Chapter 10 – Charlie
CHAPTER 10
CHARLIE
CHAPTER 10 - CHARLIE
B aelen didn’t seem surprised by my question. He sighed and nodded. “Yes, I suspect him too and told them all as much.”
As I tied my laces, I asked, “And what did he say?”
“He’s forgotten.”
I paused before I stood and then shook my head in disbelief. “I’ve seen Fafnir twice in person. Daithi has seen him in a vision and showed Savida that vision through a hologram, so I don’t know how they fucking mistook me for Fafnir, either. I look nothing like him. I’m a totally different color. I mean, I get there aren’t a lot of dragons, but I was fucking buried and didn’t attack anyone until they attacked me.”
“I understand, Charlie.” His gaze shifted to the group sitting around the fire, their voices a quiet hum as they chattered, unaware I was here. Baelen lowered his voice and said, “I’m not sure what they were thinking, but I don’t think they are a danger to you. Otherwise, I would have left them here and already taken you back to the island.”
“That’s where Clawdia is right now?”
He shook his head. “She’s with your mother, investigating your family on the mainland.”
I raised my eyebrows and laughed. Clawdia wasn’t on the friendliest of terms with my birth mother, so I didn’t imagine they were having a great time. Especially if Clawdia knew what Elizabeth had done to poor newborn Dralie. If she had a special skill, feline passive-aggressive anger was it.
“Elizabeth didn’t argue to have me exterminated?”
His lips twisted. “She doesn’t understand drakorians as much as she thinks she does. I’ve informed her of her mistake.”
It was a nice thought that he cared enough to defend Dralie and me to her. I wasn’t as hurt as I should have been. She was worried I would turn into Fafnir’s dragon minion and had told me that if I ever went dragon, she would kill me. To her, all dragons were bad.
But Dralie. Well, Dralie must have been my inner softie, because he was just … sweet. Sickeningly so.
“Drakorians aren’t sweet. Or soft. They are fierce. And loyal.”
“That’s kind of cute, Dralie.”
He was being quiet, taking everything in and, I assumed, learning. This life—our life—was new to him, so he had a huge learning curve ahead of him, but I didn’t doubt for a second that he would catch up. He was smart … and old, by the sound of it.
My stomach rumbled, interrupting us, and I couldn’t ignore the hungry and gnawing ache any longer. “Tell me they’re making some food over that campfire. I’m starving.”
Baelen pointed me toward the fire, and I stumbled over to it like a baby deer trying to find its legs. When Savida spotted me, he surged to his feet and wrapped me in his arms before I could stop him. He nuzzled into my hair like I was a pet until I squirmed out of his grip.
“I’m glad to see you, my friend. I worried you would be scaly forever.”
“Only half of the time, it seems.” I tried to comb my hair back into some kind of shape, but it was filthy and still probably looked like shit when I dropped my hand.
“You’ve come to an agreement with your other side already? That is good news.”
I didn’t have time to ask him what he meant by that before Daithi joined us. He didn’t hug me, but he nodded and, in his serious, solemn tone, said, “My apologies for attacking you, Charlie.”
“I’ll forgive you as long as you’ve got food for me. I’m so hungry I could eat a scabby horse.”
“Laurence has made a basic but filling meal,” Savida announced proudly and guided me to the log bench by the fire. It didn’t help with the chilly breeze at my back, but it was much better to feel a bit of heat than nothing. Laurence was spooning something into a camping tin and handing it over along with a spoon, and I didn’t even look before I began shoveling it into my gob.
“What happened to you guys, then? The island?” I asked between bites.
Savida, completely in his element, described their escape from hunters through the tunnel which took them through to this island. The tunnel had emergency backpacks full of survival equipment—a tent, flares, lighters, food, water and even a change of clothing. Not that Savida or Daithi could make use of the clothes since they were taller than the average human. But they seemed to fit me okay.
“You went into a dark tunnel?” I asked, setting my tin on the ground, and Savida nodded. I hadn’t missed the shake in his voice when he described jumping into the dark hole. I patted his back. “Proud of you, mate. That must have been hard.”
Savida’s eyes welled with tears, and he pulled me back into a hug and wailed, “I am so sorry we hurt you, Charlie.”
“You don’t need to apologize anymore. Water under the bridge.” I wriggled out of his arms again, flustered and uncomfortable. I was used to people being shitty and hurting others, but I could count the number of times I’d heard a genuine apology.
Savida tilted his head, confused, and asked, “What do bridges and water have to do with anything?”
“It’s just a phrase.” I waved him off and then looked at Sigurd and Laurence.
They were as filthy as I was and looked just as tired as I felt, but they didn’t even try to apologize for mistaking me for Fafnir, so fuck them. In fact, Sigurd was deliberately avoiding my eyes, which was suspicious as fuck, while Laurence just looked guilty.
“So, what’s the plan?”
“Plan?” Laurence asked, since I’d been staring at him.
“Yeah. What are we doing tomorrow to get Zaide back, the hunters off our backs, and Fafnir back in the ground?” The silence echoed until I sighed. “Seriously? No one has any ideas?”
Baelen called from the tree he was resting against, “We should go back to the island in the morning where, hopefully, Clawdia and Elizabeth will meet us. Then we can discuss how to get to Zaide.”
“You don’t want to go now?” I asked.
“I can’t portal us right now.”
I eyed him. “You need … blood?”
Baelen paused, and a smug smile creeped up his face. His white fangs glinted at me from across the fire. “Are you offering?”
I stuck a finger up at him. “No.”
Baelen strode over and parked himself on the edge of the log next to Sigurd. “I’m fed. But if I portal us now, I risk endangering us if we need to escape quickly.”
“Daithi can also portal,” I pointed out.
Daithi’s nose was in the air and scrunched like he’d smelled a fart. “I am not going back to a place where hunters have already discovered us.”
I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear him pipe up with an argument, but my eye twitched as I resisted the urge to roll them.
“It is safe now. Elizabeth has hidden the island again,” Baelen told him, much calmer than I was.
“That can’t last, though,” Laurence added quietly.
“Perhaps not.” Baelen shrugged. “But it should last long enough for our purposes.”
“We don’t really know how long it’s going to take to defeat Fafnir. We can always shield the island again. Shouldn’t we set up a base of operations where there’s already running water and no humans?” I asked.
I didn’t have the resources to find another place to hide without my phone, and to find it, I had to go back to the island anyway. To me, it was a done deal. But maybe seeing all the supernaturals being dragged off by hunters was traumatic enough to make them never want to return. Then again, it was Daithi, so he probably just wanted to make sure he had Savida wrapped in Bubble Wrap.
“And that should be an island recently invaded and stripped of its populace? Those hunters … I saw what they do to Zaide … I won’t allow Savida to suffer the same fate,” Daithi said in that stern voice which meant he wouldn’t be moving at all.
“But to hell with the rest of us, huh?” I could feel my blood pressure rising, but because I was too fucking tired to fight about it, I played peacekeeper in Zaide’s stead. “Fine. Okay. Baelen, and I will go back tomorrow. You guys can stay here or somewhere else. I don’t care. Is there any more food? I’m still starving.”
My snapping made the group quiet as Laurence spooned more food into my tin and handed it back over to me.
Maybe I was a prick, but hunger was the root of most of my evil. I couldn’t be held accountable for that. Being a dragon is hard work.
“I know you think I’m cruel, but it’s for the best,” Daithi muttered.
“This faei … I could eat him. If you wish.”
“We aren’t eating anyone, Dralie.”
I raised my eyebrow and swallowed. “I thought faei couldn’t tell lies. Or is that just something that’s been made up by humans?”
Daithi took my question seriously and shook his head. “Alfheimr is very diverse. The populace is full of different beings.” He held out his hands, and the colorful orbs appeared in front of us, hovering over the fire.
He’s used them to show me the different realms weeks ago, when we were strangers looking for a woman called Margaret—was that only weeks ago? It felt like a lifetime. It felt nostalgic. Even if I wasn’t sure he should use any more power than necessary.
The orbs reformed into the shapes of beings, and Daithi continued, “Some faei have wings and cannot portal, and some cannot lie but can trick. Some can manipulate nature. Some have an affinity for the weather and seasons. Some are creatures of the forests and are small but mighty. Some live in the water; some in the trees. It is the oldest of all the realms and, therefore, full of magic in all kinds of forms.”
“It’s magical,” Laurence breathed, his eyes wide as he watched the light show.
Between my full stomach, the dancing orbs, and the heat from the fire, a sleepy haze fell over me, and I sighed as I looked at the bags of equipment leaning against the log. I nudged Savida and picked up the tent bag to pull it all out. Savida examined each pole and hook with fascination as Daithi continued his lecture.
“It is. But because it is so diverse, there is a very strict class structure. Many of the smaller, less powerful creatures are thought of as lesser, and many do not have representation in councils or courts. Because the realm is so old and the beings are so long-lived, change rarely happens.”
“Let me guess, you fit in at the top of the food chain?” I asked as I began feeding the poles through the tent, Savida holding the other side, eager to help.
“My family was prominent but not at the top.”
“Your parents weren’t seers like you?” Baelen asked.
His jaw stiffened, but his voice was calm as he replied, “My mother was a green faei and had a bond with the forests. My father was a manipulator faei. He couldn’t lie, but he could talk you in circles and use transformative powers to trick people.”
“So, you get your hair from her and your magic from him. How did they feel about your seer power?”
“They loved it. They were thrilled I would elevate the status of the family and bring in more money.”
“That didn’t bother you?” I asked.
“Visions ruined my life. They gave me hope I could change the outcome and then made me the cause. It’s a curse. The only thing my visions ever gave me to be thankful for is Savida.” He looked at his soul mate, love clear in his eyes.
Daithi was a prick a lot of the time, but no one could say he wasn’t obsessed with Savida in the “I’d watch the world burn to save you” kind of way. Savida’s returning smile was equally sickening, and I poked him with the tent pole to get him to focus on the task at hand.
I was getting more tired by the second, and there was a weird buzzing under my skin that felt like an adrenaline rush … but outside of me? I couldn’t describe it. It was weird.
“Can you feel that?” I asked Dralie as I threaded the last pole.
“Yes.”
“Do you know what it is? It feels strange.”
“I’m sorry, Charlie. I’m uncertain. Perhaps a sleep will help.”
“It’s not, like, a hoard thing? I won’t start collecting tents?”
“This flimsy material is not worthy of being hoarded. Drakorians would laugh at us if we were to show them. Our mate would reject us.”
“I don’t know. I think Clawdicat would enjoy a tent.”
“My mother’s visions are the reason my fathers no longer speak of her. They stopped believing her. Drove her away. Even now, they hate her despite being her soul mates. They are a curse,” Baelen said gravely, and Daithi nodded his appreciation. He probably didn’t get many people agreeing with his point of view about visions, but someone with a pros and cons list might have a different opinion to someone living the experience.
“Have you been to Alfheimr?” Daithi asked Baelen as I sent the tent down near the fire with the trees behind it, blocking the wind.
“Only once or twice. When my fathers kicked me out of Tartarus, I went on a mini quest to look for all the things I thought would help me in my journey to become the savior of the titans.”
I knew there were three gods, and I knew Baelen called them all father, but I had to wonder who his actual birth father was. Or did being gods mean they could make a test-tube baby for all of them without the test tube?
Probably not the right time to ask.
“Savior of the titans? Isn’t that what they’ve …” I began.
Baelen answered my unsaid question with a dry smile. “Yes. They’ve never believed my mother’s vision of me as the savior, and so they appointed Zaide and Clawdia as such.”
“Ouch. That must have stung.”
He tilted his head, agreeing but not showing any emotion. “Titans wouldn’t accept the akari bastard as a savior when there was a titan who was scarred with the power of his bloodline and wears the hair of a king. But I’ve been the one risking life and limb to rescue them from slave markets, so yes, it was a kick in the teeth.”
“We all do foolish things to impress our parents,” Daithi remarked. Maybe Baelen’s sympathies made him return the favor, because he rarely offered words of comfort.
“I don’t have parents,” Savida chirped as he stomped on a hook.
“I definitely didn’t impress my foster parents,” I muttered, also pressing a hook into the ground.
“My parents are long dead, but I was keen to prove myself to them, to my detriment,” Sigurd added. He’d been quiet this entire time. I wasn’t sure if it was because he couldn’t get a word in edgewise or if he was being a suspicious fuck and planning to kill me in my sleep like some kind of sleeper agent.
Maybe I should watch my words.
“I sometimes write spells for them to try,” Laurence admitted, which brought me out of my serious thoughts and into a pregnant silence which followed his comment.
I choked back a shocked laugh. “That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“We were all sharing and …” Laurence stuttered, his cheeks turning bright red, visible even by campfire light.
“Don’t take it back. That’s adorable.”
Laurence coughed and then slapped his thighs before he stood. “Anyway, should we get some rest? I’ll wash up these tins.”
I let out a laugh as I watched him hurry off to the lake.
Savida called, “Charlie, I don’t believe we will all fit in here,” and I turned to see half of Savida’s body and wings crouched inside the tent. I pulled him out and poked my head inside, hoping to find it was like the Tardis or that tent in Harry Potter. But no. He was right. There was no room for everyone, and I was too tired to sort it out.
“Dibs.”
“Pardon?”
“It means I’m sleeping in here, and the rest of you can fight about who gets to join me, but considering I was a dragon and you guys attacked me, I’m calling this penance.”
Savida crouched and looked inside again. “It’s awfully dark in there. I think I’ll sleep under the stars and with the fire.”
Daithi nodded and said, “And I will sleep in your wings. I’m sure the four of you smaller beings will squeeze in there.”
Smaller beings. Fucking bastard.
“Keep an eye on the fire,” I instructed.
Savida nodded and took Daithi’s hand. “We will get logs now before we settle.”
I started putting the mats and sleeping bags inside the tent, my body still buzzing but also aching from the missing bond.
“Can I be of assistance?” Baelen asked when I’d finished. Behind him, Sigurd continued to sit on the log, staring into the fire like it would tell him the secrets of the universe.
I couldn’t figure out that guy, and I wouldn’t when my brain felt like mush. Sleep first. Assess the protector for sleeper agent tendencies later.
“No. I just pray you don’t snore,” I told him as I dragged myself into the tent, kicking off my shoes in the little porch area and settling at the edge of the tent, claiming my area and sleeping bag. If the protector did want to murder me, he would have to reach over Baelen to do it.
“Not as far as I’m aware,” he replied as he crawled in behind me.
Staring at the shadows cast on the ceiling of the tent, I asked, “How was she? Can she feel this?”
“Feel what?” Baelen asked as he took his shoes off and made himself comfortable.
I rubbed my chest absentmindedly. “Like there’s a hole in her chest and she might die because she can’t feel me?”
He paused, and I felt his eyes look over at me. “I think it’s not as painful as that for her. But she has been beside herself worrying about you.”
I was glad she couldn’t feel this. “Have you told her I’m okay?”
“She knows.”
I threw my forearm over my eyes. “I’m so fucking tired.”
“It’s been a long day.”
I snorted. “Yours started well, at least.”
“It did.”
“Don’t be smug.”
“This is a free realm. I can be smug if I want to be.”
“It’s annoying.”
“Aren’t you tired?” Baelen drawled.
“I’m so tired I could die, but my skin feels itchy.”
He paused, and I could feel his eyes on me again. Creep. “Perhaps it’s a symptom of the shift?”
“Maybe.” As our conversation naturally ended, I reflected on what he talked about earlier. “You know, you still are the savior of the titans, right?”
“Hm?”
“There’s not one savior. That would be a big ask for anyone and probably a lot of stress. But there will be a team working to free titans as soon as this dragon is dealt with. Starting with Zaide’s siblings. Your dads might be pricks, but it doesn’t mean your mom was ever wrong. We’re all the saviors. We just need to figure out what to do next.”
“Thank you, Charlie,” he replied quietly, but I didn’t respond. My eyes were closed, the buzzing under my skin dulled. Before long, I was dead to the world.
A deafening roar shattered the stillness of the night, and my eyes shot open. The air seemed to grow hot, and the dull buzzing inside me suddenly felt like ants marching under my skin.
Dralie, what the fuck is happening?
But he didn’t respond. He seemed … lost? Can you lose a dragon in your head?
I jumped out of the sleeping bag and lurched to the zip, and I stumbled out into the cold air, everyone else a breath behind me.
The moon was low in the trees, and silhouetted in its glow was a dragon. Fafnir’s green wings were outstretched, and his eyes glowed as he stared down at us and almost hypnotized me.
My blood seemed to dance under my skin and heated like a sudden fever, my breaths came in pants, and my vision blurred for a moment. But I heard his large inhale and knew what was coming next.
“Run!” I yelled as I staggered toward the forest.
I didn’t check if the others were following, for I could hear the thundering sound of feet behind me, and as flames lit up the dark woodland and the heat blasted through us, we staggered to the ground, holding our heads and hiding in the undergrowth.
“I will fight him,” Sigurd announced.
“This dragon isn’t on the ground and hurt. Let’s just try to live another day!” I shouted back at him and gripped the belt hoop of his trousers to keep him from heading back toward the dragon.
“We should head back to the tunnel,” Laurence whispered.
“You can’t portal us away?” I asked, my gaze flitting between Baelen and Daithi.
“Not unless you’d like to burn as we wait for it to form?” Baelen replied, and we all ducked again as another huge gust of flames headed toward us.
The trees crackled as they caught fire and it spread from one to the other. Burning leaves and branches fell, lighting up the undergrowth. It happened in seconds, but as Fafnir’s wings fanned, the flames and smoke rose into the air rapidly. I coughed. We couldn’t deliberate. We didn’t have the time. We need to move. Now.
The dragon inhaled again, and my heart stuttered. I stumbled to my feet, my eyes streaming, and shouted, “Fucking run!”
We sprinted away, Daithi and Savida in front, leading the way, Baelen, and Sigurd striding alongside me, and Laurence panting loudly behind us. Fafnir swooped up and over the canopy, spewing fire and watching us.
Please tell me we are close. Dralie, how fast can we shift? Fast enough for me to be scaly before I’m blasted?
But Dralie didn’t reply. Silence echoed around my mind.
I couldn’t panic about it, though, since Fafnir dived into the burning and weakened trees, sending them crashing into us.
“Fuck!” I cursed as I scrambled back to avoid a burning trunk. Baelen and Sigurd pulled ahead, leaving me behind.
Like something out of a nightmare, heat, ash, and smoke smacked me as the trunk hit the ground, and the flames flickered so close to my face that, for a moment, I felt lost in all their hypnotic colors. Then Fafnir roared as Daithi used an illusion of another dragon to distract him. An oldie but a goodie.
“Charlie,” Laurence panted. “What are we going to do?”
The fear in his eyes was enough to make me pause. He didn’t see a way out here. Baelen jumped over the tree like he was a stuntman in a film, emerging from the flames and charging toward me. “Charlie, move.”
He grabbed Laurence and me and dragged us out of the way as another huge gust of flames enveloped where we’d been standing. Fafnir must have gotten bored playing with his fake new friend.
Daithi shouted, “Let’s go!”
Baelen dragged us to our feet, and we started running again, but Fafnir was scrambling behind us and catching up quickly.
“This way!” Daithi called, and relief made my legs wobbly. We must be close. Please let us be close.
Ahead, there was a little dip in the ground, and Daithi and Savida headed straight toward it and disappeared. I couldn’t see what happened next, but Laurence screamed, and when I glanced over my shoulder, Fafnir had a claw in his leg and was dragging him back.
Shit. Fuck. Oh God.
“Laurence,” I called, and his eyes were streaming as they met mine. He screamed, and the sound would haunt my nightmares.
I froze, helpless. Any spells I’d learned evaporated from my mind, and Dralie wasn’t responding. I was just a human watching a man die from an evil dragon attack.
Sigurd threw something at Fafnir, a spell that glowed light blue, and charged toward him like an anime football, but it did nothing. Fafnir took off, holding Laurence in his claws and surging into the sky, away.
“No, no. Fuck. We need to do something.”
Dralie, pull your shit together. We need to dragon up right now. We need to go. Laurence … He was taken.
Baelen grabbed me and pulled. I struggled in his grip, refusing to hide and unable to believe we couldn’t save him. Laurence’s screams grew more distant as the dragon dragged him into the sunrise. I shook as I watched with my jaw clenched and sickness bubbling in my gut.
“What the fuck?” I whispered.
I couldn’t comprehend it. A faei, a daemon, an akari-titan godling, a witch, a dragon, and the fucking protector couldn’t do anything to stop a surprise attack that actually almost killed us. We should have been able to escape and defeat him. We had all the power of the realms combined, yet we lost someone.
I shook my head, unable to look at Baelen or Sigurd as I headed into the tunnel. I didn’t say a word as I walked the length back to the island. I don’t think I heard a word either. The journey was a blur. But my mind swirled with questions.
How did Fafnir find us? Where was Dralie, and why wasn’t he answering me? And why did Fafnir take Laurence rather than kill or drain him right there and then? Where is he taking him? Why couldn’t any of us do anything to stop him? Had we underestimated the threat? Overestimated ourselves?
I walked straight toward the nearest cabin breaching the hole in the island, and as soon as I saw a bed, I collapsed straight onto it.
I didn’t check where the others were.
I woke up to the sound of the door slamming open and groaned but roused myself to fight the next battle. When I saw who disturbed me, I asked, “Elizabeth?”
I didn’t have time to question how she got here, because the horror on her face made my stomach flip.
“She’s gone,” Elizabeth announced. “Clawdia’s gone.”