Alyse shifted on the bed, her eyes showing a kindness that had me relaxing a little. "What do you know about rogue shifters?" she asked; her words sent tension through me.
What could I say? Was it another trap? That’s what I came to believe my meeting with those three dragons was, a trap. Why else would they have gotten away so easily? Another of the King’s cruel jokes to have people turn on me if I admitted the truth. Well, I was done playing his games!
"Rogues object to the King’s rule. They are tired of the way he runs things and want to overthrow him. The King doesn't tolerate consorting with rogues.” I paused before adding with a little snark. “If you work for the King, tell him I’m done with his games.”
She smirked at me, eyes lit up with mirth. "I don’t work for the King, so you can relax. What you think is only half true. Rogues want the King dead, but not for the reason you've been told. The King is not our rightful one. He killed the true rightful King fifty years ago and has controlled our kind ever since. He does what he likes, when he likes, with no backlash.
“Rogues are the shifters and humans alike who banded together for one cause. To dethrone him and put someone there who is more suited for such a task."
"Like who?" I didn’t mean for my voice to sound so full of skepticism, but in my opinion, power corrupted. Look at the King. People used to speak of his kindness, but what I endured was no kindness. Who was to say the next King wouldn't be just as evil, just as sadistic? Then again, a new King would have to rule after I'd killed the King, and I doubted I’d be around long enough to see who that is. Once I killed him, those loyal to him would surely arrange for me to be killed quickly.
"Never you mind. We have a plan, and a backup plan and yet another plan if that doesn't work. For now, tell me your story. Who are you and how did you come to be near our camp?"
I hesitated, unsure if I should reveal everything before deciding, Screw it. What have I really got to lose? "I helped a dragon after it hurt itself. The King's men saw and took me into custody claiming I was aiding a rogue dragon, though I had no clue that’s what he was. All I saw was a dragon in pain and felt I had to help. Somehow, I’m not sure how, I healed his wounds, and he took off. That was all. Though that didn't stop the King from keeping me locked away for days, whipping me, starving me, and killing my mother because I couldn't tell him what I didn't know.” My anguish was so strong I almost didn’t continue my story, but I pushed through, needing to get everything off my chest and trusting that Alyse wouldn’t judge me for it. “After my mother's burial, I ran. I knew if I had stuck around, he would have killed me. The past couple of weeks I’ve been living in the forest, feeding off what the land has to offer when I stupidly ate what I thought were just berries. Unfortunately for me, they were holly. I tried to make myself throw them up, but I must have ingested more than I anticipated. I'm guessing you found me after I passed out?"
She offered me a knowing smirk. "A few friends of mine found you passed out and barely alive. Unfortunately, they had to leave, but they'll be back soon, so you can meet them then. You've actually been unconscious for days.” She frowned, a crease of concern across her forehead. “We thought we were going to lose you there for a while, but then you started to murmur in your sleep, saying ‘I have to get back’ before glowing a brilliant white light. When it dissipated, you were completely healed. How did you do that?" she asked me, her head tilted in blatant curiosity.
I shrugged my shoulders, avoiding eye contact and choosing to stare blankly at my hands instead. "Honestly, I’m not sure how I did it. It's never happened before. I guess I’m just a freak of nature," I told her.
"Well with us, that doesn't matter. We're a mix of dragons from each clan plus humans who were rejected for not being able to shift. There are over two hundred of us living here in peace. We tend to move around a lot, but for now, this place is home.” She paused, looking down at me with a stern expression. “I'm willing to offer you a place with us. All that I ask is that you do your part to contribute to the whole. We have a variety of day to day jobs, and we all take part, even the children. If you can't do that, well then you can move on. I would like to mention though, we may be able to help you control some of your healing powers. One of the humans among us has heard of such tales among the dragons and has offered to share his wisdom."
I thought over her offer, and an idea popped into my mind. If they were truly a rogue camp, then they would have warriors or fighters among them. They could teach me to fight. And the fact of the matter was, I’d need all the help I could get if I wanted to take on the King by myself and survive.
With my mind made up, I put up a mask of determination. "I'll stay, but I want to learn how to fight. I’ll do any other jobs you wish me to, just as long as I learn how to protect myself. I don't ever want to be that weak in front of the King again."
My heart was more than determined to keep myself from such heartache again. I wouldn’t let myself become prey to the King again.
She pursed her lips, looking ready to argue, but must have seen the determination in my eyes because she dropped her head in defeat. "Very well. I’ll train you to defend yourself, but if our leaders come back and decide you must stop, you’ll have to accept that. They do what’s best for the camp, and they may decide that your skills will be better used elsewhere. Now, how about a tour?"
She climbed to her feet, offering me a hand, and I took it shakily, unsure of how steady my feet would be. Surprisingly, I stood without an issue and let go of her hand, stretching out my limbs. All my joints were far too stiff from being still for so long. Alyse opened the flap of the tent, letting me go first to bask in the warmth of the sunlight.
All around me, beige tents of varying shapes and sizes were littered across a vast field. I hadn't realize just how big it was out there. Then again, running in fear of your life makes you lose sight of the little things happening around you.
Alyse walked us around, pointing out each section of tents to me. There was a section for healing, fighters, families, the sick and injured, and even prisoners. I was glad not to be placed there because if I had, I may have lost my shit to an extreme level. Instead, she pointed out a massive tent on the edge of the forest and told me I would have a tent near there. My closest neighbors would be the healers.
Dragons from each clan co-mingled among the people, and it left me reeling. Hearing about it was one thing, seeing it was a whole other story.
This was exactly what our kind should be like. Sitting around peacefully, enjoying each other’s company, not fighting over petty disputes that could be solved with real leadership.
Alyse led me to the back of the tents where two dozen steers grazed in a small fenced-off paddocked area. How did they all survive on so little? She said there were over two hundred people here. Shouldn't that require way more than two dozen cattle?
Alyse laughed at the look of confusion on my face. "I can tell by your expression, you’re a little confused by our eating arrangements. Unlike the King, we have found a way to sustain ourselves off the land. We still eat meat daily, but we no longer need it at every meal. Those who are still new to our lifestyle have trouble with this, but we encourage hunting in the wild rather than using our stock. We do however, use the herd when one of us has been injured, to enhance healing."
Raised in the clan, we’re told we have to eat meat with every meal if we want to remain strong. It would be a refreshing change not to have to rely on meat at every meal, not that I actually did back in the village. But still, maybe we would be able to sustain ourselves more and make food go further among our clans.
Alyse led me to my tent near the back of the tepee. It was small, but had a few furnishings that made it comfortable. A bed area was placed up against the wall with furs laid out to soften the hard ground. Then there was a basin by the flap of the door filled with water for washing along with some herbal oils to perfume the water with. Beside it rested a small shovel, and I immediately grimaced knowing there wasn’t a
ny internal plumbing. What I wouldn't have given for a flushing toilet right about then.
"I know it's not much, but it will keep you safe. The huge tent just across the path? That's our leaders’. They're currently away, but they'll be back in a week's time, and I’m sure they'll want you close to them, so they can keep an eye on you until they know they can trust you."
"So, you don't trust me?" I asked Alyse, feeling hurt. I had thought I might have made a friend in her.
"It's not that I don't trust you, I do. My gut tells me you’re going to be needed around here, but our leaders...well, let’s just say they've been known to have trust issues."
I’m not sure how much I liked that, knowing I’d be near the leaders of this rogue group. After all they must have done something pretty memorable for the rest of the camp to follow them with blind trust. I planned to do some digging to find out just who they were and what got them to rise to such infamous positions.
Alyse left me to settle in, and I sat on the pile of furs, my arms wrapped around my knees as I thought about what to do next. She was letting me stay, to train and help where I could, but I couldn’t help the doubt about the leaders she spoke of; would they be just as vicious as the King? If they knew I helped rogues, would they be okay with it because they were rogues themselves? Were the very rogues I saved in this camp? How hard could it be to meet a blue dragon among a clan of rogues made up of golds, reds, and purples?
Two weeks passed after I was saved by the rogue camp. I spent most of my time learning to fight and trying to gain control of my healing powers. My contribution to the camp was healing.
I'd been with the healer, a wise old man by the name of Harold. I absorbed all the information I could, learning about each herb and tincture that could be used on our kind. He also happened to be the person who had an idea of what I was.
He told me stories of dragons throughout time that had a very minute lineage to the royals. They were able to do incredible things under extreme duress. He seemed to think that may be the case with me. "Abigail, you said your powers haven't activated when you needed them, so I can only conclude that you may never control them," he told me the very first day he revealed I may be part of some hidden lineage.
That still didn’t stop me from trying, though. I pushed myself each day in training with Alyse to hopefully activate them in pain rather than healing, but to no avail.
I meditated and concentrated on that place inside me, and on the tenth day of training, I found it. A ball of electric energy, sitting inside me untouched. But, no matter how much I coaxed, it wouldn't budge. I still kept trying, but the most I’d achieved was a slight static electricity running over my skin. When I told Harold, his eyes lit up in pride.
"Very good, Abigail. You may yet be able to access your powers."
After that day I was ecstatic, I might finally be able to do something to help my fellow dragons. Healing might be undervalued, but I just thought of how much good I could do. Plus, my natural healing seemed to get faster the more I meditated.
Alyse had been training me to fight. The first day, she brought out a sword convinced I wouldn't learn unless I was under duress. Her sword took me by surprise. It was a beautiful steel, with a jewel-encrusted hilt. I tried to pick it up once after Alyse offered it to me, but I couldn't. It was like something was forcing me to back away from it before I even got close. I tried to push past the compulsion, and I got close enough to touch it before an unseen force threw me through the air and had me landing on my back with a groan.
When I questioned what it was, Alyse grinned. "Family heirloom."
That’s it. No explanation, just a quick one liner before she threw me into training. I had to learn to dodge, weave, and retaliate after she came at me either with her sword or remove a wooden one, when it became clear I wasn't so good at ducking.
She was pretty impressed by how fast I learned, though. After ten days of training, I had sufficiently learned how to block her and throw her on her ass. The more I worked with my healing energy, the more my skills showed on the training field. Today, a fair few of the warriors in the camp had gathered to watch Alyse and I face off. She thought I was finally ready to fight her. And, I was. My energy thrummed inside me as one of the others prepped my armor.
The nervous energy inside me spiked, knowing I was about to fight one of the fiercest warriors their camp had. Harold explained that Alyse and her family went as far back as the original protectors of the royal families. Since the royals were wiped out, her family left the new King, refusing to serve such a cruel man. Now, I was about to face down with the last living heir of the guardians.
The sound of steel rang through the arena as Alyse ran her sword across a sharpening stone. We weren't meant to actually hurt each other, but those around us were spurred on by the promise of violence. Then again, what did I expect from a group of dragons? Even the thought of battle had my heart racing in anticipation.
We met in the middle, and the crowd around us quieted as Joel came out to stand between us. "You know the rules. First to forfeit or be unconscious loses. No dirty fighting." He glared at me as if I would be the one to fight dirty. Then again, if it was against him, I probably would. Hell, I already had. I fought him first when Alyse was satisfied I was excelling in training. Safe to say, I wasn't what he expected. I tripped him with my wooden sword before knocking him out in thirty seconds flat.
I should have lost to him because since then, he'd been a right pain in the ass. He kept appearing from nowhere, a permanent glare in place. It was starting to make me uneasy. Why couldn't he just get over it and move on? Men. I swear if a woman outsmarted them, they sulked for years.
Once Joel was back on the side, Alyse made her move, lunging at me. I lifted my sword up, and my hand was jarred by the force of her sword striking mine. It slid down mine, and she spun behind me, kicking my leg out from under me and sending me rolling. I used my momentum and jumped to my feet, just in time to block her thrust toward my chest. I kept the thought that we weren’t supposed to kill each other at the forefront of my mind as I rose up on the offensive. She blocked each swing and strike I made before flinging my sword out over the ground a good meter away from me. She swiped her sword across my uncovered arm, drawing blood with a smirk. "I thought you were ready for this, Abby. Maybe I overestimated your potential."
I frowned, feeling defeated when a new energy swept across the field. It had my own energy reacting in kind, and I climbed to my feet, determined. "It's not over yet."
I rolled away, landing in front of my sword as I heard Alyse behind me. I spun, my sword raised and power flowing through me. Her eyes widened when she met mine, but she still tried her best to land her sword. I moved faster than I ever had before, dodging each of her blows with a smirk before I grew bored and attacked with renewed strength. My power pushed me, telling me to make her mine; show her just who she's dealing with.
Her sword went flying and landed beside me. She rushed at me, intending to grab her sword, but I swung my leg up and kicked her, throwing her back with unimaginable force into the stunned crowd. I don't know why, but the urge to reach out and hold her sword swelled within me, so I did just that, ignoring the gasps around me as the sword began to shine. I twirled the sword in a circular motion feeling its weight before meeting Alyse's eyes.
"I win."
Shock dominated her face before pride took over. Before she could say anything, a soft clapping began in the crowd. The tension rose around me, and I raised the swords in my hands feeling a need to protect myself. I laid eyes on a breathtaking, gorgeous man who parted the crowd from the opposite side of the field, his aura radiating power.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here." The gorgeous man walked toward us.
I couldn't help but gaze over his appearance. From his 6'2” height to his slim build that was solid muscle. His broad shoulders carried a black fur coat with ease even though it looked quite heavy due to its thickness.
I didn't see why
he required it in this time of the season, but from my times spent in the wilderness, it would come in handy during those chilly nights.
He wore a black shirt beneath his cloak, hiding some type of vest which was a dark silver, and black pants to match his hunter boots.
His handsome features included a pair of stunning purple eyes that sparkled in the sun's rays, his short black hair moved lightly in the gentle warm breeze that passed.
I noticed the large sword that stayed in place on his hip, the sheath had an intricate design in silver and purple. I could sense the power pulsing within the sword, adding to the aura of power that flowed off the man before he reached us in no time.
"What did the forest deliver to us, Alyse? I wasn't informed that we accepted strays."
I frowned at his remark, standing straighter as I faced his clear demonstration of power.
"For a stray, I at least have the common sense to introduce myself before flinging insults. Or, did you skip the lesson in manners?" I boasted, narrowing my eyes.
"You don't deserve my introduction."
"You don't deserve to state your opinion of what I'm entitled to. I'm a stray, remember?"
"Why you little–"
"Enough, Raphael. I've raised you properly to respect all living things. You will show respect to Abigail just as you respect everyone else in this village," Alyse interrupted.
Raphael, huh. Talk about a pain in the ass.
"What is she doing here, Alyse? We don't allow newcomers, and I wasn't informed about this," he huffed, stressing the idea that no one had possibly informed him of my unintentional arrival.
"How would we possibly get a hold of you? And, I don't believe her stay needed your dire attention." Alyse rolled her eyes.
"Is he always this rude?" I asked Alyse.
Raphael turned to glare at me. "Stop acting like you’re all that. Alyse clearly was being easy on you. There's no way someone as untrained, incompetent, and rude as you could possibly beat our chief."
Shattered Destiny (Reclaiming The Throne Book 1) Page 7