by Leela Ash
Archer groaned loudly. He would have to put a collar and a bell on his friend when he returned. That way it would be easier to find him if he ever got lost again. The thought was enough to give Archer the boost he needed to leap over the creek.
He was approaching the city much more quickly than he was comfortable with. He wanted nothing to do with the humans. All of them that he had encountered were selfish and oblivious to the struggles of their own people. That proved enough to him that they would not be able to be trusted with the plight of his kind. If they were too egotistical to show any compassion to their own kind, how would they ever be able to care about dragon shifters? The Guardians were proof enough that humans were incapable of selflessness.
You’re not alone.
The mysterious woman’s voice echoed in his ears and Archer sighed. Why would that come to him now? Was he being too hard on the humans? He didn’t think that was true. But he heard the woman of his dreams for a reason. He was going to be among the humans; the least he could do was make the best of it.
After another few hours of walking, Archer was in the downtown area, moving discreetly so as not to be seen. He had disguised himself as a normal human, but the clothes were uncomfortable and he couldn’t wait to get out of them. Still, he felt like he was far too out of place. He had to get to the police station. If the Guardians were anywhere, they would be there, and he would find out what had happened to Tanna.
Suddenly, the unmistakable smell of the Guardians hit Archer like a ton of bricks. His stomach dropped painfully and he became alert, ducking behind a parked car to try to get eyes on his target. The small group of shifters who were left in the Kersh clan had been trying their best to stay away from every area they knew the Guardians inhabited, particularly in the city, but now that they had made a move in the ruins, it was time for the leader to investigate.
The Guardian ducked into a blue car and Archer raised his eyebrow. The car had the scent of the forest on it. He checked the wheels and sure enough, they were caked in mud. If he followed it, there was bound to be a chance to catch up to his friend. Tanna wasn’t within smelling range, but Archer was sure that following this Guardian would be the key to his friend’s whereabouts.
It was good to finally have a lead, and Archer set to work on following the car. The Guardian was fast, but Archer was fast, too. He had to be careful not to get hurt and to make sure that no humans saw him on the run. If that happened, it could lead to unbelievable danger for the rest of the clan that had stayed behind, and it would be his own fault. Fortunately, he had always been very sneaky, and his ability to move without anybody noticing him had led to a very satisfying childhood full of the spoils of incognito adventures to the mess hall.
Soon, Archer was back in the woods where he felt he belonged and able to follow the car down one of the few dirt roads that were paved into the area. It wasn’t a spot he felt familiar with, but being out in nature felt much safer than being in the city. He relaxed and was able to follow the car leisurely through the winding country roads.
The trees began to become more and more sparse, until Archer realized it was going to be impossible for him to hide any longer. He would have to be careful. Instead of trailing the car right beside it, he ultimately hung back, hoping the driver wouldn’t be able to see him. He tried to use his heightened senses to listen to the car and keep it in range, and when he could tell that it had turned left, he followed it.
Eventually, the car arrived at a tall, creepy farmhouse that looked essentially abandoned. An ice cold chill erupted all over Archer’s body. The house looked terrifying. In the back, there was a tall, ominous barn with peeling pale red paint. It looked like the farm had been abandoned for years. And yet, that’s where the Guardian was pulling in.
Archer was ready to bound toward the building, sure he could take on just one Guardian, but a line of men immediately walked out the door to greet the man in the blue car. Archer cringed. He would have to come back with help. Otherwise, there was bound to be more trouble than he could deal with. It was time to regroup and come up with a plan.
CHAPTER SIX
“You’re aware of the shifter that trailed you here, aren’t you?” Kenneth, leader of the Guardians, asked in a low, raspy voice. He had led the council of Guardians outside the farmhouse to meet Jason, who had just come back from the base in the city. He had been sent to the police station, where the police officers who were part of the Guardians were having a meeting. The rumors that there were still more Dragon shifters near the city, even after the fact that Kaldernon had managed to rescue the majority of the Kersh clan had been confirmed after one of the members who had been left behind followed a Guardian from the site where their latest defeat had taken place.
But the Guardians weren’t going to stay down forever. They were just going to get smart. They had upheld a sacred mission ever since the introduction of the shifters into Earth’s atmosphere to protect and preserve the humans on Earth from the potential threat of interplanetary dominance. And there was nothing that would get in their way or stop them from fulfilling their duty. Having a shifter less than twenty miles away only served to reinforce that mission statement.
“Should we go get him?”
Kenneth frowned.
“No…he isn’t approaching. Which means he’s planning something. If we wait, we may be able to take all of the shifters in the area out in one fell swoop. Now that he knows where we are and how many of us there are, he will bring reinforcements.”
“But last time, we weren’t able to win against them!”
Kenneth grinned, his lips curled into a frightening smile.
“They didn’t have then what we have now,” Kenneth said. “They were foolish and rash. But under my guidance, the Guardians won’t make the same mistake twice.”
“So we let him go?” Jason asked incredulously. He felt angry that he had been trailed, and embarrassed that he hadn’t even noticed it. Somehow though, Kenneth had seen it. The security cameras that were placed throughout the hundreds of acres of land had been useful enough to catch Archer in the act.
“That man is the shifter’s leader. I recognize the tattoo on his left arm. You see that symbol? He is the son of Clayton. And somehow he has chosen to stay where he is. I know it seems like a bad idea, but trust me. He will be back. And he will bring others. Then we can release the beast.”
Jason grinned and the Guardians laughed. They were going to get those good-for-nothing shifters once and for all. And their quest for world dominance would continue unimpeded.
***
Alana woke up in a cold sweat. The man in her dreams was in danger. She felt more sure of this than she had felt of anything in her life.
“Lopu!” she cried.
A servant burst into Alana’s chambers.
“Are you all right, milady?”
“Please, wake Lopu. Let me go to her!”
“But child–she told me–“
“Nonsense,” Alder, one of the superior men on the council said, pressing his hand against Alana’s door and entering the room. “Alana is in distress and wishes to speak to the woman who is most like a mother to her. We will alert Lopu at once. Come, child.”
Alana, who usually couldn’t stand how high and mighty Alder was, felt a rush of relief. He gave her a kind smile and the servant watched helplessly as Alana was led down the long, winding hallway. When they approached Lopu’s familiar chambers, Alder stopped her before she entered.
“You know, you look quite beautiful in your bed clothes,” Alder said.
Alana cringed, her stomach in knots, and pushed into Lopu’s bedroom, leaving Alder without the satisfaction of a response. It was revolting to think that a man who was more than twice her age was leering at her. He had always given her the creeps, and now that he wasn’t able to hide the way he was looking at her, it was worse.
“Alana?”
Lopu’s sleepy, comforting voice reached Alana’s ears, and it took everything she had to
keep the tears from springing to her eyes.
“What’s the matter?”
“The dreams…”
Alana choked on the lump in her throat and let the tears fall. Lopu was alert now, sitting up in her bed and motioning Alana to come to her. She draped her long arms over Alana’s shoulders.
“Dreams?”
“The one I told you about. Something awful has happened to the man in them. If it hasn’t yet, it will. I need to find him.”
“What man?”
Alana cringed. She hadn’t been completely honest with Lopu about her dream and now she was going to have to open up about that. It was going to be hard, but now there was no other choice. She knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that something was terribly wrong.
“I’m sure you don’t remember the boy I would see in my dreams…”
“Your imaginary friend?” Lopu asked, frowning in confusion. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I never stopped seeing him, Lopu,” Alana said, looking straight into Lopu’s eyes. “I thought that I was going to be able to let it go and grow out of it. That it was just an expression of grief like you said that it was. But I didn’t. He has been with me every step of the way. But there has never been a time where we were actually together. It’s like he’s from another world or something. One where I can’t reach. But he needs my help.”
Lopu was quiet for a moment, studying the bedsheet before turning her face to Alana’s. Alana was surprised by the seriousness in her eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell me he didn’t go away?” Lopu asked quietly. “Is it because I made you feel silly about it?”
She sounded so ashamed of herself and apologetic that Alana’s eyes filled with new tears. She didn’t want to admit that Lopu had guessed right. Not if it would hurt her. Not after everything Lopu had done for her.
“It is, then,” Lopu sighed, holding Alana’s face in her cool hands. “I’m so sorry.”
“I thought you might be right. Or you would think I’m odd and not want to love me anymore,” Alana said quietly. “But he is real. I’m sure of it now. And he’s in danger.”
“What does he look like?” Lopu asked. “Maybe it can help us to find him.”
“He’s large, muscular…”
Lopu raised her eyebrow teasingly at Alana and Alana felt a hot blush cross her face. She went on anyway.
“He has ice blue eyes. Dark, long hair. He looks a little familiar somehow now that he’s grown. But I know we’ve never met. I would have known it.”
“Does he have any distinguishing marks? Like a tattoo or something?”
“Actually, yes,” Alana said, her mind turning to the tattoo on his left arm.
“Can you draw it for me?”
Lopu rose and went to the desk across the room. It was facing the large open window. A gentle breeze fluttered in and rustled the curtains. The biggest moon of Kaldernon was full, sending a pale yellow glow into the room that made Lopu look even more beautiful and ethereal than Alana had ever seen her before.
She returned to Alana with a quill and a piece of parchment. Alana nodded and drew dutifully. The traditional Loni style, but a little more coarse and unrefined. When she finished, she handed the drawing to Lopu.
“It’s a little crude, but…”
Lopu took the drawing and gasped.
“That’s Clayton’s mark. From the Kersh clan on Earth.”
“The man in my dreams isn’t Clayton!” Alana exclaimed, rising from the bed in a huff. The last thing she needed was to be accused of dreaming of one of the most respectable men in Kaldernon. He had a wife and a young child who had been born on Kaldernon since they returned.
“Of course not,” Lopu said. “Clayton’s is slightly different.”
Lopu cut herself off, and from the way she bit back her words, Alana knew that she was hiding something.
“What is it Lopu?” Alana demanded. “What do you know about this?”
“Clayton…has a son.”
“A son? I thought his child was a little girl.”
“There is another child. But he chose to remain on Earth.”
“What?”
Alana’s stomach dropped and Lopu sighed.
“That’s right. Clayton’s son Archer is still somewhere on Earth.”
“I didn’t start dreaming of him until Clayton returned to Kaldernon. But he was alone. And never spoke of his son…I just assumed…”
“It is a painful subject for him. Everybody understandably avoids the topic. It is rude to speak of someone’s pain unless there is a remedy for it that you are seeking.”
“So you’re telling me the boy in my dreams is Clayton’s son?” Alana asked, her heart hammering.
“Perhaps,” Lopu said. “But the only way we can know for sure is to talk to Clayton.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“You found Tanna?” Thom asked eagerly when Archer returned to the underground tunnels.
The small handful of the clan that was left were gathered in the mess hall. They had five strong shifter men and two Lonis, one man, one woman, and their young child. The Loni woman was pregnant with twins, and Archer was determined to erase the Guardians before anything happened to the rest of the remaining Kersh clan. It would be on his head if they were harmed by the Guardians. He had sworn to avenge the people of Kaldernon for the humans’ blind hatred and ignorance. And he wasn’t going to stop now, especially now that he knew exactly where the Guardians were located.
“I think I must have. The Guardians have regrouped in a farmhouse to the west of here,” Archer said, drinking deeply from the wooden mug of ale before him. The small group had prepared their leader an elaborate feast when they realized he had returned. It had been a long journey for him to find any sign of Tanna and return with the news.
“Was there any sign of danger? The other Guardian ruins had a whole cellar full of shifters,” the strongest man of the clan, Kerk, asked.
“How many Guardians were there when you saw them?” Thom asked.
The group began to murmur amongst themselves and Archer sighed, taking a big bite of food and chewing until they quieted down.
“I saw at least seven men come out of the house and one man pull in with his blue car. He came from the police station just like I feared. Their stench is unmistakable. It smells like stale shifter blood. It’s completely nauseating. If I had gone in, there would have been a fight. If I shifted they would have been in trouble, but I can’t count on that to save my ass.”
The group grew quiet, seemingly embarrassed by their leader’s inability to shapeshift under pressure. They whispered about it when they thought he wasn’t listening, but he knew how they all felt about it. Still, there were some very powerful shifters in their ranks. It was too bad that Tanna was such an impulsive ass. He would have come in handy during a fight like this. But instead he had probably gotten himself captured.
“We can’t waste too much time thinking about this,” Archer cautioned. “We don’t know what they may be doing to poor Tanna. We have to get there before they break him. He will probably be subjected to at least a week of torture before they get rid of him, but once he exhausts his functionality with them they’re not going to shed any tears to get rid of him.”
The news was sobering to the group, and they grew quiet as Archer finished his meal quickly.
“I expect the Lonis to come up with the best plan of action before we move out tomorrow morning. I need two men to ready the gear. Preferably those who work even better on lack of sleep than with enough rest. If stress makes you stronger, you know who you are, get the supplies ready. The rest of you, work on packing rations and then get some good rest. We leave right after a good meal the Lonis will prepare in the morning. That’s the most efficient way to get this done. Lonis will stay behind with the children. Even if none of us make it back, there’s a high likelihood that the children to be born will be of shifter descent and can carry on our mission if you don’t find a way to return
to Kaldernon. It would make sense for you to change your minds at that point.”
Nobody spoke as Archer rose and retired to his chambers. He was exhausted after his journey, and eager to close his eyes. If he was able to dream, then perhaps he would see the beautiful woman again.
***
Archer.
The place was dark and Archer’s eyes shot open. He was shocked. The woman had never said his name before. They had never known each other’s names. But somehow, now he was being summoned to her side. Slowly, a gentle orange glow began to fill the area where he stood, and a white light nearly blinded him as he moved forward. Suddenly, the woman was in front of him, a gorgeous Loni-made night dress fluttering behind her in a strange burst of wind. Her blonde hair framed her face and her stormy eyes held him still.
Archer.
He saw her full lips moving. Although he heard her in his mind, she was speaking. Her tongue was forming the sound of his name. Her voice washed over every inch of his body and he was suddenly alive with a deep, treacherous desire that nearly overwhelmed him with its intensity. How could he feel this way when there was no possible way for them to be together? In every dream there was a barrier; a wall. Even though it seemed like there was none, there would be. It would be glass this time, or electrically charged air. They wouldn’t be able to touch.
“Archer,” she said, her multi-colored eyes on him, her hand reaching out to him.
There was something different about this. The quality of her voice wasn’t echoing ominously, as if coming to him from a loudspeaker above his head. It felt like she was really speaking to him. Right in front of him. She was even moving her lips.
Archer walked dumbly forward as he had so many other times before. He knew he shouldn’t have any hope that things would work out any differently than they had before. They had never been able to speak to each other, let alone touch. But here she was, right in front of him. Nothing between them that they could see. And the longing in her eyes told him everything he needed to know. She wanted him too. Just as badly.
