“Shit. A potion can take over a person’s will like that?” Nicole looked at the vial with a bit of awe and fear.
“It can, but it’s banned. If it weren’t for Alex, Penelope wouldn’t have even given it to me.”
“Now what are we supposed to do with it?” Millhook asked. He took the vial from Nicole’s hand and examined it.
“It has to do with getting inside that mountain,” Nicole said. “There’s nothing else it could be. Nothing else in the clue points to how to get inside.”
“The question is, how?” I looked to Alex to see if he had any answers. “Anyone with the kind of magic who could get in there wouldn’t be susceptible to this kind of potion. Penelope made it clear that this would only work on the weak-minded, which makes sense. If it would work on anyone, then none of us would be here and my mother would be alive ruling the world. So the real question is, who can get us inside that mountain and is also relatively weak-minded? Could an elf do it? Leo didn’t strike me as the most strong-minded person.”
“Nah.” Millhook shook his head. “Elves in Elustria have never even seen icy mountains like that. Even if the potion worked on them, I can’t think of any magic that would be commonly known or used that could work in this situation.”
“All that’s really needed is heat, right? If that’s the case, couldn’t any mage do it given enough time?” Nicole looked for confirmation from the rest of us and then focused on me. “I mean, Kat, the only reason you weren’t successful is because your magic triggered a trap that Marguerite set.”
It had taken all of my energy to produce the heat I’d used when we were there. And I wasn’t just working with mage magic. Even with the help of my sorcerer blood and my father’s magic in the talisman, I’d barely managed to melt anything. “No mage could do that on their own. I don’t even think a full-blooded sorcerer could. It requires too much magical energy. It would drain any individual before they made it through. So what group working together could do it?” I stood and paced as I thought, but it was a dead end. “If it was just a matter of more numbers, then my mother’s heir wouldn’t even need the potion because they’d have the Directorate at their disposal. And if not, trying to magically persuade a group of people is inherently more risky. All it takes is one naysayer to cause problems. So we have to look for one individual who is powerful enough to do it but weak-minded enough to be susceptible to the potion.”
Silence fell on the room as we all thought on the riddle.
“It’s not a person, it’s an animal,” Alex said. I stopped pacing to listen. “An animal would be susceptible to the potion, and the only animal capable of melting that ice is dangerous enough that you’d be a fool to try to get them to do it without a potion.”
Of course. I’d underestimated my mother once again. What we needed was a dragon, and even with the potion, that seemed like a pretty insane idea.
Twenty
Alex and I walked atop Desolate Ridge. Brown rock stretched out all around us, bare of any kind of life. It was rumored to be the only place in Elustria where you could still find dragons. I’d ported us to the top, but we still had quite a bit of walking to do. The flat rock and lack of vegetation made for an easy hike, the only real obstacle being the gusts of wind that periodically threw me off balance.
“There’s no guarantee we’re going to find one,” Alex said after a gust of wind passed. “They may not even inhabit Desolate Ridge. Even if they do, there’s a maze of caves underneath our feet. It could take ages to find one.”
“We don’t really have any other options. It’s this or concede defeat.” I kept moving, knowing that if I stopped weariness would take hold of me.
“There is another option. Go back to Earth with me. Leave this behind.”
I sighed in exasperation. “I can’t do that.”
“Yes, you can.” Alex stopped walking and pulled me to him. “Don’t you feel it up here in the solitude? Right now it’s just us; nothing else matters. It could be like that always.”
“Something else does matter: finding a dragon and keeping my aunt from getting whatever’s inside that cave.”
“Marguerite has to find a dragon too. And she might not even know what the potion does. Even if she does, even if she gets inside the cave, if she gets everything your mother had, we could still be atop a mountain like this one back on Earth, just the two of us. This isn’t your fight. Let the mages and sorcerers work it out amongst themselves or let them kill each other. It’s just a matter of time. Why do you think I left this world for Earth?”
I shook my head, frustrated that he didn’t understand me. “Don’t you get it? I can’t back out. You keep saying this isn’t my fight, but it is.”
“No, it’s not. This is between mages and sorcerers. Technically, you’re neither. You can go back to Earth. We’ll find some way to get around the vow you made to Sadie. We’ll get the CCS to rescue Mikael. You have Nicole. You have me. Why can’t that be enough? Why can’t I be enough?”
Ah, so this was the real heart of the issue. The vulnerable longing and questioning in his eyes tore at my heart. He didn’t deserve this. “That’s not it at all. How can you say this isn’t my fight when my mother’s the one who started it?”
“Her sins do not fall on you. You’re not her.”
“Are you sure about that? Maybe I am.”
“What?” Confusion replaced vulnerability.
I didn’t like admitting this to him. For some reason he’d turned a blind eye to the similarities between mother and daughter. “My mother only ever did what was best for her. She did what she wanted without a thought to anyone else. Maybe that’s me. I’ve certainly dragged you and Nicole and Millhook around. I can’t also turn my back on this problem just because it might be easiest for me.”
“You’re nothing like your mother.”
“Really? She did whatever she wanted while relying on a shifter who loved her for protection even though she’d never given him anything in return. That sounds spot on to me.”
“That’s what you’re basing this on? First of all, my father was an ass. He and Meglana were fit for each other, but there wasn’t anything romantic there. He got power and protection from Meglana as much as she got from him. Secondly, Meglana operated from a place of selfishness. You’re doing the exact opposite.” Realization dawned. “Which is what you think you’ll be doing if you give up this fight.”
“Exactly. I don’t want to end up like her. I can’t.”
“You won’t.”
“Only if I can fix this.” I continued walking.
“No.” Alex grabbed my arm to stop me. “You’re never going to end up like her, no matter what happens here. That’s too high a bar. Even if you fail, you’re not Meglana. Even if you came back to Earth with me and turned your back on all this, you’re still not like her. She never loved anything but herself, and I know you love other people.” He seemed so close to saying that he knew I loved him.
“I do,” I said in response to the words he left unsaid. I loved him for not speaking the words we both knew were true. I didn’t think I could stand there just the two of us, staring into his eyes, and not do what he was asking of me if he said them.
“Exactly. You do. You love the people close to you.” He sighed and looked away. “And you love the people of Elustria, ones you haven’t even met, which is why you have to do this.” He captured my gaze one last time before we continued on our way. “But realize that it’s that love that makes you different from your mother, not the outcome of whatever happens here.”
I tried to convince myself he was right. A part of me knew he was, but a larger part knew it meant nothing if my aunt got her way.
We walked around a giant boulder and stopped. Alex pulled me back behind the rock. I peeked out to make sure I had seen what I thought I had. Five full-size dragons, or at least what I assumed was full-sized, slept around a juvenile dragon. So far, it appeared they hadn’t heard us, likely thanks to the wind that blew the so
und of our approach away from them.
Despite the circumstances, I couldn’t help feeling crazy excited at finally seeing a real dragon. “Oh my God, they’re real. They’re right there.” I looked wide-eyed at Alex.
“Yes, the question is what we do now?” The boulder buffered us from the wind so we could speak softly to each other and not be overheard.
I had the potion with me, but that didn’t mean I had any idea how to use it. I didn’t even know how long its effects would last. Did I just drink it and walk up to the nearest dragon and explain our predicament? Ask for their help? Demand it?
If I used the potion, that would make me like my mother. Was there a way to do this without it, though? “I don’t know. What do you think? I mean, what level of intelligence do dragons have? If I were to go speak to one, would it understand me?”
“Most animals are fairly intelligent, but they respond more to emotion than words.”
If that were the case, it seemed like my magic might be able to communicate with them. All I had to do was figure out how to imbue my magic with my emotions. The two were already intimately connected as I’d discovered when I was first learning magic.
A ferocious roar set my heart racing. Alex and I both peeked around the boulder. Six dragons descended into a cave opening as one approached us. I counted again to make sure I had the numbers right. The dragon leapt into the air and flew to us. He must’ve been some kind of guard that was on patrol.
I surrounded Alex and myself with a shield. When the dragon landed in front of us, a stream of fire shot from his mouth, hitting our shield. It took a great deal of energy to maintain it against that force, but I spread ice along the outside of it, trying to counteract the heat. I didn’t want to hurt this dragon who was only trying to protect his kind. Instead of using my magic to attack, I placed invisible bindings around his mouth to stop the fire. The dragon shook his head in consternation and breathed fire from his nostrils as he danced around us menacingly, trying to scare us away.
“We mean you no harm. We don’t want to hurt you,” I shouted, hoping the dragon could understand the feeling behind my words if not the words themselves. To prove my point, I strengthened our shield and removed the bindings.
The dragon disappeared, and in his place stood a man. “Then why can I smell a potion that includes a dragon scale on you?”
Twenty-One
Holy shit. My eyes bugged out of my head. Standing in front of me was a dragon shifter. They were supposedly extinct. “I come here in peace. I do have a potion on me that includes a dragon scale, but I’m not here hunting scales, and I have no intention of using the potion I carry.”
“I’d expect this from a pidge, but not from a fellow shifter.” The dragon shifter looked at Alex. If this man could tell I was a pidge just by smelling me or sensing my magic, then dragon shifters were even more powerful than I’d been led to believe.
Alex stepped forward. “She’s telling you the truth. I would never condone harming a dragon or a dragon shifter. I thought your kind were already extinct.”
“Not extinct but close. The few of us that remain take turns protecting the dragons here from the likes of you.”
That sneer was uncalled for. “Now wait a minute. We’ve both told you that we aren’t here hunting a dragon.”
“Then why are you here?” The man’s tone said he wouldn’t believe any answer we gave.
“Why are you asking if you’re not going to believe us? If you want to sit and talk, we’re more than happy to, otherwise, you might as well try to kill us now and save us all some time.”
A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I may like you after all. Come, I’ll take you to a place where we can more comfortably speak.”
The man led the way to a small cave, much too small for a dragon to inhabit. Inside, we sat around a fire pit. The man partially shifted so quickly you could barely see it, but just enough that he could start a fire with his breath. It reminded me of the time Alex had shifted just enough for his claws to peel an orange for me.
“Let’s start with introductions. My name’s Deacon, and as you already know, I’m a dragon shifter protecting the dragons of Desolate Ridge.”
“My name’s Kat.” I nodded to Deacon. “You are correct in assuming I’m a pidge. In a way, I’m here to protect the dragons as well.”
“I’m Alex, a panther shifter.”
Deacon looked between the two of us. “And what do a pidge and panther shifter want on Desolate Ridge?”
“You’re right that we came here looking for a dragon,” I said. “We need the help of one.”
“The help of one of its scales?” Deacon asked.
“No.” I emphatically shook my head. “It’s a long story, but the potion I have on me was not one that I created. Its intended use is to persuade people to do the drinker’s will.”
“Such a potion would be banned. How can I believe that you don’t have ill intentions when you would carry such a thing with you?”
This would be so much easier if I could reveal that I was a CCS agent, but since dragon shifters were so closely aligned with sorcerers, there was no way I could justify revealing my affiliation. “I need a dragon to melt some ice for me that’s covering the entrance to a cave. I believe that the reason I was given this potion was to persuade a dragon to do that for me. But I don’t want to encumber anyone’s will. I had hoped that I could persuade a dragon on my own, that they would sense my sincerity and help me.”
“And if they didn’t? Then what?”
I shrugged. “I guess we would’ve been shit out of luck. But lucky for all of us, we ran into you. Maybe you can help us instead.”
Deacon narrowed his eyes. “Maybe. I’d have to know a lot more than what you’re telling me.”
I looked to Alex, seeking his advice. We needed Deacon’s help desperately, but there was a lot I couldn’t tell him. If I told him everything, and it turned out he wasn’t on our side, the consequences could be catastrophic.
Alex nodded. “At this point we don’t have much of a choice.”
I took a deep breath and delved in, telling both as much and as little as I could. The one thing I made sure to emphasize every step of the way was that we were doing this to protect both mages and sorcerers and really anyone in Elustria who could be caught in the crossfire. Deacon listened intently, seemingly soaking in every word but giving no indication as to what he thought. His face registered no reaction whatsoever.
“So it’s imperative that we get into that cave before the Directorate does. The only way I’ve been able to come up with is to have a dragon melt the ice for us. The sustained heat required is too much even for a sorcerer.”
Deacon leaned back but said nothing. His eyes went back and forth between me and Alex, scrutinizing us.
It was Alex who broke the silence. “It’s the sorcerers who will be harmed the most if we fail. Even if you don’t want to help us, you may want to for your own self-interest. The only way dragon shifters can survive is if sorcerers survive.”
“You’re right about that. The allegiance of my kind is always with the sorcerers, not just because we need them to mate with, but because they have a better understanding of magic than the mages do. They respect it more. They respect Elustria more and are working with us to keep it in balance. For that reason, and that reason alone, I’ll help you.”
We moved to follow him out of the cave, but he held up his hand to stop us. “Stay here. I need to let the shifter who’s relieving me know what’s going on. It will only take a moment. I know where every dragon on Desolate Ridge is. If there is so much as a scale missing, you’ll be held accountable.”
“You have my word,” I assured him. “No harm will befall any of the dragons while you’re gone.”
That seemed to satisfy Deacon. He gave us a nod and left. When I heard the great flap of his wings, I couldn’t help myself. I went to the mouth of the cave and watched him soar overhead.
“Well this is
an unexpected bit of luck.” I turned to Alex as soon as Deacon disappeared from sight.
“Yeah, it’s phenomenal. I had always hoped some of them still existed. It’s clever that they stay up here protecting the dragons. Most people are probably easily scared off. They would never need to expose themselves.”
“What I don’t understand is where did Leo get the scales he sold us? If Deacon and other shifters like him are protecting the dragons, why is there market at all for their scales?”
“The shifters aren’t stupid. They know there is a genuine need for dragon scales. They probably sell some of their own and then heal themselves. Just like on Earth, there’s corruption in Elustria, as you’ve seen. Even if the shifters only sell to reputable parties, the scales will always trickle down to the black market.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. Someone was here. “Alex, I think we have company.”
He shifted at my side, and we peered outside. Marguerite stood several hundred feet away, her back toward us. There was no way she had seen us yet. Alex placed his massive head under my hand and nudged me. The message was clear: we should port.
“We can’t. If we leave now, we might never find Deacon again, and we need his help. Not only that, but we promised him no harm would come to the dragons while he was away. If we do nothing, Marguerite will take one of the dragons.”
Alex nodded and crouched lower.
If I could get a good hit in while she had her back toward us, I could end this all here. The wind presented a bit of a problem. It would blow any stream of fire or ice I sent at her and give her enough notice to counter. I’d have to be more stealthy. “I’m going to attack. Be ready to heal me once she counters. And don’t worry, I’m not suicidal. If it gets bad, I’ll port us out. Just make sure to stay close. Don’t try to attack her yourself. The worst thing we can do is split up.”
Magic Hunted (The Elustria Chronicles: Magic Born Book 4) Page 10
