Chapter Two

Esha paused with her fellow Rangers to locate the being. After several moments, she realized it was gone. With a curse, she lowered her sword. That was when she remembered the human. She turned to face him.

He looked the worse for wear. His clothes—items she wasn’t familiar with—were torn and dirty from the scuffle. The simple shirt of royal blue looked too thin to protect him from anything, and his black pants were made of a thick material that she imagined made it impossible for him to move easily. However, she liked his thick-soled boots, though they looked heavy. His longish, wavy, black hair now held twigs and debris. Dirt smudged his face, but it was his vivid green eyes that caught and held hers.

When the call came that someone had spotted the entity, Esha hadn’t hesitated to take her squad after it. She had been shocked to find the human engaged in combat with it. They had encountered the presence before, and she had lost two Rangers during the confrontation. How had this human survived?

With a glance, she silently told her team to keep a lookout in case the entity returned. Esha didn’t sheathe her sword. She glanced at the trampled grass. The attack had covered a considerable area. She returned her gaze to the man. He was tall, his shoulders broad, and his face fair. He carried himself and the sword in his hand as if he were well acquainted with battle. It wasn’t that she hadn’t seen a handsome human before, but something about this one was different—something that wouldn’t let her look away.

Black brows slashed over his eyes. His nose was straight, his jaw firm. He had wide lips that were almost too full for a man. Suddenly, that mouth quirked up at the corners, which made her frown. She lifted her gaze back to his.

“How did you get here?” she demanded.

He tilted his head to the side.

She repeated the question.

He blinked.

The closest city was Rannora. He should know that language, but by the look on his face, it appeared he didn’t. She parted her lips, ready to ask in another language.

He responded in perfect Rannoran, “I walked.”

Esha snorted. “From Rannora? I’ll ask again. How did you get here?”

“Who are you?”

“The head of the Asavori Rangers.”

Damn if he didn’t grin wider. “Do you have a name?”

Everyone knew her name. She frowned. He didn’t look like any of the humans she had seen at Rannora or in Belanore. “If you know Rannoran, then you know the Rangers. Which means you should know who I am.” He was either teasing her or…he wasn’t from either city. She strode to him and put the point of her blade to his throat. “Who are you? How did you get here?”

“My name is Kendrick. I came from there.”

He nodded to where the border of the dragon land lay. She glanced into the distance to find the boundary quite a distance away. “You’re lying.”

“I doona lie.”

He said it in the language of the humans but with an accent she didn’t recognize. Around her, the team watched, waiting for her to make a decision.

Kendrick lifted his hands, palms out. “I take it you saw me being attacked?”

He had switched back to Rannoran easily. “Speak in your tongue,” she snapped. He left her disconcerted, and it wasn’t a good feeling.

“I’ve been tracking the thing I was fighting.”

She pressed the tip of her sword into his skin, causing a bead of blood to appear. “You? A human? You expect me to believe that?”

He studied her, almost as if weighing how to reply. “Did your eyes deceive you?”

No, dammit, they hadn’t. “The fighting is usually left to us.” She paused, searching his face and looking for any signs of deceit, but she didn’t find anything. Esha lowered her sword. “Return the way you came.”

“I can no’.”

She glared at him. “It wasn’t a suggestion.”

“I need to find that being.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll take care of it,” she said and turned away.

“I’m afraid that isna good enough.”

Esha spun back to find he had followed her. She lifted her sword again, but he didn’t back away as others usually did. “It will have to be.”

“I’m going to keep hunting,” Kendrick said.

Esha was about to force him onto dragon land. If he lied, then the dragons could take care of him. The simple fact that he stood before her seemingly unhurt made her reevaluate the situation. He’d survived the attack. He might be able to share something that could help her people. It would behoove her to find out before she made him leave. “Did you track it?”

“Aye.”

“Can you see it?”

“If I look out of the corner of my eye.”

She nodded. That was how they saw it, as well.

“There’s also a shift in the air before it attacks,” he said.

Now that was something new. Esha pressed her lips together. Something about this stranger set her teeth on edge. He was too calm, too confident when faced with a squad of Rangers. Still, she couldn’t help but consider that he might be able to assist them. They had been trying to find the being for weeks without any luck.

“I can help,” Kendrick said. “We could work together.”

Ryul snickered, then cut Kendrick a look, his gold eyes narrowed with disgust. “You’re not a Ranger. We don’t work with outsiders.”

Esha agreed, but the adversary they had been tracking had left a trail of death in its wake. Dozens from both cities had been killed. The Rangers had been struggling to locate the entity for weeks without any success—until today.

The only difference was Kendrick, whoever he might be. Only a fool would send him off without using him. Esha hadn’t gotten her position by doing foolish things, and she wasn’t going to start now.

“Your weapon wasn’t much use,” she said. “You didn’t have it when we came upon you.”

“I have it now,” he replied .

She eyed him before she lowered her sword. He knew he wasn’t being completely honest, but she couldn’t determine what he was hiding or why. She wasn’t worried about him attacking them. They were Asavori Rangers, after all. Each of them had spent decades training before joining a crew. If he attacked one of them, the rest would take him out within seconds.

“You’re very sure of yourself,” she retorted.

He shrugged. “No more so than you or your warriors.”

Esha decided to take the decision out of her hands. “Someone else will decide your fate. Come.”

Kendrick smiled in response when others would’ve been quaking in their shoes—more proof that he wasn’t from their land of Shecrish. If he had come from Idrias across the border, then how had he survived the dragons? Or was he working with the entity he claimed to track?

“You may not be smiling when this is finished,” she told him.

Kendrick shrugged. “Lead the way.”

Ryul took point as they headed out. Esha brought up the rear. Kendrick fell into step with her. After several minutes, she couldn’t take his sidelong looks any longer.

“What is it?” she bit out.

His nose wrinkled. “My apologies. I’ve never seen anyone with ears like yours.”

“You mean you’ve never seen an elf.” It came out harsher than intended.

“Nay.”

There was no way he could be from Shecrish and have not seen an elf. That could only mean…shite. Was he really from Idrias? Did that mean the dragons were gone as the rumors suggested?

Esha was suddenly self-conscious of her pointed ears sticking out of her hair. When she glanced at Kendrick, he was looking from one Ranger to another. Then his green gaze swung back to her.

“I didna know elves existed,” he admitted.

“You’ll see many elves in Shecrish. There are a few mortals like you, but not many.”

“Shecrish? Is that a city?”

“Our area of land. It extends from the border where we found you, across to the far mountains to the east, up to the mountains in the north, and down to the sea in the south.”

He nodded. “Do you no’ approve of humans? ”

“It isn’t that. It’s more…” She paused, searching for the right word. “They don’t always agree with how elves live. We have our own ways that differ greatly from the humans’.”

Kendrick’s gaze moved to the plateau that loomed before them. “What do you do with those who wish to leave?”

“We send them to places where they will find those like themselves.”

“Do elves have magic?”

She eyed him. “Aye. Many different kinds.”

“Do the humans in Shecrish have magic?”

“Some.”

“Do you…allow it?”

Esha jerked her head to him and frowned, taken aback. “What a curious question.”

“It isna. No’ if you know what I do.”

“And what is that?”

He held her gaze. “Some are killing those with magic.”

She couldn’t comprehend such an act. “I dare them to come here, then. We are magic.”

“Good. That’s verra good.” Kendrick’s lips curled into a soft smile.

They walked for a while in silence. She noticed how he kept glancing at the plateau and the many waterfalls that fell from it. She watched him as they drew closer. Esha knew the instant he noticed the carved elves by the way he stopped and stared. She looked up at the creations where water fell from the mouths of the statues. The enormous figures were only on the west side of the plateau, set over a thousand meters apart.

“Beautiful,” he murmured.

Esha inwardly smiled. She had always thought so, too. No matter how often she saw the Sentinels, as her people called them, she never grew tired of the sight.

“Who carved them?”

She shrugged. “We don’t know. We call them the Sentinels.”

“What is the name of the plateau?” he asked as he looked at her.

“The Corrial Plateau. The mountains to the east are the Dangerous Peaks.”

“Interesting name.”

“They aren’t a place you want to go.”

Kendrick returned his gaze to the waterfalls. “Water must be plentiful in the plateau.”

“It rains nearly every day.”

“I see.”

She glanced to where the group had gotten ahead. “The land is full of dangers.”

“They usually are,” he murmured.

Ryul looked back at her, eyeing Kendrick with displeasure, but he said nothing. Esha knew she would have to come up with something convincing when they reached Flamefall. She might lead the Rangers, but she still answered to another. That someone just happened to be her sister, Savita. It was extremely rare for a guest to enter their sanctuary.

“Would it help if I were tied?”

She glanced at Kendrick. It was obvious he had paid attention to what was going on around him. “No.”

“I can wait here until you speak to whoever it is who will decide my fate.”

That would be a better solution than taking a stranger into their camp. Esha motioned for Kendrick to follow her. She looked at each of the five females and four males of her team, trying to determine who to leave with Kendrick.

They all followed her. They were all loyal. But she could see they weren’t sure of her decision. How could she tell them that her gut told her Kendrick could help? He was a human, and humans relied on elves. Would she really ask her Rangers to trust a mortal? It was absurd.

Esha waited until they had reached the base of the plateau before she made her decision. “Zentha, take half the squad and head to camp. The rest of us will wait here for your return with Savita.”

Zentha hesitated for just a second before she bowed her head of dark brown hair and called out half the squad to accompany her. Once they were gone, Esha turned to Kendrick. He stood at the edge of the pool at the base of one of the waterfalls. His head was tilted back to stare up at the cascading falls and the carving. Then he looked down at the bright blue waters below. When he turned back to her, she noted that his face and clothes were clean and repaired. Now she understood why he was pleased that they didn’t retaliate against those with magic.

“What kind of magic do you have?” she asked.

Kendrick twisted his lips. “All kinds.”

“Then a better question would be: What are you? ”

A flicker of something passed over his face. “I’m a friend. This I vow.”

“We’ll find out,” she warned. “But it would be better if you told me now.”

He took a deep breath, his shoulders rising before he exhaled. “I’m a dragon.”