Chapter 24
Sir Keyon
Toast and I woke with a start, and he scrabbled deliriously to get to his feet. He stumbled and fell sideways into a rock wall, off-balance from his quick rise. He lurched and threw up yellow bile; we could still scent trace amounts of venom in it.
Elpis! I screamed.
Mate! Toast cried and roared in despair when we couldn’t find her scent, not a fresh one.
“Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Toast! Calm down, you handsome devil,” a smooth voice that we immediately recognized shouted from the ground. Toast’s head jerked down to find a waving Leofwine.
Damnation, I’ve never been happier to see that bastard, I said to Toast.
Shifting… Toast warned, and we returned to my form. I fell to my knees, and Leofwine came running. I clutched at my chest, feeling Elpis’s absence like cold water in my veins. It doused my inner fire; my furnace faltered.
“Where the fuck did you go, Leof?” I gritted through my teeth. “I waited!” Angry tears dripped down my cheeks as I glared at the ground.
“Found your note… Found the coven… The king is dead,” he announced breathlessly. “So is Prince Odalric.”
I couldn’t have heard him correctly. “What?” I croaked out, moving to rub a tear away only to notice Elpis’s blood on my hand. I gazed down to find several strands of her hair scattered about. My heart clenched to find that this was all that remained of her. A bleak smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. Had she tried to heal me?
“No one knows the details, and there are a lot of rumors going around, but Prince Cyneric has ascended to the throne. My spies can’t infiltrate, but we’ve noticed that his Royal Gene is very much… activated. That means the king and Odalric are dead.
“I need your help, Keyon. Everything has gone to shit! Even the new knight general is a sticky yes-man,” Leofwine rushed out anxiously. “There’s even talk that he’ll legalize slavery again, but I don’t know how the fuck he’s going to spin that one.”
What? I held up a hand to let him know I’d heard him. “I need… a moment… to process,” I said, falling into shock. I’d never been this vulnerable before meeting Elpis. Her abduction, in addition to this news, had dropped my mind into a tailspin.
“Where’s Elpis?” a small voice asked timidly. I glanced up to find Adelais pop out from behind a rock wall. She jogged up to Leofwine, who held a comforting hand out for her. She pressed herself shyly into his side and stared worriedly at me.
The question forced me to say aloud what I could barely accept in my mind. I felt my mental supports weaken, and my emotions surged. I spun away from both of them, grabbed my face, and released a shrieking roar. I couldn’t tell if my shoulders shook from my anger or my sobbing. “They took her!” I shouted through my teeth, watching my tears plop and seep into the dead earth. “They took my Elpis! They took my mate!”
“Who?” Leofwine asked in a dark voice .
“Coven Mother Gunel said that Elpis was sold as a child to someone who planned on draining her of her blood when she came of age!” I growled and Adelais’s breath caught. “It never happened because her last owner stole her. Her original buyers are still hunting for her, so we wanted to take them out. We’d just gotten information on where to find the witch who was involved when we got ambushed. They were King’s Poison spitters, Leof! Spitters! I’ve never seen the like! Something unnatural is going on! I was completely overwhelmed!”
“You were overwhelmed?” Leofwine asked, shocked and disturbed.
“Toast and I did what we could, but we got knocked out. I can’t believe they didn’t finish the job while I was unconscious.” I snarled and dug my claws into my palms.
“Shit,” my friend cursed quietly, and Adelais whimpered.
“We have to help,” she said to her mate. “They saved me… I care about Elpis!”
“I know, I know. We will,” he replied hastily, and I heard him kiss the top of her head. “Keyon, we’re going to get her back first. She’s still alive. You would have felt her death. You know that, right?”
I glanced up at him and nodded, unable to steady my shaking. “She’s still alive. I just wish I knew for how much longer! I can’t wait anymore, Leof! I have to go! I’m going out of my mind!” I stood too quickly and wobbled. Leofwine shot forward to steady me, and I cursed. “Fuck! I can’t lose her! I can’t lose my mate!”
“So, you finally marked and mated? How did Toast even manage a hug?” Leofwine asked curiously, trying to diffuse my spiraling with a question.
“I marked her, yeah. Toast had a couple of wake-up calls that pushed him to tolerate more as time passed,” I said, grimacing at a mild headache that hit my temple. I rubbed at it with a jittery hand.
“Well, now his mental balls will match the size of his actual balls. That’s a good dragon, Toast, you virile devil,” my friend complimented, but Toast was in too black of a mood to appreciate it. His wrath leaned into me, pushing me to get moving.
Leofwine took an offered canteen from Adelais and handed it to me. I drank heavily from it, parched from my body’s fight with the venom.
“It’s going to be dark in a couple hours. Since you marked her, we can trace her, but I’ll be flying you both,” my friend directed. “Can Toast deal with you sitting next to Adelais?”
I can if it means we get Elpis back. Adelais doesn’t seem to be the worst female ever, Toast answered.
I repeated exactly half of that back to Leofwine—the first half. I also knew not to argue his plan. Leofwine ran our spy network, and this was his expertise. His dragon, Simmer, was also smaller and looked like a slice of the night sky itself. Toast was built more for making... colorful entrances.
Leofwine grabbed my bags and walked me over to their hidden camp. “I want to scout again when we get there,” Adelais murmured to her mate. He blew out an aggrieved sigh and rubbed his forehead with a palm. This seemed like a topic they’d previously argued about.
“Please?” she pressed.
“Have you been teaching her espionage, Leof?” I asked seriously. I would have been joking about it had I been in any other situation than my current one.
“We took a detour before coming here,” he confessed and grabbed his mate’s hand to massage it. “Taught her some takedowns assassins used. They work surprisingly well in her cat form.”
Adelais looked up at me and stared straight into my eyes. “We practiced on the fake soldiers who… did what they shouldn’t have done to me.”
Leofwine stroked the back of her hair. “She’s actually very good at sneaking about. They’re all dead now.”
“Well done, Adelais,” I praised solemnly. “You have a long road to go in your healing, but you took your justice. ”
“They were false,” she muttered. “Leof said that Cyneric’s been hiring mercenaries to fill in the ranks. Some of the old soldiers didn’t like how things were changing… These new fighters don’t care about the people. They’re a danger to them. I wasn’t going to let them target…” She shuddered, and Leofwine wrapped his arm around her. He rummaged in his bag with his other hand and tossed me a ration.
After getting Toast’s permission, I told Leofwine about both of my deadly encounters with Cyneric. “He really doesn’t want you around, and that makes sense,” my friend said. “You’d have never supported a return to slavery. He needed to replace you with a minion.”
“Leof,” I began hesitantly, “what happened to my Inferno? I went to where they’d been ambushed, and all I gathered was that they’d been betrayed and poisoned.”
“They’re all locked up… They’re alive but locked up,” he replied with a scowl. “We think Cyneric’s going to accuse you and your men of aiding the traffickers if he gets his claws on you.”
“That’s absurd,” I spat, mirroring his scowl.
“He is absurd.”
“So, what’s the plan? Take Cyneric down and let one of the princesses rule?” I gave a dour laugh. “I suppose, as a people, we could survive stupid over psychotic. Hopefully they won’t be burying anyone alive anytime soon.”
“Certainly not promising,” Leofwine mumbled, chewing on a ration bar. He pointed a zealous finger at me. “You and I have sworn to always serve the people, Keyon. Letting Cyneric stay king is going to bring a rot upon this country so destructive we may never recover from it. I can tell you right now that we will lose our thin, fragile relationship with the lycans and the wolves. Slavery is punishable by death over there. They can’t abide by their friends doing so. We will be vulnerable. We certainly don’t have any friends in the cats to the west.” He paused and looked at his mate. “Except for you, shadow kitty.” She smiled weakly and leaned against his shoulder to close her eyes .
“The kingdom is definitely at a crossroads. So is my life with Elpis missing,” I said numbly and ate the rest of the bar. I rubbed my forehead, irritated that I couldn’t get rid of my headache on top of everything else.
“Why didn’t she mark you?” Adelais asked but then winced. “Sorry, that was probably too personal of a question.”
“It’s fine, Adelais,” I replied and sighed. “We still don’t know what she is. She hasn’t shifted yet and doesn’t seem to have a way to mark someone. No fangs… no canines… no venom. I assume cats mark like the dragons, lycans, and wolves do?”
She nodded and pointed to Leofwine’s neck, who pulled his shirt down and smirked with deep pride. Adelais’s bite mark on him looked slightly torn, like it’d been violently delivered. That must have been quite the night. “You got him good,” I commended. “Bastard had a good bite coming to him.” Leofwine snorted and let his shirt collar spring back.
“I can’t think of a species that can’t mark,” he said. “Nothing that isn’t already extinct.”
“She’s also immune to my blue fire,” I added, and my friend’s face turned to stone.
“You’re fucking with me,” he accused, and I shook my head.
“She must not be a predator,” Adelais mused, placing a finger on her elegant chin. “We’re all predators. Fangs and prominent canines. I can’t think of any prey shifters, though.”
“If they still want her blood after several decades, she clearly is a rarity they see worth hunting,” Leofwine added. “Perhaps the only of her kind, at least in our known territories. I certainly hope this is the last batch of people looking for her.”
“She doesn’t deserve a hunted life,” I snarled, feeling my wings twitch in anger.
“She deserves you,” Adelais said quietly. “You must have been fated because you’re the best one to protect her. She’s something precious worth protecting.”
“I fucking failed at that,” I replied, riddled with self-loathing and massive anxiety .
“Not yet, Keyon,” Leofwine said confidently. “Not yet.”
Night touched down after it escorted the Sun God to His rest. I wished I could see the stars through the dense fog so the Sky Gods could hear me better, but I sent a fervent prayer regardless.
“Do you recall the number of spitters with the poison, Keyon?” Leofwine asked after securing his bag and handing it to Adelais.
“I’m not positive because they were ambushing through the fog, but I’d say eight at the most. They might not have all been spitters,” I replied, grabbing both my and Elpis’s bags.
“Shit,” Leofwine replied. “Ok, so you’re going to have to communicate with me through Adelais. You’ll tell her which direction you’re sensing Elpis in, and we’re going to find the best angle to approach. Spitters can’t echolocate, so we have a very good chance at completely avoiding detection coming in at night.”
“Right,” I agreed while Leofwine shed his clothes and handed them to Adelais, who took the opportunity to appreciate his nudity.
“We’ll find a decent spot to land. Wherever Elpis is contained, there’s bound to be a door less guarded. We’ll send Adelais through that, and she’ll get a very quick sense of the layout. She won’t dally, and she’ll come back immediately,” he said, giving his mate a stern expression. She nodded vigorously and tried to suppress an excited smile with a hand.
“So,” I said, rubbing my temple with a forefinger, “if we do encounter dragons, we’ll need to engage with them under low ceilings to prevent them from shifting on us. Even with you at my side, Leof, I’m not keen on grappling with that many spitters. Unnatural shits.”
“And me?” Adelais asked, and Leofwine’s lips pressed together. I understood exactly what he was feeling. Leofwine and I had several decades of fighting under our belts, but Adelais had only started training less than a week ago. There was also a big difference between taking one enemy by surprise and engaging with multiple who could all target you simultaneously.
She was also his fated mate. To allow the other half of your soul, your female, to put herself in danger went against our very nature, especially as males. We both also led our own teams of strong warriors and knew what it took to be successful in a mission. Times were changing, though, and more females were willing to fight tooth and claw to join the males on the battlefield. It seemed like Adelais’s heart was more than ready to fight alongside her mate. They’d have to find some kind of compromise while she learned, though. The overeager and unexperienced often ended up dead.
“You, kitty cat, will follow behind us until we find Elpis. If we need to secure a route out first, you’ll watch over her. We may need to strap her to Foray if she’s not well enough to walk,” Leofwine said, and Adelais nodded, seeming pleased to have a role to play. Leofwine looked at me and jerked his head upward while asking, “You ready?”
I nodded, and Leofwine shifted into his sleek, shadowy dragon. His hands were a little smaller than Toast’s, so it’d be a little cramped with Adelais, but Toast was mentally prepared for it. It was for his mate; he could manage the discomfort.
Simmer caged us, and I hooked an arm through one of Adelais’s to keep us more stable in his grip. The stealthy dragon crouched and launched into the sky. I noticed that Simmer’s ascent wasn’t as steep as it usually was, and I smiled; Adelais must have complained about the pressure change too. It made me think of Elpis once more, and my heart clenched. We’d save her. We wouldn’t be too late. Elpis would fight until we got there. I had to believe she was strong enough.
After I told Adelais the direction we needed to start in so she could relay it to Simmer, she turned to face me. “Why do you say these spitters are so unnatural?” Adelais asked, casually stroking Simmer’s palm.
“Because King’s Poison is neutralized in the air. Dragons with it have to inject the venom directly into the flesh for it to be effective. There’s no way that a dragon could spit King’s Poison and still have it be effective. There must be witchcraft at work here,” I answered, and she grimaced at my explanation.
“I agree… a change like that would otherwise be decades of evolution…” she murmured, looking through Simmer’s claws.
I directed Adelais throughout the flight, and we were only in the air for a half an hour before it felt like we were right on top of Elpis’s location.
“She’s down there!” I hissed to Adelais, who relayed the message to her mate. She leaned down to peer between the gaps of his claws and focused with deeply dilated eyes.
“Some kind of run-down temple,” she said, and her gaze flickered about for more information. “There’s only one dragon out, and he’s on the west side. There are tracks on the east side that suggest a second entrance, just like Leof was hoping for.”
I peered down next to her. I spied the lone dragon-shifter, but I couldn’t make out the tracks she mentioned. It was black out there, and even though Toast and Simmer had excellent night vision, Adelais’s cat surpassed us both. She really would be the best one to scout.
“You both make a beautiful team,” I complimented. “I’ll let you both decide on where to land.”
“I think so too,” she replied softly, sounding deeply content. “And yes, Leof and I are discussing…”
Simmer landed silently behind a hill that propped up the remains of a very large, dead oak tree. Toast and I’d always marveled at Simmer’s quiet movements. I’d love to have my presence announced with a broken twig at my very loudest and clumsiest.
Leofwine shifted back and dug through his backpack for a spray bottle. I politely looked away when he embraced Adelais and kissed her. When she shifted, he began to spritz her with the chemical that shifters used to hide their scent. Leofwine worshipped the stuff, and I was pretty sure he always had a small bottle on him. It was pretty critical for his line of work .
He ran his fingers over Foray’s coat to rub in the chemical and slapped her playfully on the bottom. “Don’t spend a second more in there than necessary, mate,” he growled, and Foray’s tail lashed. The black jaguar stalked soundlessly over the hill and headed toward the entrance to the temple.
I don’t know if you can hear me, but hang in there, moonflower, I thought, trying to reach her through the mark I gave her. We’re here! We’re coming to get you!
We’re coming, mate! Toast hollered.
Adelais
What’s it like in there? Leofwine asked through our link.
Dark… cold and damp. It’s not much better than it is outside, but there are torches. I’m in a long hallway, but it’s opening up into a large circular room, like an audience chamber. There’s no seat, but there is a dragon statue… a rather large one at that. No one seems awake or patrolling... I hear snoring, I reported as Foray padded forward, slinking silently along the walls.
Perpendicular to the last hall was another corridor. I noticed that one wooden door had a silhouette of light around it, but I was drawn closer by the conversation coming through. Foray hunkered down, and we listened to what was being said.
“—enough for Cyneric and the others?” a sharp voice asked.
A dark, disturbed cackle nearly spooked us into retreating, but we held fast. “Oh sure, but can’t say certain what this will even do now,” the creature sneered. “You strong males can’t keep a female a virgin,” it cackled again. “How embarrassing for you. Now you have to wait several hundred more years for another. So sad!”
“Well, isn’t there something you can do to adjust for it? I couldn’t get to her. Cyneric wanted in, and he promised he’d deliver her whole,” the sharp voice seethed .
“Doubt it. You should have done it yourself. Relied on royalty. Stupid dragon.”
“Well, since he failed to keep her pure, he can enjoy a botched potion... I admit, I am curious to see if it’ll do anything at all before we destroy her,” the male with the sharp voice mused. “Prepare one dose, Mantegazz. I think I’m due to pledge myself to the new king. I have just the coronation gift.”
Elpis was still alive! It was good to hear it from the enemy’s mouth. We just needed to find her now... I was having a hard time dragging myself away from this conversation, though. This was incredibly juicy information. Leofwine and Keyon should know about this gift for Cyneric... whatever this potion was.
“Good luck knowing if work or not.” Mantegazz snorted wetly. “You won’t know if removed his human side or if just forced him to shift.”
“Maybe he won’t know either. If we can’t reach our fucking goal now, I’ll settle for legalizing slavery again so I can get back to work,” he snapped, sounding impatient for Mantegazz to put the dose together. The clinking of glass sounded lazy, and I could hear his teeth grinding.
“Why you shifters here reject your humanity? Why not just stay shifted? You truly wish to lose your body so your dragon can be free?” Mantegazz muttered, chuckling occasionally.
“Humans are weak. Witches are weak. You are weak, Mantegazz. I’m a drain on my dragon. They’re made to rule alone like they once did. You’re all meant to be slaves. You’re fodder. You go against the natural order.”
“Don’t recall a time when dragons weren’t shifters. Where you get your facts from…” Mantegazz muttered. “But yes, this weak witch took the sacred blood from the unpure pure, and the flesh from your hated one. This weak witch made the sacred healing blood recognize human as a poison. Sacred blood is vengeful blood, but yes, only the weak know that. So weak. If potion work… your weak humanity looks like poison and potion kill it. Leave only dragon. I am so weak to be able to do such things. Know such things. This sad, weak witch. Please take pity. Oh mercy. Have mercy. Mercy, mercy, mercy! Bahahahahahaha!”
The witch sounded anything but sad and weak. In fact, the longer it spoke, the more terrifying it sounded. Its voice became gravelly and layered, as though others spoke with it. It didn’t seem to have much humanity left in it at all.
“You sound more unhinged by the day, Mantegazz. Like I said… weak,” he noted darkly. “Perhaps you should drain what you can and slaughter her after I leave. She’s marked, and that means whoever marked her will be coming. Perhaps the old knight general. Kill him if your busy schedule allows for it,” he snarled.
“Oh, so wise, Franco. You truly think things I do not!” Mantegazz wheezed. “Do you need this Gero body? Can I eat? Has lots of fat,” the witch asked while making slurping sounds.
“Ugh!” the male named Franco sputtered and walked toward the door. Foray slinked into a dark corner, and we watched him depart. He turned left from the large circular room; he was leaving by the front entrance. I linked my mate and repeated everything to him.
Franco! Slippery bastard. If he’s going to the castle, we might finally be able to end his operations for good, Leofwine said enthusiastically. I glowed with pride to have given my mate such good intel.
I crept a little farther down the hall and noticed some bands hanging from the wall. They looked large enough for dragons to wear and seemed to be made from something stretchy. There were eight of them, and each one had an identical series of symbols on it—definitely looked like witchwork. Foray collected them all in her jaw and peered down the hall to see if there was anything else to investigate before we left.
Our heart leapt when we saw the edge of a cell, but we backed up when we scented blood from many different bodies. The floor by the cells was covered in pools of red, and I lost my desire to explore. There’d been a slaughter back there... I retreated down the hall and crept out of the temple, completely undetected and completely disturbed.