The maid interrupted me by bringing in a large tray. On it were twenty cups, a jug of coffee, a large pot of tea, milk, sugar and a plate of cookies.
Once everyone had a cup, Spear got back to the map and making a plan for the raid into Dronias. For four hours we planned. I drew on the map, and we discussed who would do what. I wasn’t naive enough to think that one of my people wouldn’t get injured, but I said a silent prayer as Ash and I watched the others transform into dragons at twilight in preparation to fly to Dronias. Our part of the plan was simple. We would take the three swords up the cliff and through the tunnels there until we reached the platform. There, I would cut my skin with all three swords which would free the dragons. I’d then have to jump on Ash’s back quickly and follow the fiery trails the souls made.
It all seemed simple enough, but as I watched the other dragons take off, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy at all. It was probably going to be the hardest night of my life.
Chapter Two
The sun was just setting on the horizon. It would be almost completely dark by the time we got to Dronias. It was hard to imagine that we were setting off from the same place just twenty-four hours ago. And in those hours, I’d learned that my whole life was a lie.
“You are going to have to let the dragons free once I’m changed, so please don’t injure yourself too much because I won’t be able to help you.”
“I’ll just make a small cut. I’ll be fine.” I’d packed some bandages into a backpack for this very reason.
“Actually, I’ve been thinking. We only need to follow one dragon. We can leave the rest of the swords here and free the dragons from them another time.
“Why would we wait?” I asked.
“Because,” he said drawing me into a hug, “I don’t like the idea of you hurting yourself any more than you need to. You can recuperate between letting each dragon free.”
“Okay.” I pulled out two of the three swords and took them back into the cave that would lead to a tunnel through the mountain. Dragging a large rock to one side, I hid them both behind it and pushed it back into place. It was doubtful that anyone would try to steal them, but I wanted to make sure.
The remaining sword I held aloft and waited for Ash to change into his dragon form. When he had, I pulled the blade of the sword over my skin, making sure it drew as little blood as possible and then threw the smoking sword to one side of the ledge. Ash ran to the opposite side and I jumped onto his back as he climbed into the air. The sword sent plumes of smoke up into the air before erupting in a great ball of fire. Ash was ready as the fire rose higher in the sky like a whirlwind of flames. Just like the other times, it took the shape of a dragon, which spread its magnificent fiery wings and took off toward Dronias.
I could tell Ash was flying as fast as his wings would carry him, but the fire dragon was much faster. It didn’t have the problems of wind drag or air resistance that we did. I could feel his heart pumping away beneath me with the increased effort and I had to cling to him for dear life for fear of falling off.
Even with our increased speed, the journey still seemed to take forever. Perhaps it was because I was worrying so much about what this evening would bring. Any hopes that we would be able to retrieve the swords without anyone noticing had long gone out the window after last night’s debacle, and even though everyone had promised that there would be as little bloodshed as possible, I knew that it was ridiculous in the extreme to think that no one would get hurt. I felt so angry at my village elders, none more so than my father who I had trusted implicitly my whole life, but that didn’t mean I wanted him hurt. I just wanted the years of senseless killing ended.
As Dronias came into view, I strained my eyes to see what was happening. It was just about light enough to make out the little houses. A blast of flame in the distance told me that a battle had already started. It was enough to raise my nerves even higher and make me feel sick, wondering who that flame was directed to and if the dragon that made it would see another day. It didn’t matter who got hurt; caught on both sides, I would be devastated if anyone was injured. To take my mind off it, I looked upward to see if I could still see the fire dragon. It was easy to spot in the dark, its bright wings blazing a trail for us. I watched as it began to fly lower in the sky and skirt the treetops in a secluded part of the forest at the other side of the village. That made sense. If the sleeping dragons were being kept anywhere, the forest seemed like a logical place to do it. Out of the way, large enough to build a prison for hundreds if not thousands of sleeping dragons, and surrounded by trees to keep it private. It tallied with what I remembered from when I was a child, too. My father had taken me out into the woods but then hastily brought me back to the village. I didn’t remember much about it, I was only four or five at the time, but I guess I must have seen someone carrying one of the dragon’s bodies to it. It would certainly explain why he’d turned around so fast and had forbidden me to go to that part of the forest ever since.
The fire dragon disappeared down into the trees and I thought we lost him, but as he flew through the branches, he set them alight so the very tops of the trees lit our way. We were still a good distance away, but seeing where we needed to go was easy. I looked down as we passed over the village and what I saw made my heart stop. The villagers had been ready for us. They were prepared in a way they hadn’t been the night before. I could see many of them out, tiny specks, many feet below us, fighting other slightly bigger, but still tiny, specks. Bursts of fire lit up the village like a terrifying firework display beneath us and I could see that at least one house was on fire.
“Come on,” I breathed quietly. There was no point shouting to make Ash go faster. I knew he was already flying at full speed, but I needed to be down there as quickly as possible.
Going to the dragons might have seemed pointless as they would all be asleep and nothing we could do, besides freeing their souls from the swords, would wake them, but we had let two dragons’ souls free now and we needed to be there to help them. When Ash’s dad, Fiere, came back to the village after we had rescued his soul, he told us how difficult it was to get used to being in his own body again and how he was so weak that it had taken a day to be able to fly home. The risk we were running was that the Slayers now knew we were saving dragons. If they saw one wake up, the only logical action would be to kill it. That’s why Ash and I were going to the sleeping dragons. We had saved them once, but now we had to save them again.
Ash had packed a bag with some food in it to give the freed dragons strength. It was not a lot for a dragon but it was all high-energy food. Fiere had been trapped for approximately a year. Many of the dragons had been trapped much longer than that. Some for centuries. There was no telling what state they would be in when they woke up, and we had no way of knowing how long the two we had freed had been trapped.
Ash flew right over the fiery treetops and landed at the edge of the forest about half a mile from where the fire dragon had landed. I jumped off and threw him some clothes for him to change into.
The forest might have been bright with flames half a mile away, but from here, it looked dark and ominous. It wasn’t helping that I could hear screams and the sound of war cries coming from the distant village. I glanced over to see an orange haze filling the sky and wondered just how many of the houses were on fire. Sighing, I rifled through the bag and pulled out a torch. A torch that was now completely useless because Ash had already turned into his human form and there was no way to light it without his dragon breath.
“I don’t suppose you can breathe fire in your human form, can you?” I asked as he walked to my side. Okay, it was a long shot, but the couple of times I’d kissed him, I could taste a hint of fire on his breath.
“Nope.”
“I guess we are going into the dark then. I’ll have to hold your hand because you can see better than me.”
“Well, if you insist.” He grinned at me which made me feel a little better. It was true that I always felt safe with Ash a
t my side.
We entered the forest, and it wasn’t long before all the light was blocked out completely. The going was slow as we practically had to feel our way through the trees and undergrowth. The sound of crisp leaves being crushed by our footsteps meant we couldn’t go in silently, and I’d bet everything I owned that the place they were keeping the dragons was being guarded now.
A thought occurred to me. “If they know we are saving the dragons, what’s stopping them from just killing them now?”
“You know the answer to that.”
Did I?
“You said yourself that the dragon’s souls make the swords much stronger, much more powerful. If the dragons were truly dead, then surely their souls would go on.”
“Go on?” I’d not really ever thought about what would happen to our souls once we died. The Slayers were not a spiritual group of people and death was just something that happened. An ending. No one ever talked about any kind of transition or moving on. Something told me that the dragons thought differently.
“You know, go on. Our bodies decay but our souls go on to a better place.”
He didn’t elaborate on where this better place might be so I dropped the subject. He was right about one thing. It would be stupid to kill the dragons now. Doing so would only make the Slayers weaker.
It was a strange situation, really. The Slayers needed the dragons to be alive to keep their swords strong, but at the same time, there was always the threat that the dragons would escape. If enough escaped, the Slayers would be overpowered. No wonder they had hidden the truth for so many years. They were scared that this day would eventually come.
After about ten minutes or so of walking, the trees thinned out. I couldn’t see them, but Ash wasn’t pulling me this way and that to maneuver around them quite so much. Thank goodness for his dragon sense of sight. I’d have crashed into so many trees without him leading me.
Ash held his finger in front of his lips. “Quiet. I see something,” he whispered.
I could see it too. In the distance, the trees were lit up which meant we were close. I gripped Ash’s hand harder and followed him toward the light. Eventually, I saw stone through the trees. It was a stone wall that disappeared into the trees both ways.
“This has to be it,” I said quietly.
“Yep. We just need to find the door. Get your sword out!”
I pulled out my sword with my free hand, glad for the weight of it. For some reason, just holding it calmed me. The wall was very long and as I looked up, I could see it was a taller structure than any other building in the village. It had no windows that I could see, just a flat expanse of grey stone.
Eventually, we got to a corner. I knew there was no roof, but I expected there to be only one door. It was impossible to discern if it was the back or one of the sides, but I knew we’d eventually come to the entrance and that it would be guarded. Just how heavily guarded, I didn’t know. If it was by more than one person, which it surely would be, Ash would have to turn back into a dragon to protect us. I could fight one person with my sword, but to say I could fight two or more was pushing it. Ash didn’t have a sword of his own, and in hindsight, it would have made sense to bring one. As I’d been carrying the three swords filled with dragon souls, plus my own when we’d set off, it just didn’t occur to me to bring another.
“Shhh.” Ash interrupted my train of thought.
I couldn’t hear anything except the noises from the village in the distance, but I trusted that Ash could.
We crept forward slowly now. And then I saw him. I didn’t need Ash to tell me who it was. Even from the distance we were at and in the dim light, I’d know my brother anywhere.
“Jasper!” I hissed under my breath. Next to him were some other men from the village. There looked to be four or five. They still hadn’t seen us, so I crept forward to get a closer look. The men with Jasper were all friends of his. Boys I’d know all my life. Young men who would know nothing of the dragons being shifters. They were not poised to fight. Instead, they looked relaxed as they chatted to one another. I heard one of them say something followed by the sound of the others laughing. It was because of this I let go of Ash’s hand and marched up to them. As soon as he saw me, Jasper raised his sword.
Chapter Three
“What are you doing Jasper?” I spit.
“I knew you’d come back. You and your friend.” He spat the last word.
“Put down your swords. All of you.” I tried to sound authoritative, but in reality, these people were my friends. Jasper knew the secret that the elders of the village had been hiding for so long, but did the others? They looked uncertain. I knew none of them wanted to hurt me, but they were scared to back down because of Ash.
“Ash is unarmed. I have my sword and I’m not raising it to you. Put down your swords and let us talk.”
The sounds of battle echoed through the trees. Either the battle had now come as far as the forest or it was just getting louder. The others heard it too.
“You’ve done this. You brought dragons to the village,” shouted one of the men angrily. I recognized him as Joe, Ben’s brother. Ben had been injured the previous night. No wonder Joe was angry.
“How is Ben, Joe?” I asked, keeping my fingers crossed that he was okay.
“He’ll be fine, no thanks to you and your lot,” Joe huffed.
Ash stepped forward and immediately all the men were on their guard again. “Julianna saved Ben’s life! If it wasn’t for him, he’d have been out right in the middle of the fighting.” I knew he was trying to defend me, but he’d made it worse. If I didn’t diffuse the situation soon, we were all going to be in trouble.
Joe held the tip of his sword up to Ash’s chin. “What’s it got to do with you?”
“I don’t want anyone to get hurt,” said Ash, holding his hands in the air.
“So, you thought bringing an army of fire-breathing dragons into the village would accomplish this ‘nobody getting hurt’ did you?”
“Joe, stop it!” I demanded, pushing his sword away from Ash and getting in the middle of them. “Do you even know what you are guarding or are you just blindly following orders?”
“We all know what we are guarding,” butted in Jasper. “Father told us this morning. He’s the one who showed us what and where this place is.
“So, you all understand that we haven’t been killing Dragons all this time, but enslaving them?”
“So what?” replied one of the others. His name was Harry. “That’s better than killing them anyway.”
“But do you understand that they are...” I didn’t have a chance to say another word. An arrow zipped past my ear and hit Harry right in the middle of his forehead. Nobody moved as he fell backward, dead.
The Slayers looked in shock over my shoulder. Ash and I turned around to see where the shot had come from. I couldn’t see a thing through the dense trees, but somehow, someone was able to fire through them because another arrow flew past. It was so close to my ear that I could hear it. Like a spell that was broken, we scattered into the trees, all in different directions. Ash held my hand as he pulled me away from everyone.
When we thought we were safe, he stopped and pulled me close to a tree, looking around to make sure we were truly alone.
“Who was firing at us?” I asked breathlessly.
“I don’t know. They could have been going for you or for the others. Spear promised that they wouldn’t attack, only defend, so I think it means it was one of the Slayers.”
I hated to think that one of my former friends was shooting at me, but it certainly looked that way. Harry was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. “What now?”
Ash pointed and I looked in that direction.
We were on the edge of the forest now, and through the trees, I could see the battle unfolding in the village. It was far enough away for us not to get caught up in it, but close enough to see the horror of what was unfolding. The sky was lit up by the bright orange flam
es of the burning buildings, and I could see the silhouettes of some of the dragons in the air. One appeared to be holding something in its claws that looked suspiciously like a human body. As we watched, someone ran down the path near to us. Ash pulled me out of sight, but I could see it was Joe. He was hurrying toward the village at breakneck speed. I couldn’t tell if it was to get away from something or if he was running to help the Slayers in the village. We waited for the others, but no one else came.
Jasper was still in the forest somewhere and so were the three others who had been guarding the dragon-keep door. There was also the mysterious archer.
“We need to go into the village,” I whispered, feeling utterly useless just hiding in the undergrowth.
“No. We can’t help anyone there. We just run the risk of being hurt or killed. I think we need to go back to the keep. The others ran off somewhere and I’m betting that whoever shot at us thinks we are long gone by now.”
He had a point, but the thought of going back there scared me. Still, I took his hand and let him lead me back through the forest. It took us much longer to get back than it had taken us to leave. Probably because we were now not running for our lives.
We crept cautiously forward once the fortress was in sight. My eyes kept darting left and right as I anxiously waited for someone to jump out at us. Of course, Ash had been right and no one did. He was also right about the door not being guarded now. There was no one in sight except the body of Harry. I tried not to look at him or the arrow still sticking out of his head.
“There is nothing you can do for him now.” Ash pushed on the door, but it wouldn’t budge. The huge, wooden doors with ornate inlaid ironwork stood at least three people tall and even with my help, they wouldn’t budge.
“Locked,” I said. I didn’t know why I was surprised. Why wouldn’t it be locked?
“Yes, it’s locked!”
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.
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