Rocor (Dragons of Kratak Book 5)

by Ruth Anne Scott

  Callan interrupted Freya. “You won’t go near the Ulasso. You won’t leave this Keep. You can’t make a decision like this on your own. You’ll never get off the ground.”

  “You can’t stop me,” Freya countered. “You can’t stop me taking off, and once I’m in the air, I’ll fly south until I find them.”

  “Good for you,” Jasmine exclaimed. “I’m so proud of you. You should be in charge of this Clan.”

  Freya broke into a bright grin. “Thank you, Jasmine. I thought you would be pleased.”

  “Stuff it!” Callan boomed “You’re not going anywhere.”

  “You’ll never be in charge of this Clan,” Rocor added. “I’m in charge as long as Father is sick, and I forbid you to go, Freya. We have all our armaments in place to attack the Ulasso. You’re not betraying us by making peace with them. Do I have to remind you what they’ve done to us all these years?”

  “Father is still patriarch, even when he is sick,” Freya replied, “and you will never be in charge. You’ll stay home with the women while I run this Clan. I challenge you, Rocor. I challenge you right now. One of us will leave our blood on this floor to decide who will order whom around from now on.”

  Rocor gasped. “You! You challenge me!”

  “That’s right.”

  Gao murmured under his breath. “You can’t challenge him. You’re a woman.”

  “I just did,” Freya shot back. “I can fight any of you, and if I win, you’ll follow my orders instead of the other way around.”

  Callan threw up both hands. “This is unheard of! A woman can’t challenge her own brother for succession. You....you can’t!”

  Freya drew herself up and faced Rocor. “Well? What are you waiting for? Show me your claws before I rip your throat out.”

  Jasmine clapped her hands. “Yay! Go, Freya!”

  Rocor rounded on her. “What are you talking about?”

  “I hope she defeats you,” Jasmine snapped. “I don’t hope she kills you, but at least someone will take charge around here who has their head screwed on straight. All you can think about is fighting the Ulasso. You’ve got your nose buried in the ground. Put him in his place, Freya.”

  Rocor bared his teeth at Jasmine, but before he could answer, Freya spoke again. “If I win, Rocor, you’ll drop all your preparations to attack the Ulasso. You’ll turn all our armaments against the Allies until I tell you differently.”

  “This is outrageous!” Callan thundered. “This is unnatural! In all our history, there’s never been a woman in charge of a Clan. How dare you? How dare you?”

  “Is that all you can say?” Freya laughed out loud. “If there’s never been a woman in charge of a Clan before, I’ll be the first. Come on, Rocor. Move around the table so you don’t hurt any of these bystanders.”

  Dana and Sophia exchanged glances. “Is she really gonna fight him?”

  “What are you waiting for, Rocor?” Freya sang out. “You’re not afraid, are you?”

  Rocor hung back. “I won’t fight you, Freya. I never fought a woman in my life, and I won’t start now.”

  She cackled with glee. “You’re afraid. You’re afraid I’ll injure you so you can’t defend yourself against the rest of these up-and-comers.”

  He looked away. All his pomp and bluster drained out of his sturdy frame. “I won’t fight you. You can call me all the bad names you want. Fighting you would tear our Clan apart. You know that as well as I do. You don’t really want to fight me, either.”

  “If anybody is tearing this Clan apart, it’s you men.” Freya swept her hand over her brothers. “Your petty bickering and throwing challenges around has left us vulnerable to an imminent threat from the Allies, and it’s stopped you from reaching out to the one potential ally who could help us defend ourselves. We’re making peace with the Ulasso. That’s my last word, and I’ll fight every last one of you if I have to in order to do it.”

  Rocor’s chin fell on his chest. “You might be right about that. Fighting amongst ourselves isn’t good for anybody, but you can’t go to the Ulasso. They would take that as a sign of weakness. They would attack us.”

  Freya shook her head. “I’m going and that’s final. You can support me, or you can fall under my claws. It’s up to you.”

  “At least wait a little while,” Rocor insisted. “At least talk to us until we all decide what to do. Don’t make enemies of your whole family over this.”

  “You’re already my enemies,” Freya growled. “You’re enemies of each other and you’re enemies of the rest of Kratak. You’re so stuck in your ways you wouldn’t even follow Rowan Harkniss’s advice to send fliers to warn the other Keeps. You’ve been so wound up in your stupid assault that you blinded yourselves to everything else. If you won’t answer my challenge, then I’m in charge.”

  Jasmine looked around at the other three brothers. None of them argued with her. They accepted this. So, it really was true. If no one fought Freya to answer her challenge, that left her proven leader of this Clan.

  “As long as I’m in charge,” she told them, “you’ll fall in line. You’ll drop this senseless hostility with the Ulasso. Until I get back, you’ll work with Jasmine and these other officers to prepare to meet the Allies when they come. Is that clear?”

  Rocor shook his head and turned away without answering.

  “You’ll do it, Rocor,” she called after him. “You’ll do it, or you’ll answer to me.”

  Callan spoke up. “Let me send out the fliers now. Let’s not waste any more time.”

  Freya nodded, but Rocor interrupted. “We don’t know if Freya will make peace with the Ulasso. They may take this as a sign of hostility. Wait to send out the fliers. At least wait until Freya gets back.”

  “All right, Rocor,” Freya replied. “We’ll wait on that. In the meantime, you’ll change your plans. You’ll show Jasmine your armaments, and she’ll advise you what changes to make to counter the Allies in case they do come.”

  “Thank you, Freya,” Jasmine exclaimed. “I’ll do my best.”

  “I know you will. Now come with me to the launching bay. The sooner I go, the sooner we can know whether the Ulasso will support us.”

  Freya turned on her heel and strode out of the hall. Jasmine looked over at Rocor, but he refused to meet her gaze. He shook his head and left.

  15. Chapter 14

  Jasmine hurried after Freya down a different passage. She hadn’t been in this part of the Keep before, but Freya left her no time to study the surroundings. Her long legs carried her to the far end of the passage. Another entrance carved in the stone wall opened into the sunshine streaming from the east.

  Freya smiled at Jasmine. The landscape beyond framed her statuesque figure. “Thank you for everything, Jasmine. I would never have done this if you hadn’t inspired me to act.”

  Jasmine grasped her hand. “I should be thanking you, Freya. I had all but given up hope that anybody would do anything around here.”

  Freya clasped her hand. “I’ll try to get back as soon as I can. Do your best to keep these men in order while I’m gone.”

  Jasmine snorted. “I hope they don’t wring each other’s necks the moment your back is turned.”

  Freya shook her head. “They won’t. They’ll follow my lead from now on.”

  “How can you be sure of that? How can you be certain they’ll fall under your leadership when you didn’t actually win the challenge?”

  “I did win it. I won it when Rocor refused to fight me.”

  Footsteps coming down the passage interrupted their conversation. Callan and Rocor appeared on the launching platform. Freya stiffened. Rocor glanced at Callan, and Callan nodded to him. Rocor took a deep breath and stepped forward. “You’re determined to go, Freya. We don’t agree with your decision, but none of us wants to force you to turn aside. If you really must go, at least work with us to keep peace in our Clan. Share the leadership with us so we can bring our Clan the best possible outcome.”

&nbs
p; Freya frowned. “Now you want to keep peace in our Clan? That’s new for you, Rocor. It’s new for all of you. That’s about as far as possible from what you’ve been doing these past few months.”

  Rocor shrugged. “I won’t argue with you, and I won’t fight you. Let’s not have any more fighting.”

  “Do you agree not to fight anymore?” She turned to Callan. “Do all of you agree to stop fighting?”

  “We all agree.”

  Freya surveyed both brothers. “Do you give me your solemn word you’ll work together while I’m gone? Do you give me your word you’ll put your differences aside to make our Clan strong again?”

  The brothers nodded.

  Freya sighed. “All right. I’m trusting you, and I’m putting Jasmine in charge to make sure you do it.”

  Rocor shot a vicious glance at Jasmine. Jasmine turned pink, but Freya only laughed. She put out her hand to Rocor. “Take care of the Clan while I’m gone. As soon as I get back, we’ll know where we stand. We’ll hold a council, and we’ll decide what to do.”

  Rocor shook her hand. Freya pressed Jasmine’s hands. “Good luck. I’ll see you soon.”

  She turned away and launched herself into space. Freya hovered in mid-air for a suspended moment. Gravity caught her, and she started to fall. The sun flashed on her skin, and she vanished before their eyes.

  The next thing Jasmine knew, the bright green dragon spread her wings to the sun and took off into the lavender sky. She soared around the Keep once before she headed south over the mountains.

  Callan let out a deep sigh. “Well, there she goes.”

  Jasmine heard his footsteps retreating up the passage behind her, but she didn’t turn around. She watched that flash of green dwindle into the distance. Her soul rejoiced in Freya’s triumph. Maybe, just maybe, the Krataks would stand a chance when the hammer came down.

  No sound attracted her attention. She became aware of something else behind her. The second set of footsteps didn’t ring on the passage floor. Rocor was still here. He stood behind her in silence.

  She turned around to find him leaning against the wall. He rested his forehead against the stone and covered his eyes. He didn’t see Freya disappear into the ether.

  Jasmine studied him. “Rocor?”

  He let out a shaky breath and stood up. When he looked at her, his skin hung off his face. His eyes sagged. His features looked sallow and hollow without his patterns. Red blood discolored his eyes, and bags darkened underneath them. He nodded into the southern sky. “She’s gone, and there’s nothing we can do about that now.”

  “What’s wrong? Is it really such a big disaster?”

  He tried to smile. “I guess it wouldn’t be if I wasn’t so tired. Two nights without sleep are catching up with me.”

  She blushed. Two nights without sleep because of her. She put out her hand to touch his arm. “You better go get some sleep.”

  He nodded, but he didn’t leave the bay. “I don’t think I could sleep now.”

  “If you’re that tired, you won’t be good for much until you do.”

  He caught her eye and jerked his head toward the passage. “Come inside with me. We’ll curl up together.”

  Jasmine’s eyes popped out of their sockets. “What do you want to do that for?”

  “I don’t think I could sleep without you there.”

  “You wouldn’t sleep. You would come up with something else to do.”

  He didn’t laugh. He shook his head and looked away. “I don’t think so. I don’t feel like it.”

  She couldn’t believe her ears. He couldn’t really be saying this. He wanted to curl up with her and go to sleep, to rest in her arms. She never would have believed a sturdy man like him could crumple before her eyes. He needed her. He didn’t come right out and say so. He didn’t have to.

  She put her arm around his shoulder. “Come on. Come to my room.”

  He shook his head. “It’s too bright on that side of the Keep. Come to my room instead. It’s still shady on that side of the mountain at this time of the day.”

  She smiled and guided him toward the passage. “All right. Whatever you say.”

  He sighed and relaxed against her. His weight fell heavy on her shoulders. “I still don’t think making peace with the Ulasso is a good idea.”

  She patted his arm. “The good news is you don’t have to make peace with them if you don’t want to. If Freya comes back and says it’s not happening, you’ll go back to the way things were before. Nothing is set in stone. You’re just talking about it.”

  His head hung down. “Yeah.”

  She peered at him. “This could be the best thing to happen to your people in a long time. If you didn’t fight the Ulasso all the time, you might be able to benefit from their advances.”

  He nodded. “That’s the reason all the other Clans held them at a distance. No one wanted to admit they might be better than we were. I guess we were just jealous.”

  “Freya is a natural leader. She’s willing to take a risk no one else was willing to take. She’s willing to put her life on the line for all your sakes. You should be proud of her.”

  “I am.”

  Jasmine’s head whipped around. “You are?”

  He nodded. “Don’t tell the others I said so. I never expected her to stand up to me, but she did it. She didn’t do it out of any selfish ambition to gain power over our Clan. She did it to save us all from our own stupidity. She’s the best of us. She deserves to be leader. That’s another reason I don’t want to fight her.”

  Jasmine hugged him. She never felt closer to him than right now. “You don’t have to fight her. She’s willing to work with all of you to make sure the Clan and Kratak moves forward into the future.”

  He opened his mouth when a low drone echoed over the horizon. Jasmine didn’t think anything of it. She thought only of a comfortable bed in some shady room underground. She could close her eyes, and she didn’t have to worry about Rocor jumping out and grabbing her. They would both fall asleep. Maybe the future would look brighter when they woke up.

  Rocor glanced over his shoulder and stopped. Jasmine tried to urge him forward, but he worked out of her arms and retreated to the launching platform. Jasmine came to his side. “Is anything wrong?”

  He frowned at the horizon.

  Jasmine followed his gaze. Something flashed in the sun out there. “Is Freya coming back?”

  “I don’t recognize it.”

  Jasmine shaded her eyes against the glare. Another blink of light danced on the far skyline—then another. “What is that?”

  In front of their eyes, more and more flashes sparkled in the distance. They stretched out to cover Jasmine's line of sight. They poked up out of the mountains and got bigger. Jasmine stared in wonder as one after another, shiny objects crowded the edge of the world. They grew and came closer until she couldn’t mistake them for what they were. Hundreds and hundreds of ships descended over the planet in a silvery cloud.

  The closer they came, the more space she noticed between them. They covered the sky and blocked out the sun. They hovered over the Keep until they dropped as one concerted body to land in front of the mountain.

  Jasmine blinked. This couldn’t be happening. A door opened in each small craft. Tiny people emerged from the holes to swarm across the plain. They ran in all directions. They streamed up the mountainside toward Jasmine and Rocor standing transfixed to their spots.

  Every one of those people wore an Allies uniform, and every one of them carried a weapon. Thousands of armed soldiers tumbled out of those craft to cover the planet in every direction. The invasion had begun.

  16. Chapter 15

  General Duncan laid out a map on the long table in the main hall. She pointed to the mountains around Assan Keep. “And this is Harkniss Keep, where Team 1 was stationed. We’ll contact them first.”

  General Duncan’s first lieutenant, Colonel Torrence, bent over to get a closer look. “Aren’t Commander Cooper a
nd her family still there?”

  General Duncan set her jaw. “You aren’t to consider Commander Cooper or her family in your plans. Moira Flannery disappeared on the planet, too, and you’re not to consider her, either. Go ahead with our agenda. Don’t deviate from it without express orders from me.”

  Colonel Torrence straightened up. “Yes, Ma’am.”

  General Duncan pointed to the northern areas on the map. “We know there are several more Keeps here. We’ll move our force into these plains to counter any resistance.”

  “How could they resist when they don’t know we’re coming?” Colonel Torrence asked. “No one beyond this Keep knows we’re on the planet. The other Clans consider us peaceful.”

  “Hopefully, we can keep it that way,” General Duncan replied, “but I’m not taking any chances. Make sure our force is powerful enough to send a strong message to anybody who might object to our presence. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Ma’am. Should we take a portion of this force to secure the northern areas, or should we wait for the rest of the landing party.”

  “The rest of the landing party will arrive in approximately five hours. We can spare roughly half this force to secure the north. Go now. When you have the force on the ground and in position, come back here for further orders. I’ll take the new arrivals in hand. We won’t lose any coverage down here while you’re away.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  Colonel Torrence left the hall, and General Duncan turned to Jasmine. “You and your team had your chance to study the Krataks in their native environment. Now you can withdraw.”

  “None of us wants to withdraw,” Jasmine countered. “I’m sorry, General. I don’t mean to be insubordinate. We’ve had a matter of days to complete the studies that should have taken a year to complete. Some of the information we came here to collect could prove valuable to the Allies in the future. Dr. Simons, for example, has yet to complete even a cursory medical examination of one Kratak or take blood samples. The rest of us also have good reason to remain behind.”