“Tim,” Blake greeted him.
“Blake,” Tim greeted him back.
“This is Elena.”
Tim stared at me as if he’d never seen me before and quickly shook my hand. “So nice to finally meet you, Princess.”
“Elena is fine, and it’s nice meeting you too.”
Blake chuckled and we followed Tim into the compound—or whatever this place was.
There was a van waiting for us and Tim spoke to one of the other guards that greeted Blake.
We climbed in and drove through another gate.
I gasped when I saw how plain everything looked. It was as if we’d jumped back in time. There was no electricity, except the gate. Every house had a lantern that shone from the porch, and no sound came from inside the houses.
Blake smiled as he saw me staring at every wooden house we passed.
“It’s a bit of a fruity community, but I respect their beliefs.”
“So they really are cut off from the world?”
“People leave them alone here, Elena. Paegeia is scared to be sucked into their world.”
Into their world? “There is nothing wrong with living like this.”
A huge smile sprawled over Blake’s face.
“True, but you have to agree, Elena, this is a bit Amish-like, don’t you think?”
“There is nothing wrong with being Amish either?” I scolded him and he laughed at me.
“Of course there isn’t. It’s just boring.”
“How does Isaac handle this lifestyle?”
He didn’t say anything, just suppressed his laughter which told me that the poor guy was bored to death.
“All the shape shifters live like this?”
“All the band members are part of this community, yes, and they have some freaky traditions when one comes to speak to them about something. Whatever they give you to drink, just swallow,” he spoke that last part so fast that I hoped I’d heard it right.
The truck stopped in front of a wooden house. A lantern hung in the doorway.
Blake took my hand and led me toward the house after he said goodbye to Tim.
The Jeep’s door closed as we walked toward the light that shone from the lantern.
“They really don’t have electricity here?”
“They do, but they don’t believe in it. Some people just love nature, and like to stay in an area where they feel safe.”
I smiled and followed him up the steps.
Blake knocked on the door and waited. Nobody came to open it and a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
“Nobody home?” I asked.
“No, they are here,” he spoke softly and turned the knob. The door opened and it was pitch black on the other side of the door.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
“Calm down, Elena. It’s not what it looks like. Just stay here.”
“The hell I am,” I said and I smacked his back as we entered the house.
I could make out a staircase that went up to the upper level of the wooden house.
There was a long hallway and in the one rooms a faint light shone.
For some reason my heart was bouncing inside my chest.
Why the heck was I so scared of the dark?
The floor creaked softly below my feet. Blake’s didn’t even make a peep. It was as if he was gliding on air.
A huge figure smacked him down and pinned him on the floor. I only saw a tale and a long beak, as it pushed him to the ground.
The tale pushed me too and I fell backwards.
Immediately, I got back up. I knew I should’ve brought my axes, but Blake had said it wasn’t dangerous.
Laughter erupted and Isaac walked out of the room where the faint light was shining.
What the hell was this?
“You got him, Missy. Change back before you give the Princess of Paegeia a heart attack. The lantern in Isaac’s hand lit up the room slightly.
Missy, or whatever this thing was, turned her eagle head around. She had a lion’s body with two eagle claws at the front and lion paws in the back.
She climbed off Blake.
“Sorry about the scare,” she said and I was completely taken aback.
Isaac gave Blake a hand and he helped him up.
She changed back into a girl with long golden hair who ran stark naked into another room. I stared after her like an idiot, which made Blake and Isaac laugh.
“Missy is my younger sister,” Isaac said as he lured my attention back to him.
“What is she?”
“Never heard of a Chimera before?”
I shook my head.
“Well they are quite rare, died out some time in the 1600’s if not earlier. My sister and father are some of the few Chimera’s we still have.”
“So I take it you are not a Chimera?”
“Nope, I’m way cooler.”
Blake laughed.
“What, I am? I’m much faster than you.”
I gasped. “You are a dragon too?”
“He wishes,” Blake chipped and let out a squawking sound.
“Nope, I’m an eagle.” Isaac smiled. “Mom was the other eagle in the family, but she died a long time ago. Now it’s only me, Missy and my Dad.”
I felt sorry for him. At least we had something in common about the Mom-thing.
“Speaking of your Dad, is he here?”
“He’s right through here. All of them are, so I hope you informed the princess about the rituals, Blake.”
“I did, don’t worry.”
I was starting to worry now about that last statement he’d spoken way too fast. He did say drink… Oh crap.
“I have no idea how tonight is going to go, my father still keeps me in the dark,” Isaac spoke in Latin. “But they were shocked when the news of the King came. Whatever the verdict, you know we are with you.”
“I know,” Blake smacked him on the back.
Blake smiled and walked backwards a few paces before he turned his body forward and walked toward the room where the light shone.
It was a very old kitchen, and reminded me a lot about the kitchen in Isabel’s old home. It had old furniture, and a huge black coal oven.
In the middle was an oak table with many men sitting around it.
There were three more chairs open and Blake took one of them.
He gestured for me to sit down in the one next to him and Isaac took the one on his other side.
One of the men lit three lanterns. He wore clothes that made me think of an Indian chief.
“I heard she’s got you good this time.”
“I knew she was somewhere lurking in the dark,” Blake said.
Everyone laughed.
They were all huge, broad-shouldered men with long hair.
The guy turned around as the kitchen lit up with the other lanterns he’d just lit, and took the chair at the end.
I only now noticed the small shot glasses in front of all of us, and wished that I could read Blake’s mind.
I was nervous as hell to know what these glasses contained.
The man at the end of the seat closed his eyes and all of them started to pray.
I looked at Blake who winked at me and lowered his head, but he didn’t close his eyes.
Then everyone picked up the shot glasses and drank.
I did the same and saw Blake swallowing telling me that it was safe to drink it.
It was strong, but I was used to strong.
When it was over, Isaac got up and put a beer in front of us. Blake immediately took a sip of his, I did too.
The man on the end lit up a pipe.
He was smoking something that looked like a peace pipe that Native Americans always smoked in the movies.
He smiled and then introductions took place.
I tried to remember all of them, but my head started to spin a little.
“Yuri, I would like you to meet the Princess of Paegeia,” Blake finally said and I took a
huge breath, hoping it would calm the turmoil that was going on in my head. It worked and I shook his hand. “Just, Elena.”
“Yuri,” he said with a broad grin, and took a few more drags from his pipe before he killed it and put it on the table.
“Please sit.”
I sat down again and in two seconds the vibe turned from friendly to not-so-friendly.
“When Isaac said you wanted to come and see us, we knew immediately why you wanted to speak to us. We got word a few hours earlier and were waiting for your request for an invitation.”
Request for an invitation?
“We are sorry to disappoint, Blake, but the shifters are not going to fight in this war.”
Blake was taken aback. He hadn’t expected it at all. To be honest, neither had I.
“What?” Isaac didn’t feel like his father did, or like any of these men.
“I’ve made up my mind, Isaac.”
“All of you have decided this?” He looked at all of them. “Uncle Jedi, Pete?” Isaac asked. “Did you forget who gave us this land, who honored our beliefs when nobody else did?”
“It’s in the past, son. We fought our wars. We’ve fought plenty of wars. The king will understand.” Yuri’s expression was unreadable as he looked at Isaac.
“Father, we need to fight.”
I jumped slightly as Yuri’s fist connected with the table. “This isn’t our war, son. It’s a war between Dragons and Wyverns.”
“What about King Albert?”
“I knew the king well, and I can promise you one thing. He doesn’t want this. He doesn’t want to fight either. He would never have wanted those Creepers destroyed. His biggest concern was always for his people. And that is something I do share with the King, Isaac.”
He had known my father, and well too. My father had made me promise not to free Etan.
“They need our help,” Isaac still tried to get through to Yuri.
“I’m sorry Isaac. I can’t.”
“Well,” Isaac’s lips thinned out. “If you won’t, I will.”
“Isaac,” both Blake and I said at the same time.
“I forbid you.”
“I’m next in line for Chief,” Isaac said. “I’m not going to be a coward.”
“We are not cowards,” One of the other men said, his lips were thin. “Have you even considered if Blake and Elena, if all of them, don’t succeed? What will become of Paegeia? You don’t know of that time, Isaac, when the war broke out in Etan, when the Creepers consumed Etan. I lost many shifter friends and family that night. Goran is just too powerful, and rumor has it that he has conjured the Saadedine. Do you know what the Saadedine is like when he is evil?”
“I don’t care, we should fight!” Isaac yelled at whoever the guy was.
“You will die!” Yuri said. “You are the last of the Soverheight Eagles, Isaac.”
“Then they will sing songs about my bravery, Father. But I am no coward. I will fight. The band will fight too.” He looked at Blake. “We will never abandon you Blake. Never.”
“Isaac, so help…”
“Stop!” I yelled and all of them looked at me. “We are not going to win this war fighting each other. We can only win by forming an alliance.” I took a deep breath. “Isaac, I get why your father doesn’t want to fight, and he is right. He knows the king pretty well, and believe me there isn’t a person in this room that wants to free him more than I do. But it can’t come from forcing people to fight. I agree with your father.” The words flowed freely from my mouth. They were words straight from my heart. I loved this. “You are the last of your kind and hopefully one day you can show me what is so magical about the Soverheight Eagles. I, for one refuse to learn what they used to be through songs. Killing the Saadedine will be a miracle in itself. And your father is right, if by any chance we don’t make it, or kill it, someone strong needs to be on this side to fight for the others…”
“Elena, this is not what my father meant.”
“You don’t know what your father means. I won’t force anyone to fight for my cause.”
“Our cause,” Blake interrupted.
“Sorry,” I smiled. “Our course.”
Blake squinted at me.
I looked at Yuri and although I felt pretty disappointed that tonight was a huge failure, I smiled. “Thank you for your time,” I looked at all of them. “For all of your time. It was really nice meeting you.”
They were all quiet, just staring at me, nobody saying a word. “You are a lot like your mother,” The guy opposite me said. “Just know it was extremely difficult to make this decision.”
“Not so difficult. I was once where you are, and then someone finally got through to me about why we had to do this, or die trying.”
“Elena,” Isaac said again.
“Don’t, Isaac. It’s my decision and it’s Blake’s too. You can fight another day.”
I looked at Blake and he got up.
“Thank you for seeing us. It was a pleasure, like always. Sorry we can’t stay longer, maybe next time.” He looked at all of them.
Yuri just nodded with a broken smile.
We walked toward the door and down the hallway we’d just came. Isaac didn’t say anything, just goodbye as he led us out.
I walked with huge strides to the truck that still waited for us outside and opened the door.
“Everything okay?” Tim sounded surprised, probably that it had happened so quickly.
“Yeah,” Blake sounded confused and looked at me. “What the hell was that about?” He stared at me. “I could’ve changed his mind, Elena.”
I took a huge breath and smiled at him. “I know you could’ve, but …” I shook my head. “I might not be the right kind of princess, or excel at this job description, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned from Queen Margerite, it is never force your people to do something they don’t want. It’s not Monarchy code. The loyal will prove themselves loyal in the time of need, Blake. We just need to have faith.” I didn’t even sound like me. I didn’t feel like me either. I touched my face.
Blake just stared at me and then he burst out laughing.
“Please don’t tell me you swallowed that shot, Elena.”
“Of course I did?”
“Why do you think Isaac gave you the beer? You were supposed to spit it into the beer.”
“What?” I sounded squeaky and started to laugh hysterically. “What is going on?” I sounded even more funny, like I’d swallowed a canister of helium and laughed once more.
“Sorry about this Tim. This one is about to go on the trip of a lifetime.
Everything swirled and I just laughed more. My head felt heavy and I honestly have no idea how what followed happened.
For some bizarre reason I felt like a dragon again, soaring through the sky, feeling the wind beneath my wings. The world looked weird—like a huge puzzle, or perhaps I was just small, tiny like a fly.
It was freaky.
I couldn’t make out what the puzzle was about, but I swore it belonged to giants.
Nothing made sense. Giants were building a puzzle and for some odd reason one of them sounded like Herbert.
Then everything twirled again and when I opened my eyes I saw a unicorn. I closed them fast and opened them again. The unicorn spoke, but what it said didn’t make any sense. Oh man, this was definitely a trip I was never going to forget.
Blake
ELENA WAS ALL over the place. She wasn’t able to stay on my back, because she was laughing hysterically. I flew with her to the Manor. My mom was the nearest Swallow Annex and would know what to do. I phoned Master Longwei and told him what happened.
I had to carry her in my paw and she kept laughing hysterically, screaming how good it felt to be a dragon again.
Giants and puzzles made me laugh. What the hell was she experiencing?
I felt bad because in some way this was all my fault.
I landed on my clearing and put her over my shoulder just as she sta
rted speaking about unicorns.
“Mom!” I yelled. “Come quick.”
She was still mumbling something about a horsey and I don’t know what else when my mom ran into my room.
She looked concerned and when she saw Elena laughing hysterically, her concern became a terrifying glare.
“Please don’t tell me that she drank…”
“She swallowed it by mistake,” I spoke and watched her lying on my bed. Her body was limp but words kept pouring out of her mouth. She was having a hefty conversation with someone or something. “Please tell me she will be okay?”
Elena looked at my mom and started to laugh hysterically calling her the Frog Queen.
We both started to laugh. “Well,” Mom said looking at her. “At least it’s fairytale creatures and not demons. I’ll go make the anti-dote.”
“YURI IS JUTS scared, Blake.”
“We are all scared Mom.”
“I know, but he’s forgotten what bravery meant, just like your father had for many years.”
“I don’t know. I feel as if I betrayed Isaac tonight.”
“Ow, my head, what the hell happened?” Elena finally came into the kitchen.
I looked at my mother and we both started to laugh. She got up from the table and touched Elena’s face. “I bet you have one hell of a headache.”
Elena sulked and nodded as my mother touched her temples softly and I could see Elena melting in the palm of her hands.
“That feels so good,” she croaked.
They stayed like that for a few more minutes. “How is that, better?”
“Much.” Elena smiled. “So glad to know I am never going to have to take another Advil again.”
My mother laughed as I smiled, sipping on my coffee. She came to sit at the table. “So what the hell happened last night? I don’t even remember getting here.”
“How was fairyland?”
“Urgh, what did I do?”
I laughed.
My mom hit me with her cloth. “It’s not nice to laugh, Blake.”
“Unicorns and Frog Queens.”
“Don’t,” Elena touched her face and rubbed it. “What was that? And you said whatever they offer me I should drink.”
“No, I said you shouldn’t drink. Tim was in the van last night. I couldn’t spell it out for you.”
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