Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
PHOENIX
“You’re ready.”
My eyes snap open. I blink up at Kazh who stands in front of me with a neutral face. For a second, I imagine I heard her say those words.
“What?”
Kazh clicks her tongue. “For someone your age, even if only human, I’d expect you wouldn’t have trouble hearing, shithead. I said, you’re ready.”
Immediately, I jump to my feet. “Oh my gods!”
Kazh rolls her eyes. “Get out of my face before I change my mind.”
I squeal and fight off the urge to scoop my mentor into a tight hug. She’d beat me to death with her cane for that.
Instead, I whirl on my heel and march inside the monastery. As if Elder Arcon could sense what’s happening, he appears out of thin air just as I turn the corner.
“Elder Arcon! Kazh said I’m ready to learn how to track my dragon,” I say, breathless.
Elder Arcon smiles. “Very well.” His smile drops when he looks at something behind my shoulder.
Ezkai Bjorn and Ezkai Emil.
“Walk with me, General.” He shoots my Ezkai a pointed look and adds, “Alone.”
I turn to my Ezkai. “I’ll be fine.”
Reluctantly, they let me go and I hurry after the monk and his rustling robes deeper into the monastery.
We walk in silence until we reach a tall double door with a mural of the mountain peaks and the sun setting behind them carved into the dark wood. I enter after him, and immediately my attention is drawn by the wall of steel on one side of the room.
Intricate traps, weapons, whips, leashes, and devices I’ve never seen before hang on hooks across the whole damn wall. You need a ladder to reach some of these…tools.
“Whoa,” I mutter, eyeing it. “I had no clue you know how to battle.” I glance at Elder Arcon over my shoulder. “I thought monks were supposed to be peacekeepers.”
Elder smiles at me. “We are. We only fight when we must.” He gestures at two robed figures standing by the other wall that has a huge map of the mountains drawn on it. “Monk Helios and Monk Renold are our dragon-tracking experts.”
I didn’t even see them until Elder Arcon pointed them out. They stand so still and silent, their robes almost blending in with the map, hoods covering the majority of their faces.
“Pleasure to meet you,” I say to them.
They both show me respect in the official manner. I acknowledge it with a slight dip of my chin and approach the table with a similar map carved in the tabletop.
This mountain range with the forests and rivers is vast.
It’s going to take me forever to find my dragon.
Oh gods.
“As you know, General, this path you chose to walk requires you to go alone,” Elder Arcon says, approaching the table from the other side. I nod. “Of course, your Blood Sentineal will need to accompany you. We already briefed him on the hunt, tracking, and other matters.”
“Wait what?” I cock my head to the side. “You’ve spoken with Jax already?”
Elder Arcon nods.
When? Jax hasn’t said a single word. I haven’t had a whiff of it through our bond, either. Why would he hide it from me?
Sleazy bastard.
“I see. You better brief me now,” I say.
“Of course, General,” Elder Arcon says with a polite smile. He turns to the trackers. “Monk Renold, please walk the General over the recommended path.”
Monk Renold nods and removes his hood to reveal a face with a deep scar running horizontally over it, right through the middle. He pulls out a thin wooden cane and drags the cane along the carved river, stopping at the lake.
“Up north from the monastery, there’s a crystal lake. That’s the main feeding ground for the dragons of Killygano Mountains,” he says, his voice melodic and soft, unlike his appearance.
I inspect the place on the map he’s pointing at. “How far is it?”
“About three days travel.”
Okay. Not too bad.
“There’ll be clues to look for on the way there that will point you towards the right direction,” Monk Renold continues.
“Some are obvious as clawed footprints and shed scales. Some may be easily interpreted as nature, such as melted patches of stone, and glassed sand. Look for fallen trees, especially snapped in half when the dragons land.”
I nod. “Got it. I assume the dragons are the biggest predators in these forests, right? So if the forest suddenly goes silent it’s a sign?”
Monk Renold exchanges a meaningful glance with Elder Arcon. “Biggest? Yes. Not the only ones, though. So don’t assume, and keep an eye out for danger that’s not a dragon at all times, General.”
I nod.
“Once you reach the feeding ground, don’t approach the dragon head-on,” Monk Renold continues. “There may be dragons resting in the forest surrounding the lake. These creatures, while majestic, are vicious. And they don’t like people, Ezkai General or not.”
“I’m aware.”
“Good. I trust you’ll be careful.” Monk Renold points northwest from the feeding grounds on the map and then northeast. “Dragons tend to nest either in pairs or small groups of three or four. In very rare cases, they nest alone. From the feeding grounds, you’ll either go northeast or west, depending on where your chosen dragon chooses to nest. Follow their tracks, and it should lead you to the den.
Only then is it safe to reveal yourself and approach the dragon. ”
I eye the deep valleys where the monk pointed.
“Monk Helios, do you mind briefing the General on the dragon-bonding protocol?” Elder Arcon asks.
The second tracker removes his hood to reveal an empty right eye socket. He wears no patch to cover it. As if wearing his vicious scar openly is something he’s proud of.
“Absolutely, Elder,” the man says, voice smooth.
“Once you reach the den, approach your chosen dragon, but give the creature space. Especially if they nest with other dragons. It’s customary to kneel on one knee as a way to show you mean no harm.
Then, you must allow the dragon to approach you themselves. If they don’t do it, you must leave.”
My heart tumbles out of my chest.
“So I just kneel and hope the dragon likes me? There’s no way for me to speak to the dragon?” I force the words out. “When I faced the dragon in the Trial of Wisdom, I felt the creature’s emotions inside me. It understood me when I spoke to it.”
“Dragons do not use our language to communicate,” Monk Helios says. “They communicate in their own ways, known only to the dragons and those who have the rare honor to bond them. Speaking Ekiosh or Wetran will not sway the dragon into bonding, General.”
“That is one of the many risks you accept when you embark on this journey, General,” Elder Arcon says and I turn to face him. “Dragons are wild creatures, who serve no master. You must prepare yourself for all outcomes.”
I understand what he’s saying. But I refuse to accept it. That connection I felt to the dragon I fought was real.
“Also you must know that these mountains are not empty, General,” he says.
I frown.
“Spirits of the gods roam the wilds freely,” Elder Arcon says. “Some…test those who walk the path. I’m sure you’re intimately familiar with the ways of the spirits of the gods.”
His eyes dart to my chest before returning to my face.
My cheeks warm up, but I keep my chin high.
“I’m well prepared, Elder Arcon,” I say sharply.
“Good,” Elder Arcon says. “Then you’re ready. We’ll provide the mountain horses to make your travel easier and prepare the provisions for you and the Blood Sentineal.”
“Thank you,” I say curtly, running a finger over the carving of the snowy peaks.
Soon, I’ll have my dragon.
And there won’t be anyone who dares stand in my way or threaten what’s mine.