know whoever this hair belongs to is a criminal, right? Absolutely no way it belongs to a guest or a cleaner?”

  “No way,” I confirmed. The dragons would never have a human in their house, and the hair most definitely belonged to a human.

  “Good. I wouldn’t want to hurt an i
nnocent.”

  “What’s the plan?” Thomas asked.

  “I’ve never tried this, so I’m not a hundred percent certain it’s going to work. But here’s what I’ll do.”

  Summer explained her plan. If I understood, Summer shared a connection to the owner of the hair and should be able to affect them in some way. Not their mind; although she possessed the ability to plant an idea, it might not stick. Instead, she planned to send a magnified blast of the pain she felt along the connection. If we were in the bar when she did so, hopefully, we’d be able to spot the recipient of that blast. It might be a long shot, but the alternative of sitting in the car for several more hours held little appeal.

  “Let’s try,” Thomas said instantly. “The sooner we catch this guy, the sooner you can release the spell and end all our discomfort.”

  He pulled her in for a hug and kissed her forehead.

  “Okay, give us until five minutes after we enter the bar and then work your magic,” I said.

  “Will do. Now, go, and be careful. I don’t want to have to come and rescue you.”

  “Aren’t I always?” Thomas said, and winked at her.

  “That goes for you, too,” she said to me before moving to watch the club.

  Four

  The pub was primarily a sports bar, with big screens displayed at various angles around the room. With no sporting event taking place, they played music videos in the background as people laughed and joked with their friends. Like every venue whose purpose was to serve alcohol, the air had that sickly scent to it, mingling uncomfortably with perfume and cleaning detergent. People crowded the room. The place had about twenty tables, surrounded by sofas, comfy chairs, and stools. The entrance stood in a wall of frosted windows. Everything appeared to be on one floor, so Thomas and I should be able to keep everyone in view if we covered both sides of the room.

  I motioned Thomas towards the bar to the front while I moved to the rear near the toilets. We’d have a couple more minutes before Summer acted, and I wanted to get in position as soon as possible.