by Celeste Raye
I wrinkled my nose. “It’s your debt to us,” I offered. “DET?”
“Sorry?”
“Dobromia Environment Technology,” I swallowed, truthful this time. “We’ve already designated land for the Weredragons. It’s north of here off the coast. We call it Feruvia. We were going to send some of you back to Earth for it. It’s basically this giant farmland. All this food, water, housing units and weapons put aside for you guys. Just…” I gave a half-hearted shrug and finished, “resources and things. Just north of here,” I made sure to repeat.
“Oh,” he said, toneless.
“So, for example, you guys obviously have a bunch of camps here now, right? You said they’ll all be here soon?”
“They are here,” he said hesitantly. “Got in today.”
“All of them?”
He nodded.
I swallowed. Then it might be too late.
Nerves swarmed a rush of sweat throughout my body, but I didn’t let on.
“Right,” I swallowed again. “So, we already have enough to feed two hundred shifters for two years. Those are full cycles. We don’t know how many are up on Dobromia, but that’s all we could do on short notice.”
“Oh,” he said again, sadder this time.
“Of course, that’s fresh food and water vats. Not to mention the land, which you would learn to cultivate. This doesn’t even count all of our processed junk, which honestly, you’re better off never learning about.”
He offered a wry, sexy smile and huskily offered, “Like pizza.”
“Something like that,” I grinned.
He had a grievous expression then, and his eyes trailed off. “I didn’t know.”
“No,” I shrugged and laid on him once more, my breasts heaving into his muscular bared chest. “We never got the chance to tell you.”
Gandadirth
Feruvia. The island made for Weredragons.
My stomach turned at the thought.
Here we thought the Earth was getting ready to use us: to fight us. And all the while they were building for us. Cultivating land.
I got as much information from Fiona as I could about the strange island before sending her beautiful body back into the prisons. North of here… meaning, the men we’d slaughtered to get this base were the same soldiers designed to take us to Feruvia—to guide us to our sanctuary.
Guilt washed over me in waves that didn’t cease.
Yet, I couldn’t help but question her motives. Fiona hadn’t been entirely forthcoming until now, and I knew a girl like her wouldn’t give out such information without a purpose. I just didn’t know whether the intent was to make me feel guilt, make me feel safe, or something more devious than that.
I trusted her, and I hated that. I should have a strict guard up, unwilling to believe anything she said, yet I’d told Jadirel everything. All about the resources, the weapons.
After all, it was my mission to tell Jadirel any information I learned; to do what most benefitted my people. They were my family; my army.
Yet, these days all I wanted them to do was leave.
I clenched my fists tight, flicking my wings back in annoyance.
It felt like we had been making all the wrong decisions. I looked around and couldn’t help but revisit the men killed to gain our base: the slaughter at the human ship on Dobromia. I’d softened. I could admit it.
And the fact that the rest of the warriors had remained stubborn made my stomach churn.
We would be flying out to Feruvia today.
I stepped into the jail to visit the girl I had slowly made into my new home: some bastion of hope designed just for me. My beacon. And once again, I heard struggling: a group of shifters unlatching her door and grabbing her, going for her body. They were ready with lust and their claws. Ready to have a piece of her.
A fury built in me like I hadn’t felt before and before I knew it, I was ripping them off her, one after another. I clawed into one, dragging their bodies away from her with a bloody grip and whipping them on the ground.
Their energy was unceasing as they dove for her, like she was some sort of charm they had to win.
“Stop!” I yelled, my voice cracking into a roar.
But they wouldn’t listen.
A dark shifter pushed away from me and looked beyond irritated. “These are Jadirel’s orders!” he yelled. “He said we can do what we like with her before we head for the island!”
I grabbed his head and smashed it against the bars of the cell and then threw him to the ground, smashing him back to the floor with two loud thumps of my tail. I did the same to the next shifter and the rest were smart enough to take to their leave, looking back at me in disgust. That gave me just a small amount of time before Jadirel came for punishment.
The door to Fiona’s cage was wide open, and she looked at me with shaking hands plastered over her mouth. I looked her up and down, eyed the open cage, and then stalked up the stairs.
That was it. I’d had enough.
I flew up the stairwell into the communications room, ripping one of the telecommunication devices from the desk and dialing the only prompt I knew.
“Y’ello!”
His name was Aurlauc. A deep gray shifter with black scales who had long had dealings with the humans. He had long braids that fell down his back and a welcoming smile as the video focused in on him.
He blinked back in surprise at the sight of me and his eyes trailed off the screen.
“Ohhhh,” he said suddenly, looking me up and down. “Kay. Not who I was expecting.”
“My name is Gandadirth, I am with the warrior rebellion from Dobromia, and I am reporting rebellion action on Earth.”
The shifter on the other line blinked at me and offered a small smirk, unsure what to make of me. “You’re calling to report… your own rebellion?”
“Yes,” I nodded, guilt rushing through me for both sides of our little war. Fiona’s, mine. The people I was betraying. The people I’d lost my respect for. Jadirel.
“You don’t say?” Aurlauc mocked. “That must be why our diplomat is missing.”
“Right,” I said.
“And you also stole ships,” he clarified.
“Yeah, I got that,” I hurried him along. “You want to lecture me some more or do you want to hear why I’m calling?”
The gray and black shifter twirled his fingers to signal me to keep going.
“I want protection,” I insisted. “Immunity for being involved.”
Aurlauc slapped his forehead. “You rebels think you’re above everyone else, don’t you?”
“Not anymore,” I said in a cowardly tone: humiliated. My eyes flicked toward the door and then quickly back to the shifter on screen.
“Jadirel’s clan, right?” he confirmed, and I wonder what he must have known about us, about what we’d done. “The arrogance of this reeks of him.”
I nodded, but said nothing.
“What happened?” the gray shifter ran a finger along the bottom of his nose and then looked back at the screen quizzically. “You lose your nerve?”
“It’s just… not what I thought,” I shrugged.
“It never is.”
“Earth was ready for us,” I said quickly. “It’s… to be here, it’s…”
“I was there when the humans first landed; did you know that?” he said, and I shook my head no. “My friend, Khrelan, led the attack on them. We stole their ship, stole their women, and in the end, I was led to a slaughter. To slaughter the remaining humans who were stranded.”
My face narrowed into a frown, and I grit my teeth. It looked like I wasn’t the only one led astray by false promises from the Weredragons.
“I want nothing to do with them,” he said, and I wasn’t sure if he meant the humans or the D’Karr.
“Well, I do,” I spat. “And I want immunity. And I want help; I want the D’Karr’s army.”
Aurlauc let out a long breath, stoic, like he was releasing something. “Then you really don’t know,”
he said.
“What?”
“Who you’re really taking orders from,” he clarified.
“Look,” I rushed him along. “I know you have a lot of time on Dobromia, what with the eternal darkness our glorious D’Karr sprung on us out of a jealous rage and all, but this call isn’t exactly sanctioned so… Can we move this great mystery along already?”
“Well, our glorious D’Karr was the one who was counting on this all along,” he snapped. “The rebellion.”
I felt stricken; the phone nearly dropping from my grasp. “What?”
“You really think you could just leave with our ships, our soldiers, without him knowing? He let you, you idiot!”
“And you knew?” I scolded.
“It’s a known secret to everyone but his wife.”
I nodded slowly, terror rising over my body. “Then… there never were any peace talks.”
“No,” Aurlauc shook his head. “Nothing real.”
“This is bullshit!” I shouted. “We’re a rebellious sect that’s working for the D’Karr?”
“Seems a bit silly now, doesn’t it?” the shifter laughed callously, but I’d always heard Aurlauc to be honorable: noble. “He wants a way to steal their resources without infuriating Diana. What better way than a sanctioned secret rebellion?”
I felt infuriated, scared, and betrayed all in the same breath. “And where do you stand on all this?”
“The same place I always stood,” he said quickly. “Somewhere in the middle. Somewhere in sympathy to the humans and disgust with our D’Karr.”
“Brilliant,” I sighed. “And this helps me how?”
“Hey,” he shrugged. “I’ve been trying to figure this one out for years. Beats me.”
“I have to say,” I complained. “You’re running a bit thin in the advice department here.”
“I’m just the guy answering the calls.”
I raised and lowered my brows quickly. “Gee, I wonder why.”
There was a silence that formed between us then and my hands began to sweat. The dragon looked as though he wanted to say something but seemed to think better of it.
“What?” I asked, desperately.
“I have a group,” he said slowly: carefully. “We have a plan in mind, but I need your help.”
“Hey, I need your help!” I cheered. “What do you know!”
“I can ensure nobody ever leaves Dobromia again,” he said warily. “We have mines on all the ships.”
“All of them?” I asked.
He nodded. “All of them. It’s been full cycles in the making. But it’s ready. If you say you can take care of your group… then I can take care of the ships. But that means nobody leaves Dobromia.”
Eternal darkness, I thought. I would be abandoning the planet to an eternal darkness.
“But you have to ensure no shifters ever come back,” he finished.
I thought on his words and had a flash of Fiona. I didn’t know if I could do it… betray everyone. I felt so conflicted. I wanted to hate them: hate their inability for change. But they were the only family I had ever known.
It all came down to Fiona, I thought. If I was going to leave everything behind, then I would need to know where she really stood.
Fiona
The sky darkened black; I could see it from the exit down the hall from my cage. I scraped my bottom lip with my teeth: sharp and nervous. I could see the shifters taking flight and flying north.
They were going to Feruvia. I could feel it.
I felt a giggle form in my stomach that swam through my body, cascading with a victorious tingle. But by the time it reached my mouth, it felt more like a tortured sob than a victory.
I wondered what would happen to me now and how I would know what happened to them. To Gandadirth. I wondered if he would leave me here or if I would die. If he would die.
My mind raced, and I could feel the tension in the camps. They were done with me. I had provided them all the information they needed.
I pressed my fingers into my left palm, needling them and pressing hard against my skin as though to make sure I was still alive.
The blue-and-yellow shifter, my familiar comfort, walked into the cells and looked down at the cage. He opened the door, noting the broken lock curiously as his eyes darted up toward me.
“Not even gonna question it,” he said with a small smirk.
“No?” I asked.
He looked at me seriously: a scattering of thoughts. “Okay,” he said quickly. “I am going to ask. What’s up with the lock?”
“It’s broken,” I teased.
“Uh huh,” he nodded and then went grave-faced. “Then why are you still here?”
The question was a test, and we both knew it. There was something off about him, something dire, and then I knew he knew.
I swallowed and locked eyes with him, my one honest moment.
“I didn’t want to leave you,” I said.
He nodded, raising his brow as he did so. I didn’t know if he was offended or pleased. He swung the door open and took my hand, drawing me into a long, desperate kiss.
“Want to know a secret?” he teased.
I grinned. “Is this the part where you rip off your shifter mask and reveal you’ve been human all along?”
“Close,” his voice went high. “Guess again.”
“You are… whisking me away for a real date?”
“What?” he cocked his head and grabbed my hand, raising it to his lips and kissing it while matching my eye contact blink for blink. “You’re sick of mating in secret like animals? Man, it’s true what they say: women really are high-maintenance.”
We both laughed then, and then he hunched over so that his massive stature could reach my ear.
“I know your little plan,” he whispered, the spit in the corners of his mouth enunciating his quiet words as they echoed in my ear.
My heart sank. “What?” I said. “What does that mean?”
“It means I scouted the island,” he said, resigned. “Pletunds,” he said, snapping his fingers. “Those giant robots. They’re waiting for us, aren’t they?”
I swallowed hard but didn’t look away. “Yes.”
He nodded, looking conflicted. “Want to know the secret part?”
“What?” I said, my voice cracking with emotion.
“I like your plan better than mine,” he whispered again, smiling at the end.
I took a step back instinctively. “What?” I asked, dire. “Then do something!”
“Not exactly the reaction I was expecting,” he laughed. “See, I was expecting more of a: ‘Oh Gandadirth! You do have a heart after all! Look at the way our love has given you a conscience.’”
“Our love?” I asked; flushed.
He shrugged with my hand still in his. “Or whatever it is.”
“So…” I blanked. “What are you saying?”
His black eyes seemed wet then, like he was smiling from the inside out. He pulled my face close to his, setting his hands on my cold cheeks. “I’m saying that I love you.”
“No!” I protested, batting him away. “What you are trying to say about… about my plan!”
“Ouch.” Gandadirth blinked back in surprise and then shook his head. “I’m saying that I don’t like this anymore. This isn’t… what I thought it was going to be.” He shrugged helplessly. “Earth. It’s…” Another long pause. “Beautiful. And they can’t see it. They hate it, and they hate you.”
“Then help me,” I pleaded. “Help me.”
He shook his head. “These are my… this is my family.”
“Then you’re going to sit back and watch this happen, huh?” I cried. “That’s it? It’s not what you thought, but too bad?”
“Too bad,” he repeated, lifeless.
“What about me?” I said and blinked away my tears.
“Well…” he said, almost callous. His face was still and colorless, betraying nothing. I felt sick then, like it was all slippi
ng away from me.
Then he smiled, a pitch of the lip that revealed a fang and his charming demeanor sprung back to life.
“I was going to wait for you to say you loved me too and then dazzle you with my heroism, but that didn’t go exactly the way I hoped.”
My eyes widened, and a flush crossed my cheeks.
“But I thought…” I paused and my words lulled. “Gandadirth,” I said quietly and pulled his face into mine, kissing him gingerly. “I do. I love you.”
“There’s my girl!” he shouted in victory and then tapped my nose.
“Now what?” I asked.
“Now… we have a lot to do.”
Gandadirth
Feruvia was just an hour’s journey north. I gathered the blood of a shifter I had killed on the way out, taking Fiona with me, and pulled out its organ. I threw it on the table in front of Jadirel and told him it was Fiona’s heart. He stared down at it and then looked up at me; I’d never seen him so proud.
It was gruesome, but it worked.
“Good work, son,” Jadirel said to me and looked down at the bloody heart.
“Thank you,” I said, and he set his hand on my shoulder.
I felt a sob of emotion creep up my throat as I wondered if I would ever see him again: if I could live with myself if I watched him burn.
Then I thought of Fiona and decided that I could. I would live for her now.
As each shifter took to the sky, I watched. I told Jadirel I would be right behind the pack.
I couldn’t say goodbye to Tesyduss. That would have been too painful. But he was tainted, I thought. We all were. We thought we’d been fighting to free our people and restore our honor. But we were fighting for the same D’Karr who had helped destroy us.
My loyalty was with Fiona now. Not the humans, but my girl.
I waited and watched them take flight, careful to inspect the base top to bottom to make sure no one was left behind. That was it. I was the only one left.
Fiona ran up to me, kissing me softly before I pulled her up into my arms.
“I have to do this,” I said, and she nodded. “Will you come with me?”
She nodded. “Of course.”
