But even now, as he waited for Mac to respond, he said nothing. Whatever battle was raging in her own head, she must have finally decided in his favor. After several long moments, she simply nodded as she squinted at him.
“Alright,” she said. “Sounds like you and I will be working quite closely together. And trust me, there’s a lot to do.”
Zeke still did not say anything. Instead, he merely nodded back at Mac, who gave him another long, hard gaze before turning back to the rest of the group.
“First, let me explain to all of you exactly how the Falcon Cross Military works,” she said. She picked up one of the stacks of paper in front of her and started passing around stapled copies of what looked like the slides from a PowerPoint presentation. “After I’m done with that, you can all tell me what you know about the threats of attack that our enemy has made. We’ll probably be here all morning, so I hope you’re comfortable. Raven went to get some coffee, water, and an assortment of breakfast pastries, so at least I know you won’t be hungry. Now let’s dive in.”
With a sigh, Zeke picked up his pen and reached for one of the blank legal pads sitting in a stack in the middle of the table. He wrote “Notes” across the top in bold, black script, and then sat back and waited for Mac to begin her presentation. He wasn’t sure he had ever been quite so curious about how, exactly, a commander was running an army. This was going to be interesting.
Chapter Five
Mac clicked through to the last slide of her presentation, which had the simple words “Any Questions?” on it. She turned to look at the four dragon shifters in the room, hoping that she had covered everything she needed to cover, and that they had understood it reasonably well. Noah, Myles, and Owen were staring down at their notebooks with furrowed eyebrows. Zeke was leaning way back in his chair with his pen in his mouth, staring at the ceiling. She wasn’t sure whether he was thinking or bored, but she decided that for the sake of her own pride she would assume that he was thinking.
While Zeke and the other dragons “thought,” Mac mentally went over everything she had just told them. She wanted to see whether she had left out anything important. She knew that some of it had been repeat information for the dragon shifters who had previously visited Falcon Cross. But it never hurt to review, and, besides, she’d wanted to make sure that Zeke was on the same page as everyone else.
She’d started out by giving them a brief history of the Falcon Cross military. The wizards in her clan were, by nature, peaceful individuals in general, and so for a long time the clan had not even had a military. But several centuries ago, there had been a harsh civil war among many of the wizard clans, and Falcon Cross had finally been forced to admit that they needed an army. It was a good thing they had formed an army then, too, because not too long after the wizard war, there had been a wizard-shifter war, which had nearly wiped out the wizards. In fact, the shifter world had believed for a long time that wizards were completely extinct. This was purposeful. The wizards, not just in Falcon Cross but in other wizard clans as well, had retreated into well hidden villages to live by themselves, far away from any shifters. They had worried that if the shifters knew that any wizards still lived, there would be more bloodshed and then the wizards really would be extinct.
Mac had explained that Falcon Cross was much smaller in those days. It had taken several centuries after the wizard-shifter war for the Falcon Cross clan to be built up to the numbers it was at now. And even though the clan had grown quite a bit, the military had not kept pace with that growth. It was a small army, since during the long centuries of peace, most wizards had decided that their time would be better spent pursuing other professions. Falcon Cross had never had a mandatory draft. They hadn’t needed to, since there had been no wars to fight. The clan had lived alone in its isolated village, happily keeping to itself, and the rest of the world had no idea that it existed. The small military that remained had focused mostly on guarding the perimeters of Falcon Cross to make sure that no non-wizards got in. The army had not been idle. They had made great strides toward improving their ability to hide from potential discovery. But it had been hundreds of years since they had actually fought in battle, and that was worrisome.
They had participated in war games with other wizard clans, and had performed well at those games. But the war facing Falcon Cross right now was no game. How could a small army, used to times of peace, possibly prepare for the threat of a large, well-trained army that was bent on destroying them?
Mac hoped with all her heart that the dragons would have answers to that question. She knew that they would need to recruit more soldiers, and train both those soldiers and the soldiers they already had on how to actually fight. But she wasn’t sure that she was the best person to teach those soldiers how to fight. All of the recognition and awards she had received had been for the great strides she had made in peacetime defensive strategies. She felt horribly unprepared for the fight ahead.
“I don’t have any questions right now,” Noah said, breaking into Mac’s thoughts. “I think that our best bet might be to discuss the threat that we’re facing, so that we’re all on the same page. Then we can work together to come up with solutions. Does everyone else agree?”
Everyone else nodded, and so Noah launched into his discussion of what the dragon shifters knew about the coming war. Mac stood with her pen ready to take down as many notes as possible. She had already spoken with Knox, the leader of the Redwood Dragons Clan, about what the dragons knew of the threatened war. But she wanted to make sure she had the most complete and up-to-date information possible as they began training her army.
“Less than a week ago, we had some unexpected visitors in the Redwood forest,” Noah began. “We were already aware that trouble was brewing, but we didn’t know at the time how great the extent of that trouble was. While Vance, one of our dragons, was on the way home from conducting a routine security check on some of our vaults, he and his girlfriend were attacked by two shifters. There were no red flags or warning signs that there would be an attack like this, but the shifters were extremely violent and nearly killed Vance’s girlfriend. Thankfully, their attack was ultimately unsuccessful, but unfortunately both attackers were killed in the fight, so we couldn’t question them. Vance brought the attackers’ belongings back to our base camp, though, and when we searched them we found a cell phone that was actually being used to store information on missions that the attackers had been participating in.”
Noah paused for a moment and took a sip of his coffee, while Mac wrote furiously, desperately trying to keep up with her handwritten notes.
“It wasn’t clear from the information we recovered who, exactly, is in charge of the army the attackers were a part of. What is clear, however, is that the army is large, reasonably well organized, and very capable of doing some serious damage to both good shifters and good wizards alike. The army consists of humans, shifters, and wizards, and whoever is leading the army has made plans to attack not only Falcon Cross, but also the Redwood Dragons hideout and the group of shifters in Texas who are responsible for guarding the dragon emerald and dragon sapphire.”
Mac looked up from her notes. “So, I’m assuming that this army is after the dragon stones, since they’ve chosen to plan attacks on the three places where the dragon stones are most likely to be hidden.”
“That’s right,” Noah said. “The two attackers who came to the Redwoods were serving as scouts, trying to find information on where the stones might be hidden. They thought that the stones were hidden in our vaults there, where we store numerous powerful dragon artifacts. It’s a reasonable assumption, but of course it’s wrong. The two dragon stones that have been recovered are in Texas under the watchful eye of the powerful shifter protectors.”
“Do you think they are planning to attack the Redwoods first, since that’s where they sent scouts first?” Mac asked.
“You’re assuming that they sent scouts there first because the scouts that went to the Redwood
s were discovered,” Zeke interrupted. “But it’s possible that other scouts have been here or to Texas, and they just haven’t been found.”
His tone had not been challenging at all. Nevertheless, Mac found herself feeling strangely defensive.
“If scouts had come anywhere near Falcon Cross, my wizards would have discovered them,” she insisted. “We may not be the best warriors, but we know how to watch out for intruders. Someone would have to be incredibly talented and lucky to get past our guards.”
Zeke shrugged. “If you say so,” he said, then turned to look back at Noah expectantly, waiting for his leader to continue. His refusal to argue with Mac made her feel even angrier. He might be handsome and a good strategist, but who did he think he was, to come in here and question her ability to guard her village like that? She knew how things worked around here much better than he did, and she had half a mind to remind him of that. She might have, too, if Noah hadn’t started talking again at that moment.
“It probably doesn’t matter that much whom they attack first,” Noah said. “Any attack on any of these three locations is likely to be a brutal blow to our forces. Like I said, we don’t know who is leading this army, but we know that the army is large and well-organized. Our main objectives are to lose as few lives as possible to their attacks, and to protect the dragon stones at all costs. We cannot, under any circumstances, let our enemies know that the dragon stones are hidden in Texas. The more we can keep them in the dark about where the dragon stones are, the better. I don’t even want to think about what would happen if those dragon stones fell into the wrong hands.”
Mac felt a shiver of terror run through her as she thought about the evil someone could do with the dragon stones. There were many powerful, ancient artifacts in the world, most of which could do great damage if they were in the wrong hands. But the dragon stones were more powerful than almost all the other artifacts combined. If someone used them for evil, it would unleash a terror on the world like nothing ever seen before.
And, to complicate things further, the two stones that were in Texas were not the only dragon stones. There were two others, a dragon ruby and a dragon amethyst, that were still missing. No one knew where they were, and Mac worried that someone evil would find those stones before the good shifters and wizards could recover them. She knew that the Wizard Advocacy Bureau was working on trying to discover the stones’ location, and the shifters were doing the same. But the stones had been lost for centuries, and seemed to have vanished without a trace. No one was having much luck finding anything that seemed even remotely helpful in discovering where the stones were.
“I assume there’s still no word on the two missing dragon stones?” Mac said, just to make sure.
Noah sighed, and the frustrated look in his eyes told Mac all she needed to know before he even spoke.
“No word,” Noah confirmed. “We can’t figure out where to even start looking, really. My only comfort is that it’s unlikely that our enemies have any more information than we do. We have some very smart wizards and shifters working almost around the clock on the problem, so hopefully we can figure it out before the other guys do.”
Mac nodded. “So I guess, all we really know at this point is that there’s a big army poised to attack us. But we don’t have any idea when that attack will be?”
Noah shook his head no. “There was no indication of time frames in the information we received, which worries me even more. It could be any day now, and Falcon Cross is woefully unprepared for an attack of that magnitude. No offense, Mac. I know you’re a great commander, but you’ve trained your army for times of peace.”
“No offense taken,” Mac said. And she really wasn’t offended. She had done a damn good job as commander. The brewing war was an exceptional, highly unexpected situation.
“That’s why we should have started working last night, instead of having a party,” Zeke said.
Mac glared at him, and was about to make a sharp comment about how he clearly didn’t understand how to motivate wizards, but Noah beat her to it.
“Enough, Zeke,” Noah said, his voice sterner than Mac had ever heard it. “We’ve already thoroughly discussed why the banquet was necessary, and I don’t want to hear about it again, okay?”
Zeke gave Noah a sulky, impatient look, but did not retort again. Mac held her breath for a moment, uncomfortable with the heavy tension in the air. But the other dragons didn’t seem affected by it, so Mac decided to move on.
“Maybe I’m missing something here,” she said. “But since we have the dragon stones, and they are incredibly powerful, why don’t we just use them to defeat our enemies? It doesn’t make sense to me to keep them hidden when we could bring them out and quickly gain the upper hand.”
“It’s a fair question,” Noah said. “And one that I’ve asked myself. But the shifter protectors who hold the stone think that it’s better to hold off on using them if possible. Anytime we take them out of hiding, there is a small chance that they could be stolen. We would rather keep them under full protection until it’s absolutely necessary to use them.”
“When is it absolutely necessary, if not now?” Mac asked, feeling somewhat incredulous. “It sounds like we’re facing the most serious threat we’ve ever seen before.”
“It sounds like it,” Noah said. “But we aren’t exactly sure. We want to wait and see what the armies actually look like before making a decision on whether to use the stones.”
Mac frowned. “If we wait, and it’s as bad as we think or worse, we could lose a lot of lives that the dragon stones might have saved.”
“I know,” Noah admitted. “I sort of agree with you that it might be better to pull the stones out now. But the shifter protectors are adamant that we keep them under close guard and keep their location secret as long as possible. Our best bet in the meantime is to plan how to build up our fighting forces.”
Mac’s frown deepened. She was beginning to see that meshing the fighting styles of several different groups was not going to be easy. The wizards, dragon shifters, and shifter protectors all seemed to have slightly different ideas of what the best ways to fight and defend themselves were. There were going to be some clashes of wills, she was sure of that. But they all had to learn to work together. It was the only chance they had of survival. Their forces were small, but if they worked together they had a chance of coming out of this thing victorious. For now, at least, she knew Noah was right. Their energy was better spent building up their army instead of trying to argue with the shifter protectors about the dragon stones.
“Alright,” Mac said. “Well, I’m going to take these notes to my office and start working on a plan. Raven will be taking you all on a tour of the building, and then you can all spend the rest of the afternoon and evening coming up with your own ideas and contributions for our battle plan. Let’s meet here again tomorrow morning to flesh out the exact details. If we combine the best of everyone’s plans into one coherent strategy, I think we’ll have a pretty good starting point. And, of course, if you have any questions or want to get a hold of me in the meantime, feel free to call me or just swing by my office. I’m happy to brainstorm or help however I can.”
“Sounds good,” Noah said, standing to his feet. The other dragons stood to their feet as well, and they all shook hands with Mac and wished her luck before filing out into the hallway where Raven was already waiting. Zeke was the last to leave, and he held Mac’s hand just a beat longer than necessary before leaving the room. He met her gaze with his own, and his eyes were intense but his expression was unreadable. Mac felt her heart racing, and she was sure that her cheeks must have been turning pink from the heat she felt there. She tried to think of something to say to defuse the intensity of the moment, but she suddenly felt nervous and words failed her. Before she could gather her thoughts, Zeke had released her hand and was turning to join the group of dragon shifters that was already following Raven down the hallway.
Mac shut the conference
room door behind her and leaned against it, trying to catch her breath. She had to get a grip. She was commander of an army, for crying out loud. She couldn’t afford to lose her heart to someone right now. There was no time for romance, especially a romance with a man who was supposed to be helping her make a plan to ensure her army could stand up to whatever threat the evil shifters and wizards were sending their way.
Besides, Mac was pretty sure by this point that Owen had been right. Zeke was a tough man to crack. He did look at her with a certain intensity, but she wasn’t entirely sure whether that intensity could be attributed to romantic feelings or not. If she looked at his behavior as a whole, she didn’t have much reason to think that he had feelings for her. He had made several snide comments about the lack of good fighters in Falcon Cross, and Mac couldn’t help but take those comments personally. After all, she was the commander of the army. If there weren’t good fighters, she was most to blame. She knew she had good reasons for not training a legion of warriors before now, but still…something about Zeke made her second guess everything she’d ever done during her military career.
And then, with sudden, starting clarity, Mac realized why she was so upset by every remotely negative comment Zeke made. She wanted to impress him, and it hit her hard when he was not impressed by something she had done. It stung when he criticized the state of the army she had led for the last several years, not because she didn’t already know that there was room for improvement, but because she wanted Zeke to view her with admiration and respect. She wanted to impress him, but she could already tell that he was a hard man to impress.
The Commander and the Dragon (Redwood Dragons Book 3) Page 5