Ash Princess

by Eve Langlais

“You escaped, though.”

  “I did, but not easily. We also had a crevice in our way.”

  “How did you cross it?”

  “Lucky for us a tree fell the right way.”

  “Must be nice,” she muttered. “You said people were aware our kingdom went silent. Did no one try to come help us?”

  He shrugged. “Don’t get mad at me. I haven’t been around that long. I only heard of Diamond recently.”

  “And thought you’d come for a visit?” was her sarcastic retort.

  “Why not? I needed a change of pace and scenery. Gotta say the welcome needs some work,” he drawled. “Not to mention, I’d like some pants.”

  Hands in his lap over the cloth didn’t negate the fact he was pretty fucking naked and alone with a beautiful woman. Did she not grasp the danger? He should be locked up, tied at the very least. Had no one taught her to never trust strangers?

  “You’ll get pants once you tell me what I want to know.”

  “Why did you save me?” he blurted instead.

  “I am regretting that decision, given you’re purposely avoiding answering me,” she griped. Her eyes flashed, drawing attention to the fine features of her face.

  “I already told you pretty much everything. What else do you want to know? I have a sister, twin actually, although we look nothing alike. Her name is Casey, and she thinks she is tougher than me.”

  “What makes you think she isn’t?”

  “Oh, she probably is, but needling her about it is one of my quirks.”

  “Do you have many quirks?”

  He shrugged. “You’d have to ask my friends. I’m sure Axel and the others in Haven could tell you plenty.”

  The spill of words had her blinking. “Who is Axel? And what is Haven?”

  “Haven is the collection of people I escaped the Emerald Kingdom with. A good bunch looking for a better life. Axel is the person who got us there. Well, technically, it was Gunner who found the path, but Axel was the one who founded Haven in the first place.”

  She waved her hand at him. “All these names mean nothing to me. Let’s go back to the more recent part where you said you came from the Marshlands.”

  “I did. Here by order of the king.” He didn’t admit yet who his sister was married to.

  “Why did your king send you? Does he not like you?”

  He outright laughed. “Oh, he might not like me, but he won’t kill me. I’m here scouting out an imminent danger to the Marshes.”

  Her lips thinned. She didn’t need him to elucidate. “The poison is starting to spread past our borders.” At his nod, she sighed. “We wondered how long it would take.”

  A sudden thought came to him. “Speaking of wondering, how is it the dragons don’t stray from Diamond? If they can fly, shouldn’t we have seen them? Wouldn’t they have encroached on the Marshes before this?”

  She shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. We only know what happens here. We had no idea if the dragons were spreading or not. We had our own problems.”

  “Which you solved by going underground.” He glanced around the room, a strange rectangular shape with odd square cubbies in the wall. Obviously human wrought. No windows at all, and the rear wall was chiseled stone striated with dirt and minerals. “What is this place?”

  “Welcome to the Necropolis.”

  He frowned at the name. The Diamond capital used to be called Cloudring because it existed atop five mountain pillars joined by a series of pedestrian bridges. Or so the hand-drawn picture he’d seen depicted. He’d done his research before leaving on this trip. What little there was. For a world that could print books and disseminate information, it proved awfully hard to get the right tools to do so.

  “Are we under the Cloudring?” Because it had occurred to him that if he were to find anything useful it would be under the capital. And wouldn’t it be a stroke of luck if Kayda had brought him there?

  Her chin dropped. “No. The city was taken over by dragons, and while we survived for a while underground, the decision was made to abandon it for a safer location.”

  “Luckily you had a sturdy backup.” The fresher, less cloying air seemed to indicate shielding of some kind.

  “The Necropolis has been around for a long time, just not as a home for the living.”

  “Is this an ancient structure?” he asked, highly intrigued.

  “I don’t know. Although it has been in use for several generations now. The Necropolis is where we used to inter our dead.”

  The revelation had him exclaiming, “You live in a graveyard?”

  She rolled her slim shoulders.

  “How many of you live here?” Once more he led with questions.

  “Just under thirty now, of which around a third are under the age of twelve.”

  “Thirty! Surely there are more—”

  She shook her head, cutting him off. “We started out with more people. They died. Of the sickness. In accidents and attacks. Some just couldn’t handle it.” The dullness in her tone only enhanced the despair of it. “I know there were other groups like us, scattered and hiding, but it’s been years since we’ve heard from them, so we have no idea how they fare. We can only assume the worst.”

  “I’m so sorry.” A heartfelt statement since he knew how it felt to lose a home. He’d had many in his life. None had ever lasted.

  “It’s not your fault.” She turned from him and grabbed his clothes, which meant he again had to point out the obvious.

  “Er, I don’t suppose I could have my pants back?”

  She eyed him over her shoulder. “I was going to have them cleaned first.”

  “But…” He pointed to the cloth in his lap.

  “It’s not like you’re going anywhere. You’re recovering from a dragon attack. With those injuries, you shouldn’t be getting out of bed yet.”

  “I feel fine.”

  “Rest. I’ll be back shortly.”

  “But—”

  She left before he could say another word.

  He was half tempted to say fuck modesty and stalk after her. Especially since he didn’t hear any indication of a lock engaging.

  However, she’d offered him no harm. On the contrary, she’d gone out of her way to help him and answer questions. It might have been accidental, but Cam had actually stumbled upon someone who might be able to aid him with his mission.

  He had to admit it seemed kind of surprising. What were the chances he’d find Kayda and her people? Undertaking this journey, he’d not expected to come across any survivors. However, he’d not just stumbled across the last pocket of them but the prettiest woman he’d ever seen.

  And she’d undressed him.

  For some reason the realization heated his cheeks. A modest man, even though he’d lived in close proximity with his sister and others, he usually didn’t let anyone see his body. It meant fewer questions about the fact he had no scars. No marks. Nothing of any kind despite all the injuries he’d suffered over the years. And there’d been plenty.

  His power of self-regeneration was uncanny and there were times he wondered just how far he could push his ability. He’d been maimed, shot, electrocuted, skinned and broken, over and over. Each time he recovered. Although, growing fingers and toes took a long time.

  He imagined decapitation would be permanent and he’d never been tempted to see if he could regrow an entire limb or organ. However, he’d breathed toxic gases before and been fine which was the reason why he’d volunteered to come to Diamond. Only Casey and Axel knew of special ability, but they never talked about it aloud, mostly because they knew how his deviant power would be coveted.

  The Emerald Enclave that held him captive was fully aware of it back when he and his sister were their test subjects, but he’d kept it secret once he left, preferring to let people think he was less injured than expected during battles. Which only worked if they didn’t wonder at his lack of scars, because getting shot by Enclave soldiers and clawed by a tigber left marks o
n regular folk.

  His healing power was why he could handle the air in Diamond, although he had to admit being relieved it worked. He’d wondered if it would, having never tested his lungs for healing before. Did all of those living in Diamond have the same ability as him? By Kayda’s own admission the taint existed even in the tunnels. The water. Thirty people able to handle it, but was that all they could do?

  The Deviant gene found in humanity since The Fall could change them. Give them powers that varied from person to person. Did Kayda have a psionic ability? Or was surviving in this poisoned environment her only asset?

  Doubtful. He’d already gotten a glimpse of her commanding nature. She seemed capable and intelligent. Tough, too.

  Letting his thoughts stray in her direction was a dangerous thing. She was a woman in need of help. A maiden that required saving from dragons. Just like that damned story he used to read Casey. The only book they had when captive with the Emerald doctors. Even when they took it away from him, he knew it by heart.

  In the book the hero saved the day.

  Cam was no hero. And they were talking about fucking dragons. Real ones that could fly. But what about breathing fire? He’d not seen signs of scorching anywhere, which seemed to indicate they didn’t.

  Not that he planned to come face to face with one any time soon to find out. Kayda’s problem with them was just that. Her problem. He had his own quest to handle.

  The bed he lay on was uncomfortable, a slab of stone, layered in animal skins, in the middle of the room. Standing, he stretched with his back to the door so if someone entered they’d only catch a glimpse of his ass. As he twisted his body to limber it, he noticed a blanket folded in a cubby. He snared it and wrapped it around his hips, feeling better covered. A man hated to fight with his dangly bits swinging.

  He examined the space and the items in the cubbies—which at some level he understood were the deep shelves where the bodies used to be stored—some of them practical like a pair of worn boots. Some folded clothes, too small for him, also mended more times than the fabric could handle. Jars filled with stuff he couldn’t identify. And then there were the figurines.

  Fantastical carvings made out of bone, some of them recognizable. A cat. A giant fish. A thing that had to be the dragon he’d encountered. Then there were the ones of people, intricately carved. But the disturbing one was of the ghoul.

  She’d said something about a crevice. Ghouls liked to live in deep cracks. If Kayda’s people lived underground… How secure was this place?

  And could he leave?

  She gave the impression they were trapped here. But Cam had been in tricky spots before. It would not be the first time he’d had to extricate himself.

  Except he couldn’t leave Diamond, not until he’d found a way to stop the spread of the poison, which might prove tricky. If a volcano was the cause, then how did he stop it?

  Or was the better question why did it still burn? His understanding of volcanoes, which admittedly was limited given the Wasteland hadn’t had any active ones since before his time, was they exploded, they caused shit for a bit, then they went back to sleep. So why wasn’t this one behaving as it should? Did something cause it to keep erupting?

  She had said the dragons appeared when it did. Did the winged beasts have something to do with it? So many questions and the woman who could answer wasn’t here for him to pester.

  He’d had plenty of time to investigate every inch of the room. He found his weapons sitting with his holster, not hidden from him, which made him feel somewhat better. He didn’t care how stupid it looked to have them around his waist over his blanket skirt.

  When the door finally did open, she was the first to enter, followed by a boy barely out of his teens.

  But it was the creature that waddled in after that had him pulling his gun and shouting, “Get down! Dragon!”

  Chapter 6

  A dragon in the tunnels? Kayda suffered a moment of panic before she realized Cam meant Gellie.

  “No!” she screamed, throwing herself in front of her pet. “Don’t shoot.”

  To her relief Cam didn’t fire, but he also didn’t lower his gun. “I won’t shoot, but you’d better start talking fast.”

  “Don’t threaten her,” Gorri exclaimed.

  Cam’s flat gaze turned to him. Took his measure in a glance and dismissed him in favor of Kayda, or more like what huddled behind her, peeking around her legs.

  Gorri bristled as he eyed the stranger. “I thought I told you to keep him tied up.”

  “Good thing she didn’t.” Cam turned a glare on Gorri. “Who the fuck are you?”

  “Don’t you take that fucking tone with me.” Gorri puffed out his chest, and while he’d seemed older before—only five years younger than her—standing beside Cam, she could see just how young he truly was.

  “I’ll take whatever tone I damned well like. I will not be tied down, and I don’t like being lied to.” His gaze lasered in on Kayda.

  “What have I lied about?” They’d barely spoken.

  “That thing behind your leg. It’s a dragon.”

  “It is.”

  He jabbed a finger in Gellie’s direction. “You said they were killers. Obviously a lie since you’re protecting one.”

  “Don’t you talk to Kayda like that!” snapped Gorri, meaning well, wanting to help, and yet only making things worse.

  She wanted to sigh. “Both of you need to put your egos away and shut your mouths for a moment so I can actually string more than a sentence together.”

  “He started it,” Gorri complained.

  “Would you like me to finish it?” Cam asked softly. The menace held a bored note to it.

  She didn’t doubt the man could kill. Danger oozed from him. Confidence, too. He’d pulled that gun so fast she’d blinked and missed it. A good thing she was quick too, or he might have killed her pet.

  “I’m going to gag both of you if you don’t stop.” Kayda lost patience, her irritation not cooled one bit by the sudden cold draft that pushed through her open door.

  “I’m willing to listen.” Cam’s words held a challenge as he smirked at Gorri.

  Gorri didn’t quite pout, but it was close.

  “Maybe I should start with introductions. Cam, this is Gorri. Gorri, Cam.” She indicated by pointing. “And this”—she gestured to the knee-high creature hiding behind her—“is Gellie.”

  “You named it.”

  “Him, actually.”

  “And he is a dragon. A young one I’m guessing by his size.”

  “He is.”

  “Earlier you said they were dangerous. Implied they’d decimated your population and kept you prisoner of these tunnels.”

  “And that statement is true. The ones that emerged out of the crevices where the lava flows are savage beasts. True killers in every sense of the word. The fire dragons are pure rage and murderous intent. They hunger all the time. Gellie, though, is an ice dragon.”

  “Which makes a difference?”

  “The people of Diamond have long been friends of the ice dragons. In Gellie’s case, given he lives with us, he’s quite domesticated. His mother died trying to defend him and her nest against the interlopers. If I’d have left him out there, all alone, he would have died, so I adopted him,” she explained, ending with a shrug.

  “You decided to mother a dragon.” He appeared rather baffled. Not an unusual reaction.

  Gorri snickered. “That’s more polite than what we said when she brought him back.”

  Rather than wait or politely ask, Lila pushed her way in behind Kayda. “We told her she was fucking crazy.”

  “Gellie isn’t dangerous, are you, baby?” she cooed, and the youngling climbed her leg and torso to wrap around her shoulders, his weight heavy, but familiar. “Ice dragons have always gotten along well with humans.”

  “Especially in her family,” Lila stated with a jerk of her thumb at Kayda.

  “Because we’re not afraid of th
em,” Kayda said softly, stroking Gellie’s nose. “I started visiting them the moment I was born. My father introduced me before I was even a week old. They used to fly the skies above Diamond. Each of the peninsulas in the Cloudring city sported a roost for a mating pair and their dragonlets.” Her gaze took on a dreamy cast as she remembered, through the eyes of a child, her wonderment at the majestic beasts. She loved watching them leap from the cliffs and, at the last moment, snap their wings to soar. Poor Gellie might never know that freedom with the menace in the skies.

  “We never had pets in the Wasteland. Meat was too scarce for that. The only exception was Axel’s pack.”

  “Wasteland?” Lila breathed the word. “You come from Emerald?”

  Cam wasn’t ready to discuss that yet. He kept his focus on Kayda. “So ice dragons like humans, but the crevice dragons don’t.”

  “I’d have said they like us too much. They think we’re a tasty snack,” Lila responded with way too much glee.

  “And how do you tell them apart so you don’t kill the wrong one?”

  “Color. Ice ones are gray or blue and, every rare generation, white. But you won’t have to worry. There are no ice ones left in the wild. They fought when the fire dragons came, but being a gentle species and much smaller in number, they lost. As far as we know, Gellie is the last of his kind.” She stroked her pet’s head. He rubbed the cheek of his snout on her leg.

  “What happens when he gets bigger?” Cam asked, eyeing the size of the room.

  “He won’t. Unless the ice returns, he’ll remain in this stunted size forever.”

  “You mean he’s not supposed to be this small?” Cam’s gaze moved to Gellie, who uttered a low trill.

  She shook her head. “He needs the cold to thrive.”

  “The fire dragons though need heat and hate the cold,” Lila remarked. “Pity all the snow melted. It might have kept them in their cracks.”

  Kayda took over the explanation. “According to the hunters that went out to cull them, they lay their eggs by lava pools in the crevices and guard them ferociously.”

  “Not in the mountain aeries?”

  “Those are just for ripping apart their dinner,” Gorri remarked in a sulky tone. He didn’t seem to be appreciating the dialogue.