“We’ve come in peace. All we want is knowledge.” Thorn spoke with a voice of reason, and the other guy relaxed and held out his hand.
“I can tell you anything you want to know.” He gave a half grin, testing this new friendship. “If you could give us some answers in return.”
“We have a deal.” Thorn shook his hand. He was an honorable man, one of the reasons Emilia loved him so much was his loyalty and honesty, the dragons were bound by his word.
They shifted one by one.
“So it’s true, there really are dragon shifters still alive in the world,” the man spoke with awe and reverence.
“I told you.” A man, much older, and with a crossbow in his hands, burst from the trees, aiming his weapon at Magnus. The air shimmered as the three dragon shifters prepared to shift, and Thorn stepped forward to tackle the armed man.
“Granddad.” The younger man stepped in front of the crossbow, putting himself in the line of fire. “Please, everyone calm down.”
“Patrick, get out of my way.” The old man sidestepped but Patrick matched him step for step.
“Granddad, please. Put the crossbow down and let’s talk this through.” Patrick kept his voice calm and even, and yet there was an undertone of command beneath it.
The old man growled, a deep throaty sound, but he lowered the crossbow all the same. “You’ll regret it. No one sits down to talk with a dragon and walks away with his head on his shoulders.”
Thorn chuckled. “Is that an old family saying?”
Patrick nodded. “I’m afraid it’s been passed down from generation to generation, along with the promise that dragons would one day return and burn the village to the ground.”
“About that,” Magnus began.
“What about that?” the old man asked, thrusting the crossbow forward. “Your kind rained fire down on this village before we found protection.”
“And what was this protection?” Ruby asked, stepping forward eagerly.
“Why would we tell you?” the old man snapped.
“Because if you don’t I might just bite your head off.” Ruby’s words were not diplomatic, and the old man and young woman stood staring at each other for a moment before the old man erupted into laughter. “I always thought dragons had no sense of humor. But now I see they just think they’re funny. When they are not.”
“Granddad.” Patrick sighed. “Maybe you should leave this to me.”
“No, I was joking,” Ruby admitted. “You remind me of my mom.”
“I’m not sure that’s a compliment,” the old man said.
“It is. My mom would protect me and the rest of my family with her life. Dragon or wolf…” She glanced at George and Thorn. “Or bear… It doesn’t matter. Blood is not the only bond a family shares.”
“A bear.” The old man adjusted his stance and glared at George and Thorn. Patrick also tensed as he turned to face them. “Dragons and bears working together against wolves. Some things never change.”
“The Stone Claws. Are you talking about the Stone Claws?” Thorn asked quickly, attempting to defuse the situation.
“So you are with them.” The old man tightened his grip on the crossbow.
“No. We’re not with anyone,” Thorn insisted. “We came here to get information about a man named Chin Shan.”
Patrick and his granddad exchanged glances. “What about Chin Shan?”
“You’ve heard of him?” Emilia stepped forward and went to stand by Thorn’s side. “He was from the Stone Claw Clan, wasn’t he?”
Granddad spat on the ground. “He was. One of the founders of the clan who came over here hundreds of years ago and settled on the other side of the mountain.”
“You did not get along with them?” Magnus asked.
“Something like that,” Patrick agreed.
“Will you tell us why?” Emilia asked.
“Not here.” Patrick took the crossbow from his granddad. “Come on, let’s show them our hospitality, not our weapons.”
Granddad cast a distrusting look at the newcomers but nodded. “This way, your grandma will have supper ready and I’m sure we can find some ale to drink.”
The two men turned and walked away, expecting the dragons and bears to follow. They did. This was why they were here, to find out about the Stone Claws. With Patrick’s admittance that they knew of Chin Shan, it seemed likely they were about to find out the truth about the curse and the Stone Claw Clan’s part in it.
“Do you trust him?” Emilia asked as they passed the smoking remains of the large slingshots that had launched the arrows at the dragons.
“I do,” Thorn replied.
“Even though they tried to kill us?” Ruby asked caustically.
“Patrick stopped that from happening.” Thorn shrugged. “Let’s hear their reasons and then make a decision. But ultimately they know we are not here to hurt them.”
“How do they know that?” Emilia asked.
“Because they are still alive,” Magnus answered.
Thorn grinned. “Exactly. They were frightened. Although how they knew there were dragons approaching, I have no idea.”
“We have dragon stones set around the village perimeter,” Patrick said, making it obvious he had overheard their whole conversation. “The legends say they light up when dragons approach. Until today none of us knew that was true.”
“I always told you they were real,” Granddad said. “My father and his father before him were tasked with tending those stones each week. Now it’s my turn, and then it’ll be yours.”
“They lit up when we came close?” Emilia asked. “And the weapons?”
“They’ve been there for centuries. When one rots, we replace them. It’s part of who we are.” They reached a house on the edge of town, and Patrick went up the steps and stood on the porch, while his granddad went inside.
“Don’t ever forget who you are, Patrick,” Granddad said as he passed by.
“I won’t.” Patrick rolled his eyes. “I am never going to hear the end of this.”
“I can’t believe you are still on alert after all this time,” Magnus said. “Most people thought dragons died out hundreds of years ago.”
“When your village was all but wiped out by a dragon, you get scared. That fear has been instilled in every child born on River Wolf lands. I was just getting them to relax about the whole thing when you all showed up.” Patrick spoke good-naturedly. “I don’t know whether to feel pleased the stories were true and the whole village hasn’t lived under a state of disillusion for centuries, or frustrated that my grandfather is going to insist they go back to weekly drills in the event of a dragon attack.”
Ruby burst out laughing. “You seriously do drills?”
Patrick nodded, and George, who had been quiet the whole time, said, “I’d love to see that.”
“You are a bear, they won’t let you into their secrets,” Patrick wagged his finger at George.
“Whatever bears have done to you, I apologize,” George said solemnly.
“It’ll take more than an apology. The Stone Claw Clan were responsible for the near destruction of what was a prosperous village.”
“Why?” Emilia asked quietly, but just then the voice of Granddad called them into the house.
Emilia sighed in frustration, she was sure Patrick held the clue they had come here seeking. But he turned and entered the house, and they all followed.
“Sit and eat,” an elderly woman waved at them to sit around the table. “Then we’ll make introductions and you can talk.”
“This is my grandma, Hetty. My granddad you’ve met,” Patrick began the introductions.
“You can call me Lupe,” Patrick’s granddad said. “Unless you attack, and then you can call me death.” He raised his hands and made them into claws.
“Lupe, manners,” his wife glared at him and then chuckled. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Not a ghost. Dragons. What good is a wolf against a d
ragon?” His eyes went wide, and he sat down heavily as if the evening's events had only just registered in his brain. “All these years I never actually believed it. Yet tonight I saw them with my own eyes.”
“I understand how you feel,” Thorn told Lupe. “I only found out recently that dragons were real. I only met one in person yesterday when Emilia woke up.”
“Woke up?” This got their attention, Thorn had subtly redirected the conversation back to the reason they were here. “Can you explain?” Lupe asked.
“I was under a spell. Someone cast Ancient Slumber on me and my brother, Magnus,” Emilia explained.
“Ancient Slumber. I’ve never heard of the spell,” Lupe said as his wife placed a big pot of chili down on the table and added a bowl of rice.
“Are you sure there’s enough for us all?” Thorn asked Hetty.
“Certain. I always make too much. I haven’t gotten used to my boys all leaving home and moving away from River Wolf lands.” She placed her hand on Patrick’s shoulder and swallowed down her emotions. “They go off to find jobs, and I never see them.”
Patrick covered his grandma’s hand with his own. “They still love you and visit when they can. But it’s always been the way for our village. We never recovered.”
“From what?” Thorn asked incisively as he helped himself to food. “Because we came here for a reason. And I wonder if that reason is linked to what happened to your people.”
Patrick glanced at Lupe, who gave a brief nod. “The legend of our people is learned by each son and daughter. It is passed along in spoken word, not written as most history is.”
“Go on,” George encouraged eagerly as Patrick paused.
“The legend says the people of the River Run Mountains were plagued by dragons. The great winged beasts would descend on the people and take their livestock and occasionally the townsfolk. One day a wise woman came to the people and said she had a talisman that would keep the dragons at bay.”
“A talisman.” Emilia wrapped her hand around the amulet in her pocket. “What kind of talisman?”
“An amulet. Emerald green and filled with enough power to protect the whole village from the dragons.” Patrick ate while he spoke. “The villagers were tired of losing to the dragon and so they bargained with the wise woman who took all their gold and silver and left them poor, but safe. She set the dragon stones in the ground around the village and gave the amulet to the clan’s alpha.”
“It worked perfectly until the Stone Claw Clan stole it.” Lupe eyed Thorn and George with added suspicion.
“Chin Shan.” Emilia breathed. “He stole it from River Wolf?”
“Him or one of the others. But he used to come here and work the fields, we shared our prosperity with them as much as we could. It was why we felt so betrayed. Of course, there was no proof, and Chin Shan was never seen again.” Lupe scooped up a forkful of chili and jammed it in his mouth.
“How do you know it was the Stone Claws? Aside from Chin Shan’s disappearance, what makes you blame them?” Thorn asked, studying Lupe surreptitiously.
“The Stone Claws settled in the mountains after they became marooned here. Their ship was sunk in a hurricane and they lost everything.” It was Patrick’s turn to talk. “They were hounded from the towns and villages along the coast so they moved inland. All they had was a few meager belongings and the clothes on their back.”
“When they claimed part of the mountain as their own, the River Wolf Clan offered them food and friendship. What we could never offer was protection from the dragons.” Lupe shrugged. “So they took our amulet, ripped it right out from under the noses of the people who helped them.”
Patrick gave his father a sad smile. “We don’t know this. We can’t say what was fact and what was fiction.”
“Can’t we?” Lupe bit back. “Before tonight you could hold onto your belief that this was made up. Dragons didn’t exist. Now you sit in the presence of three such dragons.”
“He has a point,” Hetty told Patrick. “We might all have to put our prejudices aside after tonight.”
Lupe grumbled as he ate, but Patrick looked more positive. “You are asking us to trust bears and dragons?”
“Is that so hard?” Emilia asked. “We have never done you any harm. We only came here for answers. The past is the past, believe me, I know.”
“How long were you asleep?” Hetty asked.
“A long time.” Emilia pressed her lips together, not sure if the three members of the river Wolf Clan would believe her. “Centuries. In fact, we believe Chin Shan put us to sleep.”
“Chin Shan. Why?” Lupe asked.
“For money.” Magnus shrugged. “We have no real proof.”
“But we do have your amulet.” Thorn took it from his pocket and set it down on the table.
“That’s it?” Patrick leaned forward, and his hand closed around the amulet.
“It is.” Emilia shuddered at the sight of it. “Chin Shan used the Ancient Slumber spell and then placed this amulet in my cave to protect me from anyone who might try to harm me or steal my treasure. At least I hope that’s what he intended.”
“It doesn’t just keep dragons out, it keeps dragons in, too,” Thorn explained.
Patrick smoothed his hand over the fine gold that covered the gem inside. “This trapped you?”
“Yes, if you open it, a barrier will form around you. And I for one have spent much too long inside the barrier.” As she watched Patrick, she finally felt free of the cave and the spell that kept her there. The amulet was not hers, it wasn’t part of her treasure and the relief at handing it back to its rightful owner was immense.
She only hoped Patrick would not misuse its power. If he did, the River Wolf Clan might once again feel the wrath of dragons.
Chapter Seventeen – Thorn
“What happened to the Stone Claw Clan?” Thorn asked Patrick as he looked down at the amulet.
“The Stone Claw Clan?” He shook his head as if trying to clear it. “All we know is they left the area.”
“Why?” Emilia asked. “If this is where they found a safe haven, why leave?”
“They bought a ship and sailed home,” Lupe replied, reaching out and running his fingers over the amulet. “I think they bought their ship with the blood of our people.”
“Perry paid Chin Shan to cast the spell and he gave the money to his people and they left. He sacrificed himself for his people.” Emilia’s version of events was the most plausible, but Lupe wasn’t happy.
“Sacrificed himself! Sacrificed our people and our village.” He huffed and stood up abruptly. “This town was prosperous. Our fathers had traded their wealth for the amulet, so their children and their children’s children could have a future. It wasn't our fault we couldn’t protect the Stone Claws, too.”
“Sacrifice was probably the wrong word,” Thorn cut in, his hand covering Emilia’s. “Chin Shan never left with his people, he stayed in Bear Creek.”
“No doubt gloating over his success,” Lupe spat.
“We believe he traded his memory, too. He never left because he didn’t remember where he came from.” Magnus had been silent through most of the exchange, but now he spoke. “They cursed me with a memory loss spell, and I think he used the same one on himself so that he could never reveal the whereabouts of the dragons and their gold.”
“How do you know this?” Patrick asked. “If he lost his memories, how do you know?”
“We spoke to a descendant of the Stone Claw Clan.” Thorn didn’t say where this descendant lived. Sage had no part in all this, and he didn’t want to bring trouble to her door.
“Pie.” Hetty placed a key lime pie on the table. “Nothing helps a bad mood like pie.”
“Then we should all get some sleep,” Patrick said. “We all need to sleep on things. Tomorrow, we’ll have clearer heads.”
“Good idea,” Thorn agreed as Hetty cut the pie.
“Will you stay?” Hetty asked. “The house is empty w
ith the boys being away. You can use their rooms.” She passed around pieces of pie, which was delicious. Hetty was right, the mood improved immediately, even Lupe seemed a little happier.
“If you’re sure, we could camp in the mountains otherwise,” Thorn replied.
“No, we like a house full of people. Don’t we, Lupe?” Hetty looked at her husband with a threatening stare.
“Fine with me,” Lupe replied and Hetty smiled indulgently.
“More pie?” Emilia basked in warmth surrounding her in this small cottage kitchen. Thorn longed to give her children of her own, to make a family with his true mate.
“After the dragons died out, why did the village never prosper?” George asked. “Did the trade change? Or some kind of recession?”
“No, it is simpler than that,” Patrick replied. “From the stories passed down, it seems in one of the attacks that followed, a mighty dragon swept down from the Tama Peak and wrought ruin on the mountainside, hurling large boulders down the valley which cut off the water supply the villagers used to irrigate their crops.”
“Leave or starve. Most people left,” Hetty said sadly.
“You said according to stories passed down. Is that something you can prove?” George asked. He’d finished his pie and leaned forward eagerly. The older man reminded Thorn of himself. Always after a snippet of information that might shed light on an ancient mystery.
“I’ll show you where the water supply was cut off by a rockslide. But we have no way to prove what caused it,” Patrick said. “It was a long time ago.”
“Not to us,” Magnus said. “Although we never flew this way, nor did we know of other dragons in the area.”
“Perhaps our mother did and that’s why she told us it was too dangerous to fly. We always thought it was because she didn’t want anyone to see us, but what if it was more than that?” Emilia caught Magnus’s gaze and held it. “What if Father was killed by another dragon?”
“We can’t ever know for sure,” Magnus answered. “All we have to go on is what she told us.”
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