Chapter 36
“You know what?” I start. Or at least I try. I'm pretty sure it comes out all wrong; which is fine because I can’t remember what I was going to say anyway. I hear Redara’s sound of pain, and my own pain is suddenly diminished. Redara?
I'm okay. But there’s that underlayer of pain again.
I walk towards her. It’s slower than I want, but I won’t leave her in pain. I’m here, I tell her.
“Do you ever follow instructions?” Rauk growls at me.
“Nope.” I try to pull on the metal rope, but don’t get anywhere. “What are we going to do?” I ask, real fear working its way through me. If we can’t get her free, what will happen to her? “I won’t leave her here,” I say around the fear racing through me.
There’s a hand at my arm. Later, I’ll remember how gentle it was; but not right now.
Right now, I’m panicking because my dragon is trapped and in pain, and I don’t know how to free her.
“I would never leave her here,” Rauk says in a calm voice.
“We will get her free. But would you please sit down before you fall over?”
“No,” I pull out of his grasp. “I’ll help you free her.
” I tug on the net again, but it doesn’t budge.
Something slices my arm, and I yank it back in surprise.
“What in the—” I look closer at the net, and horror flows through me.
There are small, sharp spearheads embedded all in the net, and the weight of the net is drawing them under the scales and into her flesh, meaning there are literally hundreds of these piercing her right now.
I yank at it. “We have to get it off her!” I cry in panic.
Noxlyn roars his rage, and the ground trembles beneath us. “Don’t make him any more angry,” Rauk says in a warning voice. He turns suddenly and goes still. “We have soldiers incoming.”
“What?” I turn around but don’t see anything.
“Noxlyn told me.” He spins towards me. I can read his intent before he says a single word.
I’m already shaking my head. “I’m not leaving.”
“Harper,” he grounds out.
“I’m not leaving Redara,” I tell him, gripping the knife in my hand tightly. He doesn’t miss the action. His eyes flick to my knife then back to my face. “Has anyone ever told you how stubborn and frustrating and—”
“You forgot powerful,” I tell him, using the words he said when we first met. His eyes darken, and I swear they would sear me if he could do that. He runs a hand over his chest and closes his eyes a moment. Then he rips a blade from one of his sheaths and puts it in my hand.
“Do not leave my side.” His dark gaze slams into mine. “I mean it, Harper. You wander away from me, I will personally put you down myself.”
“Put me down like a wounded animal?” I question. “Are you going to like kill me?”
He mutters something that sounds a lot like, “It’s quite possible.
” But I can’t ask him about it because we’re suddenly surrounded.
I lift my knives in both hands, and Rauk goes still in a way that promises violence to whoever moves first. I’m just waiting for him to make the first move before I attack.
But then a voice cuts through the noise. “Harper?”
I find the source of the voice, and relief flows through me. “Kaldar.” I take a somewhat unsteady step towards the king of the Jaguar Kingdom, but before I can take another, a big body steps in front of me, blocking me. “Um, unless you want me skewering your back, I suggest you move.”
“Call your soldiers off,” Rauk says in a voice that reeks of power and authority.
Knowing what I know of Kaldar, it doesn’t surprise me when he gives the order to stand down. Kaldar is a powerful king, but he’s also a peaceful guy at his core. “Move, you big oaf.” I push on Rauk’s back, but he doesn’t move. “Rauk, I swear I will disembowel you if you don’t move.”
“You might want to move. Harper doesn’t usually threaten and not follow through.” I can hear the dry tone from Kaldar. It makes me smile, well, sort of smile because good grief, it hurts to smile!
Rauk finally moves, and I step up beside him. My eyes find Kaldar instantly. He’s tall, taller even than Rysden but a little leaner, though no less strong. “We need your help,” I waste no time saying.
“That’s why we’re here,” he says and walks over to us. A few of his closest protectors walk with him, and Rauk tenses up.
“They’re not a threat,” I tell him quietly.
“Redara, my dragon, is pinned down by a metal net. Can you help us free her? It’s too heavy for us alone.”
“Noxlyn could pull it off, but I’m afraid it’s embedded into her skin in too many places to just yank it off,” Rauk further explains, and my heart tugs.
Kaldar looks over at me. “Are you okay, Harper? I’m not really sure how you’re still standing. If you want, I can have my men take you to one of our healers—”
“I can see to it that she’s taken care of,” Rauk interrupts.
Kaldar turns his gaze to Rauk, his assessing eyes missing nothing. “You would have her wait hours to get the care she needs?” Rauk goes still next to me, and I feel like I should tell Kaldar to tread lightly. Why? I’m not sure. I can just feel his anger rising.
“How about we focus on getting Redara free?” I suggest and turn away from the two men to make my way back to Redara. I’m so sorry, I send to her.
I’m okay, she says in response.
Sure you are, I send back.
Just about as well as you.
I huff. Yeah? Well, at least I’m still standing.
True.
Her words aren’t as strong as they usually are, and I mentally urge the men to hurry.
Kaldar gives orders, and Rauk doesn’t hesitate to get in there and give orders as well.
I don’t really care, as long as the end result is that Redara is freed.
Noxlyn snorts and stomps the ground. I glance over my shoulder at him.
Can you calm him? If he scares everyone away, we won’t be able to get you free.
I've been trying to, she responds.
He snorts again, and I smell the sulfur in the air. I take a breath, being careful not to breathe too deeply. I look for Rauk, so I can tell him to calm his dragon down. But I don’t see him right away, so I walk over to Noxlyn instead. He won’t hurt me, right? I ask Redara.
If he does, I’ll kill him, she sends back.
Hmm. Not sure if that brings me any comfort.
You should be fine.
Okay, yeah. No comfort at all. I push my fear aside and walk closer to Nox.
I know he knows I'm here, but he doesn’t have any reaction to me getting closer.
No scratch that; he seems to be...growling?
I don’t know if dragons can growl, but whatever he’s doing, it’s not exactly non-threatening.
“Noxlyn, you have to stop. Those men over there came to help us free Redara.” He snorts out a puff of air, and I gag at the smell of sulfur.
“Yeah. That? That right there is not helping. If you scare them all away, nobody is going to be able to get her free. I know you’re worried about her.
I am too, so please, don’t scare them away.
” I take a step away and then turn back to him.
I step close to his side and pat his leg.
“And thank you for coming for us.” I walk back over to where the men are working to get the metal chain off Redara.
“You look like death warmed over.”
I turn at the sound of the cold voice and see Reika, one of Kaldar’s personal guards. “Reika, I would say it’s nice to see you, but...”
“That would be a lie,” she finishes for me. I crack a smile or try to anyway. “Can I at least wrap your ribs?”
I eye her. “I don’t know if I trust you.”
“I can’t do any more damage to you than already has been done.”
Well, that was the truth. “Fine. Do your worst.”
She turns and walks away. The move doesn’t really surprise me. She’s not exactly a warm and fuzzy kind of person. She comes back a few minutes later with a medic bag. “Sit.”
“Right here?” I ask.
She doesn’t dignify my question with a response. “Fine.” I manage to sit on the ground, and she drops to her knees next to me. “Take your shirt off.”
I give her a surprised look. “Right here?”
“You want those ribs wrapped or not? You really think the men are going to stop what they’re doing to stare over here just because you took your shirt off? Besides, your back is to them.”
“Okay, fine.” I struggle more than I should to get out of my shirt. As bloody and torn as it is it should be easy; but it’s anything but. Reika doesn’t offer to help; she just watches me with bored disinterest.
When I finally get it free, she nods at my chest. “Underclothing too.”
“Oh, good grief.”
I try not to think about how weird this is, but she doesn’t make it any more awkward. She wraps me quickly, and I finally feel a tiny bit of relief. “See? Isn’t that better?”
“Yes. Thank you.” I work at putting my shirt back on, though I’m not really sure what the point is right now. It's destroyed. She starts on my forehead, but I bat her hand away.
“It’s fine. Is Kinsley really pregnant?” I ask her. She doesn’t respond at first to my question. “I’m not going to tell anyone; I just want to know if she is and if she’s okay.”
“She’s safe and unharmed,” Reika says.
Relief wells inside me just at hearing she’s okay. And the fact that she didn’t tell me she wasn’t pregnant or act surprised, tells me she knows Kinsley is. But just knowing she’s okay helps a lot. “How are things? Really.”
Her eyes meet mine. “It’s been bad. The guivre attacks are so prevalent. They’ve burned entire sections of the trees around our homes and homes that have people in them.” There’s pain in her eyes, and it guts me.
Sorrow fills me. “I’m so sorry. That's awful.”
Her eyes harden. “Right. But as long as it doesn’t touch you, you’re fine, right?
The other kingdoms stay safe by staying away, right?
” Her voice is full of bitterness, and I don’t know what to say.
I want to defend myself and the other kingdoms, but there’s an element of truth to her words.
The Dragon Kingdom certainly hasn’t done anything to help, and it sounds like the Wolf Kingdom is worn thin trying to keep themselves safe, let alone help another kingdom.
I look her in the eye. “I’m trying to change that.”
She scoffs. “Sure, you are.”
“Do you not see the dead guivres and men around this area? Or did you notice the downed guivres yesterday?”
Her eyes narrow. “That was you?”
I smile as much as I can without it hurting. “Yep.”
She stares at me. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why did you come here?”
I stare at her. “The answer to that question is literally dead on the ground all around us. And here I thought you were one of the smart ones.”
“Why?” she asks again.
"Reika, I came here to try to take down as many guivres as I could, and before you ask me why, I did it because I can. Because Redara can take down multiple guivres. I did it because there are good people in this kingdom who don’t deserve what’s happening to them.
I did it because Kaldar is a good king, and Kinsley is my friend.
But even if none of those things were true, I did it because something bad is happening and it’s within my power to do something about it. So, I did.”