Chapter 13
Zora
Brandr placed a knee on the ground as he looked around, his eyes searching the area. For what, he didn’t know. It was just a feeling that had been growing inside him for days now. A gnawing uncertainty that wouldn’t let him rest.
He’d sent his dragon generals to look for anything out of the ordinary, hoping, praying that whatever he felt had nothing to do with his sister opening a doorway to Earth for their parents. And any other Dragon King who wanted to venture to Zora.
Brandr didn’t like keeping secrets from Eurwen.
At one time, they had known everything about the other.
As time passed, they each began their lives while ruling the dragons together.
It had worked. He hadn’t known every detail of her life, but she hadn’t known his, either.
It was better that way. At least, he had thought that.
Now, he wasn’t so sure. Especially after he’d learned of her night with Vaughn.
He didn’t want to think what might happen if they were mates.
All he could do was pray that Vaughn was purely an infatuation for his sister.
He trusted Eurwen with his life. Partly because they were twins and connected on a deeper level than other siblings.
But it also had to do with the fact of how they had grown up, found Zora, and got the dragon world ordered again.
They’d only ever had each other. Erith had been there, but merely as a peripheral figure.
Brandr blew out a weary breath. Zora was supposed to be free of the troubles that had—and always would—plague Earth. Yet he couldn’t push aside the suspicion that whatever had disrupted the peace was somehow connected to Earth and the Dragon Kings.
He knew how important it was to Eurwen that she have a relationship with their parents. The last thing he wanted was to tell her that he’d been right all along, and that their parents and anyone else from Earth could never return. Because he feared if he told Eurwen that, she would leave Zora.
Or worse—he’d have to banish her because of Vaughn.
Brandr had hated the Dragon King immediately. He knew the basics of all the Kings, and he’d never felt one way or another about Vaughn. Until now. What had the bastard said to Eurwen to make her keep a secret from him for so long?
“Enough,” Brandr said to himself as he shook his head to dislodge his thoughts.
He spread his fingers and placed his right palm on the earth as he closed his eyes.
He wasn’t sure what he searched for. He only knew that he would find it in the ground—or the absence of something.
Brandr had started near his and Eurwen’s cottages at Cairnkeep and then expanded out in a circle.
The farther from the center he moved, the more troubled he became.
All he could do was hope that whatever this was, it hadn’t gotten a foothold on Zora and could be eradicated quickly.
When he found nothing, Brandr rose and continued walking.
He was getting closer to the border with the humans.
He had no interest in being around any of them.
It was one of the reasons he had stopped visiting Earth.
In his opinion, they were mortal enemies of all dragons.
If he came across one, he wouldn’t hesitate to take action—in any way that was needed.
As he reached the stream at the edge of their domain, he knelt and put his hand upon the earth.
That’s when he felt it, the coldness that hadn’t been there before.
Brandr walked along the edge of the water, stopping every fifty meters and testing the ground, his concern growing. But he found no more answers.
He backtracked and went the other way. To his shock, the ground grew colder and colder the closer he got to the spot where the crone had managed to pull Varek from his realm to theirs.
Brandr straightened and dusted off his hands. “It’s time I find this crone.”
The instant he learned of her existence from Jeyra, Brandr had been curious about her. Unfortunately, Jeyra couldn’t give him any answers. Brandr hadn’t been able to do a proper search for the crone, but perhaps it was time he focused on locating her. She might very well be the cause of everything.
Whatever—or whoever—had disrupted the balance on Zora would be dealt with. Swiftly and severely.
He turned and was about to shift when his enhanced hearing picked up the sound of someone approaching from the woods across the stream.
Brandr ducked behind a tree and waited. He swallowed his disappointment when it turned out to be a couple of human teenagers wanting to get a look at the border.
Brandr shook his head because adolescents were all the same, no matter what species.
They always got into trouble, pushed boundaries, and went places they had no business going.
Brandr thought about scaring them. If they wanted to see a dragon, he’d show them one.
Maybe then they wouldn’t get near the border again.
Before he could carry out his plan, he heard more footsteps coming up behind the lads.
Was it more of their friends? Given how the two laughed and talked, they had no idea that anyone approached.
A deep, gruff voice called out to them, causing both boys to jerk in surprise and spin around awkwardly. The two lads were visibly shaken. Whoever the man was, the boys were terrified of him. Several seconds passed before the man emerged from the forest.
He was tall and barrel-chested. His long, red beard hung nearly to his chest. He dressed in the style of the other humans, though the material of his outfit was of good quality that consisted of a dark brown sleeveless tunic paired with a lighter shade of trousers stuffed into tall boots.
Two thick gold armbands were clearly visible.
Brandr saw a design on them he couldn’t quite make out.
“Get home,” the man ordered the teenagers.
They were in such a hurry to get away, they slipped on the damp ground.
“And don’t come back!” he shouted after them.
Then he looked across the stream. Brandr committed the man’s image to memory. From his red hair and beard to his brown eyes and voice.
The man stood still as stone for a full minute, moving nothing but his eyes.
Finally, he let out a whistle, mimicking a bird.
Three men came out of the woods to join him.
Each of them as menacing as their leader.
Brandr frowned because he hadn’t picked up that there were four of them.
They didn’t have magic, which meant they had used another kind of skill to hide how many they were.
“You sure about this, Yannick,” the big blond on the man’s right asked.
The leader cut him a dark look. “It’s the only way, Tuft.”
“Sateen ordered none of us to cross the border,” the black-haired one stated.
Yannick’s lips flattened at the mention of the council leader’s name. “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”
“He’s right,” said the auburn-haired man next to Yannick. “We have to find the crone. If she can capture a Dragon King, she can get what we need.”
Brandr’s heart clutched in his chest. What would the humans want with the crone? Another Dragon King? Surely, not. Capturing Varek had done nothing for them. In fact, they had lost a lot by taking him prisoner.
The humans might want to leave Zora. If that were the case, Brandr would help them. But he had a suspicion that things wouldn’t be quite so simple. Most likely, they were after a way to strike at him, Eurwen, and the dragons.
Had he not felt something was amiss, he wouldn’t have ventured to the border and discovered all of this. As much as he wished this was the cause of his unease, he knew it wasn’t. Whatever he searched for was aiding in disrupting everyone on the realm.
The four wordlessly headed away from him.
They stuck near the stream but didn’t cross it.
He wanted to follow them, but he would eventually run out of cover.
He called for one of his generals through the mental link, ordering the dragon to follow the group and see how far they went, and to make sure they didn’t cross the barrier.
Brandr waited until the men were out of sight before he retraced his steps.
He loved flying, and there were times he made use of his ability to teleport, but sometimes he liked walking, too.
It gave him time to think and be alone. The dragons rarely bothered him when he was on a stroll.
It was as if they knew he didn’t wish to be disturbed.
Sometime later, he reached Cairnkeep and his cottage.
He paused before entering and looked in the direction of Eurwen’s home.
He knew Con, Rhi, and Vaughn had arrived, though Brandr had made sure to stay out of their way.
Were things going as well as Eurwen had wanted?
He was still angry at her about Vaughn. Enough to keep him away from her cottage and stop him from communicating with her.
Maybe after their parents departed, he would talk to her. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been so furious with her—or hurt.
If she stays.
He hated the voice in his head. He didn’t need to be reminded that Eurwen might well have found her match with Vaughn.
Then again, if he were her mate, she wouldn’t have stayed away from him for so long.
That made Brandr smile. Vaughn was just a dalliance for his sister.
He wasn’t happy about it, but at least she wasn’t falling in love with Vaughn.
Brandr wouldn’t forgive that. Not after everything they had dealt with when they’d found the dragons.
Brandr was just entering his cottage when he heard laughter. He looked into the sky and saw a woman with black hair atop a gold dragon, gliding through the air. His parents. They hadn’t tried to approach him. That should make him happy. It was what he wanted.
Wasn’t it?
Without another look at them, he walked inside his home and shut the door.