“She’s a fox…I think,” Hadley said, scrunching up her nose as if she wasn’t entirely sure.
“You think? The headmistress won’t let her in if she’s just a woodland shifter. She’ll have to…”
Hadley cut me off. “To have problems fitting in with the human world,” she finished with a nod of her head. “Yes, I know that. I’m telling you, if you go right now, you’ll see the problems she has. If anyone has ever needed into Imperium, it’s Claire.”
I looked at the paper one last time, committing the address to memory, then handed it back. “I’ll see what I can do.”
A smile that seemed bigger than she was lit up her entire face. “I know you will, Logan. Now go,” she exclaimed, shooing me back out the door.
Shaking my head at this strange visit, I returned to the empty lot and took off into the sky, retracing my flight to Roanoke. The city’s lights glowed below me like twinkling stars, which made me glance toward the mountain—toward Imperium. Toward Shifter’s University.
The gigantic man-made star that sat far above the school was not illuminated, proof the headmistress hadn’t discovered my departure. The eighty-eight-foot star, known as the Mill Mountain Star, always came to life when Magda Herensy wished her pupils back from the city, though she seemed to only use it to call for me lately. I thought it possibly had something to do with me being the only dragon in Imperium—or it might have had something to do with me blasting fire at the east wing of the university a short time back. Either way, the star wasn’t lit. Not yet.
I still had plenty of time to see what Hadley wanted me to find.
I shifted the slightest bit, and the current sent me eastward. Within seconds, I spotted a single flickering light directly in front of the address I had committed to memory.
Well, here we go, I thought, descending into a darkened alley across the street. Magic zinged along my scales as I left the protection of the shields, shifting as I dropped the extra few feet and landed behind a large dumpster with a soft, squishing thunk.
I grimaced as I stepped off a trash bag. I hadn’t had the good luck of landing away from the garbage, and now something gooey was on my shoes. Some lazy idiot had thrown their bags on the ground instead of tossing them into the smelly metal monster. I let out a low snarl and blew a puff of smoke toward my feet, hoping it would get rid of the smell that would surely be sinking into my sneakers.
Better the smell of smoke than trash, any day.
“Where have you been?” an angry voice shouted, tearing my attention back to the task at hand. The question was followed by the sound of splintering glass and curses.
Cautiously, I crept toward the mouth of the alley, my eyes locked on the brightly lit window of the house across the street.
Inside was a big bear of a man, his face contorted with rage. He spun around, his back to the window, and another spill of curses echoed, shattering the quiet.
In the scant second he turned, I spotted a girl with dark hair cowering in the corner, the expression on her face resigned and sad. She said something, the words so quiet I couldn’t make them out. Whatever they were, they brought on a fresh wave of fury in the man.
I took another step forward, leaving the safety of the alley as I watched the man shove her against the wall, meaty hand locked around her throat as he lifted her in the air.
She struggled, mouth gaping for breath.
A flood of furious desire, no, need, to spring to her rescue—to blast a scorching wall of fire at the man that would incinerate his very bones to ash—surged through me.
That flash of feeling left with the same speed, replaced by wonder. Dragon shifters weren’t particularly protective of anyone except family and the closest of friends. They—we—were loners and were happy enough to be that way.
It had taken me a long time to learn “pack mentality” at Imperium, just enough to care about looking after those in my own house. A combination of that and my fiery, hotheaded temper were what had kept me trapped at Imperium this long. Otherwise, I’d have been long out of the school before now.
I heard a strangled cry, and that odd feeling of protectiveness washed over me again. Without thinking, I took another step forward, my attention locked on the girl.
As I watched, the expression on her face changed from fear to anger. In the next instant, she shifted, her human body morphing into that of a small red fox.
How the man was able to keep his fist locked around her neck when she shifted, I wasn’t sure, but the fox managed to sink her sharp teeth into the web of his hand. With a howl, he let her go.
Cradling his injured hand, he spun, searching for the fox. When he reached for a gun lying on a nearby table, I knew I had to do something.
There would be no escape for her unless she shifted back to open it, and then ran outside to safety. She needs a diversion to get out.
When I looked up, my gaze landed on the electric pole near the house.
Perfect. I took a deep breath and exhaled, sending out an arching flame that leapt the distance of the road and hit the transformer. A loud boom erupted as it exploded in a shower of sparks.
The house went dark.
I grinned and retreated into the darkness of the alley. Score! Shifters 1, Humans 0.
The door opened and the girl crept out, the man’s yelling becoming clearer through the opening. As if she felt my presence, she turned for the barest of seconds and stared at the alley before she shifted and scampered into the safety of the nearby bushes.
She has to come to Imperium, I decided as I melted farther into the darkness to shift to my dragon form. Hadley was right. She needs us.
As if on cue, the Mill Mountain Star lit up as I vaulted into the night sky.
Yes, I’m coming, Headmistress…I’m coming to tell you about the one we need to save.
Read More…
Also by K.R. Thompson
The Keeper Saga:
Hidden Moon
Once Upon a Haunted Moon
The Wolf
Wynter's War
Charmed
The One
Under a Dark Moon
Blood Moon Rising
The Untold Stories of Neverland:
Pan
Hook
Sea Witch
Lost Boy
Shifter's University:
Shifter's University
Forest of Lost Souls
The Chronicles of a Blue Fairy:
Dragon Kept
Anthologies:
Once Upon a Spell
Tales of Red
About the Author
K.R. Thompson resides in the Appalachian Mountains with her husband and son. An avid reader and firm believer in the magic of books, she spends her nights either reading an adventure or writing one.
She still watches for evidence of Bigfoot in the mud of Wolf Creek.
Stay up to date by visiting her website: www.krthompson.net
Or connect on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thekeepersaga
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