Episode Forty-Eight Dragon

E ldar

My spine straightens as we arrive at camp. All eyes turn to us. That night in the first cabin, when I felt coerced into mating the human female, I wouldn't have imagined this in a million years. I was swimming deep in a hole of anger and resentment at being forced into a mating I didn't want. I love Zoron and that was enough for me. How could I have guessed the addition of the proudborn and our Lylah would be such a gift?

Yes, fuckers, I think. Take a good look at this elf and his new family. Eat your hearts out. You'll never find love like this. And it's only going to grow better, deeper over time.

Just as Zoron predicted, Azael sends one of the avians to request our presence in a small, secluded area he uses for discussion and planning. His mates are there. There's beautiful Nadira whose long, red hair announces her presence at fifty paces.

I heard her human husband was a high official in Tower One. I've spent time with her in the past. She's so ready to attack she can almost taste his blood in her mouth.

Dhar, the orc chieftain, is sitting at Azael's side. He would happily kill anyone who looks cross-eyed at any of his mates. Then there's the starflyer, Thallose, a half-man, half-horse like my Zoron, except he only has two legs. As compensation, the fates gave him wings.

Two young male monks, Kaz and Onyx, bring us stew as we share everything that happened over the last few days. We don't have to say much about our mating. It's clear how connected we all are. Haz, Lylah, and I surround Zoron's bulkier form as he lies on the ground. We're unable to keep our hands off him as Lylah strokes his hair, I palm the curve of his rump, and Hazlan touches his broad back.

"This is good," Azael pronounces. "We're expecting the first mated coalition here today. They haven't been here since people began flocking in. We've kept them informed, but seeing it will be a new experience for them."

He offers us a drink of spirits some of the orcs cooked up, but the four of us refuse, wanting to keep level heads.

"Mirron, Deklan, and Luka rescued tiny human Alliana when she was banished to Down Below by Nadira's human mate, the Senator." Azael shakes his head as if he still can't wrap his mind around such a thing. "The males not only rescued her, they prize her and hold her precious in the same way Nadira has become our treasure. Their love for each other is a beacon all of us can aspire to."

The monk smiles and nods, then leans to kiss his female. I smile, too, as I remember the story I heard that many others tried to claim Alliana when she first arrived Down Below. Azael was so angry the monks didn't get her, he ordered his clan to hurl their shit at the three males.

The picture is so funny I have to press my lips closed to keep from laughing out loud. Zoron was with me when we heard the story. He must know exactly what I'm smiling about through our matebond because he tugs one of my braids with affection.

Suddenly, the mood changes. There are hundreds of people milling nearby, and possibly a thousand more in their lodgings. The faces I can see are turned in fright toward the sky.

There's a huge avian up above. It's so large it partially obscures the sun. I only see its silhouette.

"Dragon?" Lylah squeaks the word as she huddles closer to Haz at her hip.

It's flapping its gigantic wings, flying in smaller and smaller circles. When a cadre of elves and orcs pulls their bows, the creature roars so loudly the ground beneath us shakes.

We've all risen to our feet, having no clue where to run. Even if Zoron galloped away with us on his back, the thing could follow us anywhere with only one flap of its wings.

"Peace!" the thing screeches. "Peace," it says again as it flies away.

It seems every person in the valley has run from their lodgings or where they were lolling by the stream. They all look to Azael for direction. The four of us are doing that, too.

"There's nowhere to hide," the monk chief shouts to the crowd.

Nadira's three males are standing surrounding her, although there's clearly nothing they could do to protect her from the enormous animal circling above us. It's only now I realize my mates and I are doing the same thing to Lylah.

"It said peace…" Azael says, his voice betraying his doubt about our safety.

"I know nothing of these things," Nadira says. "Dragons aren't… real." She scoffs and shrugs her shoulders, "But then neither are starflyers or centaurs or talking monks. In mythology, dragons breathe fire. He hasn't done that yet."

Lylah tucks closer to the three of us. Though she was already terrified, she's more so now that Nadira said the words "breathe fire."

Zoron and I have both drawn our bows and arrows, as have all the armed men in our village. If we live through this, we'll have to teach Haz how to shoot.

I've been in fights before, probably the most deadly was the one I just survived at the Works. This is the first time I've felt this way—terrified. Not for myself, but for Lylah. My mouth is dry, my eyes are wide, and the feeling of impotence wars inside me with my fears.

Zoron and I visited the Village for several days before we traveled south to attack the Works. We don't know every nearby hill and dale, but from what we do know, there is no shelter from this attack.

My arrow is nocked as I wait for the beast to return.

"We'll wait to shoot on your order," Zoron says to Azael.

The monk has all of our lives riding on his shoulders. I'm not sure what I would do in his place. Tell us all to attack when the thing—the dragon—returns, or not? The creature said "Peace," but it could be a trick.

Azael is a thoughtful male. I think that's why all of us elected him our leader without ever having a vote. Even the orc, a male who commanded over five hundred of his own kind, never challenged him. The monk's a smart male, a brilliant strategist.

"Stand down!" the male finally says. "Stand down, arrows nocked and at the ready. One false move and shoot him with everything you've got."

I'm glad I don't have to make this call. I'm not sure I would have put us all at risk for the sake of one being.

"Stand behind me, love," I say to Lylah in a ridiculous effort to keep her safe. What exactly could my body possibly do to shield her from the beast's onslaught, especially if he can breathe fire? Those last two words send a bolt of fear shooting through me.

The enormous creature circles back, no longer beating its wings, just gliding closer.

"Peace," his voice booms at us, reverberating in his great chest cavity.

"Peace," Azael responds, though I doubt the animal can hear him at this distance.

The animal, Nadira called it a dragon, sails to the ground behind a nearby grove of trees. It's so enormous, I can see its head above the treetops.

His head suddenly disappears.

"No good can come of this," I whisper, not wanting to challenge Azael's authority, but not liking this one bit.

We all have our arrows drawn tight as we wait long minutes for something to happen. Was this just a distraction? Is there an army coming from the other direction to catch us off guard? The idea of an army of those things makes me weak in the knees.

Finally, a naked man stalks out of the trees. He's tall and wide-shouldered. Although there are hundreds of arrows pointed at him, he approaches, proud and unafraid. His long, black hair, hanging in a shining sheet to his waist, is perhaps his most prominent feature.

"Hail," he says, his hands in the air in surrender. "Peace."

"You're the flying beast?" Dhar, the orc, asks when the male has barely emerged from the tree line.

"Yes. My name is Drixxa. I've come to offer my services."