Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

“Me?” Finn squeaked, heard it and tried again in a deeper tone. “Me? What in the world are you talking about?”

“They may have discovered you’re here, because you didn’t stay in the quarters I put you in. Instead, you broke out and went roaming the halls, disrupted a training session and got into a brawl with some of my soldiers.”

“I, uh, okay, that did happen,” Finn admitted, feeling a flush climbing up his neck. “But in my defense, you locked me in a room, and you still won’t tell me when I can get out of here. But what happened after that? Did my escape make the Dragon Nightly News or whatever?”

Jaz rolled his eyes. “No, Finn, but your romp around the castle probably spread like wildfire and made it to the Greengile, who, admittedly, gossip too much. We think they could have communicated the news in their minds to their Greenland kin.”

“They can do that? So the Greengile are more dragons, I presume? And they can use telepathy?”

“Yes. The Greengile can speak with each other that way, but they must be fairly close by. Someone in the Greengile must have been flying near the border between our two territories.”

“Isn’t that against the rules? You have those other guys on your radar and are going after them to stop them, if I’m right.”

“Yes, but while some Greengile live here, they aren’t in our clan—they’re separate and make their own laws.”

“Huh. The Parsmitt are separate too. Do they have Greengile who live with them?”

“Some.”

“How does that work?” Finn’s face scrunched. “You hate the Parsmitt and protect the Greengile yet some Greengile live with the Parsmitt.” Finn scratched the back of his head.

Jaz sighed. “We’ve had a tentative truce with the Parsmitt since the Third War. However, if they keep flying toward our borders, and trying to test us, we’ll consider it an extreme act of aggression and act accordingly.”

“Third War? What’s that?” Finn asked.

Jazdon rubbed at his chin. “You can visit Merlon to go over all the wars and skirmishes in our clan history.”

“Okay. But you’re not at war with the Greengile.”

“No, of course not.”

“Yet they’re spreading secrets about my being here to your enemies.”

“We don’t know that for a fact, but yes that’s more than likely what happened.”

“Why the hell would they be talking…or using telepathy…about me in the first damn place if they weren’t stirring up trouble?”

“A visitor is big news around here. We don’t have that many, as I suppose you can figure out. Merlon came over a hundred years ago.”

“I know. He told me, though I’m still processing that. A hundred years, Jazdon? All of this is too crazy to be believed. I feel like I’m the butt of some joke.”

“You’re not, and Merlon was telling you the truth.”

“Okay, supposing I believe you, and this is not all some mass hallucination—and I’m not saying I’m a hundred percent sure it’s not—are you telling me he was the last person to ever visit here?”

“The last human, yes. That’s big news, because we believe our survival depends on the humans not finding out that we exist.”

“And? What are you saying, exactly? You think that finding out about me is the reason the Parsmitt is on their way here?”

“Yes, we think so.”

“For what purpose? To-to kill me?”

“No,” Jazdon said, taking his hand. “No, and I’d never allow that anyway if those were their intentions. They must be interested in the same thing we are—your silence on our existence, and … damn it, I’m afraid the next part of what I have to tell you is not going to be easy to explain.”

Finn pulled back his hand, folded his arms and glared at him. “Try.”

Jazdon just gazed back at him, looking unaccountably nervous. After another moment, when Finn was pretty sure Jaz wasn’t going to answer, he sighed and tried another question. “Okay, then answer me this, at least. Who are the Greengile, exactly?”

“A dragon clan who are not affiliated with either Isatolia or Parsmitt, and completely impartial, refusing to take sides. They’re an ancient clan, and they’re the only dragon species still able to give birth. They either mate or act as surrogates not only with each other, but with both us and the Parsmitt.  But in recent years, the birth rate for all of us has dropped drastically, and no one seems to know why. If the Greengile know, they aren’t telling us.”

“Yet you count them as allies.”

“Yes, in a way. They’re certainly not enemies.”

“So don’t these Greengile know the Parsmitt monitor their telepathic communications?”

“Yes, but they think they should still have a right to talk to their families and if some of us on both sides eavesdrop, it’s on us, not them.”

“They’re not deliberately trading secrets.”

“No, not at all. They’ve always been a peaceful, non-aggressive clan. They’ve had internal struggles, but they’ve never shown hostility toward either us or the Parsmitt.”

“That you know of,” Finn pointed out.

After a moment of hesitation, Jazdon nodded.

“Okay, so let’s have it, Jaz. Tell me. Why this great interest in me?”

Jazdon hesitated again and then sighed. “We don’t know for sure, Finn. Maridous thinks it’s like we talked about earlier, but it’s only a theory. Because we haven’t had any new blood into our clan in many years. Merlon was the last, but he’s never had any children with a Dragon mate or used a Greengile surrogate. Not yet anyway. Maridous thinks if Merlon had children, and if we had other humans sharing their DNA too, our birth rates might rally and eventually increase. She argues that we’ve been secretive and reclusive for far too long, and the low birth rate is the result.”

“Merlon told me he used to be human. Is that how you think you’ll get this new blood?”

“That would be one way. Or the discovery of new Greengile. Some of the ancient texts say that Greengile once populated more than just the coastlines of Greenland and Iceland. There were once also branches of the clan in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.”

“So, if you could find some of them, they could bring in new blood too.”

“Yes, assuming they still exist.”

“Then you wouldn’t need any more humans—like me and Merlon.”

Jaz’s lips twitched. “Is this your way of saying you have no interest in sharing yourself with us either?”

“Um, yes?” Finn smiled at Jaz, leaning in a little closer. “You may have noticed I’m gay, and fyi, not into women, though I’m sure the Greengile are lovely people.”

“Mmm. If the theory is correct, and the Parsmitt get hold of you, you won’t have much input, I’m afraid.”

Finn eyes went wide. “You mean they’d force me?”

“Of course. They could keep you captive indefinitely and drug you or take your sperm to impregnate Greengile females by artificial insemination.”

“B-but that’s barbaric! It’s-it’s inhumane!”

Jazdon shook his head. “Parsmitt aren’t human, Finn. They don’t play by the same rules as you do. If it comes down to the continuation of their species and your ‘human rights,’ which do you think would win?”

“No fucking way! I’m not in these Dragon Wars of yours! I just want to go home.”

Jazdon tried to take Finn in his arms to soothe him, and after a momentary struggle, Finn sighed and gave in, allowing Jaz to hold him close. After a moment, Jazdon bent down a bit to look directly into Finn’s eyes.

“Finn, I know that’s what you want. But I’m afraid it’s not going to happen. You’ve seen us now. You know about things you never should have. I tried to keep you away from all of it while you healed, but you broke out and saw us anyway. We can’t just let you go now.”

Finn pulled away in anger, pushing at Jaz’s chest. “Oh, it’s all my fault now, huh? This isn’t right, Jaz, and you know it!”

“Knowing it and being able to change it are two different things. My father and I have the welfare of all our people to think about. What do you think the government of Iceland and other countries would do if they knew about us? Nothing good, I can guarantee you that. Humans fear what they don’t understand. And what they fear, they destroy. We just can’t take a chance on the annihilation of our people.”

“But you don’t know that for certain. Besides, I’d never breathe a word. I promise!”

“You expect me to bet the lives of all our people against your promises? Be reasonable, Finn. We barely know you.”

Finn turned his back on Jaz and stormed over to the window, gazing out at the Denmark Strait, as the icy waters between Greenland and the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve were called. He leaned his forehead against the cold, hard glass. Funny, but before he planned the trip to come here, he’d never realized Greenland belonged to the kingdom of Denmark. He thought it might be an interesting bit of trivia to tell his students when he went home and started teaching next year. But going back home was beginning to look extremely doubtful. He had to wonder if he’d ever see it again.

“I’d like to go back to my room now, if you don’t mind,” he said stiffly, without turning his head.

“Finn, please. Talk to me,” Jaz said from close behind him, but Finn never turned to look back.

“I don’t think there’s anything else to say,” he replied softly, finally turning from the window to give Jazdon a look of betrayal. “You seem to already have all the answers.”

Jazdon’s face looked stricken. “Finn, at least try to understand my position.”

“Why should I? Have any of you tried to understand mine?” Finn just wanted to walk out—get far away from Jazdon, because he didn’t have the right to look like Finn was stabbing him with knives.

Where Finn was concerned, he no longer had any rights at all.

****

Finn lay on his bed in his room, feeling damned sorry for himself. And furious, and frustrated and damn it, betrayed. When Jaz had come to his room earlier, he’d been joking with him about Merlon and being changed into a dragon. He never seriously believed him, not even for a minute. Then Jazdon had started all his talk about low birth numbers—as a result of trying to avoid inbreeding, he said. He realized now that it had all been bullshit.

If Jaz wasn’t crazy, and Finn himself hadn’t been infected by it, he had just told Finn they wanted both him and Merlon for “breeding” purposes. And not just these dragons of Jazdon’s but the Parsmitt too. As ridiculous and farfetched as that sounded, it had the ring of truth.

Jaz said the Parsmitt would drug him or force him to perform like some stud animal, all while keeping him locked up for the rest of his life. He’d kill himself before he allowed that to happen—but not before he took out a few of his captors.

Had that been behind Jazdon’s sudden interest in him all along? Why he’d kissed him and even made love to him? Had they been checking his ability to perform? The idea made him sick with fury, and he punched the wall by his head. Then he had nothing but his anger and a sore hand to show for his trouble.

He sat up on the side of his bed, tired of thinking about it, and fed up with this damn room. The door was unlocked. Jazdon had made a show of displaying that when he followed Finn back to his room, still trying to get him to talk to him. There was nothing to stop Finn from just walking out the door, finding a way out of this castle and heading back to the Nature Preserve. Where he could … what? Wait for the next boat to arrive? He roughly knew their schedule. It was possible. Maybe.

And once again there was nothing to stop him. Nothing except the security cameras no doubt trained on his door and the hallway outside. And Jazdon’s guards, who would be all over him like a cheap suit.

Nothing to stop him from taking a stroll down the hallway though, and maybe checking out where the exits were. You know, just in case an opportunity presented itself.

With that object in mind, Finn opened his door to step outside. At first, he saw nothing at all in either direction but definitely heard just the tail end of a man’s quiet whisper. He stopped, head cocked to listen, and heard the squeak of a shoe. Yet there was nothing there—nothing visible at all. Or was there? A strange film hung in the air and stretched over the end of the corridor, as if it were visible through a clear, plastic curtain. And if he really concentrated, he could see the curtain moving, ever so slowly, but steadily, and slightly undulating as it came down the hall toward him.

Acting on instinct, he took off his boot and threw it as hard as he could toward the end of the hallway, but halfway down, when it reached the clear “curtain,” it stopped with a soft thud and fell to the floor. And someone made a soft, grunting sound as the boot hit.

Fear and alarm splashed over him like a bucket of cold water, and he hesitated only a second or two before he heard the sound of heavy footsteps breaking into a run and rushing toward him.

With only seconds to react, he considered first jumping back inside his room and barricading his door, but whatever this was would probably be on him before he could even shove anything against it. Making a split-second choice, he turned and ran like hell in the opposite direction. He needed help and that was the only way to find some. Trying desperately to remember the way he’d gone the day he’d interrupted the training session, he made a sharp left turn at the first cross hall and kept going toward the double doors on the end—the ones with the bar across them.

Only he never made it that far.

He felt an agonizingly hard blow at his back as he was hit from behind and tackled to the floor. His breath left him in a panic, and he lay gasping like a fish out of water for a few precious moments that allowed a big burly man, who was now clearly visible, haul him to his feet. He first crushed Finn to him, and then jammed him back against the closest wall. The man’s hand, smelling like fish, clamped over Finn’s mouth with ruthless strength. Then the intruder simply held Finn pinned there as he continued to struggle, until Finn could feel his strength waning and his breathing become more and more ragged. His attacker’s hand was so tight over both his mouth and his nose that the man was slowly suffocating him.

Moments passed as the man held Finn squashed there against the wall, fetid breath gusting against his cheek, and bright dots swarming in front of his eyes. He could feel himself weakening, sliding down into unconsciousness, but unable to even kick out at his attacker.

From down the hall behind them suddenly came a terrible roar, and all of the men—there were now three of them visible—gasped aloud and turned to see what was coming for them. The one holding Finn pulled his hands away in alarm, and Finn dropped to the floor on his hands and knees gasping to drag in a breath. He turned his head in the direction of the roar.

Something that looked like blue death surged down the corridor toward them.

It was the best way he could describe it.

The half-man, half-dragon was covered in blue and gold scales—even his face, though his green eyes still shone like bright glass. He had a small snout, with his ears mere slits along the sides of his lizard head. His crocodile-like teeth were on full display as jagged as a saw blade yet far more deadly as the thing screamed his rage.  His body was still mostly human-like, only somehow bigger and more muscular, and his hands had become lethal looking, black-tipped claws.

Finn instinctively knew it was Jazdon, and he sagged to the floor in relief.

Only a few steps behind Jazdon were other soldiers, dressed in uniforms like Meridous had worn earlier. A few of them had partially shifted as well, including one who was covered in scales of pure, icy blue.

Finn’s attackers all roared at the same time and the wall beside them was suddenly smashed in as more of the ones attacking him struggled to fit their bodies inside. Finn’s attackers had summoned help.

The intruders all surged forward to fight.

The one trying to suffocate Finn changed his mind and scooped him off the floor instead. This time he held him around the waist and used Finn’s body as a shield. He yelled something vicious sounding at Jazdon and his soldiers, and for a tense, excruciating moment, there was a standoff, each side glaring at each other across the space, their sides heaving.

Then Finn stomped down as hard as he could with his one, still-booted foot and the man holding him grunted in pain and made the mistake of punching Finn savagely on the side of his head with his fist.

Jazdon let out a roar of pure rage as he launched himself in the air and directly at Finn’s captor, taking several men, plus Finn to the ground in a tangled heap.

Something happened when that hard blow smashed into Finn’s temple—something inexplicably crazy.

His entire body jolted like he’d had an electric shock.

His vision dimmed and flickered and went suddenly to black and white. It was so quick he scrambled along the floor to escape, but the hand he put out to steady himself was reptilian green and tipped with golden claws. That’s when he screamed, putting every bit of the shock and pain and confusion and disbelief he was feeling into it.

He heard Jazdon shouting, but fists were flying in the narrow hallway, and one caught Finn

right between the eyes, finishing the damage the first blow had done. Black spots danced in front of his eyes, converging and settling over him like a black shroud.

Finn lifted his head and gave one last shout of defiance and fear so loud the hallway echoed with the sound …

Only this time, his voice came out as a savage roar.