Dragon's Oath: A Paranormal & Urban Fantasy Romance (House of Quercus Book 1)

by Eve Laird

  I walked towards Lucian.

  “I could carry you and barely notice you were there,” I explained.

  “I do appreciate the charity you gave me last night, and I have returned all the money, with the exception of the few coins that bought my food this morning... and I will repay that when I am able,” I added.

  I walked towards Asher and Oliver who were both simply staring at me with open mouths.

  “And as for both of you: Asher - you did not need to apologize for presuming I was unfit to fly...” I moved directly in front of Oliver.

  “And you.”

  I heard someone stifle a chuckle from behind me, Lucian no doubt, but I continued anyway.

  “You had no right to kill Borin. No. Right,” I said, stabbing his chest with my index finger.

  I bit back the angry tears that threatened to ambush my show of being equal to the males.

  “In fact, none of you had the right to kill any of them.” I said.

  I glanced to the other two Angels, who immediately found the ground upon which they were standing very interesting.

  “I am fully capable of defending myself! With or without the armor, or the weapons, I am deadly. And I assure you, I mean that I am very deadly.”

  I looked around the three of them, meeting each of them with a stern gaze.

  “Do not underestimate a female. And, never underestimate one who is seeking vengeance.” I whispered.

  We stood in silence for a few moments before Oliver broke it.

  “You're right, of course. I cannot speak for Lucian, but it has been many years since Asher and I have fought beside the female legions of the Angelic Guard,” he said, his hands open palms up in apology.

  He glanced at Lucian apologetically.

  “Our past should not surprise you, but know that we had our hands bloodied in the killing many of your kin,” he confessed.

  Lucian lifted his hands in a submissive movement.

  “Not my kin. I may be Vampire, but I was turned by a wretched monster. If I had the opportunity to have killed him and all his kin myself, I would have taken pleasure in the act,” he said.

  He looked at me.

  “As I mentioned to you last night, not all Vampires are the evil beings you have been conditioned to believe,” he said.

  He looked towards the two Angels.

  “If I were, do you really think this pair would be traveling to the House of Quercus with me? Yes, I am Vampire. There is nothing to change that now, but I am determined to prove that there is goodness still within my nature,” he added.

  Oliver looked at him with raised eyebrows before speaking to me again.

  “As I was saying, Vita, Asher and I fought with the female legions many years ago. It is easy for us to forget how strong the females of our kind are. Living in the Human Realm has faded that memory, but you have rekindled it with an almighty force.”

  I felt a shiver run down my back as he spoke. He believed what he was saying and, at least now, saw me for the equal that I really was.

  “Asher, you may carry me as it looks like Vita's going to carry Oliver,” the Vampire said, with a sniff.

  I suppressed a giggle.

  Oliver's voice was curt, “Shut up, Lucian.”

  He looked to me with that mischievous smile.

  “Of course, you can carry me if you wish, Vita,” he winked at me before turning back to the other males.

  “I think it's time we get going,” Asher's voice was serious.

  “Lucian, there's no easy way to say this, but I'll have to carry you from here onwards,” he said.

  I stifled a laugh at the expression on Lucian's face when we started back on our journey.

  “Oliver, Vita, the air currents will be cooler and the currents will be stronger above the mountains. We'll continue at a canter rather than the slow gallop we've done so far,” he ordered.

  Oliver rolled his eyes at Asher's tone before giving me a shy smile.

  At this slower pace it would be easier to talk, and easier to hear responses, against the noise of the wind.

  “It is truly good to meet another of our kind.” he said earnestly.

  It surprised me that he was so candid and I would have expected for us to have crossed paths at least a few times in the past number of years. Maybe there were fewer Fallen than I'd thought?

  “Have you not met others since...” I didn't know how to say it, “Since you were...”

  “Cast Out?” he helped. “And it's not a bad word. It's a bad thing to happen to any Angel, regardless of the reason.”

  “Yeah.”

  I simply didn't know what else to say.

  “In answer to your question, Vita, yes, we've met other Fallen. A surprising number over the years, in fact. Yet...” he paused, choosing his words carefully.

  “They had all Fallen long before us, and they had turned far from the values they'd learned in the Guard,” he said, and then took another pause.

  “The most recent one was a few months ago...” he smiled to himself and shook his head.

  “That one was working as a smith in a city - must have been for some time, too, as he had found himself a lovely wife, and was training his eldest as an apprentice to take the over his work. The youngest was just a babe in his mother's arms.” he marveled.

  I chuckled before the words sank in.

  “He'd taken a human wife?”

  “Yes.”

  “And... um... had offspring?”

  “Oh yes.”

  He watched as I tried to figure it out.

  “But... surely his wife would see that he did not age as she did? Never mind the fact that, well, wouldn't his young be... different, on account of being dual-natured?” I asked, astonished at how the Angel had managed to pull this off.

  “You'd think that,” he agreed.

  “But this was no ordinary woman: he married a sorceress, a very powerful one at that. She'd created a cast that would show them both aging together,” he explained.

  I felt my eyes widen in shock at the statement. That indeed was a very large leap away from the Angelic Guard.

  “Ohh, but it gets better...” he said, sarcastically.

  “She was working with the Incorrupti Knights.”

  It may have been the crosswinds, but I felt the pit of my stomach fall to the ground.

  For an Angel, Fallen or not, to ally themselves with our biggest enemy was beyond my imagination.

  “That's unbelievable. The Incorrupti Knights claim not to associate with magick, and actively hunt our kind. So, for them to be in league with a sorceress is two-faced, and then to unite with that sorceress and her Fallen husband is nothing short of an outrage.”

  I spoke through clenched teeth.

  “How has this Fallen managed to stay alive? I would happily die trying to kill each and every one of them - Fallen or not.” I seethed.

  Oliver nodded, his face serious.

  “As would I,” he replied, but then his expression darkened.

  “The Fallen had partly been charmed by the sorceress, but even then, when he realized who she was and with whom she was aligned, he decided to help their cause,” he said, sadly.

  “No!” I said. The disbelief was thick in my voice.

  “Oh, yes. He began giving them information about us: how we train, our tactics, everything he'd been taught in the Angelic Guard.” he said.

  “Traitor!” I spat.

  “Then, he started creating weapons that would be more efficient at killing us. He forged knives with curved blades, laced with metals and alloys that would cut through our armor.” Oliver explained.

  “And you let him live?” I asked, completely aghast at this revelation.

  However I was judged now, it didn't matter.

  Fallen or not, I would still have done everything I could to help the Angelic Guard - after all, their war with the Incorrupti Knights was the one thing keeping the Knights from killing any Other Natured being that didn't help them.

&n
bsp; “Of course, we didn't.” his voice sounded like a rasp.

  “He tried to persuade us to join him. Join them. That our fighting skills were beyond his and our knowledge would be more recent. When we refused, his bitch tried to cast an obedience charm on us. We had no choice but to kill them both...” he said.

  Regret filled his eyes.

  “You didn’t?” I said, trembling that his next words would forever sear my soul, and crush my belief in the goodness of beings.

  He shook his head.

  “The children... that was something neither I nor Asher had the stomach to do. They were innocent. Well, as innocent as any young being raised to hate others could be,” he said.

  I understood.

  Any being that was not human was referred to as Other Natured, as were humans with magical talents, due to the fact that true humans did not have any magical abilities within them.

  But those who were the result of parents with two different natures were dual natured, taking on some abilities from both parents, but never truly being of the full nature of one or the other.

  These particular children were the children of a sorceress and an Angel, yet they would never be one or the other; half-breeds, really.

  “The sorceress had safely hidden her children before meeting us for that final time. So, even if we had have wanted to kill them it would have been too difficult for us to find them. We scoured the area for many days after, hunting for any Knights who may have been visiting them, but we found none, and decided it was better for us to keep moving,” he said.

  “Did the locals suspect you of killing the Fallen, or his wife?” I asked.

  I guessed that was the real reason why they'd moved on.

  “No, not at all,” Oliver replied. “In fact, they were both very much disliked, as their behavior showed them to not be honorable. There were so many rumors about who might have killed them. It turned out there were many who would have had cause to strike. As outsiders, Asher nor myself weren't even considered,” he said.

  That said just about everything I needed to know about that Fallen - it was an Angel's biggest disgrace to be thought of as anything less than honorable.

  “I see.”

  We flew in silence for the rest of the way, the clear sky illuminated by a waxing moon.

  Another few nights and we'd have a full moon.

  The mountains were mostly covered with trees and grass. Wild sheep appeared as white dots in a loose circle. A movement caught my eye and I focused: a shifter, no, two shifters in their animal form were racing towards the top of the tallest mountain. Oliver had taken lead and Asher, with Lucian in his arms, spoke.

  “I have crossed paths with those two before, they are friends,” he said.

  “I wouldn't be so sure about that,” Lucian grumbled.

  “The last shifter I met stole my horse. Are we nearly there yet?” he asked.

  He looked more like a whining child being held in Asher's strong arms than the proud Vampire I'd first met, and he clearly didn't like being at the disadvantage of not being able to fly.

  Gravity is a bitch, after all…

  “Actually, yes, Lucian, we are,” Asher replied. He seemed as relieved to say it as Lucian was to hear it.

  “Do you see those lights, beyond the trees in that valley?” he pointed with his nose.

  A Vampire's eyesight was as good as Angel's, if not better.

  “I am a vampire, of course I can see them,” Lucian huffed.

  “That's where we're headed,” Asher said.

  Asher gave me a commanding look.

  “It should be your rotation, Vita, but I'll take the lead again, as I wish to greet them first.”

  He must have held a position of leadership in the Guard, as it seemed to come so naturally now.

  “They will want to know if we can be trusted and I will speak with them to vouch for us all,” he said.

  “But, you don't know me.” I blurted.

  “And, I don't know if I will choose to stay,” I added.

  Oliver looked back but didn't say anything.

  I felt I needed to explain.

  “You, all three of you, have been so kind to me. In truth I had only been Cast Out a matter of hours before crossing paths with Lucian, and then with both of you. Yet, that is not enough for me to simply decide that I will live in this sanctuary we approach,” I said.

  Lucian nodded, as did Asher, they understood. Oliver had turned his head forwards again and flew in silence.

  “I am glad to be with Other Natured, and I am interested in learning about this House of Quercus. From what you've told me, it sounds like a remarkable idea - a concealed place where Other Natured can find sanctuary and safety from the Incorrupti Knights. Yet, I must choose my own path. You do understand?” I asked.

  Chapter 6

  The Human Realm, 1714

  We flew in silence as we drew near to the grounds.

  The sight was indeed something - even in the dim moonlight.

  Many buildings were in different stages of construction.

  I could see shadowy figures working hard at one particular building.

  My inner voice screamed at me.

  Vampires!

  It was evident by the speed at which they worked, the way they moved, and the strength it would have taken to lift those massive beams and stones.

  “It is good to see some of my own kind, ones who are not the monsters we are all blamed for being,” Lucian said, his eyes finding the working crews.

  “Vita, this may be harder for you than Oliver or Asher. But, please. Try not to kill them as you'd considered with me.” he pleaded.

  That gained a dry chuckle from Asher.

  Oliver moved so that Asher could take the lead position.

  Was he upset?

  Surely, he couldn't be.

  That would have been ridiculous.

  We'd only met a few hours ago.

  Why had he assumed that I would move to this sanctuary with them?

  Perhaps life in the Human Realm was worse than I'd thought?

  Was it naïve of me to push this chance for safety away?

  I reflected that this was my first interaction since being Cast Out from the Angelic Realm.

  I'd spent my whole life obeying orders from others.

  I’d volunteered to join the Guard long before I would have been conscripted.

  I tried to push these troubling thoughts away.

  I surveyed the landscape as we neared the buildings.

  The clearing where the construction was taking place had been explicitly selected.

  Many of the felled trees had been stripped, and their trunks stacked into large piles in one corner.

  They were being used for building supplies, alongside a large amount of stone.

  Whoever was ferrying the stone to this site, had undertaken a huge task.

  I noticed that the side of one of the tallest mountains had been excavated, and the inside of the mountain exposed.

  Ah! So, that's where the stone was being mined.

  I couldn’t imagine that many humans visited that mountain; it was particularly steep and had many sheer drops, that would have made it particularly difficult for them to climb.

  I hadn’t seen any settlements for countless miles as we flew towards the sanctuary.

  It was unlikely that humans ever ventured this far into the wildlands.

  Asher slowed our speed, and we dropped to the ground, landing in formation.

  We were greeted by three large shifters in wolf, bear and tiger form.

  They stood there, staring at us, each one a terrifically huge version of animal.

  Then, they slowly approached, stalking towards us, finally stopping some distance away.

  They were joined by a female Vampire.

  She addressed Asher directly.

  “What brings you here?” she demanded.

  Her tone was curious but direct.

  “We come to offer our support and fealty
to the House of Quercus,” Asher said, bowing slightly as he spoke.

  “May I ask your name, Vampire?”

  Her pale, lineless face remained impassive.

  Loose, brown curls of wispy hair and high cheekbones gave her a regal appearance.

  I was struck by how beautiful, yet fragile, she looked.

  “You may,” she replied, haughtily.

  She stepped forward, and the wolf growled.

  She silenced it with a glance, but its eyes glared balefully at us.

  She turned her attention back to Asher.

  “I am Constance,” she said.

  “I have been voted as Principal of this place. And you are?” she asked.

  Asher moved to step forward, and the wolf snarled, again.

  Asher stopped his foot in midair.

  Constance shot another look at the beast, and I saw her give it slightest of head shakes.

  The wolf's obedience was instantaneous.

  It sat back on its haunches, the unspoken command clear: she did not want them to attack us – yet.

  The shifters were a show of the power within the House of Quercus.

  I was entirely confident that, frail as she looked, this vampire could become a potentially ferocious foe as well.

  Asher continued forward, offering a hand of friendship to Constance.

  She smiled.

  Her fangs, which were out, glistened in the moonlight, as she grasped his hand, shaking it delicately.

  “I am Asher,” he said.

  He glanced to us.

  “My companions are Oliver, Lucian, and Vita,” he said, pausing slightly as he mentioned my name.

  “Well, well,” she said.

  “This is indeed a pleasant surprise.” she smirked.

  “Three Fallen Angels, and a Vampire! You certainly compose a strange fellowship.” she remarked.

  As she moved towards us, and I noticed that Lucian stood just a little taller.

  She approached him.

  He stood at attention, then took a knee in front of her, bowing his head.

  “Lady Constance,” he said, smoothly.

  She raised an eyebrow and smiled thinly.

  “It is truly an honor to be in your exalted presence,” he continued.