Chapter 14 #2
I blink several times as he changes in an instant from an elf to a human.
It’s still him—eye and hair color and most of his face are the same, but the elements that made him so distinctly “other” have been softened.
I’d walk past this guy on the street and not give him a second glance—except maybe to admire his attractiveness.
From the way David clears his throat, he’s noticed the same thing. Alistair chuckles beside me, a gleeful little hehehe , and I make a mental note to keep a close eye on him. David and Caolan can manage their own… whatever it turns out to be. They don’t need his interference.
“Thank you,” Percy says. “As you can see, amongst ourselves we don’t bother with such glamor, but when with humans, it’s our first priority.”
“I understand.” Caolan changes back to his elfin self, then, while I’m marveling at how his features can be so much the same and yet so different, says, “There may be some problems with the dragons.”
…
…
…
Noah breaks the stunned silence. “I beg your pardon,” he says politely. “Did you just say dragons?”
“Yes.” He suddenly looks anxious. “They can come too, yes? They’re the only other higher-intelligence species in our dimension.”
“Dragons,” Gideon repeats. “Like… dragons.”
Andrew holds out his phone to Caolan. “This kind of dragon?”
Caolan takes it and examines the image closely. “There are some differences,” he says at last, “but for the most part, yes. Do you have dragons here still? I thought they all returned to our dimension when the travel ban was instituted.”
Alistair begins to laugh wildly. “Motherfucking dragons !” he cries. “Yessssssss. I’m going to make friends with the dragons. My tertiary best friend will be a dragon—you better lift your game, Andrew, or they’ll replace you as secondary best friend.”
I’m not exactly sure what he’s talking about, but as long as he’s not planning to replace me with a dragon, it’s fine.
“Dragons,” David whispers. “Okay. Okay. I can…. We need to talk about what the dragons will need. They don’t eat people, do they?”
“Well,” Caolan begins, and David makes a whimpering sound. “No, no,” Caolan hurries on. “They can eat people when they’re in dragon form, but they don’t. Not anymore, anyway. Not for hundreds of thousands of years. They mostly eat while they’re in biped form now.”
“They’re shifters?” Noah’s grinning widely. “Dragon shifters? That’s awesome!”
Alistair slumps a little and mutters something, and I know without asking that he’s not happy about hellhounds no longer being the largest subspecies of shifter. I roll my eyes but let him have his sulk.
David’s looking a little less pale now. “Would the dragons be able to remain in biped form for the most part? We can try to find a remote area where they can shift… Oh fuck, the satellites… Wait—do they fly?”
Caolan nods, seemingly fascinated by David’s semi-meltdown.
“They fly. How am I going to hide giant flying dragons from the humans?” David mutters.
“They can make themselves undetectable in their dragon forms,” Caolan volunteers, and David perks up. “But they can be… stubborn sometimes. And they like pranks.”
As one, we all turn to look at Alistair. “What?” he demands. “I’m not a dragon.”
“They sound an awful lot like hellhounds,” Sam muses. “Can they be distracted with cookies?” he asks Caolan, who shrugs.
“As a rule, they have a sweet tooth. And they’re stubborn and sometimes… exuberant, but they’re not stupid. Once we explain how important it is to remain hidden from humans, there will be only rare episodes of foolishness.”
“Like hellhounds weren’t bad enough,” David grumbles, and in unison, Alistair and Manoj say, “Hey!”
“Don’t be jealous of our awesomeness, David. It’s not our fault you’re stuck in one form.”
David ignores him and asks Caolan, “How many dragons are there?”
“Not many. They were always few in number, and the deterioration of our dimension affected them disproportionately. There are fewer than five thousand left.”
“Dragons,” Noah whispers. “Five thousand dragons.”
My stomach rumbles, reminding me I didn’t eat enough of the food Sam provided, and I feel my face getting hot with embarrassment.
Andrew makes a tsking sound. “Honestly, Alistair, if you can’t look after your man better than that, there’s no way he’s going to marry you.”
Alistair opens his mouth to reply, but Percy hastily says, “I think it might be time for a break. It’s been a long and busy morning—and night, for some of you.
Caolan needs to confer with his king, plus, I want to check in at the office, and I’m sure David wants to start planning for the migration.
Shall we reconvene here in three hours?”
There’s a general murmur of assent, but as we all get to our feet, Gideon says, “Just one more thing. You said earlier that éibhear had declared himself king, even though the magic—life force—selects your king. Presumably his followers know this. What reason do they have for following him?”
Caolan sits back down, and my stomach sinks. The rest of us follow suit.
“Our best intelligence is that they do so for personal gain and survival. éibhear has proclaimed that he will save our species, but only for those who follow him. That is further indication of his unfitness to rule, but for most of us, the fact that the life force does not support him is all we need to know. Some of our people did at first wonder if he might have a solution and joined his ranks, but they returned upon hearing of his plan. He has no way to save our dimension. His plan to save his followers is to bring them here. But his followers are few, a mere ten thousand or so, and he wishes to rule over many, not remain hidden.”
“Ah.” Gideon closes his eyes briefly. “Hence the enslavement and eradication of our people.”
Nodding, Caolan continues. “As best we know, he found a way to circumvent the travel ban sometime within the last century, came here, and sought someone amongst your people who would support his goals.”
“Tish.” It’s said by multiple voices.
“Indeed. Together they plan to enslave humanity and murder any of your species that attempt to gainsay them. Then Tish will rule over his own kind, and éibhear will have dominion over humanity.”
“I’m not doubting you,” Sam says slowly, “but that doesn’t seem like something Tish would agree to. Giving up power like that, I mean.”
“It fits his actions, though,” Noah adds bitterly. “When he took me through the portal, he seemed subordinate to whoever was in charge—éibhear, presumably. Which reminds me, they all seemed really intent on stealing Percy’s seal of office. Why?”
Caolan frowns. “A seal of office? An insignia? I have no idea. Perhaps they think having it would sway some of your people to their side?”
Noah doesn’t seem convinced. “It didn’t feel like Tish cared that much. He was doing it to fulfill a bargain with éibhear.” He thinks about it, then shakes his head. “I don’t know.”
“And none of what we know explains how either of them plans to get around the magic—life force,” Andrew says.
“They may have been able to run their plans in the background until now, but the collapse of a dimension and the dodgy dealings here have definitely got the magic’s attention.
For now, it seems content to let us try to handle things, but eventually it’s going to act… right?”
Percy shrugs. “It won’t give me a commitment on that either way, but given the way it’s stepped in previously when genocide loomed, it’s a safe assumption.”
“Especially since it’s so pleased we’ve invited the elves—and dragons—to live here,” I add, feeling the warm comfort of the magic around me as I say it. “Why would it be happy to have saved them, only to let Tish and éibhear wipe them out or enslave them?”
“So the life force is just as elusive with you as it is with us,” Caolan says dryly. “That’s both good to know and incredibly frustrating.” He turns his gaze on Noah. “You were taken through a portal to my dimension?”
Noah nods. “Yes. They took me to a large building made from something similar to our stone and locked me in a linen cupboard.”
“Why would they have a lock on a linen cupboard?” Caolan asks in puzzlement, and Noah jabs a finger in the air.
“Yes! That’s what I want to know.”
“My best assumption is that you were at éibhear’s base of operations. He and his senior spellcasters have managed to create their own energy shield, although it is much smaller and less stable. It’s just as well for you that they brought you back here.”
“They didn’t,” Andrew says. “Noah teleported himself home.”
“ Teleported? ” Caolan’s shock is a physical force in the room.
Noah sighs. “So that’s not something humans could do back before the species wars?”
Caolan shakes his head, apparently too stunned to find words.
“And on that note,” Sam says, “I think it’s time for that break Percy mentioned. Anyone who wants to stay here is welcome. I’m having more food brought in, and the Wi-Fi password is on the fridge. Otherwise, we’ll see you in a few hours.”
I turn to Manoj as the group begins to disperse. “Could you find me a hotel near here? Have you sorted out a place to stay?”
He opens his mouth to respond, but Alistair gets in first.
“Are you trying to hurt me? Why don’t I just give you a knife so you can jam it into my gut?” He brings his wide, sad puppy eyes to bear. “My lover would rather stay in a hotel than with me. It’s like you’ve brought my deepest, darkest fear to life.”
I bite back a smile at his dramatics. “Really? That’s your deepest, darkest fear? That I’d stay at a hotel?” I hold up a hand before he can reply. “Never mind. Of course I’ll stay with you—I just didn’t think of it because I’m tired and used to staying in hotels.”
He sniffs and grabs my hand. “Good. Let’s go.”
I yank him back. “Hold on.” Turning back to Manoj, I ask, “Have you made arrangements for yourself?”