Chapter 25
Gunter had never flown somewhere so fast in his life. Not even when he was chasing Ravi after a prank had he flown this fast. His body thrummed, muscles burning as he pushed himself, over and over again, to the absolute limit.
Every dragon with him did the same.
But then, nothing like this had ever happened before.
In Gunter’s head, the call from Dimitri played through once more.
“I found an abandoned place,” Dimitri had said, voice cautious. “I found a few things left behind. The objects I can bring, but…there’s a girl here. A teenage girl. She said her name is Lina Jaeggi. And she wants to talk to the king of the dragons.”
Alric had looked at everyone gathered in his office and ordered them to take flight immediately. And they all had. Because really, there were only two scenarios: either Lina was a different type of trap, a suicide bomber in disguise, or…
Or she might be the lynchpin to finally unlocking every Jaeggi secret.
Dimitri had assured them he’d checked her over, that there was nothing magical on her.
And it was because of his assurance Alric and Rodrigo were both flying straight there.
It unnerved Gunter, having his king out in the open like this.
But they weren’t going completely unprepared.
Lisette was with them, as was Baldewin, Warin, and Melissande.
Second to Lisette, Melissande had the most battle experience.
If anything happened, Gunter trusted this group could handle it.
Baldewin was under strict orders to immediately fly Alric out if anything even moved funny.
Gunter found himself praying as he flew.
Please, let this not be a trap.
Please, oh please, let them finally get the information they needed.
Right now, the dearth of information was what kept them one step behind their enemy. If anything was to change, that had to be reversed.
Dimitri didn’t ask them to land near the abandoned town where he’d found the girl. Instead, he’d taken her out into the middle of a field where he could keep a perfect view of their surroundings. And he’d stayed in dragon form, ready to lift off in a second if something looked wrong. Smart man.
They landed all around Dimitri, and Gunter kept an eye on the girl, judging her reaction.
She was thin, almost painfully so. She had an interesting dye job, the right side of her hair blood red, the other pitch black.
She’d divided it along the part and had it swooped around her face.
Coupled with the oversized sweatshirt and skinny jeans, it made her look very young.
She watched them with wide blue eyes, hands wrapped around herself as if she were physically holding herself together. She was scared and nervous.
But she also stood her ground and didn’t try to run.
Gunter might choose to be impressed. Assuming she didn’t prove to be a terrible mistake.
Alric had ridden in on Baldewin, and he was quick to unstrap himself and put both boots on the ground. The king was confident as he approached, but cautious, stopping a good five feet away. Gunter approved.
“I’m Alric Burkhard, King of the Fire Dragons,” Alric said while looking her dead in the eye. “Who might you be?”
“Lina.” She sucked in a breath and managed to meet his gaze, her hands visibly tightening around her torso. “Lina Jaeggi. I’m here to speak with you.”
Alric’s expression was the poster for neutrality. He turned and gestured toward the ice-white dragon nearby. “This is Rodrigo, King of the Ice Dragons. Our retinue is around us. Did you want to talk only with me or to all of us?”
She looked doubly unnerved to be faced with two kings. Still, she rallied, even though her eyes darted between them before settling once more on Alric. “I want to speak with the king who’s fighting against my clan.”
“That is all of the dragons.”
“Oh.” Lina didn’t seem to know what to do with that. She sucked in a breath and tried again. “I left the Jaeggi.”
Gunter’s eyebrows shot up. So, she hadn’t been abandoned?
“Why did you leave?” Alric asked, tone gentle and encouraging.
“Because—because I don’t like what they’re doing.
They’re stripping other mages of magic in order to fuel ours.
And it’s wrong. It’s…I can’t even try and practice magic, I can’t use what they’re giving me.
I throw up even thinking about where the magic’s coming from.
” Lina sucked in a breath. “I can’t stay with them any longer.
And I want my magic fixed. I want to be a real mage, to use magic from my own core, and I can’t do that if I stay with the clan.
They don’t know how to fix it. It’s obvious they don’t, because we’ve all been like this for generations. ”
They’d hypothesized the Jaeggi magic truly was that broken, but it was good to have confirmation. Gunter was excited, but it was clear Lina wasn’t done yet.
“Your magic works right.” Her head turned, and she looked first at Lisette, then at Melissande. “I can see from your auras you have power at hand. Is it because you still have connections to dragons?”
It was true, Lina didn’t smell like a typical mage but instead more like the other Jaeggi mages they’d encountered.
“No,” Lisette corrected, coming to stand at Alric’s side. “No, a mage doesn’t rely on a dragon for magic. We have our own magical cores. Being mated to a dragon only boosts us. Is that what the Jaeggi think, that it’s because of their lost connection with dragons their magic is broken?”
“One of the theories, yeah.” Lina looked at her steadily, eyes narrowing a little as if trying to judge Lisette’s sincerity. “Because our magic got all screwed up when the clan started killing dragons.”
“No, that’s not what did it. We’re not quite sure what did; we have only theories ourselves.”
Lina’s shoulders slumped. “Then joining you won’t help me.”
“I wouldn’t say that, child.” Lisette slowly smiled, and it wasn’t a nice expression. It indicated she was scheming something. “We have experts you don’t. Magical knowledge your clan has lost. I think you were very right to come to us.”
“But you’ll understand if we can’t trust you.” Alric gestured to the area in general. “This is a very strange place to be.”
Lina shook her head. “I hid when everyone moved on. I hid and stayed there until they’d really left, and then I started making my way to Sonthofen.
This is another place we were, once; I’d hoped to find something to help me.
I took the wrong train, ended up in the wrong spot.
I’ve never traveled by myself before. I kinda screwed up. ”
That last part was said defensively. Gunter had first assumed her to be eighteen or so, but now he was thinking more like sixteen. She must be terrified, to be so young and facing so many enemies, but instead she was defensive for getting lost. Was this the bravado of youth? Or the ignorance of it?
“I found her standing right in the open street, waiting for me to land,” Dimitri told them. “She wasn’t even trying to hide.”
That said volumes all by itself. Gunter reluctantly gave her points for courage. The girl had a backbone of steel.
“You say you want your magic fixed. That you want to leave your clan.” Alric gestured to all the ones circled around her. “You realize that attaining both of those things means coming to us, don’t you? The Jaeggi Clan will not easily let you roam free. Once they find you, they’ll snatch you back.”
“I know. I’ve got family left behind. I’m worried about them, too.
” Her chin lifted, hands clenched in her sweater.
“I don’t know if I can trust you either, King of the Fire Dragons.
But if I can, I’ll make a deal with you.
Get my family out. Free them and protect them.
If you do that, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about the Jaeggi, including where to find them. ”
Gunter let out a whoosh of breath, stunned. How far had this girl been pushed that she would do all of this? It was beyond risky. She was in danger no matter who found her.
But as stunned as he was by her courage, he was also elated by the chance she offered. Finally, finally they had a source of information. Finally, a chance to find the Jaeggi and put an end to this.
Alric turned to look at Rodrigo, silently conferring with him. They both had their poker faces on, not revealing what they really thought. Then Rodrigo abruptly shifted to human form, dropping his guard.
He stepped forward, just a half step, drawing her eyes to him.
With a charming smile, he offered, “Come back with us, Miss Lina. We both have no trust for each other—not yet—but I think we can find a middle ground to meet on. Come with us back to Burkhard Castle and we’ll sit and properly talk this through. ”
“Okay.”
“Wait, before we do that.” Baldewin came around and pulled some sort of device out of a pocket, waving it over her from top to bottom. He looked at the screen with a slight frown. “Miss Lina, you’re not carrying anything electronic?”
She shook her head. “I had to leave my phone behind. They track everything, including the phones.”
“Interesting. Alright.” Baldewin gave Alric a nod of reassurance.
So, there was no tracking device on her either? Gunter was relieved. It meant she could very well be telling the truth. If they weren’t tracking her every movement, then she might not be a spy after all.
Or she was and the Jaeggi were being very, very clever.
Geh. Gunter really didn’t know which was the case here.
But Alric seemed ready to take the chance. “Lisette?”
“I’d like to test your magic, Lina. A quick test, here. Is that alright? It won’t be invasive or hurtful in any way.” Lisette gave her a reassuring smile.
Lina nodded cautiously. “Okay, fine?”
“Good. Melissande, give me a hand.”
The two linked magics, holding hands, and out of their bags each drew a vial of something earthy-smelling. With perfect unison, they spoke a quick spell. “Sana gev anti.”
Gunter couldn’t see a damn thing, of course. Most magic was invisible to anyone aside from a mage, except the offensive magics. But he could tell from the looks on their faces they didn’t like what they were seeing.
To Lina, Lisette kept the smile on her face. “It’s good you came to us. It’s true your core isn’t in good shape. But it isn’t life-threatening to you. We’ll get you properly examined back at the castle with our best healers, I promise you.”
Lina didn’t look surprised at their reaction. Just grim and resigned. “Thanks.”
Alric gave a nod to Gunter. “Miss Lina, if you’ll hop on board. I’ll strap you in for the flight back to Burkhard.”
“Um. I, uh, I’m flying back with you?” Lina looked at Gunter and visibly gulped.
Her nervousness reminded him so much of Nikki in that moment, Gunter sort of melted a little.
She might be from an enemy clan, but he truly had a hard time seeing her as one.
She was just a scared teenager in his eyes.
And Gunter decided, after a moment, to treat her as such.
He’d be cautious with her, of course; he had no idea if he could take this situation at face value.
But it wouldn’t hurt to treat her with courtesy, either.
He gave her a slight smile—making sure to show no teeth—and a reassuring nod. “I’ve never dropped someone. You’ll be safe on my back. And it’s liberating to be up in the sky.”
Lina sucked in a breath, managed a nod, and went for him.
He’d worn a harness just in case, and it turned out to be fortuitous.
Gunter crouched down on his belly and waited patiently as Alric guided her on how to strap in.
She did so, and Alric gave Gunter a pat on the shoulder, a silent signal she was fine and ready to go.
Only then did he retreat back to Baldewin and resume his own seat in the saddle.
Lina asked quietly, “Um…why isn’t he flying?”
Gunter tilted his head to look up at her. It probably did seem strange to her that the king of the Fire Dragons wasn’t in dragon form. “Hoheit was injured during the Dragon War. It left him unable to fly long distances.”
“Oh.” Her eyes went to Alric and studied him carefully. “My clan did that to him? And he’s still nice to me?”
“He’s a gentle soul, my king. He’s not going to hold your ancestors’ poor decisions against you.”
She looked back at Gunter, so many emotions darting and tangling over her face. “You don’t seem to, either.”
“If you’re really here because you hate what your clan is doing, and you want to be free of that evil, then I’ll help you. I won’t hold something against you that you had no choice over.” Gunter found he meant every word of it.
Her eyes burned bright for a second, and she turned her face away, visibly fighting back tears. “The old tales always said the dragons were nice. I guess that hasn’t changed. Will your king really help my family, though?”
“Given a choice, yes.” Gunter felt confident in his answer but was equally aware Alric couldn’t always move as he liked. Circumstances sometimes dictated otherwise.
Baldewin lifted up in the air, signaling the rest of them to do so. They all took off as well, Gunter more carefully than some, aware of his nervous passenger.
It was only when they were mid-flight he realized they hadn’t seen what Dimitri had found. He shifted a little on the wind, coming in closer to Dimitri to call out, “What did you find?”
“What?” Dimitri responded, pale blue eye blinking at him.
“You said you found something along with Lina!”
“Oh! Yeah, found a device. Looks broken, though. But it smelled like magic.”
Ah, no wonder he’d picked it up. Well, maybe the twins would be able to do something with it. They seemed perfectly capable of conquering any sort of broken machinery.
Although if it was magical, maybe Lisette could figure it out? Gunter had to assume this thing harmless if Dimitri was willingly carrying it about. So odds were against it being a bomb of any sort, but it did leave him wondering just what it was.
In any case, the device was a secondary consideration. Lina was definitely the priority. And he wasn’t sure how they could gain her trust enough that she’d be willing to divulge any information. Pretty promises would only get them so far.
Well, no doubt Alric would think of a way.