I swiveled on the spot to find Jasper standing behind us. “Jasper. Why are you doing this? You’ve seen for yourself that we have both been lied to for all these years. You know that Ash and the other dragons are shifters. Father is a murderer and a liar.” I hated saying it, but it was the truth.
“Don’t talk about our father like that!” he roared. He enunciated every word, his face as dark as thunder.
“But I don’t understand. You know it’s the truth. You know Father lied to us. You know he’s imprisoned all those innocent dragons.”
“That depends on your definition of innocent. He might not have been killing them like he told us, but he was still protecting us. Protecting the village.”
“Protecting the village from what? The dragons have never attacked a Slayer, ever.”
“Well, I guess he was doing a good job, then. He never gave them chance.”
I was fighting a losing battle. The ‘truths’ he had grown up with were ingrained too deeply for him to change.
“I am not a fighter.” Ash stepped forward. “I could change into a dragon and kill you with fire long before you could run away, but I don’t want to do that. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. I only want to free my family. The dragons in there are my friends, my ancestors. If your family was being kept in an eternal slumber, wouldn’t you want to free them? I want to do it without fighting.”
Jasper looked like he was beginning to listen, but when Ash took a step forward, he raised his sword once more. “I can’t let you set them free.”
“Why not?” I implored.
“Because our swords would be nothing but metal without the dragon souls.”
“But if we freed the dragons and lived peacefully, we wouldn’t need magic swords. We wouldn’t need swords at all.”
Just then there was a loud roar from behind the doors.
“What was that?” asked Jasper in a panic, completely forgetting that he wanted to kill Ash just a moment before.
“We freed one of the dragons this morning,” replied Ash
“No, you didn’t! I’ve been here all morning. No one has come through these doors and this is the only way in.”
“Not if you are a soul and no more. Souls can get through walls. They don’t need to wait for the door to open. That’s how we found this place. We followed the soul.”
Jasper looked confused, and another roar filled the air. He also looked on the verge of running away, but I knew Jasper well enough to know that no matter how scared he was, he wouldn’t run.
He fished around in his pocket and brought out a rusty key. “I’m going in there to kill it once and for all.”
He inserted the key in the lock but didn’t turn it. The dragon was sure to be extremely weak. It wouldn’t survive another jab with a sword. It also wouldn’t have the strength to escape. I couldn’t let Jasper know that though.
“We freed more than one dragon,” I lied. “There are four of them. They woke up a couple of hours ago and so will have gotten their strength back by now. You’ll never be able to kill them all before they barbecue you.”
“Four?”
We’d gotten four swords and Jasper knew that. I could see the cogs whirring in his mind as he decided what to do.
“Why are you opening the door Jasper?” I turned to see another of the men who had been guarding the keep before. I recognized him from the village but didn’t know his name. “Don’t tell me you are actually on their side now.”
“No. Of course not. They freed some dragons. Let them out of the swords they got last night. They are running around in there and unless we do something quickly, they’ll fly through the hole in the roof like the first one did. Father would never forgive me if I let them escape.”
“So, let’s go in there and kill them.”
“If we kill them, we lose the magic that their souls provide.”
I didn’t want to point out that they had already lost the magic. I doubted they would be able to get it back. Being struck by a sword once might imprison a soul, but I doubted the magic in the swords would enable them to do it a second time. I was pretty sure that the dragons were too weak to survive another attack.
“Just open the door, Jasper!” The man barged past him when he saw that Jasper wasn’t moving. He turned the key in the lock.
“Stop!”
We all turned around to see Spear. He was standing there with a sword aloft. I recognized it immediately. It belonged to one of the village elders.
“I’m going to give you two choices. Either open that door and I impale you with this sword, or you can both run back to the village and help them there.”
I had to admit, he cut an imposing figure and the sword in his hand made him look almost invincible. Both Jasper and the other man took option two, running through the forest as though their lives depended on it, which I supposed they did.
Chapter Four
“Spear!” I never thought I’d be so glad to see him. “What’s happening in the village? Are my parents okay?”
“I don’t know about your parents but there are some injuries.”
Ash held my hand tightly at hearing this. “We saw the fighting. It looks pretty brutal.”
“It’s not as bad as it looks. A lot of the village is in flames, but no one was in any of the buildings we set fire to. I made you a promise, Julianna, and I’ve stuck to it. We made sure the buildings were empty. Many of the villagers have holed up in about seven houses, and I’ve given strict instructions for those not to be touched. We have gotten a number of the swords and as far as I’m aware, there have been no fatalities on either side. I can assure you that whoever killed him”—he pointed to Harry—“it was not one of us.”
“We think they were aiming for Julianna,” said Ash.
The news calmed my nerves a little. No fatalities. It was all I could hope for.
“How did you find us?” asked Ash. I hadn’t thought about it, but he didn’t have a dragon soul to follow. It was a big fortress, but in a forest this large, it wouldn’t be easy to just stumble upon.
“Some kid in the village. Joe something. I caught him running and wondered what exactly he was running from. He blabbed pretty quickly when I held this sword to his stomach. I think it belonged to his father.”
I looked at the sword again. I knew I recognized it. It was indeed Joe’s father’s sword. He was one of the village elders.
Another roar emanated from the keep. The noise spurred Spear into action. He turned the key in the lock and pushed at the gigantic door. In the end, it took all three of us to push the door open fully. Before us was a sight that I would never forget as long as I lived. Hundreds, if not thousands, of dragons were lined up, all appearing asleep. In the back-right corner, the dragons were paler. They got brighter and more colorful the closer to the front. The one that was awake was right at the back and even in the dark, I could see he was pure white.
“Why is he white?” I’d seen a lot of dragons, but none so pale.
“I think they lose their color the longer they are here. He must be one of the first to have his soul taken,” said Ash, shuffling around in his bag. He pulled out some of the food we had brought.
As I watched, the huge dragon stumbled and fell over. We ran towards him, dodging the other unmoving dragons. The white one was still except for his belly, which moved in and out as he breathed deeply. His skin looked mottled and had a tinge of green to it. In places, it was shredding. He looked at us out of colorless eyes but didn’t move. Ash bent down and patted his head. He held out a piece of meat, but the dragon didn’t take it.
“He’s too weak,” I said helplessly.
“She,” replied Ash. I didn’t know how he could tell.
I bent my knees and got to the same level as Ash. “You need to eat,” I said to the poorly dragon. “You need your strength. Just a mouthful and you’ll feel better.”
She stuck her tongue out and Ash placed the meat on it. Immediately it fell off and on to the floor.
>
“She can’t hold her head up!” I moved to the back of the dragon’s head and pulled as hard as I could. When Spear saw what I was doing, he came to help. Between us, we managed to get her head upright. Her neck was bent in what looked like an uncomfortable position, but it would have to do.
“Give her a drink.” Ash had packed some juice full of medicinal herbs. He pulled out the bottle and carefully began to pour it down her throat. Slowly, she began to swallow. When the bottle was done, Ash threw it to the floor and got out another. This time she gulped it down.
“Try the meat again,” said Spear. Ash picked it up and used some water from another bottle to wash the dirt off. She took the meat tentatively and began to chew. It took her more than twenty agonizing minutes to swallow the whole piece of meat, but at least she could hold her head up now. She gave a roar.
“Do you think you’ll be able to shift?” asked Spear. She thought about it for a second and then slowly nodded her head.
“Is that wise?” I asked, but it was too late. The horrible creaking and squelching noise that accompanied a shift was already happening. I jumped back and closed my eyes. I hated watching the dragons shift into their human form. When I opened them again, I saw a wrinkled old woman lying on the floor. She looked so thin and so frail.
Ash pulled out a cloak from his bag and wrapped it around her carefully. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes, I think so.” Her voice was croaky as though she hadn’t used it for a very long time, which I guessed she hadn’t. “Where am I?”
“It’s a long story,” replied Spear. “We need to get you home and have the village healers look at you. You are not strong enough to fly, but Ash here is. Julianna will ride with you on his back. You will be safe in their hands.”
She looked unsure and scared. My heart went out to her. She knew as well as the rest of us did that she was in no position to say no.
“I’ll look after you.” I put my arms around her and pulled her into a hug.
“We can’t go now. What about the fighting in the village?” Ash pulled Spear away from us.
“This is the job you came to do. We cannot leave her. She needs urgent medical attention,” Spear answered. I didn’t hear the rest as they had walked too far away.
I picked up the half empty bottle of water that Ash had used to clean the meat and passed it to her. She took it from me and sipped at it. I could see the gratefulness in her eyes. She either didn’t realize I was a Slayer or didn’t care.
It was obvious that neither Spear nor Ash knew her. There was not a spark of recognition from either of them when she changed. Neither of them exclaimed ‘grandma’ or shouted her name.
“Do you know how long you’ve been here?” I asked gently.
“Where am I?” she repeated her question from before.
“You are in the forest by the Slayer Village. They imprisoned you along with all these other dragons.”
It was only after I mentioned them that she seemed to notice all the other slumbering dragons. Her mouth formed a perfect O shape as she took in the scene before her.
“We are going to rescue them all,” I said to try and reassure her.
“But you are a Slayer, too.” She said it but she didn’t seem scared by it.
“I am... I was. Not anymore. I didn’t know what my family was doing. I want to save the dragons.”
She nodded her head. I could feel her shivering beneath the cloak. I hugged her more tightly and rubbed her arms. She felt so cold despite the warmth of the weather. I yanked off my tunic and pulled it over her under the cloak. I would be cold up in the air, but she needed it more than I did.
I could still hear a whispered argument going on between Spear and Ash. However much I wanted to be on Ash’s side, I had to agree with Spear on this one. The old lady needed to get home. She needed to be somewhere warm and comfortable. Ash must have finally relented because he walked back and told us that we were going home. I thought he meant just the three of us, but Spear followed and explained that he was going to come with us.
“Why?” I asked. It made no sense.
“Ash pointed out that the people in the village will be expecting us to leave. Jasper will have told them that we are taking one of the dragons back with us. He thinks they will try to attack us and with both you ladies on his back, he won’t be able to defend you all. I agree with him. You and Ash will go first to distract them, and when I see that the coast is clear, I’ll take...”
“Mary,” said the old lady.
“I’ll take Mary.”
“I want to go with Julianna. She has been nice to me.”
“I can’t allow it, I’m sorry. I need to do what’s safest for you.”
“What about what’s safest for her?” she asked. It was so sweet that she was putting my safety above hers.
“Julianna can fend for herself. She was raised as a warrior.” He turned to Ash now. “We need to check that there is no one outside waiting to shoot us. Julianna, can you get Mary to the door?”
I nodded as the boys set off back to the entrance.
“How did you know my name?” I whispered when they were out of earshot. “I never told you.”
“Some dragon shifters can read minds. I used to be very good at it, but everything is blurry in my head now. I got your name though and I know I can trust you.”
“You can. Can you stand?”
I practically had to pull her to her feet. She was too weak to walk very quickly so I put my arm around her back and held on to her arm to steady her. It was excruciatingly slow and each wobbly step seemed to take a thousand years. She was so light, it would have been easier to just carry her, but I knew she needed to exercise her withered muscles. I wondered why Spear and Ash hadn’t come back to help but when we finally got to the entrance, I saw it was because they had both transformed into their dragon form. Spear with his dark green skin and Ash, a flaming red next to him.
It took a long time to get Mary up on Spear’s back. She was too weak to climb up herself, so I had to lift her on. It became apparent very quickly that she was not going to be able to hold on herself.
“She can’t hold on!” I said to Spear. He was going to have to transform back and come up with a better plan.
Instead, he nodded toward the ground.
I looked over and saw two bags. One was Ash’s, the other, Spear’s. I picked up both bags, slinging Ash’s over my shoulder and opening Spear’s. Inside, amongst other things, was a length of rope. As Spear couldn’t speak in his dragon form, I had to hope that’s what he wanted me to get. I took the rope back to Spear and as gently as I could, secured Mary on. I was confident in my rope tying skills. It was one of the things I studied as a Slayer, but I wasn’t as confident that the ropes wouldn’t cut into Mary’s fragile skin. I only hoped the tunic and cloak would stop some of the chafing.
“Go slowly with her,” I said to Spear. “She won’t fall, but I’m worried the ropes could rub against her. No sudden moves or diving in the sky!”
Spear nodded his green head.
I hated leaving her, but I knew I had to. I said goodbye and then ran to Ash, jumping onto his back in one swift move. In less than a second, we were off the ground. I held tightly to Ash’s neck as we soared above the treetops.
I waited for the barrage of arrows that I expected to shoot at us, but none came. Ash took a route away from the village to keep us safe, and when I looked behind me, I could see Spear and Mary following. It wasn’t long before the lit-up village was just a speck in the distance behind us. We had escaped and set Mary free. I should have been elated, but I knew that we had just been lucky. I couldn’t say the same about the other dragons. I had no idea how they were faring. Nor did I know if my family were still alive. The little relief I felt at Spear telling me that there were no fatalities had already ebbed away. That was hours ago and anything could have happened since then. I turned back to see where we were going and concentrated on the mountains ahead of us. The Triad
Mountains were spectacular. It was such a shame they held centuries of bloodshed in their history.
Chapter Five
I must have fallen asleep at some point because I opened my eyes to find Ash carrying me through the passage in the mountain. I felt so safe in his presence, warm and comforted, like the last few days had never happened. I breathed him in, a warm scent reminiscent of a campfire. His name suited him so much.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“Just how you kinda smell like your name.”
He raised his eyebrows and smiled. “How are you? I was worried when I landed and you rolled off me. Luckily, you rolled away from the cliff edge or you’d have been toast. I think you might have landed on your arm.”
I felt along my arm and he was right. It did feel a little sore. I was pretty sure I was going to get a bruise on my leg, too, come to think of it.
“I think I’m okay to walk now. I was just tired. I’ve not slept properly in days.”
He let me down gently and held my hand, guiding me through the dark tunnel. It was still dark when we emerged through to the other side.
“We should have waited for Spear and Mary!” I exclaimed. She was tied to him. He’d struggle to shift into his human form with Mary attached to him.
“They are ahead of us. They landed while you were still asleep. I helped Spear get Mary through the mountain. He’s taken her to my house. My mother will look after her. Spear has told me that we are to meet at midday by the campfire tomorrow to evaluate how it went.”
“Oh good.” I felt so ashamed of being asleep and not helping, but at least Mary was safe and somewhere she would be looked after well. If she was staying with Edeline and Fiere, I would see her tomorrow.
I struggled to keep my eyes open as we made our way down the steps that would take us to the ground. I’d not noticed when we were in the tunnel, but it was the one further along than Ash’s house.
“Why didn’t we come through the usual way?” I asked.
“Because I didn’t want to wake you. I’d have had to when I shifted back into a dragon if we came through the other way. This way I could carry you down the mountain.”
Dragon Tamer Box Set 1 Page 18