“I want more information on the tunnels themselves and also on dragon shape-shifting.”
Sandirr raised an eyebrow at those last words, but addressed the others first. “As I said during the meeting, my team didn’t make it far when we sneaked into the tunnels before, barely past the cavern at the base of the mountain that we believe leads into the interior. We got past the big dragon on guard down there and made the mistake of talking to human slaves scurrying about inside. We intended to free them.” His lips twisted into a frown. “We didn’t guess that at least one of those supposed slaves was a dragon in human form. We didn’t have a storm sword with us for that mission, and he turned back into himself and—” He swallowed, his gaze shifting toward the drab brown ceiling of the tent. “Lost some good men on that trip. We’d known it was a risk from the beginning, but we hadn’t known about the shape-shifting before then.” He shrugged. “We didn’t see many of the tunnels and didn’t get anywhere close to finding a route up to their headquarters. I told the king we would be better off learning to fly and cruising in through the entrance they use, but he didn’t think that sounded reasonable. He did refrain from sending another group in. At least he had until now.” His gaze shifted toward her, a crinkle in his brow. “Hadn’t he? I was wondering...” He glanced at Salena, who was standing next to the flap, looking more like a door guard than a trusted officer invited to a meeting.
Zala waved for her to sit on the open cot. Usually, a lieutenant wouldn’t be privy to such a discussion, but the storm sword gave her status that their army had never been designed to accommodate. When the gods allowed someone to make a functioning storm sword from the imbued ore, it was a rarity. As far as Zala could tell, it had to do with aptitude rather than intelligence or maturity, but it imparted something of a hero status on a person, whether they deserved it through their own experience and deeds or not. Most blade wielders grew to deserve it—or died and made it a moot point.
“My only orders for this month were to free the slaves in the mine,” Zala admitted. Even that had been more of a personal mission she’d been allowed to undertake rather than orders. “Since we finished that in the first three days and found a dragon prisoner, I thought we would attempt to exceed expectations.”
“Have you sent the king a message requesting permission to exceed expectations?”
“No, but I will.”
“Before or after we leave for this infiltration?”
She smiled. “After.”
It hardly mattered. The king was currently deep within tunnels, a three-day walk from their present position, so the soonest she could receive orders back would be in six days.
“You don’t think it would be wise to take your prisoner back to him and see if he agrees with your plan?” Sandirr asked.
“You want me to show a dragon the tunnels?”
“No, I guess he would have to wait here while you went back. Or perhaps sending a message and waiting for a reply would be best.”
“I don’t think we can wait. We were attacked by another dragon on the way here. I think they’re able to track him by that collar. If his brethren succeed in killing him, then we lose our resource.”
“Hm, and we can’t remove the collar because then he would turn into a dragon and fly away.”
Zala did not know if Talon would stick to their deal once he shifted into his true form. He had said he would, but she had a hard time imagining a dragon remembering humbleness, as Talon had called it, once he had his power back. “That seems a likely possibility.”
“We could get some chains, try to bind him so he couldn’t escape as a dragon.”
“Even if chains could hold a dragon, which I doubt, he could simply shape-shift into a mouse and scurry away.”
“True point.”
“I’m also not positive that I can free him,” Zala said. “He seems to believe my sword will be able to cut off his collar. That’s the only reason he’s here, I’m sure.”
Salena stirred, opening her mouth. But she glanced at the colonel and closed it again without speaking.
“Say what’s on your mind,” Zala told her, certain the young woman would have spoken if they had been alone.
“I’m just not sure that’s the only reason.” Salena bit her lip and studied the ground. “He seems, ah, charmed by you.”
“Charmed?” Sandirr sat up, swinging his feet to the packed dirt and flattened grass. “General?”
Her cheeks heated. She wouldn’t have invited Salena to speak if she had known this would be the topic. “What, Sandirr?” she asked lightly, waving a hand as if to dismiss the notion. “You don’t think men can find me charming?”
“He’s not a men. And, no offense, Zala, but charming isn’t the word that comes to mind when I think of you. You threatened to cut off the prince’s penis when he propositioned you at a dance.”
Even more heat pounded Zala’s cheeks. “That was ten years ago, Sandirr.” It had been before the dragons came, and it seemed another lifetime ago. “And I didn’t threaten to cut it off. Just... mangle it a bit. He was a sixteen-year-old ass at the time. He needed more people to threaten to mangle him.”
“Nevertheless, you haven’t grown more charming in the intervening years. I don’t mean to imply that you’re unattractive, but, ah...” Well, that was something. Sandirr’s cheeks appeared a touch red as well.
“Maybe I used the wrong word,” Salena said, “but he’s definitely, uhm, excited by the general. And he doesn’t seem to have eyes for anyone else.” Her expression, still fixed on the ground, grew wistful. At least she didn’t glower at Zala this time.
“Oh. Huh.” Sandirr scratched his jaw. “That’s somewhat interesting actually.”
“Glad to hear it,” Zala said, not that she meant it. This was not what she had wanted to discuss.
“I’ve known that they eat our food when they’re in human form. But I hadn’t guessed that they developed human urges and were, for all intents and purposes, human.”
Yes, Talon had been pressing his intent and purpose up against her in the tent.
“He’s been in that collar for a year,” Zala said. “He may have had time to become more human than one that simply took the form for an hour or a day.”
“Possibly, yes. And I suppose it could even make sense that he would be attracted to someone with your rank and talent.” Sandirr pointed to her sword.
“My rank and talent?”
Salena looked up, regarding Zala curiously.
“Yes, as far as we know, the dragons choose military and political leaders largely by who’s most powerful or who appears most powerful. It’s believed that plays into mate selection as well.”
“Great.” Zala kept her tone flat and unenthused, but there might have been a part of her that found the idea appealing, since she had a lot more “rank and talent” than she had beauty.
“So a lieutenant would never attract a dragon?” Salena asked.
“You needn’t sound so disappointed. We don’t want to sleep with our enemies.” At least we shouldn’t want to, Zala amended silently. “Not when those enemies have slaughtered over half of our people and left all of our cities in rubble.”
“I know, but... no, you’re right.”
“I don’t know,” Sandirr said. “In this case, maybe you should sleep with him.”
Zala blinked. “What?”
She couldn’t believe Sandirr was suggesting she have sex with Talon. They never spoke of sex, even when off duty. He had a wife back in the tunnels, one he was faithful to, so he never cavorted with camp followers, and he usually stayed out of the business of those who did.
“If you did, maybe he would think fondly of you—and those in your command—afterward. After you free him.” His eyes narrowed. “If you free him. I still don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I know. I listened to your argument in the meeting.”
“We could keep him a prisoner indefinitely. It would be infinitely easier to extract informa
tion from him while he’s in human form than when he’s a dragon. Hells, you could even make him your lover and get information in bed instead of through interrogation. I don’t care, so long as we get it.”
“I made a deal with him, Colonel,” Zala said, using his rank and making her tone cool so he would know she did not intend to discuss it further. “He’ll show us how to get through those tunnels, we’ll kill the dragon king, and then I’ll find a way to free him. I don’t go back on my word.”
Sandirr sighed. “I know you don’t. But just remember that we have no idea who he is. What if—what if he’s one of the really bad ones and letting him return will result in the deaths of thousands more of our people?”
Zala struggled to keep the bleakness off her face. She did know who he was, and she feared exactly what Sandirr suggested might come to pass. Why hadn’t she thought more carefully before freeing him from the mine? Before making her deal? Unfortunately, she had not, and she couldn’t go back on her word, not even to a dragon.
“Then I’ll have to kill him the next time we meet after I free him,” Zala said firmly, though the memory of her last battle with Aristalonis the dragon came to mind, the fear she’d felt when she’d tried to lure him into her trap, the way he’d evaded her best attempts to kill him, the power with which he’d knocked her from that rooftop. Would he hesitate to try to kill her at some future meeting? Because they’d known each other briefly as humans, as captor and captive? Maybe she would have an opportunity to finish what she hadn’t been able to then. Or was it possible that she would be the one to hesitate, because of their time together? That he would have the opportunity, the opening that would prove fatal to her? She could die under his claws, knowing she had done something she had so rarely done before, let her feelings get in the way of being a good soldier.
“What is it you wanted to know about dragon shape-shifting, General?” Sandirr asked. “You asked about that too.”
Zala pulled her mind back to the moment. “Do you know anything about that collar? I’ve wondered if he has any magic. Does it stifle it completely? Or is it only muffled? Could he contact his people if we took him with us into the tunnels?”
“Took him with us?” Sandirr’s brows rose.
“I originally asked him to draw a map, but I thought it might be safer to take him along to guide us.”
Actually, that had been Talon’s idea. She was reluctant to admit that, as she was reluctant to admit his real name. Sandirr might think her a total fool and might even take steps to try and stop this mission of hers. He might even be right to do so, but they had so much to gain if they could succeed. If the dragon king was killed, they might fight among themselves for a while, with several candidates wanting to be in charge. That would only be good for her people, especially if they could find that portal and destroy it, ensuring no more dragons could come through into her world. Or maybe, as Talon had suggested, if her people struck a mighty blow to the dragons, maybe they’d be willing to consider a treaty.
“I suppose if he was chained and had a sword held to his neck,” Sandirr said. “I have seen those collars before. I believe it does what he says, cutting them off from all magic. If he could telepathically reach out to others, he might have been able to call to one of his own kind from that mine. Assuming he’s not so vile that none of his own people would help him.”
Yes, that was a good point. Given who Talon had been, he ought to have had some loyal troops who would have helped him if they had known where he was, even if it meant their king’s disfavor.
“Do you think the one who put it on him could track him by it?” Zala asked. “Follow our movements?”
“That I do not know.”
Zala still did not know if that other dragon had been tracking him by the collar or had simply been watching them from the sky with sharp eyes, following them that way.
“We’ll risk it,” she decided, tapping the pommel of her sword. “If they come at us—at him—one at a time, then he’s bait, right? And it would be difficult for them to reach us in the tunnels, anyway.”
“What do you think he’ll be able to do if he comes with us?” Sandirr asked. “That a map couldn’t do?”
“For one thing, we don’t know how accurate of a map he would draw. If he leads us personally, by sword point if need be, we know we’ll get through.”
Sandirr sighed but did not object further.
“Get some rest,” Zala said. “We’ll head for the tunnels in the morning, get as close as we can to the jungle and their mountain before coming up. I’ll—”
An irritated buzz thrummed through her fingers. Her sword. She stared down at it. Even though it hung in its scabbard, she knew it was glowing.
Salena stood up. “I felt it too.”
“What?” Sandirr asked. “Dragons?”
“More than the one we have in camp, yes.” Zala’s sword hummed in Talon’s presence, but only weakly, as if it knew he was collared and not much of a threat. She strode outside, fearing that other dragon was nearby and intended to attack again.
Chapter 9
When the tent flap stirred, Talon knew right away that it wasn’t Zala. That his visitor wasn’t human at all. Even with the collar on, he could sense the powerful aura crackling in the air around the intruder, an intruder who came in the form of a black wolf.
Green eyes peered at him curiously, glowing softly in the dim tent. Talon hadn’t bothered to light a lantern—he had preferred the darkness, since he had lain on Zala’s cot after she left and had rubbed himself in frustration and the need for relief. She had left him so painfully aroused that he had been able to think of nothing else.
Fortunately, he had since finished and locked his libidinous human appendage back into his new trousers before this intruder showed up. He rolled out of the cot and faced the wolf. He did not think he needed to reach for a weapon—not that there was anything in the tent that would harm a dragon, even one shifted into another form. Those green eyes were familiar.
They flashed as they met his, the glow brightening the tent briefly. Sir? Is it really you?
“Good to see you, Merathosius,” Talon said, trying to twist his human lips and tongue to give sounds to the words that his people only spoke to each other in their minds. “I lament that I must speak to you this way, but I can’t project my thoughts or read any of yours.” He waved to the collar.
I know. The wolf lowered his head. The king used one on me for a time too. Because I protested when he took you.
“I’m sorry that being associated with me and my unpopular thoughts caused you harm.”
No, do not be sorry, sir. You’ve saved my life in battle. I owe you much. Your... thoughts are—were—strange to me, but I would stand up for you, no matter what. Others would too. After I was released, I told the rest of our unit what had happened. We tried to find you, and I think the king realized we were trying. He sent us to the next closest continent, to take some of the human cities there. We’ve only recently returned.
“I understand.” Talon held back the admonishment that rose in his mind, the disappointment he felt that others continued to destroy human settlements. He couldn’t appear too sympathetic to them, or even his comrades of old would question his sanity.
I’ve found that in our absence, there has been some strife in Mount Slash. Among the ruling class. Not everyone was happy when Hul proclaimed himself king. Others feel they deserve the title more. Also... Merath lifted his furred head, the green eyes gazing steadily at Talon, an oddity in the black wolf’s face. There are some, especially among the soldiers, who feel you would be a good option. Or would have been. Hul has spread rumors that you died in prison.
“I’m sure he would have liked that, since I never caved and agreed to his whims.”
Merath hesitated. Talon reminded himself that Merath had been doing the king’s whims, or at least loyally following orders handed down from above. He had best not condemn his old comrade, not if he wanted his help. Talon hoped tha
t was why Merath had come. He had a hard time believing his former lieutenant would have turned assassin, the way Semptrusis had.
He let it slip that you were still alive when he was complaining about the human raid on the mine, Merath said. He admitted that you were captured. Hul wants you dead, so you can’t be a source of information for them.
“I gathered that when he sent his sister as an assassin.”
She’s already been here? Merath looked warily around the tent, as if the powerful dragon might be hiding under the table.
“Yes. Zala—the humans fought her off. They have storm swords.”
Yes, two of them. I sense them right here in this camp. They’ll know I’m here soon. I can’t stay long. Sir, come outside, and I’ll change out of this furry form. You can ride me away, and we’ll find someone who knows how to remove the collar. I know you would never give the enemy information, but there’s no need for you to stay here and be tortured.
Torture. Unless having Zala leave when he was aroused to a painful state could be considered torture, he could not say the humans had been doing that to him. He wasn’t even tied now. Had Merath noticed? Did he think it odd? Best to change the subject.
“Can you not cut through it with your claws?” Talon lifted his chin, portraying calm, though a tendril of fear had entered his chest, whipping his human heart into a rapid cadence. What would Merath think if Talon told him that he couldn’t leave, that he had made a deal with the humans? With Zala? Even now, in the middle of his unease, he caressed her name in his mind as he thought it, pleased to have been given it.
Merath came closer, peering up at his throat. If I shifted, perhaps, but I don’t think it will be so easy. The king did not want you freed. I wish I could, because I worry that Semptrusis will catch us before we can change you back. She would never dare fight you as a dragon, but in this form... The wolf’s nostrils twitched dismissively.
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