by Amelia Jade
“Now, if you want to hit him, I’d be okay with that,” Zeke said, nodding at the Pegasus who landed up ahead, between Daxxton and the Top Scale building.
The pair chuckled at that. There was no love lost between dragons and the flying unicorn Pegasus shifters.
“I wonder what he wants,” Dom mused aloud.
They watched as the Pegasus shifted to his human form, spoke briefly with Daxxton, and then appeared to answer a few questions. Daxxton turned around and Zeke felt his stomach do a flip.
“Uh, why did he look at me?” he asked the others, ice as cold as Asher’s Frostfire forming in the pit of his stomach.
“This can’t be good,” Asher muttered. “Not good at all.”
The trio continued to walk. The shifter finished talking with Daxxton, backed away, and then reassumed its animal form. He cast them a superior, triumphant look, and then took to the sky, winging away with the acceleration only its kind possessed.
“Zeke,” Daxxton called, crooking a finger his way.
“Shit.” The three of them said it almost all as one.
He walked forward, the others giving him some space.
“Yes sir?” he asked.
“I just received some interesting news. Would you like to hear it?” Daxxton asked.
“To be honest, I’m not so sure,” Zeke said.
“Well, I’ll tell you anyway. It was just reported to me by that kind fellow that the human woman, the one who you found, was reported missing after having disappeared from her work site almost a week ago.”
Zeke frowned, trying to keep his outer composure. “Did they not find her after I dropped her off?”
Daxxton looked hard at the cadet. “Was there anyone there when you dropped her off?”
He thought back to the confrontation with the hired mercenaries. “Ah, well, not really,” he said, stammering his reply.
The Gold Dragon shifter looked at him for a long time, and then just slowly raised one eyebrow. “You know, young Ezequiel…” he said, using his full name.
Not good. Not good at all.
“I’m much more likely to forgive you if you tell the truth, than if you continue to lie.”
Zeke opened his mouth.
“The entire truth.”
“Yes sir.”
So he told him. About his decision to hide Amber away because of his feelings for her. About the trap the gryphons set, and the fact that there had been humans waiting for them, humans that wanted her. That hadn’t had her best interests in mind. Then he told Daxxton that he had hidden Amber inside Cadia, until he could figure out what was going on.
“This is your fault,” Daxxton said at last, his eyes focused firmly on Asher, who along with Dom had come closer as they heard Zeke speaking. “Putting these crazy ideas in his head about hiding fugitives away.”
“Ah, sorry about that sir,” he said with a shrug.
“No response was necessary, Owens,” Daxxton said. His voice was firm, but Zeke could have sworn he saw a hint of a smile on the Wing Commander’s face. “This would explain your interest in the pipeline the other day, however, would it not?”
Zeke nodded.
“Indeed. I wondered why you would feel so strongly about it. Now I have my answer.”
Zeke looked around at his friends. This was not the response he had expected from Ryker. An explosion of anger, sure. But calm, logical thought?
I need to stop underestimating him, like he has us. There is a lot more to Daxxton than I know.
“So why do you think the human company wanted her?” Daxxton asked.
He frowned. “I think they want to keep her silent,” he said bluntly. “The more I think about it, the more I think the humans and the gryphons are working together on something. I don’t know what, but I’m positive of it. There are just too many people who want to do her harm.”
Daxxton nodded thoughtfully. “You might be on to something. It would add a few things up, though I’m not sure of the link just yet.”
“What things, sir?” Zeke asked.
“Well, for starters, the gryphons have been putting more pressure than usual on the Guardian Council. They are trying to vote out the dragons as Executors.”
Zeke couldn’t believe it. “But the dragons have been Executors forever. Ever since the Council was formed. We’ve had extremely few complaints against those who have sat on the Council. How could they expect that to fly with the other races?”
Daxxton shook his head. “I am not sure. It’s a bid for power somehow though. It has to be.” He looked over at Zeke. “For now though, you need to bring her here. We will have her petition the Council for asylum. I think, granted the extenuating circumstances, I can convince them to see the logic behind it.”
Asylum? Zeke couldn’t believe his luck! If it was granted, Amber would be allowed to stay in Cadia. Permanently! Without fear of retribution or being hunted. It would be like a dream come true for the two of them. They could actually begin to start their lives!
“Yes sir,” he said with enthusiasm. “I’ll go get her right now then, if that’s acceptable.”
“It is. But don’t delay. Bring her back here as fast as you can.” Daxxton looked over his shoulder. “Rhynne, go with him, in case anyone tries to stop him.”
Zeke nodded, clapped Dom and Asher on the shoulder, not noticing the way Dom stared wide-eyed as Rhynne came over, and took off for the nearest stone circle. His dragon was still riled up, but Zeke was ready for it this time, and he didn’t try to do anything fancy. He simply shifted and lifted into the sky with all haste, massive membranes pushing hard to increase his speed and drive him faster.
Even as he went, his happiness at Daxxton’s words began to evaporate, as he realized that others had to know about Amber as well.
They could already be at the house!
His wings pumped faster as the thought bounced around his mind.
Zeke had to get there first.
He had to.
Behind him, Rhynne kept pace effortlessly.
Chapter Thirteen
Amber
She spun around, looking wildly over her shoulder. Her eyes wide, she peered through the low-hanging leaves and branches as she tried to make out the source of the sound.
To her right a bird chattered and she jumped, spinning to face this new threat.
Amber was being hunted. She knew it. Someone had spotted her before she made it under cover of the forest, and was even now following her.
Crouching down, she waited, listening intently to the noises around her, and trying to filter them out as she got used to them. That way, if something unnatural sounded she would be able to notice, and hopefully do something about it.
She wasn’t quite sure what that was yet. But something!
The sun was beginning to set, though it would be several hours yet before it dropped below the mountains in the west. But it didn’t need to do that to begin deepening the gloom this far into the forest. Overhead giant trees bigger than anything she had ever seen before loomed up, forming a dense canopy hundreds of feet overhead. Below them another subset of trees formed yet another barrier between her and the sun. With the wind picking up and the various trees and branches swaying crazily, the shadows were playing havoc with her stress levels.
Amber was seeing shapes in the shadows everywhere.
Then there was the never-ending sense of being watched. As if some evil presence could see her, and was following her every move, but refused to reveal itself. She didn’t want to keep moving, to expose herself once more, but she had no choice. Amber had to find shelter for the night. Staying out in the open of the forest was not an option. She needed to find a cave, or some other sort of shelter.
Her eyes darted to the left as she caught movement, but it was just the jumping of shadows as far overhead branches stirred in the wind. Everything was damp from the rain the night before, though it wasn’t soaked, to her relief.
Although Amber was lost, enough of the sun pe
netrated to let her know what direction was west. But that was all the marker she had to go on. There was no sign of how close to the mountains she was, or to the edge of the forest she had entered from. She was trying to stick to a somewhat northerly, or northwesterly course, but she couldn’t keep track enough to know if she was sure.
Hopefully Zeke can find me in all of this. Quinn said they are amazing trackers, like most shifters. I just hope he’s the first one to come after me.
And that he gets here before whatever is after me arrives.
A branch snapped to her right, and before she realized it Amber was up and running, a mad dash to her left, in the complete opposite direction. She felt like a rabbit spooked out of the bushes, or a deer that had just caught scent of a predator as she leapt through the undergrowth, thankful that it wasn’t thick enough to impede her progress.
A thick root appeared out of nowhere, catching her foot. Amber’s hands flew up in the air as she went flying, landing hard on her side and rolling until she came to a stop, her roll halted abruptly by the kind, uncaring caress of a tree trunk. She groaned in pain from where her shoulder had hit, but nothing seemed out of place, just hurt.
There was more rustling from the directions she had come. Amber scrambled backward, until her back was firmly against the tree.
The noises stopped before she was able to pick up exactly where they were coming from.
“Boo.”
The voice came from above her.
Amber screamed as a man plummeted down from the tree branch a good twenty feet in the air. His feet hit the ground, legs bending slightly to absorb the impact. He stood up in front of her.
She frowned. There was something about his hooked nose and the glint in his vivid green eyes.
“Do I know you?” she asked.
The man smiled, his perfectly white teeth at complete odds with the dirt and generally unkempt manner of the rest of his appearance. His hair was too long and filled with leaves and other forest debris. Even now as he ran his fingers through it a chunk of moss fell to the ground as dead and shriveled leaves slowly drifted to the forest floor. Amber tried not to look disgusted.
“Well I suppose I won’t be mad that you don’t ‘member me,” he said. “Seein’ as how the last time we gazed into each other’s eyes, you was falling on-conscious and all.”
“You,” she snarled, getting to her feet angrily. “It was you who took me from the pipeline site.”
He clapped his hands together. “Very good! Very good indeed. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, given that you’ve somehow managed to survive all this so far.”
Amber recoiled at the venom in his voice at that statement. “I’m sorry that angers you so much.”
He sneered, the overly polite façade crumbling. “Life would have been so much easier if you had just up and gotten yourself killed. Or even gone with the nice men IPP sent for you. But no, you had to go and fall in love.” He practically spat the last word at her, it was so filled with vehemence.
“Well, if it’s all the same to you,” she said chattily, “I’d prefer to stay this way.”
The man barked a laugh. “I’m sure you would. But alas, ‘tis not to be,” he mocked. “It’s time I finished the job, ya see?”
Amber shook her head. “Actually no, I don’t. I don’t see any reason I need to die.”
“It’s because you’s knows, dearie. That’s why.”
“Because I know what?”
The other man—she figured he had to be a gryphon shifter—rolled his eyes. “About that there pipeline, ya dig? We can’t has you going and blabbing to everyone, now can we?”
“Well it’s already public knowledge now,” she said, puzzled. “So what does it matter? I won’t tell anyone else.”
“It’s public knowledge in Cadia, shurr. But not outside in the big world. Unnerstan?”
Amber was confused at the way he kept slipping in and out of an accent, but she wasn’t too interested in bringing that up just then.
“I was going to stay here, without telling anyone,” she told him. “You guys fucked it up by broadcasting the missing person’s report you know. So, be happy there.”
The man shrugged, taking a step toward her. “Don’t matter no mo’, cause ye gonna be a dead one.”
Amber thought frantically, trying to find some way to stall the man. She needed more time to figure out a way to escape.
“But why build the pipeline there in the first place? It’s just begging to be caught. If not me, someone from Cadia would have found it eventually. You can’t hide a project like that forever.”
The man sighed theatrically. “Well no, but we dun have to hide it foreva. Only ‘til them new laws are passed.”
“New laws?”
“Yes,” he said angrily. “New laws that elevate us to our proper position. We’re tired of playing second fiddle to those damn dinosaurs.”
She figured he was referring to dragons. Although not accurate, she could see where he was going.
“What the hell does that have to do with the pipeline?”
“Lev’rage,” he replied with an evil smile. “We can’t do it internally. But maybe, if there’s enough pressure externally as well…”
Amber gasped. “The new lobbying campaign…”
That was why the gryphons had partnered with the human’s! The humans could pressure their own governments into dealing with the gryphons, not the dragons, and thus elevate themselves into positions of power!
“Ah, knew you was a smart one. Figured it all out on yer own. Just so. Times, they are a changing,” he said. “Now that you know our plans, may I kill you?”
“No,” she said automatically.
“What? Why not?” He seemed genuinely confused, which genuinely confused Amber.
“Because it would be improper to kill me out here, where I may not say goodbye to those whom I will leave behind.”
“You make a good point, but there’s only one problem with it,” he told her.
“Which is?”
“I don’t care.”
The man advanced toward her.
Amber screamed and closed her eyes as he drew back his fist.
There was a grunt, a meaty tearing sound, and she waited for the pain to blossom, followed swiftly by the light. She was dying, she knew it. Perhaps the pain was so great it was blocked from her memory.
“Get off me!” the man cried.
Her eyes popped open at the unfamiliar sound in his voice.
The man was wrestling around with a snow leopard! The white creature had torn mighty gashes in the man’s arm and chest. Now it scampered aside, out of his range, and shifted back.
“What is going on here?”
“Go away, Guardian. This has nothing to do with you,” the man said.
“Sure it does!” she protested.
Amber recognized the term Guardian. They were supposed to be the good ones. Zeke was training to become a Guardian! Now all she had to do was convince him to help.
“My name is Amber Klose. I have been this man’s prisoner. He kidnapped me after I was sent back to Cloud Lake. I’m the one who was held about the pipeline intrusion into Cadia.”
She saw recognition in the snow leopard’s eyes.
“Now you’ve gone and done it,” the angry shifter said as the Guardian swiveled to him.
“Done what?”
“Signed this man’s death warrant,” he said, and she cried out in surprise as the gryphon shifter attacked.
“Run!” the Guardian shouted as he worked to defend himself from the larger, more powerful man who was bearing down on him.
Amber watched in horror as, despite a mastery of close-combat skills she had never seen before in person, the snow leopard was beaten backward steadily by the stronger, more powerful blows of his opponent. At a certain point, she knew skill only mattered so much. Even with the earlier wounds the Guardian had inflicted, and the ones it was landing now, it wasn’t going to be enough to stop the gry
phon.
She screamed in impotent rage, and then took off at a dead run.
***
A high-pitched shrieking noise rang out through the forest, followed by dead silence.
Amber stopped her headlong run, knowing what the sound signified.
The Guardian was dead.
Without any further pause she resumed her run, knowing the other man would close quickly once he found her tracks. She didn’t have much time.
Up ahead, the canopy seemed to thin. Could it be a clearing? Amber wasn’t sure if it would help, but she put her head down and ran faster than she’d ever run before. The trees began to grow sparser around her, and she could see into the distance.
It wasn’t a clearing. It was the edge!
Then another sight caught her eye.
There, in the sky. It was a dragon. A Red Dragon! Zeke!
Amber opened her mouth to scream his name, but she got no more than the first syllable out before a hand clamped over her mouth, silencing her.
“No, I don’t think so,” the gryphon said, pulling her back into the forest. “You’ll stay quiet, I believe.”
She kicked and struggled, going limp and trying to fall from his grip. Anything she could think of to win freedom. Zeke’s dragon had incredible hearing; all she had to do was try one more time.
But the hand was clamped over her mouth like an iron vise, and it didn’t budge no matter what she did.
There was a grunt when she hit one particular spot, but he held her out more from then on, so she couldn’t reach.
So the leopard wounded him badly enough that it hurts him when I hit him. If he doesn’t kill me right away, maybe I can use that.
“I hope you feel bad. If you had said there was no problem, that lame little leopard would still be alive, you know. It’s a shame he wasn’t deaf. Couldn’t have heard your protests that way. You just had to go and make noise.”
The man went still with an abruptness that startled Amber. She looked around frantically, trying to figure out why. Something about his body language told her he wasn’t concerned with her at the moment. He turned to face a new direction, confirming her thoughts. There’s someone out there. Someone he isn’t sure of.
