Dragon Gods

Chapter 30

CHAPTER THIRTY

SOFIA

S ofia wasn’t sure what she was expecting as she brought Clarita and the others into the shrine. It was just as she’d left it except the small hearts she’d placed on the altars as offerings were gone. The dragon feather stood sentinel at the front of the room and Sofia could almost imagine it now in its place along the spine of the dragon she’d seen, nestled with its companions.

A hush fell over their group as they paused at the entrance. Clarita was the first to move, striding toward the feather and falling to her knees before it. A sob cracked through the room and Sofia almost backed away—uncomfortable with the show of emotion. But the woman was motioning for her to come and she obeyed, stepping past where Lumi and the others stood in silent reverence.

As she came to stand beside Clarita, the older woman rose and cupped Sofia’s face in her hands, kissing her on the forehead before wrapping her into a hug.

“Thank you,” she said, over and over. Sofia was rigid in the embrace, unsure of what to do. She heard a shuffling and looked to see Lumi hustling the others outside, leaving Sofia and Clarita alone.

“I didn’t…” Sofia said. “I’m glad someone will be here to take care of this place again,” Her voice choked as if Clarita’s own emotions had crawled into her, making her chest tight.

Clarita looked at Sofia, a softness that hadn’t been there before now warming her face. “You have no idea what you had, did you?” she asked, a hand running along the length of the feather, not quite touching it.

“It’s a dragon feather,” Sofia said, unsure of what else Clarita wanted.

The woman only smiled and motioned for her to kneel. They faced the feather together. Clarita set her candle on the stone altar and prepared for the prayer, just as Sofia had done a few days prior.

“Do you know why our people revered the dragon feathers? Why their barbs were woven into the prayer belts?” Clarita’s eyes never left the feather as she spoke.

“The books say the feathers connected us to our gods—to the dragons.”

“You assumed it was a metaphor.” Clarita smiled, dragging her dagger across her wrist before letting her blood drip into the prayer bowl. “Our blood is the offering, but the feather—the feather is what connects us to the dragon. Not metaphorically, but truly. It’s the conduit to the dragon hearing us and our prayers. Without the feather, our prayers are lost on the wind.”

Sofia stared at the feather.

“When the blood king massacred the dragons, we didn’t just lose our gods. He and his men burned the feathers, too. Destroying them, either intentionally or not, broke our contact with any dragons that might have remained. Our tribe had a feather for a time, when Tía Muela was only a child. It was lost in a wildfire. I’ve never...”

Clarita’s voice cracked again and Sofia laid a hand across her arm.

“You’ve brought us back a small piece of the gods,” she continued. “We owe you a debt.”

Sofia left Clarita to finish her prayer. Her mind was spinning with the new information, and she didn’t want to disturb the woman’s time with the gods. Not while Sofia was formulating plans for war. Perhaps it was the feather that was the key to finding the gods of old. She’d prayed to a feather and a dragon had returned, if only briefly. She could do it again.

She could bring back the gods.

* * *

Sofia woke up before the others, slivers of sunlight seeping through the vines above in an almost familiar way. Despite tossing and turning half the night, her mind on dragons and feathers, she was too anxious to stay asleep any longer. She was quiet as she moved around, draping herself in her borrowed cloak and going about getting ready for today’s hike back.

She hadn’t meant to leave Fox alone overnight, but the trek to the cenote had taken longer than she’d expected. It had been too late to return the night before. She wondered for a moment if he’d be gone when she returned. Perhaps he was headed back to Suvi, ready to tell his commanding officers everything he’d seen and learned. And yet, she didn’t think he was.

Instead of leaving the moment she was packed, she headed back into the dark hallway and into the dragons’ shrine. She’d give one more prayer to the gods. If she was a better person, she wouldn’t have thought about grabbing the feather and running.

“Your accent already sounds better.” Lumi’s voice was soft, but it echoed in the silent room and Sofia gave a small start, mind still on the feather. She turned and saw the shifter leaning against the doorway, eyes bright in the shadows. She could only hope Lumi didn’t see the guilt in her eyes.

“You don’t need to lie,” Sofia said. “I know I still sound like a five-cycle-old child.”

“Oh, no,” Lumi said, stepping forward, careful around the bones. “Little Julio sounds way better than you.”

Sofia allowed herself to laugh, even if the air felt too heavy for such levity.

“We can’t thank you enough for bringing us back here.” They kneeled beside Sofia, reaching a hand out, fingers passing just over the feather. “I’ve never seen a dragon feather before. I was never sure if I believed Tía Muela when she said the tribe used to have one.”

“I only did what I said I would,” Sofia shrugged.

“It’s more than that. These people will finally rest in peace.” Lumi motioned at the bones laid out across the room.

“I wanted to bury them, but I couldn’t?—”

“No one blames you. It seems you’ve done the best you could. The world isn’t kind to our people anymore.” Lumi placed a warm hand on Sofia’s shoulder and she felt herself sinking into the shifter. It had been cycles since she had trusted someone she only just met, and that thought had her pushing away. They might have had a common enemy in the king and his people, but they weren’t on the same side of this war. These people had chosen to stay hidden here instead of fighting, leaving the Dragonborn of Suvi to suffer and die.

“I’m glad you and your people will be here for them,” Sofia said after a moment, standing. “I should head back to check on Fox, but thank you for everything.”

“Let Clarita know you’re leaving, she’s in the kitchens going through the supplies.”

Sofia nodded and left, suddenly anxious to get back to Fox. Even if they weren’t on the same side, at least she knew where his sympathies lay and what he was fighting for.

Clarita was covered in dirt and dust when she popped in and told her she was headed back to the camp. The woman only waved her off, too busy looking through a series of jars and clay pots that she and Fox hadn’t seen.

She didn’t bother with goodbyes as she left. The others had woken while she’d been in the shrine and disappeared off somewhere. It seemed now that she had kept her word and brought them to the cenote and the feather, they trusted her enough to not care where she was.

By the time she was above ground again, the sun had warmed the air and the morning chill was gone. It was one of those days when the weather might convince her that the cold season was ending early, before the snow had even fallen. But she knew tomorrow or the next day, the icy winds would be back, bringing the frost layer down from the northern mountains.

She appreciated the warmth while she could, face turned up to the sky for a moment before she began searching the ground for their trail. It had taken longer than it should have to make it to the cenote the day before, the trail she and Fox had taken through the underground river impossible to track. But she knew if she tried to simply walk straight back to the camp, she’d have just as much of a chance of getting lost once more. So she stuck to their haphazard trail, even as it wove and looped back on itself.

One moment she was tracing the path, careful not to lose their prints and the next someone was calling her name from only a few feet away. She bit back a scream as she stumbled over a root and toppled into the tree next to her, looking around wildly for the culprit.

Fox was there a moment later, standing above her, hand reaching out to help her up. She hesitated a moment, eyes focusing on his face as if it might shift at any moment. The tales always spoke of faeries coming out at night, but there was nothing to say they couldn’t haunt the forest in the day. Fox seemed to read something of her thoughts on her face because his lips twitched and he took a step back.

“It’s me, captor oh my captor, bane of your existence, most horrible one.”

She waved her hand as she pushed herself up. “I got it. I believe you. Please shut up now.”

“Ah,” he said, smile stretching wider, “I missed you, too.”

“What are you doing out here?” She looked around, suddenly realizing she was nowhere near the camp and Fox was very much alone. “Where in the dragons’ names were you heading?”

Fox’s eyes shifted, face going slightly pink—or pinker given the tinge of sunburn ever present on his skin now. Sofia narrowed her eyes, unsure of why he looked bashful at the question.

“I…well yesterday I—” He started and stopped, eyes looking everywhere but at her. “They’re shapeshifters!”

He spit the last words out with such cold venom that Sofia’s own stomach dropped. Oh .

“I know,” she said slowly. She should have told him. She had known that from the moment she’d talked to Paz and the others, but she hadn’t wanted to. It was all too obvious how Fox would respond and she hadn’t been ready to face his vitriol for all things he didn’t know.

“Of course you do.” His voice was flat.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. You deserved to know.”

His lips pinched tight at her words. He stepped closer to her and she winced as his stare darkened.

“I found out yesterday, and I might have freaked out a bit. I ran off.”

“You ran the wrong way,” she said, looking up at the sun’s position in the sky. He’d run north instead of south. And here she was thinking he was getting a bit better at tracking in the forest.

She looked back at him and saw that the pink blush had deepened and he was looking at her with an intensity that made her chest tighten.

“No, I didn’t,” he said, voice low and rough. Her body heated and she was suddenly more aware of how close their bodies were. And then something shifted in his shoulders and he moved back. “I thought to warn you before I went back to Suvi. I now realize how ridiculous that was, thinking you weren’t fully aware we were staying with the same type of creatures that initially kidnapped us. Well, after you kidnapped me .”

His voice was cold and the blush faded from his cheeks as if his indignation had cleared away any lingering embarrassment.

“They aren’t the same creatures that kidnapped us. Those wolfshifters were a different tribe. Not all shifters?—”

“Are evil,” he finished, rolling his eyes. “I figured you’d say something like that. I planned to head back to Suvi this morning. I don’t know why…” His voiced faded away and he turned away from her. So much for feeling like she understood him. He was confusing her as much as Lumi had with their words of encouragement.

“Right,” she said, trying to shrug off her confusion. “Well, I’m heading back to the camp to gather some supplies before I go running off into the rainforest. You can join if you want.”

She brushed past him, not waiting for his answer. She didn’t need to. He would follow because, despite his rambling excuses, she knew he was smart enough to know he wouldn’t make it back to Suvi without food or help. And she recognized—even if he wanted to pretend otherwise—he’d run north to save her, instead of returning to Suvi. Something like lightning went through her chest at the thought.

“I’m impressed you found your way here so well,” she said, after an awkward amount of time walking in silence.

“I tried to stick to walking north, and I managed to find pieces of your trail.”

“You’re actually getting good at this. You can teach your scouts a thing or two when you get back.”

“Perhaps,” he said, voice soft. “If I still have a place in the military after getting kidnapped by the enemy.”

“They can’t blame you for that, can they?” she said. She wasn’t feeling guilt exactly, but she knew whose fault all of this was.

“Maybe not, but I imagine they will blame me for saving a rebel’s life more than once and breaking bread with a camp full of unassociated shapeshifters. My father would?—”

He cut himself off. Sofia waited a beat, wondering if he’d continue, but he didn’t.

“No, I suppose your people wouldn’t like that,” she said, slowly. “Do you need to tell them?”

She looked over at him, seeing the shrug even as his eyes spoke of racing thoughts. Would he make it back to Suvi? Did she want him to? Somewhere along the way, she realized she didn’t want him dead. But maybe it was just the version of him out here that she didn’t hate. Once he was back within the stone walls of Suvi, safe with his bastard of a father, would he remember that he cared enough to save her? Would he remember what it was like seeing the dragon bursting through the canyon? Or would he go back to plotting how to wipe out the resistance?

“What would your fellow rebels think of you saving my life?”

“Did you forget? Getting you back in one piece was always the goal,” she said. His lips turned down into a frown. “But to be honest, I don’t think they’re going to be very happy with me no matter what. They often aren’t happy with me.”

“Do you often threaten the lives of prisoners without cause? I can see that bothering your superiors.”

“I had reasons.”

“Does it have to do with you hating my father?” He was silent, waiting for her to confirm, but she only stared straight ahead. “I don’t blame you. He’s easy to hate.”

Her eyes flicked toward his. He was focused on his feet as he walked, but a shadow had crossed his face.

“He isn’t a nice person,” she said, words careful.

“No, he is not.” He turned to her, lips suddenly pulled back in a biting smile. “But you’re absolutely awful to spend time with. I haven’t forgotten whose fault it is that we’re out here.”

Whatever tentative vulnerability Fox had shown was gone. The sneering mask he always wore was fitted back into place.

* * *

The rest of the day passed quickly, with only a few occasional jabs sent back and forth between them. By the time the sun had set, they were still a few miles from the camp, and the moons, waning in the dragon’s blink, were tucked behind the thick clouds rolling in.

“We can probably make it back tonight,” Sofia said as they sat, resting and eating the avocados she’d managed to find before the shadows had taken over the forest.

“I don’t know if I’m ready to face them,” Fox said, staring at his half-eaten avocado, as though it might show him the answers to life’s greatest questions. He’d been his normal snarky self since their conversation that morning, but something seemed to be weighing on him, even now.

Though she had her own troubles ahead. She wasn’t looking forward to getting back to base and explaining Fox’s absence, either.

“We can make a fire and stay out here tonight. At least we’re properly dressed for once.”

Fox jumped at the suggestion, standing to gather wood for the fire. Sofia waited a bit longer, sucking the last remnants of the avocado’s meat from the pit before she finally stood and prepped a small area for the fire.

They worked in silence, but it was a comfortable quiet, born from days of working together and falling into some version of a routine. Sofia didn’t have the energy to hunt for food in the dark and Fox seemed to understand this. So once the fire was lit, they sat together in silence, both lost in their own thoughts and anxieties of the future.

Sofia enjoyed the heat of the flames soaking into her skin, but she couldn’t keep her eyes from flicking over to where Fox sat, hunched over his legs. She couldn’t get his words from earlier out of her mind. No love was lost between him and his dad, it seemed, despite what she’d heard of General Ocon’s constant doting on his son.

“You seem to hate your father as much as me,” she said, wincing when she saw Fox blanch at the sudden comment. After a second, his shoulders loosened and he shrugged.

“As I said, he’s easy to hate.”

“I always heard he loved his son. Doted on the golden child and gave him everything he wanted.”

Fox gave a sharp laugh, turning to her with dark amusement dancing in his eyes. “I see the confusion. You’re speaking of my brother.”

It was Sofia’s turn to startle. She should have known that. She’d seen the general many times and heard him talking about his son—never his sons. She’d seen glimpses of Fox from a distance when she was younger.

“You have a brother?”

“Had.” He stiffened at the word, even as he spoke it, shoulders going rigid. “Leon was the golden child. He was the one my father doted on. The one who was supposed to take up the role as general when my father finally retired. I was supposed to be locked away in some library, where my father could forget I existed.”

She didn’t want to ask the question, but she needed to know. “What happened to him?”

“He was killed in a black powder explosion set off by the resistance in their attempt to save lives and free people .”

She bit back the words she wanted to say. I’m sorry . He wouldn’t want her apologies or sympathy.

“Were you close?”

“He was my best friend.”

She picked at her nail beds. “I’m still going to fight for the resistance. I’m going to fight for my people, no matter what. But I can understand why you hate us.”

He was suddenly closer, a hand coming down to cover hers, stopping her from picking.

“It was my fault, too,” he said, words low and gravelly. She might not have heard them, had he not moved closer.

“What?” she said, her own tone as soft as his.

“I was somewhere I shouldn’t have been and he came to grab me. If I hadn’t gone…if I had left when he first told me to, we wouldn’t have been there when the explosion went off.”

Her stomach twisted with acid. “You were?—”

“It’s the reason I hate small spaces. I was stuck under the rubble for five hours before they found me. But he protected me. Had he not jumped on me when the explosion happened…”

He didn’t need to finish the words.

“I—” she started, before stopping herself. He squeezed her hand before letting go and standing up.

“You should sleep, I can keep watch,” he said. His mask slipped back into place, seamlessly. Even as he made the offer, she could see the exhausted slump of his shoulders deepen, as if preparing himself for battle.

“You need to sleep, too. We’re probably fine to both sleep.” Her lips quirked into a small smile to see the relief clear on his face.

“If we’re both going to sleep, we should put the fire out.”

She was surprised by his words and she didn’t pretend otherwise. “I’m not an idiot,” he said, reading her expression. “I did go through basic training.”

“I’m impressed your training was adequate in any way.” She smiled, letting her own guilt slip from her shoulders and tuck somewhere deep in her chest.

He met her smile with one of his own as he stood and began scooping dirt and sand onto the fire. They had made it small, and it went out easily after a few minutes.

“Before you wake me up shivering, perhaps we can simply agree to sleep together?”

Sofia froze for a moment before slowly turning to look at him, eyebrows raised.

He seemed to realize what he had said in the same moment his eyes met hers, and his lips pursed slightly. “Your thoughts are too dirty for your own good.”

“You’re the one who said it. Your mind’s the one having dirty thoughts.”

His eyes darkened, trailing up and down her body for a moment before he answered, sending heat suffusing through her body.

“As if you’d be so lucky.”

She moved forward, blood rushing thorough her body. She ignored the pulse of her core as she pressed her palm against his chest. His face blushed pink, and she savored his discomfort, perhaps a bit too much. She brought her other hand to cup him below the waist. He was half-hard.

“I don’t think your body’s gotten the memo that you don’t want me.”

Indecision flickered through his eyes before he leaned down. He brought his face forward until his lips were only an inch from hers. The wet heat of his breath tickled against her skin as he breathed and her mouth opened involuntarily, eyes unable to look away from his.

“Trust me. You’ll know when I want to fuck you, oh captor of mine.”

With that, he pulled away, and Sofia was left trembling ever so slightly. She snapped her mouth shut and shook off the electricity vibrating through her body. The first thing she needed to do when she got back to the resistance was get laid.

She was tempted to curl up on the ground alone after his little comment, but knew he was right. She’d only wake up freezing in the middle of the night. Besides, she didn’t want him to think he’d intimidated her. She wasn’t a fragile flower. So when he had made himself comfortable and lifted his cloak, she slipped in beside him. He wrapped an arm around her, scooping her closer.

She stiffened slightly as their bodies met, hard against soft.

“It’s warmer this way,” Fox said, the words murmured in her ear. She only gave a small nod, not trusting her voice. She couldn’t disagree and after a few more minutes, she let her body relax, sinking into his and focusing on the warmth. It was all she could do to ignore the hard planes of his body against hers. Despite the flings she’d had over the cycles, she’d never spent the night with anyone except for Flor and Javi. And neither of them felt like this .

Sleep eluded her for a while, even after she felt the rhythm of Fox’s breathing steady behind her, the warm breath brushing against her hair with every exhale. It wasn’t until the moons were high, barely peeking out from the clouds, that sleep finally came for her and she let herself slip beneath its wings.

She dreamed of explosions and darkness.

* * *

Sofia woke to the sounds of screams and the acrid smell of smoke. For an instant, she thought her dream might have come to life, but the clearing around them was still. Fox sat groggily up beside her, his eyes slowly sharpening as the sounds continued.

“What?” she asked, but then she knew. She saw the angle of the sunrise and registered where the sound was coming from. Her body made the connections before her brain.

“The camp,” Fox said, voice rough with sleep and something more.

Another shriek echoed in the distance and then something Sofia had only heard once before.

The flapping of dragon wings.