Shifter Queen

by Miranda Martin

  I couldn't stay silent anymore. The insults against me rolled off my back—I'd heard worse. But this went beyond me. There was a right and a wrong decision here.

  "Do you really want to be known as the cowards when this is all remembered later?" I finally spoke up. He was already about to walk out. I couldn't make the outcome any worse here, and maybe I could convince him otherwise, or at least convince someone listening that he was wrong. "The ones who weren't there when they were needed?" I shook my head. "What you decide on now will be what you will have to live with later, after the dust settles. And people don't forget."

  Wasn't the fact that all of the races had such animosity against each other proof of that?

  "Too bad," he sneered. "I'd rather have my skein live than die as martyrs. And I hope that any who buy into your pipe dream do not end up regretting it later. But I believe they will."

  As he stepped away from the table, others stood as well. They nodded to us, some of them not even meeting our eyes as they turned to follow Heavener out. They weren't all proud of their decision to bail, but they'd still made it. We were two for two on people walking out of important meetings. Not a streak I wanted to foster.

  But when I looked back at the table, I realized we were in a much better position this time. There were about two-thirds of the Dragon Lords still left.

  Progress?

  I was willing to take anything at this point.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The door shut behind those choosing isolation, closing them off from the rest of us with a final click. It felt a little bit like a metaphor. The silence lasted for a few beats.

  Then Ashur got everybody back on track. There wasn't time to dwell on those who refused to help. He looked around at those still here, including Tanar. I thought that was a good sign. He seemed like a good barometer for the majority opinion.

  "It is unfortunate that some of us have chosen to bury their heads in the sand," Ashur started. "But we still have this problem to deal with, whether or not they choose to participate." He looked around the table. "I think there is only one thing to do in this situation," he continued calmly. "We are not monsters. And I refuse to become one in this cold war we continue to have with the phoenixes." Murmurs of agreement. Ashur nodded. "So. I think we need to figure out the best way to help. Food, water, medical care. This is a crisis. A humanitarian crisis before it is anything else. We need to put together an emergency team to deal with it as such."

  I saw Tanar nodding thoughtfully as Ashur spoke. When he finished, Tanar chimed in.

  "Well said. I agree with Ashur. We must be able to hold our heads up proudly or what are we doing? What are we fighting for?" He sighed. "Some of us have obviously lost our way. Built a protective shell so hard, compassion has no way to get through. But I do not want my skein to live such a life." He looked back at Ashur. "We have stores of food ready for an emergency. But we would most definitely need help in transporting it."

  "That's very generous," Ashur said, nodding at Tanar.

  "We have water stocked away as well," the young Indian woman said.

  "That would be an immense help, Priyanka. Thank you."

  "We do have one of the best medical teams among the dragon skeins because they often work in human domes," Bruno added. "We can spare them for those who need medical attention."

  I was honestly surprised to even see Bruno still there. His dislike of phoenixes had been crystal clear. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to come to such a quick judgment about someone. A few of the quieter people had been the ones that had left, after all. Some of the ones I'd thought were more reasonable as well. Actions definitely spoke louder than words.

  The meeting became a brainstorming session for how to properly take care of the refugees. Those who didn't have refugees themselves offered up what they could. Apart from food, water, and medical care, people also offered clothes, toys for the children, temporary shelter, and more things than I would even have thought of. Then it was decided that each skein needed assign one person to be the lead for the refugee operation to keep everything simple.

  "Good," Ashur said. "Whoever you appoint to be in charge of this project for your skein will have open communication channels among everyone so that nothing is a surprise or falls through the cracks. We will prioritize necessities like food and water first, along with medical care, and then deal with things like more long-term shelters. If anyone doesn't have enough room to house those that have come to you, I am willing to take on the overflow. We have room." He took a breath. "Now, I think we all need to break and take care of the plan we have so far." He met every Dragon Lord's eyes individually. "And I want to thank all of you for coming today to this meeting. I think we have decided to deal with this the best way we could have."

  I watched people nod, agree with that sentiment.

  Then the meeting broke apart. Ashur and I went up to the rooftop to watch as the sky around us filled with the contingents flying back to their own territories in order to announce the plan that we had come together with. It was solid.

  I was surprised all the logistics had been worked out so quickly, but maybe I shouldn't have been. Dragon Lords were accustomed to dealing with people on a large scale. It was kind of part of the job description. They were uniquely suited to deal with a crisis like this.

  "I don't think I've ever been more proud of my dragon heritage," I murmured as we watched the silhouettes glide away, back lit by the setting sun. Ashur wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

  "I think I can say the same," he murmured, his eyes watching his fellow Dragon Lords fly away to take care of those in need. He looked over at me, his eyes hopeful.

  "Maybe we're turning over a new leaf," he said quietly.

  I really hoped so.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I tilted my wings to the side to catch a better air current, enjoying the feel of the hot breeze hitting my face. The desert spread out under me in all its beautiful, desolate glory. I still hadn't gotten used to seeing it this way, being able to look at such a large swath of it all at once. Oddly, the perspective made it look even vaster rather than smaller.

  I turned my head to look over at the other dragons who were flying beside me. They were all golden, glinting prettily in the sunlight. I knew I must have stood out like a sore thumb next to them, with my lavender scales and the red feathers that edged my wings.

  But this was my third supply run with this group and they had finally stopped giving me odd looks when I changed. Maybe they had finally gotten used to my odd appearance. I didn't really hold it against them. I could see how it would be a little jarring to see a combination of the dragon skein that you had up until very recently had a giant feud with, combined with the plumage of the phoenixes that had been a dragon enemy for generations upon generations. My other form was built to inspire feelings of discomfort for Ashur's skein, at the very least.

  I was feeling the extra burn in my muscles due to the supply crate I had hanging from my claws, safely wrapped in a strong steel net that I could easily hook. Each of us had one crate. But the strain was definitely less than it had been during the first run I'd made. I must have built up some more muscle around my wings, the ones that aided flying, and around my legs to hold the extra weight of the crates.

  It was nice getting the opportunity to become more comfortable in this skin. I felt less separated from this part of me than I had even just a few days ago because I'd spent so much time flying for these supply runs. I was thinking about how odd it was that I'd never tapped into this big part of myself until so recently when the dragon next to me swayed towards me.

  And bumped me. I looked over at Amara with a frown, wondering if she'd listed a little because she'd been distracted and if I had to put some distance between us.

  But she didn't look at all distracted. She arched her neck, point her head in the other direction. She'd meant to bump me. I looked in the direction she was pointing. The others were already focused in the same direction, and no
w I saw why.

  A group was flying towards us. A pretty large group, maybe around twenty-five or so. As they drew closer, I saw what the others had already noticed.

  They were too small to be dragons.

  And they were lined in fire.

  Phoenixes.

  We hovered in place as we watched. I knew what everyone was thinking. Because I was thinking the same thing.

  We'd never make it to the skein that was our destination before the phoenixes intercepted us. And there were only ten of us to the twenty-five of them. We would need all of the energy we could get. Spending it in a sprint that wouldn't even reach help would be foolish.

  When one of the other dragons dove down, I wondered what Justin was doing until I saw him let go of his crate closer to the ground. Then he flew back up into place. Good idea. The weight of our shipment would literally wear us down during a fight.

  So we all followed suit, swooping down, dropping our crates on the desert ground, and then flying back up to ready ourselves for the group's arrival.

  And that was all the time we had.

  The phoenixes were upon us, their eyes focused and their beaks opening in shrill cries as they collided with our group.

  I didn't know how long we would last. They were almost triple our number. That was math even I could do.

  And I didn't even know how to breathe fire or light my feathers on fire either. I tried before with Ashur, but no matter how hard I tried to follow all the steps he told me to, it just wouldn't come. And he didn't really know how the phoenixes lit their feathers on fire. He could only coach me through what he knew, which was the dragon part of me.

  I guessed this was going to have to be an old-school tackling method of fighting.

  One of the phoenixes angled itself towards me, but then blinked as it took in my form, its face looking confused.

  I didn't even know a bird's face could be so expressive. I guess he or she wasn't used to a dragon-slash-phoenix combo. Perfect. I didn't wait to see if recovery was going to come next.

  Taking that opening, I shot straight towards the phoenix and turn to the side just as I got close, keeping my wing out of the way and slamming into its body with my full weight. I hit with a meaty thud. It jarred me a little.

  But not as much as my target. The phoenix went flying end over end, its mass so much less than mine. It also hadn't been braced at all. I winced a little as the phoenix slammed into the ground, but then shrugged it off. Maybe they shouldn't have attacked us.

  Then I didn't have time to think about it anymore as three more phoenixes attacked me all at once. It was all I could do just to avoid being hurt too much. One of them singed me with its feathers, and another stabbed me with its beak, opening a puncture wound in my thigh.

  Exit needed. I dropped in altitude to get out from in between them and then shot away before circling back around. I got a view of the fight from a little bit of a distance.

  It didn't look good for us. The phoenixes were winning. There was no doubt about that. I already saw a couple of our people on the ground, unconscious at least. I didn't want to think of the worst. The sight of them sparked a renewed anger inside me.

  What the phoenixes were doing was wrong. We were taking supplies to people in need. Their people! People who the sociopath king they chose to follow had displaced in the first place because he thought killing was always the answer to his problems. I felt that rage bubble up inside me and spread through my veins. And felt a burst of heat as I darted back into the fight.

  I didn't realize that it was an actual physical heat until I collided with a phoenix and the feathers on its head caught on fire because of my wing feathers. The phoenix screamed and ducked down, curling its wings over its head as it dropped down to the ground.

  I knew he or she would recover as soon as they went through the change. If they were able to.

  I had other things to worry about. I barreled into the fight with a renewed fury, using my feathers and my size to my advantage. And to devastating effect.

  Even in my rage, I could see that we were still losing. There was just no compensating for the lack of numbers. I could feel the strain in my lungs as I breathed hard, the burning in my wing muscles that was turning into a sharper pain, the particular pain of the burns and other wounds that I'd already accumulated. Even if I wanted to keep fighting, I knew there wasn't a lot more that I could do before my body simply gave out.

  I dodged to the side as one of the phoenixes tried to swing its burning feathers at me, just missing. My reaction time was also starting to slow.

  I turned and caught something out of the corner of my eye. I blinked and saw it again. The sun glinting off something in the distance.

  What was that?

  I stared a little longer, as the battle continued around me. More phoenixes? What did they think we were, that they needed to send out this many for only ten dragons?

  I squinted. Something was off.

  That wasn't...

  Those were...

  Dragon scales. Red dragons. The skein we were taking the supplies to?

  But it was more than the dragons. What had thrown me off was that there seem to be flickers of flame among the scales...

  As they drew closer, I realized it was because there were both. Dragons and phoenixes. They were separated into two groups flying not that far apart, but they weren't fighting each other. They were flying together. Was it dragons from the skein we were going to and... The phoenix refugees? That was the only conclusion that made any kind of sense.

  A dragon bumped into me and I came back to the fight going on around me. Slamming into a phoenix that was about to nail another one of my group, I kept an eye on the group headed for us.

  They arrived just in time. I could see the phoenixes startle as they saw the mixed group coming in to fight them back. There were about forty of them in total, more than enough to immediately put an end to the phoenixes still flying.

  I watched as a few dragons broke off and did the same maneuver Cinira had earlier in her territory, creating a cage around phoenixes with their bodies and forcing them to land. They took two prisoners. No one was left to run.

  Just like that, it was over.

  I landed on the ground along with the others in my group, needing some time just to catch my breath. Four of us were lying on the ground. I didn't know how many were still alive.

  As I looked up to see the dragons and phoenixes still flying above us, the sight struck something inside me. I would never have expected to see something like this. Ever.

  Was this a glimpse of the future?

  Could we work together like this?

  Or would it always take something this earth-shattering to make it happen?

  Chapter Fifteen

  After we all caught our breath and took a moment to rest, we flew the rest of the way to Priyanka's territory. The dragons and phoenixes who had come to help us carried the crates the rest of the way back. None of our original group was in any shape to do so.

  I took in Priyanka's city as we finally reached it. It was scattered, with buildings built lower to the ground that almost blended into the desert. They looked like they were created from the same sand that was all around them. Or at least they were coated in that sand to help them blend. If I hadn't been looking for it, I might have missed it completely from the air. Which I think was the point. A good defensive measure.

  We followed our escorts to land in an open square situated just off center. As soon as we landed, one of the red dragons changed. It was Priyanka.

  "I've sent medical aid over to your fallen," she said, her voice tight. "I apologize for not reaching you sooner."

  "Thank you," I said. "And no apology is necessary. We wouldn't have made it the rest of the way if you hadn't intervened."

  She inclined her head.

  "I had a scout on the lookout for you. He saw the attack happen and alerted us right away. But it took some time to fly out to you."

  I was wondering
how they'd known what was happening. The city still hadn't been in sight.

  "I believe that all of you need to go to the infirmary," she added giving us once-overs.

  None of us objected, probably because we were too tired to argue and pretty grateful for the save. We were led to another building by her people. The change helped to heal the burns, but I still had that puncture wound in my thigh. It had healed a bit, but it had been too deep.

  Oscar had a broken arm, and Amara maybe had a concussion so she had to stay for observation, but the rest of us were mostly just beat up. After we were patched up, we were assigned rooms in what looked like someone's actual house.

  "With the number of refugees we have, we're going to have to set you up in someone's home," Priyanka explained apologetically.

  "We don't want to put anybody out," I objected.

  "They volunteered," she said in a no-nonsense tone. "They're happy to help."

  All right then. So I went to a really nice couple's home and they led me over to a bedroom. If someone asked me what their names were later, I know I wouldn't remember. But I would be forever grateful to them. The sight of the bed made me feel every ache. I didn't waste any time going over to it. I immediately face-planted and passed out.

  I woke up only when hands slid down my back.

  "Can't you stay out of trouble for once?"

  I rolled over to see Ashur sitting at the side of my bed, dark circles under his eyes, his hair disheveled.

  "This one was completely not my fault," I retorted gently, taking his hand in mine.

  He looked like he'd been worrying.

  "I know," he sighed. "But when I heard that there had been an attack..." He shook his head. "I don't know how many more heart attacks I can take," he joked, but his eyes were serious.