Unclaimed Dragon Lands
Slowly, we started to circle and drift lower into the foothills of the Restless Mountains.
I wondered if the dragons had a name for them since they’d lived here longer than us, something to ask Vasin later.
I spotted two other red dragons waiting for us with their riders sitting under a tent for shade.
“Can you tell who they are?”
“Both are from the Hell Hawk clan. They were on their way to report back to Acton when their dragons brought them here.”
“That will be fun to explain.”
“You are the queen… you don’t need to explain.”
“Right, we’ll see how well that goes over.”
Zan landed first, while Vasin waited until they had dismounted Ifra before he found a place to settle that wasn’t too close to everyone else. Payson quickly undid his harness and slid off Vasin before reaching up to help me down.
“Thank you for the ride, Vasin. It is an honor to be given the privilege,” Payson said, bowing slightly to him.
I bit my lip to keep from laughing, but I could tell from our bond that Vasin was pleased with the effort. Payson moved to pick me up, but I stopped him with a hand on his chest.
“Just lend me your arm. I’m going to walk. I can’t have these men’s first impression of me being weak,” I explained.
Almost instantly, I regretted my choice with the ground so unsteady with all the rocks and shifting sand.
I kept my back straight and shoulders back, clenching my jaw against the dull throb of my leg.
The two men stood once they saw Vasin but waited for us to approach, curiosity in their eyes.
Dayson and Zan both fell in behind us as I got closer, showing they were with me.
I pulled Payson to a stop just a few steps away from the men and smiled. “Thank you for coming to meet me. I’m Cassarah, Queen of the Mercenaries.”
“So, you’re the one who messed with our dragons and had them drag us out here to the wastelands,” one of the men snapped. “Do you know how long we’ve been waiting here while those two refused to do anything but just sit there?”
Vasin let out a roar and started to advance on us, his teeth bared and smoke billowing out of his mouth, making him look terrifying. Both men stared wide-eyed at Vasin before they dropped to a knee and bowed their heads.
“Your Majesty, forgive us for not greeting you with respect. We heard rumors that a black dragon had hatched, but we didn’t know if it found its pair-bond.
It is an honor to meet you,” one of the men greeted, lifting his head to meet my gaze.
“I am Tinus, and this is Bast. Those are our dragons, Adils and Groa. We are of the Hell Hawk clan.”
Deciding the men would no longer give me trouble, Vasin sat on his haunches, watching the meeting with a keen eye.
“I could have handled it myself, you know.”
“We do not have time to play power games with everyone we meet. Seeing me should have been enough.”
Letting out a sigh, I stepped away from Payson to stand on my own.
“It is good to meet you. I’m sorry you had to wait on us, but this was the only way we could get all of you in the same place.
Vasin, my dragon, shared that you are already on your way to the hideout to speak with Acton. Is there news to share?”
Bast looked at Tinus before he turned back to me. “Our clan is close to the southern part of the Restless Mountains and Utros. We discovered an army working its way through the pass.”
“We’re too late. Utros is already on the move.”
“Cass, we already knew they would be involved. This is no surprise. Do not get discouraged.”
“If the king and queen don’t help us, there’s no hope.”
“There is nothing more we can do until we have an answer. Use your skills and gather all the information you can to set forth the best course of action. This is what you were born to do. Trust yourself.”
“How large of an army are we talking about?”
Bast cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re not surprised by this information, are you?”
“Sadly, no. We are on the brink of war with Errit and Utros,” I announced.
Bast and Tinus fell silent at my words, but when dragon-shaped shadows passed over us, we all turned our gaze skyward.
Four dragons flying in formation circled us before landing a few feet away, kicking up sand and dirt into our faces.
Payson pulled me to him so that his shirt protected my face until the air settled back down.
Now, without the glare of the sunlight, I saw four brown dragons along with their riders.
Dayson headed over, shouting a greeting, resulting in hugs and backslaps.
“Allow me to introduce my clan members to you,” Dayson said formally, getting a raised brow from me.
“Kormark is the pair-bond to Grim, Helgi pair-bond to Asa, Svan pair-bonded to Ottar, and Jorund pair-bond to Nasi. Guys, this is Cassarah, Queen of the Mercenaries, and her black dragon, Vasin, who is very protective of his pair-bond.”
“What’s the meaning of all this?” Svan demanded, brushing me off.
Vasin let out a low warning growl, causing the earth to rumble under our feet. The other dragons hissed and backed away from their pair-bonds, lowering their heads as if bowing to us.
“I wasn’t kidding when I said he was protective of her,” Dayson pointed out, squaring up with the man who was just as big as he was. “She is our queen, no matter how you feel about it, and as one of her guardians, I demand that respect is given to her.”
The other three didn’t need any more convincing as they dropped to a knee and bowed. Svan took a moment longer, but he too followed suit.
“Thank you for being here. There is much we need to cover and not a lot of time,” I stated, waving them to their feet, now fully in agreement with Vasin that we didn’t have time for this bullshit.
“We are headed for war, and it’s closing in fast. I need good, reliable information about what is happening in our country right now, along with Errit and Utros.
” Looking around, I found that I had everyone’s attention.
“A man calling himself the Lost King is coming to take over our kingdom, but he doesn’t plan to stop there.
He wants it all. This has been years in the making, and thankfully, I stumbled upon one of his army encampments by sheer chance, but we are still behind on this. ”
“What can we do?” Kormark asked.
“The best advantage we have right now is they don’t know we’re coming for them, so we need to keep that edge while gathering all the information and allies we can.
I need you to fly out and search the entire kingdom for signs of more hidden soldiers lying in wait.
Tinus and Bast spotted another wave of men coming out of Utros through the mountains.
If we are going to survive this, then we have to know what we are dealing with,” I declared, my hands balled up into fists, willing them to believe the urgency of this matter.
“How should we divide it up?” Tinus inquired as he walked over to his dragon, grabbing something from his pack. “Norden is the smallest kingdom, and it’s still hard to fly across in one day.”
“Is it just the six of us? What about Jade? Where is he?” Bast asked Tinus.
“I sent Jade with Alto on another mission. He is one of my guardians,” I informed them.
Tinus’ jaw dropped at that information. “Jade is a guardian? How the fuck did something like that happen? Who invites the Grim Reaper to keep them alive?”
Zan stepped forward into Tinus’ space and thrust his left arm under his nose. “The magic picked him like it did all of us. Are you telling us her Birthright picked wrong?”
Tinus shoved Zan away, causing Ezzu to leap off Zan’s shoulder as he flipped Tinus over his back to land in the dirt. Ezzu landed on his chest and hissed in his face, baring her teeth in warning. Zan whistled for her, and she returned to her spot, crooning and rubbing her face on his cheek.
“Back the fuck off,” Bast growled, storming over to back up his partner.
Payson stepped in his way with a dagger pointed right at his groin. “I wouldn’t bother them if you plan on ever having children. He attacked a guardian. Zan had every right to defend himself.”
“Enough!” I yelled, causing everyone to snap to attention.
“Don’t you get it? This is so much bigger than us.
We could lose everything in this war! If you want to fight over petty things like who is or isn’t my guardian, then just kiss the life you know goodbye.
Let’s go… we’re leaving. Clearly, none of these men will be of any use to us. ”
Grabbing Dayson’s arm, I turned us toward Vasin. As we walked, I reached out to each of the dragons, learning the feel of their minds as they opened up to me.
“Leave them, fly into the mountains, and let them sit here overnight. If they will help, call out to me, and I will hear you.”
“Cass, are you sure that is wise? If I’m not here to keep other dragons away, then they might be killed.”
“They should have been smarter. If I can’t trust them to do as I ask, then this is pointless. You’ll be able to hear them if they call me, right? Just in case I miss it.”
“Yes, I will know if they reach out to you. I’m proud of you, my dear Cass. The hardest thing in leadership is making the tough call, but you are proving that you are willing to do this.”
“Let’s hope it’s the right tough call, or I’ve just killed six men and dragons for nothing.”
“You will be seeing them again with a much different attitude, I’m sure of it.”
“Cassarah, are you sure we should leave? What if the queen says no?” Dayson whispered as he helped me up on to Vasin.
I squeezed his shoulder, looking into his eyes. “Trust me, I have a plan.”
“Okay, do you want me to ride with you this time?”
Glancing over at Zan climbing on Ifra, I nodded. “Make sure you thank Vasin, though. He’s a little touchy about people just hopping on.”
“It would be rude to assume you’re welcome on a dragon’s back without asking,” Dayson agreed as he walked up to speak with Vasin.
Once he got approval, Dayson swung up, strapped himself in behind me, then wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me against his chest. “What are you doing?”
“I’m a little larger than Payson, so either my hands touch your ass, or I do this…”
Taking a moment to clear my throat, I agreed. “This is fine.”
“I like him. He’s blunt and doesn’t try to hide things from you.”
Snorting as I tried to cover my laughter, we leaped into the air, and all the other dragons followed us, along with the shouting of some very angry mercenaries.
“Think this will travel through the clans when they get back?”
“You know it will. That was the other part of your plan, wasn’t it?”
“As you said, we can’t play power games whenever we meet someone new. Hopefully, this will speed things along in the future.”