Chapter 8 – Baelen
CHAPTER 8
BAELEN
M y bond with Clawdia stretched and ached as we separated, and I stepped out of the portal to see … a landscape that rivaled the desolation of Ombra. The surrounding woodland smoldered, and smoke rose into the sky, gray covering the blue.
Trees singed with black patches of ash crumbled, snapped, and crackled with every passing second. Tiny flames flickered under cinders of the branches as I stepped on it, the heat burned my bare feet, and I hissed.
Out of control or angry? I wondered. And is he still here, or is he leaving me with a trail of destruction to follow?
A roar was all the warning I had before a great gust of fire headed toward me. I darted away, my feet burning through my shoes and sweat covering my brow from my proximity to the flames. I turned my head toward the culprit and saw Charlie in his dragon form, caged in a magical force field.
Still here, then, but not by choice.
In a rage, the dragon spewed more flames. His tail and wings and body thrashed behind the cage, kicking up sand and throwing rocks. For a moment, I questioned whether I was mistaken to berate Elizabeth for her treatment of Charlie. This beast didn’t resemble the sarcastic male I knew, and faced with his anger, I wasn’t sure if I could blame her for her actions. His size and power, even trapped, was enough to intimidate the son of gods. And I was not unused to the tantrums of powerful beings.
“Baelen?” a voice called, and I turned toward the shouted question. Behind an old wall along the edge of the woods, Savida’s bright red hair peaked over the top of the wall, and black eyes started wide at me.
Ah, another betrayal. Dragons don’t take well to disloyalty. That is why he’s so angry.
“Hello, Savida,” I replied with a frown.
But a daemon couldn’t create force fields, so who trapped Charlie?
“Thank the gods you are here!” he cheered and stood to wave me over as Charlie roared again. “Did you see? We’ve captured Fafnir! We were just discussing what to do with him.”
Avoiding Charlie’s flames, I made my way to the wall and saw Daithi, Sigurd, and another witch curled behind it, which explained the force field. But Sigurd had famously fought Fafnir, so why didn’t he recognize him?
“I saw you captured a dragon. It’s a shame it’s not Fafnir.”
I stopped before I told them the identity of the dragon. I wanted to see how far Sigurd would go with his lie. Whether he genuinely didn’t know what Fafnir looked like, which was suspicious for the “protector,” or if he had another motive. Either way, I’d find out if he was a danger to us before I let Charlie free. I won’t chance anything else happening to us.
My comment caused a silence that even Charlie abided by. I glanced over the wall to see him staring, listening.
Sigurd’s laugh drew my attention back to the bewildered and ash-covered group. “Not Fafnir? My boy, I think I would know what Fafnir looks like.”
“Yes, I would think so too, but apparently not.” I stared at him until the smile faded and his eyes shifted away from mine. Suspicious.
Daithi sneered. “How do we know you’re telling the truth? You’re possessed, aren’t you? Where are Zaide and Clawdia? What have you done with them?”
“I have done nothing to them, and I’m no longer possessed. The shadow forced Clawdia and me to heal the shadow natural portal, and Clawdia’s bond with Charlie snapped. Meanwhile, hunters attacked the island, and Zaide was taken. Clawdia and Elizabeth are working on finding out where he is to rescue him. I’d like to get back to them as soon as I can so I can help him, too.”
Another pained silence descended before Daithi choked out, “Zaide’s been captured?”
“Your vision came true,” Savida whispered.
The horror on his face made me restless. Zaide was mine as much as Clawdia was. Knowing he was in danger set my teeth on edge, but I needed to get Charlie back first.
“How can we trust you are telling the truth? About not being possessed anymore?” Sigurd asked suddenly, his blue eyes narrowed on me.
“The shadow asked you if your life prevented natural portals from working and threatened you with a painful death if you lied. You assured him natural portals couldn’t be blocked, but their locations are protected and hidden.”
“Is that true?” Daithi asked sharply, his dirty green hair swinging toward the protector as he glared.
“That’s correct,” Sigurd muttered reluctantly.
“That doesn’t prove you aren’t still possessed, just that you are in control,” Daithi remarked.
“I don’t have time to prove anything to you, faei. If you would like to help your friends, we need to work quickly.” I snapped, my patience with them running out as Charlie let out a pained whine as his tail hit the barrier.
The male witch, whose name I didn’t know, asked, “You said Charlie’s bond with Clawdia snapped. What does that mean? He’s dead?” His eyes flickered between me and the dragon. Finally. Someone with a brain.
“No. We thought he could be, but he’s alive and well. If not furious.” As if to show my point, Charlie roared so loud that we all had to cover our ears.
“Why isn’t he with you, then?” Savida asked, and I had to stop myself from releasing a frustrated sigh.
“Because he’s with you. The dragon you’ve captured is Charlie.”
Everyone turned toward the golden dragon, whose tail continued to twitch inside the barrier. He stared back, blinking, smoke curling from his nostrils, but not roaring, not spewing flames.
“Charlie isn’t a dragon,” Daithi replied dismissively.
“That is Fafnir. You cannot trick us into releasing him, shadow.” Sigurd sneered, and I held his gaze.
Does he really not know? Why doesn’t he know what his enemy’s dragon form looks like? Has he forgotten? Despite my doubts about Sigurd, I couldn’t continue to argue when the proof was in the fact I could portal here.
Gritting my teeth and taking a deep breath, I didn’t tell them how much physical pain their stupidity was causing me. Instead, I appealed to what little logic they had. “Explain to me what happened and how you concluded this is Fafnir.”
“We saw something fall from the sky and thought it was an enormous bird. But Fafnir had crashed into the trees and gotten trapped underneath it,” Savida explained, but his enthusiasm for the catch had dimmed, and his confusion at the situation made him speak slower than usual.
I raised a questioning, mocking brow as I stared at them. “A dragon as old as Fafnir crashed beneath a tree?”
“Fafnir was reborn, just as I was. Perhaps he is also drained,” Sigurd replied with a shrug, but he avoided my eyes. There was something he wasn’t telling us. But what?
“Has he not been flying around and terrorizing the populace from the moment he awoke?” I asked, crossing my arms and shifting my feet.
Sigurd opened his mouth to say something, but Savida interrupted with a whisper. “You really don’t believe it’s him?”
“It’s Charlie. A new dragon who escaped from being murdered by witches and taken by hunters, who happened to find himself flying and probably crashed out of fatigue from stretching his new wings.”
Sigurd muttered, “Or Fafnir crashed here because the witches and the hunters on the island attacked and injured him.”
“Other than the injury you have inflicted upon him and the ones obvious from the fall, is there anything on him which you believe might impede a dragon from flying?” I snapped.
“Well, we haven’t got that close to him,” Laurence admitted.
“Night and darkness, you are impossible.” I threw my hands up and was glad to see them flinch at my quick movement. I pointed at the unknown witch. “Witch, release Charlie right now, or you’ll be dead.”
“You can’t kill people to get what you want,” Daithi growled and moved to stand between me and the witch.
“You are under the impression that I care about you. But I don’t know you. And my soul mates will agree that getting Charlie back to them is of the utmost importance. They’ll forgive me for killing you,” I replied with a cruel smile.
“We will not allow you to kill anyone, shadow.” Sigurd also moved to stand at Daithi’s side.
“Let’s not fight.” Savida pleaded and clutched at his mate’s arm.
Daithi shrugged him off. “You are incorrect. We will not allow you to hurt us or free an angry dragon.”
I had to marvel at the situation for a moment. I hope they fall to their knees in forgiveness when they realize how idiotic they are.
“Are you going to stop me, faei?” I asked, my voice low and threatening.
“You’ve not even got shoes on.” He sneered. “You don’t intimidate me.”
“Don’t worry about my shoes. I don’t need them to make you suffer. You’ll feel the imprint of each toe in your ribs as I beat you without the use of my gifts, just so I can get a bit of practice in.”
“Like an akari titan bastard could win a fight against a faei. You aren’t worth the time.”
I moved so fast he didn’t even see me coming, restraining his hands behind his back. My teeth were at his throat. He froze. Even his breath stopped, although his pulse hammered hard under the pale skin of his neck.
I brushed my teeth along his neck and whispered, “You are too proud, faei. I could kill you all and not feel an ounce of guilt. No one would even know. So please, spare yourself and follow my instructions.”
I shoved him away, into the dark arms of his mate, and they all gaped at me, shock and fear making them pale and wide-eyed.
Through gritted teeth, I ranted, “Why would I be here if not for Charlie? How could I have portaled here if I didn’t use the blood of his birth mother to find him? Why would I try to prevent the capture of Fafnir? Why would the shadow want to prevent the capture of Fafnir? Think. The longer you delay us, the longer Zaide suffers.”
“You can’t just set him free even if you think that’s Charlie. He’s not listening to anyone right now,” Laurence acknowledged with a nod to the dragon, who thrashed against the barrier again.
“Did you attack him?” I asked.
“Well …”
I didn’t give them the time to reply. I could see their guilt and indignation on their faces. “Most creatures will fight when they are attacked. He just needs a reminder of who he is.”
I was confident Charlie was inside the beast, just as I was behind the shadow’s possession, but I wasn’t sure whether the dragon would be prepared to return to life behind Charlie’s human eyes. Nor did I know how to convince him to. While I’d met many drakorians, my knowledge of their beasts and power was limited.
But I’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. First, I need to free him. And I’m running out of patience.
The group exchanged glances in the silence that followed, and I could see their doubt, suspicion, and confusion as clear as day.
When Savida demanded, “Laurence, drop the cage,” my brows raised in shock at his serious tone and demeanor.
“He’ll fly away.” Laurence replied with a frown.
Daithi began, “Savida, what are you—”
“Drop the cage,” Savida said again, his jaw tightening and his wings fluttering with agitation.
“He is Fafnir. I’m sure. There are no other dragons,” Sigurd added in a panic.
“I don’t think I should,” Laurence hesitated as he looked at the protector and then at me. I smiled, enjoying this new bit of chaos.
“Are you actually listening to—” Daithi moved to touch his mate, but Savida jerked away from him.
“Drop the cage!” he shouted.
“What’s wrong?” Daithi asked, his face emotionless except for the small crease in his forehead.
“Charlie freed me. And we’ve caged him. He needs our help. Drop the cage.”
“Sav.” Daithi sighed and rubbed his face.
I slapped Savida on his back and nodded with approval. “I like you, daemon. You have a good heart.”
Savida’s seriousness lifted at the mention of his species. “Have you met many daemons?”
I chuckled. “I am happy to tell you more of your people as soon as we have Charlie under control and we’ve portaled to Clawdia and Elizabeth.”
“I’m going to drop it,” Laurence said quietly after a pregnant pause.
“Don’t!” Sigurd shouted and jumped in front of Laurence’s hands, but the barrier fell. He turned, the fury on his face unlike anything I’d seen before, and hissed, “You fool. You’ll be sorry when he kills us.”
“Stay still,” I told them as we watched Charlie's large, scaled body stumble when his thrashing against the cage stopped as the cage disappeared. Realizing that he was no longer trapped, he looked cautiously around. He huffed his frustration and sent a glare our way before he walked, or stumbled, further into the forest.
We followed him from a safe distance. He could definitely hear us, since humans from miles away could hear Laurence’s heavy breathing, but Charlie ignored us as he maneuvered through trees with an awkward gait. He eventually came to a stop when he reached a small, sandy beach on the edge of the island.
“He’s going to fly away,” Laurence muttered. “Do you want me to …” He didn’t finish the sentence, but I knew what he was going to say.
“No. Leave him. Watch.” I told them with a confidence I didn’t feel and held my breath as I watched.
But Charlie’s wings didn’t lift or flutter to catch the breeze from the coast. Instead, he breathed fire into the sand and turned in a slow circle. The sand burned bright red and glowed as it turned into molten glass. And then he curled up inside the small transparent fortress and closed his eyes, completely ignoring us.
“He’s … sleeping?” Sigurd whispered, disbelieving.
We watched for a few more moments as the dragon sighed deeply, flipped his tail to cover his eyes, and settled into his makeshift nest. I didn’t trust he was entirely asleep, so I didn’t approach him. “He’s probably worn out. Flying and trying to protect themselves would tire any new shifter.”
“And you are sure it is Charlie and not Fafnir?” Sigurd asked, his confusion apparent, but that only made me more suspicious. He didn’t seem to want to hurt Charlie, only Fafnir, but how could he not know what his enemy looked like?
“Would Fafnir have curled up to sleep only a little way away from us?” I asked and leaned against a tree for the second part of my interrogation. “Why do you not recognize Fafnir’s dragon?”
“I do recognize him.” He scoffed but glanced at the sleeping dragon, then admitted with a sigh, “But perhaps my eyes aren’t what they used to be.”
Somehow, I prevented myself from rolling my eyes. “Your body was healed to the start of adulthood. Your eyes are fine.”
“I know you aren’t accusing the protector of being a traitor,” Laurence growled. His disapproval was apparent as he crossed his arms and frowned. But I didn’t know this witch, and I couldn’t have cared less about his opinion of me.
With a smirk I replied, “I’m not, but it’s interesting your mind went to that first.”
“I’m not accusing him of anything, so don’t turn this on me,” Laurence spluttered. “It’s you interrogating him like a criminal.”
“That’s reaching. My interrogation tactics are far bloodier.” My smile was cruel and displayed my fangs, the threat obvious.
“Let us not argue,” Savida implored, his wings flapping nervously.
His gaze darted toward the snoring dragon behind us, and I sighed. It was wise not to wake the sleeping beast with a fight. Not that there would be much of one.
“I would also rather we didn’t. However, I’m concerned you’re blinded by the myths surrounding this man and aren’t looking into his suspicious behavior.”
The others glanced at each other as Sigurd choked on his words before shouting, “What suspicious behavior do you have on your list? I’ve interacted with you only twice!”
“And both times, you’ve alerted my suspicions,” I stated. “Why didn’t you tell anyone about my question? And why is it you could answer it? I am not your family.”
When Sigurd’s face only displayed confusion and didn’t crumble into guilt, I knew he had never even thought about it. He replied slowly, “I’m not sure why I could answer your question about the natural portals. Perhaps it is because you were already aware of them. And I didn’t tell anyone about our interaction because you told me not to.”
“But after you found out I was possessed? You didn’t think my question was strange? That our conversation was strange?” I pressed.
“Y-Yes, well, there was a lot going on,” he stuttered.
With the others watching, I asked, “Why do you not know Fafnir’s dragon form?”
His bravado faltered, and he sighed as he admitted, “I may have forgotten it. It’s been many centuries. You cannot understand the strain I am under. I’m so much to these people—the protector, the savior. I want to help them, but I fear my death, this unnatural state of being, is making me unwell and unable to fight. Even my spell was so weak.”
Forgotten it? Forgotten the form of a man you vowed to chase beyond death? Forgotten the form you saw in your final moments? No. That must be a lie.
But if it was a lie, what other reason would he have for being unable to recognize his enemy? I didn’t believe he was a threat to Charlie, since it was clear he didn’t even know the dragon was Charlie, but why would he attack any old dragon?
Unless he was an imposter. Not Sigurd the protector at all, and instead someone else. A replacement. A hunter? Would an imposter know they were an imposter if someone else had placed them there? And where would the real Sigurd be if that were true?
But perhaps my assumptions were wildly off base, because his voice rang with honesty as he spoke about the pressure he was under. I knew the lengths the witches had gone to bring back their famed defender and how desperate they were for hope against the otherworlders kidnapping humans from this realm.
But there was no doubt in my mind that there was more to his story than we knew, and time would tell whether it was a dangerous omission or a harmless falsehood. Regardless, I would keep a close eye on him. To be brought back to life goes against the laws of nature, and that in itself must warp a person. Perhaps he wasn’t aligned to his purpose anymore.
Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t realize silence had descended upon us like a shroud of fog. I observed the others gazing at the protector with the same, or a similar, confused expression I had. Sigurd kept his head bowed and his eyes on his feet.
I didn’t want him to be any more aware of my suspicions, so I pretended to believe him.
With a sympathetic smile pasted on my face, I slapped his back and told him, “You are not shouldering this burden alone. You might be the hope for many, but you are not the only hope.”
He gave me an odd look, as if he didn’t quite believe my performance, which was understandable, but nodded and returned my smile. But I wasn’t lying. Whoever Sigurd was, whatever lies or truths he told, whatever power he had, it was all irrelevant. Because in the end, it wouldn’t be the protector who took down Fafnir. It would be me. And it would be in honor of the suffering he’d caused my soul mate.
With thoughts of revenge swirling in my mind, my smile turned genuine, and I turned my attention to my original purpose here.
“Savida, walk with me. It’s time to wake the sleeping dragon.”