by Megg Jensen
Elinor stared at Bastian’s shoulder, her eyes nowhere near Connor.
“Why are you avoiding looking at him? I haven’t known you long, but I got the impression you weren’t afraid of anything. What about Connor has you upset?”
Elinor’s eyes traveled to the eggs again. “I don’t know how Connor was healed. I really don’t, Bastian. But something isn’t right here. The eggs. Him. It’s all wrong.” She wrung her tiny hands together. “I don’t feel safe.”
“Connor wouldn’t hurt you. Trust me. He’s a good man. I’ve known him since we were little kids. He’s my best friend.” He didn’t know how else to convince her. He’d just have to wait for Connor to feel better and prove it himself.
Bastian turned to his friend. Connor had gotten up from the dirt floor and was running his hands over one of the eggs, whispering to it. He went to each egg, doing the same, but eventually came back to the first egg. He seemed to favor it over all the others.
“I admit,” Bastian said, turning back to Elinor, “his behavior is strange. I can’t pretend to know what he’s been through. Look, I’ll take him with me on the boat you’re arranging for my travel. I’ll care for him. You can go back to the town like you planned.”
Elinor parted her lips to reply, but before she could get a word out, a loud crack broke through the peaceful morning air. Bastian spun around in time to see a crack in of one of the eggshells widen. He watched in horror as a small claw emerged.
Chapter Twelve
Bastian grabbed Elinor and shoved her behind him. “Connor, get over here!” He’d seen the destruction an adult dragon could cause. A baby would be completely unpredictable. “Connor!”
Connor ignored him. Instead, he scurried over to the cracking egg, helping to peel back the broken pieces of shell. Connor tossed them to the ground, a smile taking over his face. “Do you see? The first one is hatching!”
The smell of rotten eggs and cooked onions overtook the dank musk of the cave. Bastian threw a hand over his nose. Elinor gagged behind him.
“We have to get out of here.” Elinor tugged on his sleeve, but Bastian wouldn’t move. Not without Connor. “Bastian, please,” she screeched, desperate. Her feet scrabbled over the rocky dirt at the cave’s mouth, but Bastian didn’t follow.
“Connor, now,” he pleaded.
Connor turned with a smile on his face. “I can’t leave. These are my children. I have to care for them.” He cracked another broken piece of shell, but didn’t remove it. The claw retracted and a full set of talons broke through.
Bastian’s stomach swam in circles. What was wrong with Connor? What had happened to him in the last few months? “Connor, your children are back in Hutton’s Bridge. With your wife, Hazel. Remember her? She loves you so much. Come with me. Let’s go home together.” Bastian held out a hand to his best friend. Bastian was brave. Most of his life, that was all he had. Today he couldn’t bring himself to step any closer to the dragon eggs than he had to. Connor would need to come to him.
“These are my children now.” Connor mingled his fingers with the baby dragon’s claws, still mostly ensconced inside the egg. “I don’t remember another family.” He looked pointedly at Bastian. “I don’t remember you.”
Connor stood taller. Every moment he spent coaxing the dragon out of its egg was another step toward looking stronger. Yet he didn’t look like the Connor Bastian once knew. He’d changed.
Still, they were best friends. Bastian had fought to save Connor once before, and he would fight for him again. He would never give up. Connor wouldn’t leave him behind if their positions were reversed.
“I’m not leaving without you.”
“Then don’t go,” Connor said. “Stay. Meet my children. Help me name them.”
Bastian took a step toward Connor. He’d trusted Connor his whole life. He wouldn’t stop now. Fists at his sides, he took another ten steps until they were standing shoulder to shoulder.
The dragon’s snout poked out of the egg. Its mouth dripped with sharp teeth. Bastian stumbled back, afraid it would blow fire. Connor stroked the dragon’s nose, cooing and coaxing it out of the cracked shell. With a final crack, the dragon burst out of the egg.
Connor laughed and held out his arms. The little dragon stumbled into them and nuzzled its head into Connor’s shoulder. A contented puff of air wafted from its gaping nostrils. “Come closer,” Conner said. “Meet her.”
“Her?” Bastian asked. He swept his eyes over her, but couldn’t figure out how Connor knew it was a female. He reached out with a quivering hand. The dragon snapped at his fingers. Heart pounding, Bastian yanked back his hand. “How do you know it’s a girl?”
“I just do.” Connor tickled it — her— under the chin. He placed the dragon down on the ground. Her legs splayed wide and she fell on her tummy.
Bastian couldn’t help himself and laughed. She was cute, if he didn’t think about the destruction she would eventually wreak on unsuspecting humans. He looked at Connor again. His friend’s eyes were still wide in amazement. Connor had that same adoring look he’d given his two boys back in Hutton’s Bridge.
“It will be some time before the others hatch.” Connor walked around, patting and rubbing the remaining twelve eggs.
He stopped at the one farthest back in the cave. Though it was the same size as the others, this egg had a more subdued appearance. Its blue shell had a more sandy tone. It didn’t have the raised markings. Smooth and speckled, it stood out as a stranger, but there was no mistaking: it was a dragon egg like the rest. Connor’s hand rested lightly on the top. “This one will be the last to hatch.”
He spoke with such authority. Bastian wondered how his friend could have learned so much about dragon eggs in only a few short months, all while forgetting his previous life.
Bastian knew from Connor’s determined gaze that he couldn’t drag his friend away from these eggs without brute force. It was the same expression the day they’d entered the fog. Connor loved his family more than life itself, which was why he was willing to risk his to save them all.
What had changed? Why was he so determined to stay with these dragons?
“How do you know it’ll be the last to crack its shell?” They all looked the same size to Bastian. Or maybe they weren’t like human babies. Maybe you couldn’t tell from the outside like with a pregnant woman.
Connor smiled. “Because this one is my offspring.”
Chapter Thirteen
Offspring. Connor believed a dragon was his child. And he was claiming the other eggs as his too. Now Bastian knew for sure that his friend had sustained a head injury. Maybe it had happened in the forest when they were separated. Maybe it was after the dragon’s claws had dragged his body from the platform where Bastian thought Stacia killed him.
Whatever it was, Connor wasn’t right in the head.
“How long will it take to hatch?” Bastian didn’t want to be trapped in the cave waiting on baby dragons. But he wouldn’t leave without Connor either.
“I’m not sure. It might be months. Years.” Connor didn’t seem perturbed, the smile firmly etched on his face.
“Years?” Bastian repeated. “We can’t stay here for years.”
“Of course we can.” Connor walked away from his precious eggs and the baby dragon. “I’ll do whatever it takes to protect them.” His eyes narrowed. “Even from you. But if you are who you say, if we truly are friends, then perhaps you’ll respect my wishes.”
Bastian’s lips pressed together. He considered a myriad of responses, none of them appropriate for a man who didn’t remember how close they’d once been. Connor was tough and if Bastian said what he was truly thinking, they’d probably end up with their fists in each other’s faces. Bastian would win, he always did, but he didn’t want to fight.
His best friend was now a stranger. Still, he wouldn’t leave him behind, especially when he so obviously needed healing of the mind.
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to feed my lit
tle hatchling.” Connor motioned to the dragon. She scuttled across the dirt to Connor’s side, just like a puppy. With adoring eyes, she looked up at him, her forked tongue hanging out. “I think I'll name you Fotia. Come on, let's go find you something yummy.”
The two of them trotted out of the cave together. Bastian looked back at the eggs, then decided to follow Connor. He didn’t have any food either. Elinor was gone and so was her pack. Maybe he and Connor could scrounge up some food. Though he wasn’t sure a few berries would be enough to feed Fotia.
Bastian remembered how ravenous his own daughter, Farah, was as a baby. Fotia was at least twice her size and probably twice as hungry, and she didn’t have a mother to feed her.
Mother. All the eggs were shades of blue. If Tressa and Jarrett’s story was accurate, Stacia was the only adult female blue dragon, which meant all the eggs were hers. He didn’t want to connect the missing piece. So if Connor claimed one was his… Bastian shook his head, trying to force the thought out. No. Stacia had tried to kill Connor. She hadn’t used him as a mate.
Connor tossed a stick to Fotia, letting her fetch and return it. He waved his hands above her head. She jumped, mouth wide open, teeth bared, attempting to grab a hold of him. It was too similar to the way Connor had played with his own boys back in Hutton’s Bridge.
Something, or someone, had stolen Connor’s memory. Bastian needed to find a way to restore his friend to the man he’d known since boyhood.
“Connor, wait for me." Bastian followed the dragon’s mewling through the dense trees, ducking under branches and stepping through wet piles of decaying leaves. He’d been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he’d lost track of them. Fotia’s high-pitched whine still echoed in the forest, but Connor had gone silent.
Bastian spied Fotia through the drooping branches of the willows closest to the river. She played on the edge of the water. Dipping a leg in, then pulling it back. Connor stood next to her, naked. He lay supine on the ground, splaying his arms and legs out to the side. Fotia jumped over him, flapping her little wings. She didn’t gain any more air than the jump allowed. Her wings flapped uselessly in the light breeze.
Connor’s body began to twitch. First, his legs, then his arms. His back jolted up and down, slamming against the ground in a frenzy. If it weren’t for the blissful smile on his face, Bastian would have barreled through the vegetation to help him. And Connor’s smile only grew wider as his arms and legs began to change.
His limbs contorted and stretched. Elbows and knees turned out. His light skin sprouted blue scales. His sandy hair sank into his skin as his head grew as his nose and mouth merged into a long snout.
Bastian trembled. Every inch of his entire body shuddered over and over like the little waves lapping on the shore of the river. Bastian held back a wave of nausea, swallowing the bile and memories of his dear friend from home. Simple Connor. Not this...this thing in front of him.
Connor morphed into a dragon, taller than the highest branches, wider than a copse of trees. His jaw dropped, and a plume of controlled fire followed a great roar.
Bastian stumbled backward, his arse hitting a tree trunk. His arms reached behind him, holding onto the tree. Sweat pooled at his eyebrows, threatening to drip into his eyes.
His best friend. A dragon. And not just any dragon. It was the same one who’d helped Tressa and Jarrett fight Stacia.
“Bastian!” It came from behind. Elinor. She’d come back.
“Go,” Bastian yelled over his shoulder, afraid to take his eyes off the beast that was now splashing in the river, grabbing fish in his teeth, and flinging them into Fotia’s eager, open mouth. “Run away. Don’t look back.”
“No, I’m not going anywhere,” Elinor said. She laid a soft hand on Bastian’s forearm. “You can relax. He’s not going to hurt you.”
“How would you know?” Bastian asked, still holding tight to the tree. “He’s nothing like the friend I grew up with. He’s changed into…something else. I don’t even know what. How can a human be a dragon? How can they change?"
“In my order, we know ancient things. Some of them are fact, others just theory. For a long time, we attempted to discover the nature of the dragons. Where they came from, how they reproduced. It was important for us to know in case we were ever called on to heal one of the ruler’s beasts.” She tugged on Bastian’s arm until it dropped to his side. “The people of my order came up with strange hypotheses, none of which we’d ever been able to test.” She let out a small breath. “Until now.”
Bastian forgot his fear and faced her, anger stamping out the worry. “You will not experiment on Connor. I won’t allow it.”
Elinor’s eyelashes fluttered down to her cheeks. “I would never hurt another living being. It is against everything I stand for. I had hoped you’d know that about me by now.”
“I just met you,” Bastian exclaimed. “I don’t presume to know anything about you.”
“My only purpose in life is to heal. If I could have the chance to learn how to heal a real dragon. To understand it.” She clasped her hands to her chest. “Bastian, it would mean everything to me.”
He sighed and folded his arms. In the distance, Connor continued to dive and toss fish to Fotia, providing for his child like any father would. Even though he’d changed and didn’t remember his old life, that dragon was still his best friend.
“If you hurt him…” Bastian warned Elinor.
“I won’t. I swear it! Oh, this is the most wonderful day of my life!” Elinor jumped at Bastian and before he knew it, she was in his arms.
Chapter Fourteen
Tressa woke the next morning, her head groggy. She’d drunk too much of Jarrett’s spiced wine and fallen asleep on the lush pillows. When she awoke, a silken sheet covered her. Jarrett slept on the pillows too, but too far away to touch. She rolled over, her back to him.
He’d kept true to his word. He hadn’t so much as tried to kiss her. A perfect gentleman. It warmed her heart. Perhaps they could be friends, just as she had been with Connor.
Connor. Between the shock at Hutton’s Bridge and passing out in the desert, she’d been preoccupied. There hadn’t been time to contemplate the blue dragon that’d saved her and helped her defeat Stacia.
Clutching an emerald pillow to her chest, Tressa stuffed her chin into it, holding back tears. She hadn’t cried since Granna died. Not when Connor's body had been shredded into bloody ribbons by Stacia’s spiked braid. Not when she’d left Bastian behind in the forest. Not when her mentor, Leo, died for her in the ring so she could infiltrate the Black Guard. Not when Bastian had been injured and she’d had to leave him once again to pursue the mystery in Hutton’s Bridge.
She’d left so much behind. And now, not knowing what was ahead. Tressa ached down to her bones. Her heart felt like a permanently tangled knot. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
Salty tears slipped down her cheeks. She could have held her breath, forced them to stay hidden. Instead, they streamed down her face, turning the silk black where her tears landed. Salt covered her lips.
Tressa didn’t wipe the tears away. Instead, she closed her eyes and gave herself a few moments to feel release. A hand on her shoulder interrupted her quiet moment. Tressa rubbed her eyelids, pretending to wipe sleep away and gave what she hoped was a convincing yawn.
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” Jarrett whispered in her ear.
She sat up, smoothing out her gown. Pushing her worries to the back of her mind, Tressa gave herself over to the moment, trusting in Jarrett to get them where they needed to be. Once they found help, she’d begin fighting again. For now, there was little to do but follow.
Tressa grasped Jarrett’s outstretched hand and stood. Her cream skin stood in stark comparison to the dark brown of his.
He pushed aside the silken curtain. Tressa threw an arm over her eyes as the blazing sun assaulted her. Squinting, Tressa squeezed Jarrett’s hand. “I’m not used to anything this bright. It was always slightly o
vercast in Hutton’s Bridge.”
Jarrett laughed. “I know how you feel. I felt it was too dark in the Drowned Country. I worried I’d die in the competition just because I couldn’t see as sharply. It was like constantly looking through a haze.”
The camels kicked the sand around, their mouths foaming. Low, bellowing bleats fell from their wet flappy lips. Their stink made her eyes water. She kept her focus on the sand beneath her sandaled feet until an attendant offered his hand and hoisted her up into the saddle between the camel's two humps.
“The inexperienced travel through the desert and quickly die. My horse did. You nearly did,” Jarrett said.
“I didn’t almost die.” Tressa swayed side to side with the camel’s awkward gait. It was worse than the horse. She expected to be sore the next day.
“Actually…” Jarrett’s voice trailed off. “I was concerned you would. You’re not used to the dry heat of the desert. You were dehydrated and exhausted. You’ve been pushed past your limits.”
Tressa shrugged, a smile on her lips. “You’d be surprised how much stamina I have.” She pushed away the memory of the tears she’d shed not long ago.
“Someday I hope to find out.” Jarrett winked and tossed her a teasing smile.
Tressa’s cheeks flushed. “I didn’t mean—”
“I know,” Jarrett said with a laugh. “Don’t take everything so seriously.”
“We’re only hiding from two mysterious red dragons who were tramping through my abandoned village, while trying to reach your lover, a queen, no less, who might help us. No reason to be serious. You’re right.” Tressa meant it as a joke, but the weight of her words tamped down all conversation.
A silence fell upon them. Tressa marveled at Jarrett’s navigational skills. In the forest, she’d seen landmarks that could help guide her, streams, unique trees, that sort of thing. But here it was all the same. Only the sun’s position changed, but that happened so slowly Tressa could imagine getting off course easily.
