The Lost Alliance (Rise of the Drakens Book 2)

by Raven Storm

  I sank against a tree, breathing heavily. It was over; they would be taken to the Overlord and killed. How would I tell Ronan? How would I tell the other drakens? Merrow would have to be told, and—

  Stop.

  I pressed my head between my hands, refusing to let me thoughts get away from me. Panicking was the worst thing I could do and wouldn’t help get my friends back. Or my mates.

  Ok. What couldn’t I do?

  I couldn’t waltz into camp in my draken form; that would be suicide. These lykos clearly weren’t friendly towards drakens, and my fighting skills in human form weren’t good enough to take them.

  A sickening crack cleaved the air, and I jerked as a female lykos shoved a male servant to the ground, laughing as his head bashed against a rock. He didn’t move, and two other servants hurriedly moved to carry him away. I did some quick math in my head: there were ten servants, and ten lykos. If I could get even a few of my friends free, this could be an even fight. It was likely most of the humans would run instead of fight.

  Now, what could I do?

  I was mediocre at most things, so I sat stumped. I watched the servants go about their tasks, fixing dinner and tending to the armor. I didn’t miss my days of being a slave, but I certainly knew my way around a household.

  Wait.

  I shifted to my human form, not giving myself time to be nervous. I looked around for a pit of mud, dirt, something, but didn’t see anything. The soft sound of a horse nickering caught my attention, and my eyes zeroed in on the small cluster of horses about fifty yards to my right. Behind them was a giant manure pile. I sighed, then squared my shoulders.

  I stumbled into the camp covered head-to-toe in manure, stinking so badly that none of the other slaves or lykos came near me. The rotting feces covered the shimmer of my skin as well as my draken scent.

  “YOU!”

  I froze, my entire body rooted to the spot as twenty years’ worth of instincts came flooding back in a moment, hunching my back and lowering my eyes to the ground. I could already feel Crullfed’s cane kissing my flesh, his boot in my gut, and—

  “You stink enough to wake the half-dead draken!”

  He laughed at his own joke, and I marked the scar that sliced through his left eye, turning it silver instead of gold. My eyes shot back to the ground, nodding in obedience. I was horrified at how easy it was to slip back into the role, as if I had never left. Perhaps I hadn’t.

  “What are you waiting for? Get!”

  I flew forward, just barely avoiding his kick. Get a hold of yourself; you are NOT a slave any longer. I took a deep breath and scurried towards the outer edges of the camp. I grabbed two large bowls, doubling back towards the large barrel of water. The servant manning it wrinkled his nose but didn’t question me as I held out the bowls. I took a long loop around the camp, pausing long enough to set the water bowls inside of Meruse and Astrid’s cage. Their sharp eyes assessed me as I set the bowls down, Meruse winking at me as she snarled and rattled the cages in the other direction, taking the other lykos’ attention from me and onto her.

  I took my time, and eventually an older woman took one look at me, and wordlessly offered her cloak. I remembered I was practically half-naked by human standards, so I gratefully accepted it, wrapping it around my body. I passed the tents lined in orderly rows around the fire, ducking inside an empty one and grabbing an empty goblet. I let a claw slide free of my human form and slit along my forearm, bleeding until it was half-way filled. I made a slow walk around the entire camp, listening.

  “They still haven't found the king. Do you think he truly escaped?”

  I bowed before two male lykos, gathering the empty plates in front of them with my eyes downcast. They didn’t acknowledge me, except for a look of disgust at my smell.

  “It is hard to say. No one has escaped the Overlord before.”

  The first lykos was the one from before, with the scar over his eye. The second one had red hair that looked oddly like fuzzy fur as it stretched down his neck and back, disappearing under his armor. I realized it was fur, not hair.

  “If he has escaped, where is he? He has abandoned us.”

  Scar face scowled into his ale, and red head sighed.

  “We have bigger problems. If the rumors of human uprising in Cantrada are true—”

  Scar face cut him off with a hand, glaring at me.

  “Hurry up, or I’ll help you along.”

  His hand rested on a long sword and I purposefully tripped, smearing manure over the plates yet keeping the goblet of blood steady in my hand. They both laughed and walked away. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.

  I skirted the woods and approached Benedict from behind, letting out a small trill so I didn’t alarm him. He twitched, but otherwise didn’t move. He’d stopped fighting his chains and was standing like a large, angry statue. The iron mask covered his entire head and had to be painful. It looked too small for him.

  I pretended to check the tightness of the stakes in the ground as he growled at me. Kieran’s back was facing the camp, so it wasn’t hard to kneel beside him and pry his lips open. I dumped my blood down his throat as he choked. He groaned and started to twitch.

  “Run away,” Benedict ordered me, his voice low and edged with fear. I didn’t blame him; I wouldn’t react well to being blinded and chained either.

  “Never,” I hissed back, pulling on one chain just to irritate him. He stumbled, catching the attention of a lykos.

  “You there! Get away from the draken!”

  I held up my hands in surrender, bowing as I did so. I wished to see his face behind the heavy mask, to get some idea of what to do.

  “Run.”

  That was all he could get out before the lykos was on us. Benedict roared, taking the slack of his chains and flinging it at the lykos, in the direction he heard him coming. It caught around the lykos’s leg and Benedict yanked hard, sending him sprawling to the ground and trapped. The lykos screamed for help as Benedict reeled him in, effectively gaining the attention of everyone in the camp. Kieran was moving slowly behind him, no one looking. This was my chance. Kieran stood shakily, whipping his head back and forth. I was thankful they had only put the iron gauntlets on him, and not the mask. He didn’t ask any questions as I ran back into the woods, intent on joining Benedict in creating as much chaos and noise as possible.

  I ran to the witches, gasping as adrenaline shot through my veins. Meruse was already free, the water in one bowl empty. I watched wide-eyed as she chanted and wove her hands, the water in the second bowl coalescing into a line in the air as she punched it through the lock on Astrid’s chains. They fell to the ground with a wet thud, and Astrid’s grin was feral. With a flick of her hand the two nearest lykos fell, clutching their throats.

  “Don’t kill anyone, we are trying to negotiate an alliance.” I chastised.

  Meruse reared back, her lips twisting in a sneer.

  “Are you mad? They would all kill us if—”

  “Please,” I begged, and she hissed in frustration.

  “Fine.”

  Astrid hmphed, but drew her hands back, leaving the two lykos merely unconscious. The two witches had half of the lykos down before they noticed anything, too wrapped up in trying to contain the two raging drakens. Astrid vanished the air near the lykos, and the rest collapsed. I raced to Benedict and Kieran as Meruse addressed the humans.

  “Run, if I were you. I don’t care where.”

  They didn’t hesitate; just grabbed what they could and took off.

  “Iron does nothing for you,” Meruse commented airily to Benedict, taking in the metal prison my mates were encased in.

  “Please, get it off.”

  His voice was as off-kilter as I’d ever heard it, and then I remembered how claustrophobic most drakens were. This was literal torture for him. I put a hand on his chest, and he nearly whined at the contact.

  “We will get you out, stay calm.”

  His head no
dded heavily, and I went to Kieran, repeating the same. He tried to reach for me with the iron gloves, snarling in frustration.

  “I can’t think of how water would get them out.” Meruse thought hard, biting her lip. Astrid shook her head, also without any ideas.

  “Nor air.”

  I turned, remembering the iron cages used to transport slaves from the breeding house. The older ones had bars that were weaker, covered in orange rust. There were always more guards when they used those cages, as if the metal were weaker.

  “Rust. Use air and water to rust the metal.”

  They only paused a moment before springing into action. Meruse heaved the water barrel over, and Astrid studied their faces.

  “Masks first, and yell if we damage something.”

  Benedict made an inarticulate noise of panic, then Meruse kicked the cork out of the water barrel. She waved her hands, covering Benedict’s mask in water. My heart went out to Benedict he cried out, water racing up his face.

  “You aren’t drowning, it will be just a moment! Please stay calm!”

  I kept a hand on his chest, trying to ground him as both witches stood with squared feet, concentrating hard on the iron mask in front of them. For an agonizing minute nothing happened, even as I felt my Benedict’s pulse skyrocket as he went longer and longer without air. Then I saw it; a small smattering of orange beginning to spread across the front of the mask.

  “It’s working! Hang on!”

  The rust spread, weakening the metal and corroding it from the inside out. Astrid gave a yell and the masks cracked in half, falling to the ground as Benedict gasped for air. His face was pale, and his body shook. I wanted to hold him close and soothe him.

  “No time. Gauntlets next.”

  Kieran turned, showing off the iron shackles keeping their wings weighed down. I hadn’t even noticed them. Astrid and Meruse managed to get Benedict’s and Kieran’s gauntlets off and had just broken through the weights on Kieran’s wings when the lykos began to stir. Worse than that, three shadow demons fell from the sky, along with a pale face I saw in my nightmares. The same vampyre who’d shot my down from the sky, and who I now knew was the Overlord’s right-hand: Severn.

  “Told you we should have killed them,” Meruse hissed.

  Severn took one look at me, and my heart dropped out of my chest, adrenaline spurring me into action.

  “Run!”

  We took off through the forest, not daring to fly in case we lost the witches. Benedict struggled with the iron weights still around his wings but didn’t complain.

  “If we can reach the river, I can hold them off!”

  Meruse pointed to the river ahead, it’s inky surface glinting in the moonlight. I swore as I tripped over a root, unable to see through the gloom in human form. I went to shift but Benedict scooped me up, not even flinching as I smeared horse manure over his body.

  “No. They can’t know. I will carry you.”

  “They already know, Severn knows—"

  He shushed me with a growl, and I knew it was pointless to argue. Benedict couldn’t keep up with so much extra weight pulling him down, but gods above...he did. He passed the witches, pulled ahead of Kieran, and we dove into the river, the current grabbing us immediately and sucking us under. It was just as well Benedict was carrying me because there was no way I would have gone in otherwise. My worst fears reached up and grabbed me as I was ripped from Benedict’s arms. He disappeared under the water, the iron on his wings acting like an anchor that pulled him to the bottom like dead weight. All around me was black, black...

  “MERUSE!”

  Her name was the last thing I screamed as my lungs filled with water, leaving Severn far behind.

  Fourteen

  I awoke coughing, my chest on fire as Meruse’s wet, bedraggled face was inches away from mine.

  “Again,” I heard Astrid calmly say.

  Meruse reared back and punched her hand forward, and my chest spasmed as an invisible forced punched me, expelling water and blood. Astrid caught my head as I fell back, and with a twist of her fingers a small orb of beautiful, glorious pure air filled my lungs instead. I hated water.

  “She’s stable. The others?”

  I shot straight up at the sound of my mates grumbling, and then the next moment I was in their arms as they sniffed me all over.

  “I’m fine! I’m fine!"

  Benedict got to me first, wrapping me in his arms and pressing me against his chest. He held on for longer than normal, and I put on hand on the side of his cheek. His purple eyes were strained.

  “It’s ok. It’s over.” I don’t know who needed to hear that statement more between the both of us. Kieran put a hand on the small of my back and I turned, launching myself into him next. Meruse rolled her eyes even as Astrid shook her head.

  “You’re welcome, by the way. You drakens are heavy as dead weight.”

  The witches let out an ‘oomph’ of surprise as I attacked them next, dragging them down as I wrapped my arms around both their necks. The weights that were around Benedict’s wings lay on the ground next to him, cracked in half.

  “We’d be dead without you.” I whispered, pulling back to meet their eyes. “Thank you.”

  Meruse looked away, blushing.

  “Yes, well...I wouldn’t thank me yet.”

  Then I noticed the lack of scales and fangs...and wings. Benedict and Kieran were in their human forms, and so was I. I looked around seeing nothing but the dark woods.

  “We’re under the largest bridge that leads into Cantrada, just a few miles down the road. From here on out, I advise against being in your draken forms. This town is ruled by vampyres and demons.”

  I ran a hand through my wet hair.

  “I didn’t get a chance to tell you. Ronan says it may be impossible to shift back to Lyoness. The demons have put some sort of enchantment up, trapping everyone on the island.”

  Benedict ran a hand over his own tired face, and Kieran grasped him on the shoulder.

  “Well, we wanted to see what was going on in Cantrada. Now is our chance.”

  Astrid and Meruse glanced at each other.

  “We are unable to pass as humans as easily as you are. We plan to head back and continue the search for the sea witches and investigate the claims by the fire witches about Luci. If they are true, she is not safe even on Lyoness. They left before we were attacked by the lykos.”

  Benedict reached out his hand, his head bowed.

  “Happy hunting. Our race looks forward to working with yours in the future.”

  Astrid and Meruse joined hands with him, bowing their heads as well.

  “So mote be it.” The three of them intoned, a small glow infusing their hands before vanishing.

  “We will be in touch.” Astrid grasped my forearm, and I squeezed her hand. I met Meruse’s eyes, and she gave me a twisted smile. The witches and drakens nodded to each other, and we parted ways.

  “We need to get into the city,” Benedict began, his eyes falling to me. “As our residing expert in humans, can you help us?”

  I arched an eyebrow, wondering if the world was ending. Benedict was asking me for help. The look on Kieran’s face told me not to push it.

  “First, we need human clothes, and way in. Humans aren’t allowed to just walk in and out of town.”

  They looked at me seriously, trust shining in their eyes. I felt a small sliver of terror at their faith in me—the weight of their safety was heavy on my shoulders. I closed my eyes and pushed it away. When I opened them, I had several ideas.

  Slave carts were a constant fixture in most cities. I heard Clarice complain about them in the breeding house enough to know the basics. They came through city gates several times a day, the backbone of the bustling slave trade.

  I pointed one out to Benedict and Kieran; small, but large enough to have twenty or so humans packed in the back of its iron cage. The slaves were older and not much of a threat; therefore, it was only lightly guarded. A smal
l fire grew in Benedict’s eyes as I detailed my plan, and by the end he was grinning with his fangs out. It was easy to monitor the road from under the bridge. It was even easier to jump onto the back of the wagon, a finger to the slaves to keep quiet. They eyed us warily, but quickly agreed when we tossed what food we managed to steal from a nearby garden into the cage. I hung onto the iron bars on the back while Kieran and Benedict moved to the front. With barely more than a muffled thump the wagon came to a stop. Kieran and Benedict worked quickly to dispatch the drivers, dumping their bodies on the side of the road, and stripping them of their clothing.

  I put a hand to my face, laughing at the tightness of the tunic stretched across Kieran’s broad shoulders. He scowled and threw it to me instead. The undershirt fit him better, and he kept his own breeches. Benedict had no real luck at all, his massive form unlikely to find anything that fit. He stuffed himself into the remaining shirt, and I made careful rips to allow the fabric to stretch over his chest. I rubbed mud on the areas where his skin showed through the holes. The slaves watched us with wide eyes.

  Benedict turned, withdrawing a dagger. A moment later he’d picked the lock and opened the door to the disbelief of the humans inside. He gave them a mocking bow and gestured for them to leave. No one moved.

  “What’s wrong? Don’t you wish to escape?”

  They flinched back from Kieran, fear in their eyes. I knew immediately what the problem was, as my heart sank.

  “Where would they go? The woods? They’ll just be attacked or enslaved again.”

  I jumped up into the wagon and shut the iron door behind me.

  “If no one truly wants to go, that’s your choice. What if we were to release you into the city?”

  Their faces twitched, alive with interest.

  “Into the city, then.”