“I give you my word that no harm will come to you,” Quint adds. “It will just be easier to get this out of the way so we can get into the real explanations you're owed.”
A feeling of foreboding crawls through my body and I feel a nervous tremor in my heart. But I simply nod and then turn back to Wyn – except that Wyn has started to change. His limbs elongate and his skin starts to peel away. It's all happening so quickly that my mind is having trouble processing it all.
What looks like wings – black and leathery – sprout from his back and unfurl. That beautiful face of his shifts, his neck and head elongating and sprouting a long snout filled with long, wicked looking teeth. His hands become thick claws tipped with terrifying looking talons, his smooth skin becomes something that looks like hard armor in a pale blue color, and a tail, long and serpentine unfurls from his body.
When his transformation is complete, he stands nearly nine feet tall and in all honesty, is majestic to look at. Gone is the beautiful Wyn I know and in his place is something that looks a lot like a dragon. But dragons don't exist. They're not real. My heart is stuttering so hard, I don't know if it's going to burst out of my chest or just stop beating altogether. Ashley and I cling to one another, the terror we're both feeling is palpable and when Wyn – or the dragon – turns its glowing blue eyes onto us, we both let out a scream so loud, it seems to shake the entire training house.
“W – what in the hell is that?” Ashley cries out. “What the fuck is going on here?”
I stare at it, adrenaline coursing through my veins, but as those glowing blue eyes lock onto mine and hold my gaze, I feel a familiar energy begin to slide through me. It starts to make the adrenaline and fear ebb and replaces it with something else – something sweet and pure. Something I know.
“It's Wyn,” I say. “That's Wyn.”
“The hell it is,” Ashley's keens. “I don't know –”
Leading Ashley by the hand, I walk her toward Wyn. She resists, but I pull her onward anyway. When we reach him, I hold my hand out and force Ashley to do the same. She's doing her best to pull away, but I refuse to let her. The dragon – Wyn – raises his paw, which is now massive. He moves it to a position hovering just over ours and lowers it. When he touches my hand, I shudder at the feeling of the rough, coarse armored scales that cover him – and long for the touch of his soft, smooth skin once more.
But what I feel next is exactly what I knew I'd feel – what I hope Ashley feels. And it's that calm, tranquil energy that flowed out of him before. That energy that took away our fears, that soothed us. As I look up and see him looking down at me, his blue eyes glowing softly, I feel Wyn's energy inside of me. Feel it coursing through me. And when I look over at Ashley, I see that her face and body have relaxed and I know that she feels it too.
Nodding, I step back, taking Ashley with me. Quint is standing beside us as dragon-Wyn lowers his hand and then shifts again, coming back to his human form. Ashley is looking at him with something close to awe in her eyes as he dresses quickly. I know it's not lust she's feeling – it's something almost reverential. And I know what she's feeling.
Seeing that Wyn exists – a dragon – it's like a real-life fairy tale coming true. We grew up on stories of knights and dragons and fairy princesses. We learned to believe in magic. But as we got older, those stories and that belief all faded away.
Now though, the entire game has changed and it's challenging everything we thought we knew. Thought we believed. We've seen magic. We've seen dragons. And I can't speak for Ashley, but I can feel those old, childish beliefs flowing back into me. I am starting to see things around me with that wide-eyed wonder I had as a little girl. And it sends a powerful wave of nostalgia washing through me. A sense of giddiness spreads through me and I have to keep myself from giggling.
I never realized how much I missed seeing the world through a child's eyes. Not until this very moment.
Fully dressed again, Wyn stands before me and takes my hand, the smile on his face small, but warm.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
I nod, still feeling a little entranced. “You're beautiful,” I say. “Just beautiful.”
Wyn casts a quick glance at Quint who is standing nearby, observing us in silence like an impatient father.
“A – are you all – that? Dragons?” I ask, my voice thick.
“Some of us are,” Wyn says. “Not all though.”
I nod as if it makes sense. Truthfully, none of it makes the first bit of sense to me. And yet, I'm strangely okay with that.
“We don't have a lot of time,” Quint says. “But I am the Warden for this territory. And these others are my Rangers and my Scouts. They keep this territory safe. They are charged with protecting you. You'll have time for individual introductions later, but for now, please follow me.”
Ashley and I fall into step behind Quint, with Wyn walking a step behind us. The gathering of people in front of us parts, allowing us to walk through. As we pass, I see them all looking at me with curious expressions on their faces. I have no idea why they're studying me so closely, but their scrutiny makes me feel awkward as hell.
After we pass, I hear a gruff voice behind me instructing everybody to get back to their training. A moment after that, music comes on and the activity I hear sounds a lot like a normal, everyday gym. We're ushered into what looks like a large conference room. There's a long, wooden table that's polished to a mirrored shine, and large, executive type chairs arranged around it.
And in those chairs are some of the people I'd seen in the gym before. They all turn and look at us as we walk in and another wave of self-consciousness washes over me. I'm an actress. You'd think I'd be used to people staring at me when I walk into a room. But somehow, this feels different from an audition. Very different.
There are three chairs at the end of the table – presumably set up for us.
“Kaitlyn, Ashley, Wyn,” Quint says as he takes us all in. “Please, join us at the table.”
I look to Wyn and his eyes widen in surprise for a moment, but he's able to smooth his face again, keep himself under control. I have no idea what it means to be asked to join the table, but it clearly means something to him.
We take our seats, Ashley on my left, Wyn on my right. Quint is seated at the head of the table opposite us and waits for us to get settled.
“Ladies,” Quint says. “Let me quickly introduce you to my senior Rangers – Zarik, Glyn, and Deyro. And my senior scouts are Ella, Vanessa, and Alexis.”
I look around the table as the introductions are made and notice that they all seem to be coupled up. Zarik with Ella, Glyn with Vanessa, and Deyro with Alexis. A hazard of the job with a shallow dating pool, I guess. I also notice that Quint didn't introduce Wyn as one of his senior Rangers – which makes me understand his want for Quint's approval a bit more.
“It's nice to meet you all,” I say.
“I really wish we hadn't had to meet,” Zarik said, a hint of laughter in his voice. “No offense.”
“It's not her fault that –” Wyn starts to say, his voice sharp.
“Wyn,” Quint cuts him off. “Relax. It was a joke.”
Wyn settles back in his seat, still glowering. Zarik is sitting there with an amused expression on his face, shaking his head. Although I don't like seeing tension between Wyn and his – for lack of a better word, co-workers – I'm flattered by his quick jump to my defense. It's sweet.
“Now then,” Quint says. “Kaitlyn and Ashley have many questions, but I suppose we should start from the beginning.”
And with that, Quint launches into a story that makes all of those fairy tales I read growing up sound like the most unimaginative stories I'd ever heard. His tale is fantastical, filled with wizards, dragons, and magic. And it leaves my head spinning – which, given what we've seen tonight, should be pretty damn hard to do.
And yet, somehow, it all makes sense. Even more than that, as I listen to Quint tell his story, it somehow, all rings
true. And given what I've seen, I find that I believe every word he says.
Have I gone completely mad?
Chapter Eighteen
Wyn
“So, that's it,” Quint says. “That's our plan – such as it is.”
“Not very elegant,” Zarik says.
Quint shrugs. “We don't really have time to come up with an elegant plan,” he replies. “Besides, that's really not our style anyway.”
“Smash and bash,” Deyro says, chuckling. “That's us.”
I turn to Kaitlyn and there is a look of fear in her eyes – but also one of steely resolve. She looks absolutely stunned by what Quint said, yet determined to do what she has to do. Quint and everybody else talk amongst themselves, ironing out wrinkles in the plan and looking for flaws. We're operating on the fly and don't have much time – and much less room for error. But we need to be as careful as we possibly can – the fates of two worlds are hanging in the balance.
“So, you're okay with this?” I ask.
She turns to me and gives me a smile I can tell isn't quite genuine – but she's trying.
“Of the two options – stay here and be sucked dry like a juice box, or go to this strange, alien world filled with dragons and maybe die a fiery death –”
“I'm not going to let that happen,” I say, putting as much confidence into my voice as I can.
“All I'm saying is that if I'm going to die, I'd rather not die waiting for some evil wizard guy to suck my dry.”
“You're not going to die, Kaitlyn,” I say softly. “I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I give you my oath as a Ranger.”
“You really shouldn't make promises you can't possibly be sure you can keep,” she says, her already small smile faltering even more.
The plan is for Deyro, Zarik, Ella, me, and Kaitlyn to go to Chondelai. Once there, I'll take Kaitlyn to my home with the River Clan and hide her. Between Nyro not being able to lock on to her energy here in the world of man and the magical warding of my people – which will undoubtedly be much stronger there – we should get a decent head start on him.
He'll eventually figure out that we've taken her off the board here though. Once Nyro figures out that she's in Chondelai, he will bring his army of Gahan and try to find her. And given that I've already fought with him once and he knows I'm River Clan, if he's smart, it probably isn't going to take him very long to figure out where we're stashing her.
He'll come to the River Clan lands and then hell will break loose. And once that battle is being fought, we'll be in the keep of the Shadow Clan where the plan is to smash the Deathstone and seal the Doors – and destroy the Ba’Chul once and for all.
If everything else goes wrong though, we have a contingency plan in place. Once we know that Nyro is in Chondelai, we'll get Kaitlyn back through the Doors and back into the world of man. If everything else goes to shit, the Doors will be sealed after her – cutting Nyro off from his seed and his power.
But it will also be trapping all of us, including Nyro, on the wrong side of the Doors – at least, those of us who don't want to stay in Chondelai.
If we can do that though, if we can prevent him from performing the Rites of Ascension and prevent him from ever becoming a true Ba’Chul, we'll have saved at least the world of man. After that, we'll have to see about saving Chondelai. He'll still be strong, but he'll be a lot easier to deal with if we don't let him power up.
Like Zarik said, not elegant, but hopefully effective.
“What about me?” Ashley says. “Where am I going to be in all of this?”
“You will stay here in the training house,” I say. “It's safer for you here. The Rangers and Scouts who remain will be able to keep you safe.”
Ashley looks at me and gives me a small grin. “But it might be my one and only chance to set foot on another world,” she says. “I kind of want to see it.”
“I don't think it would be safe,” I say. “This isn't a sightseeing trip. We're going into a battle.”
“And you're taking my best friend with you,” she says. “If anybody is going to keep her safe, it should be me.”
“I don't mean to offend you, but I don't think you're exactly – equipped to fight this battle.”
Kaitlyn turns to her and takes her hands. “Ash, I don't know what's going to happen. For all I know, I could die over there –”
“Don't you dare say that,” Ashley replies, her eyes shimmering with tears. “Just don't.”
“I don't want to, but it's true. And I really don't have a choice,” she says. “I have this – thing – growing inside of me and if this is the only way to ensure it doesn't become something that destroys the world, so be it. I'll be willing to give my life. But if anything happened to you – I couldn't live with myself. I just couldn't.”
The bond between the two women is strong and I can see their love for one another plain as day. It's a touching display and the emotional depth of what they feel is surprising to me. And yet, it also makes me realize that my feeling for Kaitlyn is quickly growing that deep as well.
It's surprising to me beyond measure. I never expected to feel anything for Kaitlyn – or anybody really. Especially not to this depth or degree. But – well, there it is.
“Please,” Kaitlyn says to Ashley. “Stay here. Be safe. Wyn is going to bring me back safe and sound. You'll see.”
Ashley sniffs and blinks back her tears. “You shouldn't make promises you can't possibly be sure you can keep.”
Kaitlyn smiles ruefully – apparently, having her own words tossed back at her feels like a slap in the face. But, they're both right. Promises of safety right now are foolhardy. I know that. Ashley knows that. And even Kaitlyn knows that.
But we tell each other those lies to keep our spirits up. To keep hope alive. To keep belief flowing. It's a very human thing to do – and one I find that I'm doing more and more lately. I never want to see Kaitlyn in pain or despair. I'll do anything I can to mitigate it – even if that means telling little lies we can both see right through.
“Is everything okay?”
I turn and see Quint standing beside us. I hadn't even heard him walk up. I look from the girls to the big Warden and nod.
“Everything is fine, Warden,” I say.
He motions for me to walk with him, so I stand and give Kaitlyn's shoulder a gentle squeeze before stepping way as she continues trying to convince Ashley that everything will be fine – knowing full well that she can't guarantee it.
“How are they holding up?” he asks.
I shrug. “Better than I expected, to be honest,” I say. “Kaitlyn seems to be taking this all in stride.”
He nods. “She's got strength in her.”
“When will we be going through the Door?”
“First thing tomorrow morning,” he says. “I want to give anybody choosing to stay in Chondelai one last night here.”
“That's kind of you,” I say.
He shrugs. “Some folks are attached to this place,” he says. “But a few don't want to lose their homes.”
“Why aren't you going?” I ask bluntly.
He looks around the room and sighs. “I've built a home here,” he says. “I have the club and I also have Astrid. She desperately wants a family and we're looking at adopting. She's everything to me and I'll never leave her.”
I nod as if I understand. And perhaps, part of me actually does. Though, it's a feeling I won't quite give voice to just yet.
“I also still feel an obligation to mankind,” he says. “There are still many things in this world they need protecting from – things that have crawled, flown, and slithered out of Chondelai. Sealing the Doors and pretending we don't bear some responsibility is turning a willingly-blind eye to the suffering our kind has caused in this world. And I will not stand for that.”
“So, once the Doors are sealed, you'll still continue to fight?” I ask.
He arches an eyebrow. “Won't you?”
It's a question I ha
ven't asked myself yet. One I hadn't even considered, really. The Council believes our mission is complete. And once the Doors are sealed, we're going to be on our own in the world of man. Cut off from Chondelai completely. Doesn't that change what we do and how we operate?
“I hadn't given it much thought, to be honest,” I admit.
“I think you should,” he says. “Because even after the Doors are sealed, we will be continuing on as normal. The Rangers who stay as well as the Children of the Dawn will still be fighting as if our mission hasn't changed – because to us, it hasn't.”
I nod and cast a glance back at Kaitlyn. Part of me wants to remain in the Riverlands with my Clan. Knowing that I'll never be able to go back if I come back through the Doors is giving me pause. Giving me a lot to think about.
“It's a big decision, but consider it,” Quint says. “Give it some thought. I will say this though, if you choose to stay here, I would consider it an honor to have you remain with us, continuing the fight. You're a skilled fighter, one of the best I have, and a valued member of this team.”
Without another word, Quint walks off, leaving me feeling wide-eyed and slack-jawed. That was the first time Quint had ever come close to giving me a compliment. And it fills me with a sense of pride I haven't had since I completed the Trials.
I look over at Kaitlyn again. She looks back at me and gives me a smile before turning back to Ashley and pulling her into a tight embrace. I stand there watching her, feeling utterly conflicted.
“Still weighing out the pros and cons, huh?” Deyro asks as he steps up beside me.
“Yeah, you could say that.”
“The way you look at her,” he says, “I'd say you have more in the pro column than the con column.”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
Deyro chuckles softly. “I think you do,” he says. “I see the way you look at her. But more importantly, I see the way she looks at you. Seems like maybe you've finally established a connection with somebody.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I say.
Baby for the Dragon (No Such Thing as Dragons Book 5) Page 12