Chapter Four

Esha smiled at her sister. She and Savita had been raised with the same couple, and since there were no blood relatives on their realm, Savita was the closest thing she had to family.

“He’s…certainly interesting to look at,” Savita said.

Esha straightened and glanced over her shoulder at Kendrick. “He is.”

“Did he really fight the entity?”

“We came upon them in battle.”

“Did this mortal beat it?”

Esha hesitated. “No. That isn’t why I brought him. Look at him, sister. He isn’t wounded. He was slow to get up, but he has recovered quickly.”

“That’s what Zentha told me, as well.” Savita pressed her lips together as her gaze returned to Esha. “You want to bring him, a human, to Flamefall?”

“Absolutely, not. But he did have a point. We have a common enemy. He found the entity. It might have been luck, or perhaps he knows something we don’t. As much as it pains me to admit, we’ve had difficulties tracking this thing. I think it would be prudent to work with him.”

Savita was silent for a long moment. “You might have a point. Tell me more about him. Where is he from? Zentha said you found him near the border to Idrias.”

Esha had been dreading this. She sighed. “He claims to come from there.”

“So the dragons are gone?” Savita said, her eyes twinkling with interest. “The Conclave will love to know that.”

“Actually, he says he is a dragon.”

Savita’s smile vanished in an instant. “Does he truly think he can attempt to convince us he’s a shapeshifter? Everyone knows they don’t exist.”

“He can do magic.”

“You saw it?”

Esha blew out a breath. “No, but he repaired his clothing.”

“That’s simple magic. Shapeshifting is something altogether different.”

“There’s more. He can speak Rannoran as well as if he were born there.”

“How?” Savita demanded, her brows furrowed.

Esha shrugged. “He didn’t say. Someone from Rannora must have made their way across the border and taught him.”

Now that Esha was repeating everything, it sounded preposterous to her ears. Yet she couldn’t help looking at Kendrick again and wondering, what if ?

Savita walked around her. Esha followed her sister to where Kendrick waited at the pool. He greeted Savita with a hand on his chest as he inclined his head. She looked him up and down, no doubt noting that his garments differed from theirs.

“My name is Savita. It’s my job to determine what is best for the Rangers.”

Kendrick clasped his hands behind his back. “It’s nice to meet you, Savita. I’m Kendrick. Esha and her team came to my aid earlier.”

“Against the thing we’ve been trying to kill. Yes, I heard.” Savita raked her eyes up and down him. “That creature has wreaked havoc across our lands. We aim to stop it.”

“That is our goal, as well.”

Savita lifted a brow. “You say our , yet you’re alone. Where are the rest of your people?”

“Waiting to hear from me.”

“You also claim to come from Idrias.”

Kendrick glanced at Esha. “I doona claim it. It’s fact.”

“No one saw you come from that land.”

“I’ve no idea if they did or didna. I was intent on my quarry.”

Savita changed the subject quickly. “How do you speak Rannoran?”

His lips twisted ruefully. “I pick up languages quickly.”

“Is that so?”

Esha knew what was coming. She didn’t understand the need within her to demand her sister stop. She didn’t understand anything she had done since encountering Kendrick. She couldn’t explain her thoughts or reasonings, and it confounded her. Esha bit her tongue to keep herself silent even as Savita began to speak in Belanorise. Esha’s gaze locked on Kendrick. She saw his laser focus as he listened to Savita. By the third sentence, he seemed to relax.

Kendrick replied in the same language. “I am no liar. I speak the truth, and you have no reason to call my mother names since you know nothing of her.”

Esha released a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. She glanced at Savita to find her sister’s face slack with shock. It wasn’t every day that a Reader was drawn up short like that.

“Would you like to try another?” Kendrick asked in the human tongue. He looked to Esha. “What was that one?”

“Belanorise,” she answered without thought.

He nodded. “I like the Rannoran better. It flows nicer and is easier on the ears.”

To her surprise, Esha found herself fighting a smile.

Kendrick returned his attention to Savita. “I understand your hesitation. I’d do the same in your shoes.”

“You speak as if you’re used to being in charge,” Savita stated.

He shrugged. “You could say that. I want nothing from the elves other than to join forces and look for this adversary we’re both hunting. It’s attacked your people and mine. There may be things you know that I doona or vice versa.”

“And if we agree?” Savita asked skeptically.

Kendrick’s gaze briefly slid to Esha. “Then we work together. I can sleep somewhere separate. You never have to show me your location. Though I hope we’ll become allies in the end. Trust has to be earned. It can no’ be given.”

“I suppose I already know your thoughts,” Savita said to Esha.

Esha regarded Kendrick for a moment before she met her sister’s gaze. “I wouldn’t have brought him this far if I didn’t agree with his sentiment.”

Savita turned and walked a few paces closer to the waterfall. Esha found her gaze drawn back to Kendrick. He was watching her. She felt his gaze on her so many times, but it didn’t unnerve her as she expected. He seemed to be intrigued by her just as much as she was with him.

Savita turned on her heel and walked back to them. She halted in front of Kendrick. “We can’t abide lies. You claim— ”

“I doona claim anything. I speak the truth,” he replied bluntly, his tone clipped with the barest hint of anger.

Savita’s eyes blazed with ire. “No one interrupts me.”

“Then stop alluding to me being a liar. As I told Esha, I believed elves were a myth before today. There are things out there you may no’ believe in, but they are verra real.”

“Like your assertion that you’re a dragon?” Savita fired back.

The tension was growing higher. Esha glanced at the Rangers around her. They were too far away to hear the conversation, but they seemed to sense the change between Kendrick and Savita.

“You want to see the truth? Fine,” Kendrick said and turned to stalk away.

Esha started after him, even as she told herself not to.

Kendrick suddenly whirled back to face them. He raised his voice as he said, “Doona say I didna warn you.”

With that, he was gone, replaced by an enormous dragon. Esha gasped, her gaze traveling up and up and up until she met the beast’s sapphire eyes. She took a half-step back before she could stop herself. Her breathing was loud, even to her ears. She hadn’t remembered drawing her sword, but it was in her hands.

The dragon did nothing. It simply stood there, watching them. Esha had seen Kendrick change into the dragon, but her brain had difficulty processing the truth of it. Shifters weren’t real. Yet one stood before her now.

She gazed at the dragon as her curiosity pushed past the fear. Deep reddish-brown scales the color of sienna glistened with a metallic sheen in the sun. The scales were narrow over his body, growing into thick plates down his spine. The ones on Kendrick’s belly were curved and a shade or two lighter than the rest of him.

Her gaze returned to his head. It was angular, with two twisting horns that curved slightly outward. She spotted two teeth poking from either side of his mouth, sending another spiral of fear through her. Then she remembered that he could’ve killed her at any time. But he hadn’t. She returned to her perusal and followed the scales down his long, barbed tail. Then to his four limbs and the incredibly long talons. His wings were folded against him, but she wanted to see them.

“Can I see your wings?” she asked.

Kendrick immediately unfurled them. Esha was taken aback by the sheer size of them, but they would have to be massive to let him fly.

In the next instant, he was back in human form. Esha couldn’t find words as he walked to her and Savita. It was only then that she looked around at her squad. Everyone had drawn weapons. Some had surprise and fascination on their faces, but a few didn’t hide their derision.

Esha swung her gaze back to Kendrick to find him standing before her, his hands clasped behind his back once more. She swallowed, a thousand questions tumbling through her head.

“Can all dragons shift?” Savita asked.

Kendrick slid his gaze to her. “Nay.”

“What makes you different?”

“I’m a Dragon King.”

Esha heard the words and knew they fit him to perfection. How could she know that? She’d just met Kendrick. Had she somehow known deep within her subconscious that he was different? Was that why she wanted him to meet Savita? Was that why she’d considered working with him to hunt the entity?

She couldn’t answer those questions, though she knew Savita would ask her the same things later.

“I’ll leave now and never return if you ask it,” Kendrick said. “However, I think it beneficial for our two societies to work together. If I stay, I’ll share about the dragons and the Kings and hope you will impart the same about your culture.”

Savita swallowed as she contemplated his offer. “Things might have gone a lot different if you had shown Esha your other form earlier.”

“That’s my true form,” Kendrick explained.

A dragon. There was a real dragon standing before her, one that could shapeshift. Esha could hardly believe it. Her heart had yet to stop racing. It would be ridiculous to turn him away. He could very well have as much magic as the elves, which could only help in stopping their shared foe.

“Yes,” Esha said. “We accept.”

“Esha!” Savita snapped.

She turned to her sister. “You know it’s the right call.”

“I’ve not consulted the runes.”

“Read them then. But you’ll get the same answer.”

Savita’s eyes narrowed as she glared. Her voice lowered to the barest whisper as she said, “You’re overstepping, Ranger .”

“I know my position. And yours. I’m not questioning or challenging you. You’ve not fought that thing. You have not seen how easily it took down the Rangers. And an alliance is always a good step.”

Savita’s nostrils flared, though she kept her expression passive. She directed her words to Kendrick but never took her eyes off Esha. “We will track with you, but you will remain far from us. You’ll not be allowed entry to Flamefall under any circumstances.”

“I accept,” Kendrick said.

“As for you,” she said to Esha as she took a step closer, “we’ll discuss this later. In private.” Savita turned on her heel and stalked away.

Esha blew out a breath and motioned for Kendrick to follow. She hated arguing with her sister, and Esha usually went out of her way to prevent such altercations. But this time was different. She felt it in her bones. Though she probably shouldn’t have spoken before Savita read the runes.

“There’s tension there,” Kendrick said as he caught up with her.

She shrugged. “Siblings fight. Didn’t you bicker with yours?”

“I didn’t have any brothers or sisters.”

Was it her imagination, or did she hear a note of longing in his voice? She was already feeling too much when it came to the Dragon King. Perhaps she should have someone else track with him. Then she considered everything he could share about his world, and she quickly forgot that inane thought.

She sheathed her sword and looked ahead. In the next heartbeat, she glanced back at him. He was a shapeshifter. A real dragon. A Dragon King .