Page 61 of The Forsaken Heir

brIELLE

I cy wind whipped through my hair. Beneath me, Vincent’s dragon muscles flexed as he flapped his wings.

Some twenty yards away, through the clouds obscuring the dawn sky, I could barely make out the outline of Rasp with Delphine on his back.

She looked utterly terrified where she lay flat against Rasp’s back, clutching at the spines and scales on his hide.

Below us, the lights of towns and highways flickered and waned as the sun began its slow rise.

Vince and Rasp kept us high enough to be almost invisible to the humans below, but that meant staying in the clouds.

The moisture and frigid temps made me shiver, and the warm clothes I’d put on before leaving an hour ago was no help at all.

Flying before day fully broke didn’t require the spells they used to cloak the dragons from human eyes.

That was good, because as amazing as it was, it would have freaked me out to be sitting on a basically invisible creature.

Looking down, I’d have seen nothing between me and the ground but the thousands of feet of open space.

“Are you sure about this?” Cassius had said as we stood on the parapets. “The fae have always prided themselves on staying neutral. They’ve already declined to speak with Karinius and myself.”

“Let me talk to them,” I’d said as I climbed atop Vincent’s back.

“Part of why they remain neutral is because of the divisions between shifter races. If I speak to them, maybe I can persuade them to help. A wolf speaking on behalf of dragons might get the job done. They have to know something needs to change. Like you said, the wellsprings will become unstable and deplete even faster without dragons around to balance them.”

He’d nodded, but I’d seen the worry in his eyes. “Do what you can. Either way, we will be here when you return.”

And now, here I was, gliding through the air on a dragon’s back toward the tribal lands of the Hikshil fae.

They chose to reside far away from most human cities and towns, unlike shifters and other fae tribes, which made them all the more mysterious and harder to understand.

I’d only spent a few minutes with Jolon before he was killed, but in that time, I’d been struck with how calm and approachable they were.

I could only hope the others were the same way.

Once we were far away from any prying human eyes, Vincent made his descent, bringing us parallel to a small, paved road that led to the Hikshil encampment. Rasp and Delphine cruised through the air behind us.

No matter how many times I did this, it always shocked and amazed me that dragons could be so large and powerful, yet graceful at the same time.

The Hikshil tribal lands appeared through the canopy of the trees as we drew nearer.

From above, it looked like any other small rural town.

Streets, buildings, and houses, were all arranged within the deep forest. A bizarre location, sure, but mostly normal.

It wasn’t until we got closer that the strangeness set in.

The street signs were etched with weird runes instead of words.

The houses all had bizarre collections of crystals and stones set above their doors and windows, and there were only a few cars here and there, much fewer than would be anticipated with a town of this size.

Vincent landed near a large building that looked like a community center. By the time I’d slid off his back, a small group of fae had come to check out the new arrivals. I was thankful to see mostly interested looks on the faces of the people coming near.

Delphine nearly tripped over her own feet as she got off Rasp’s back. “I hate it. I’ll never get used to that.”

“I think it’s fun,” I said.

“You would,” she cried, eyes wide. “You like rollercoasters too. Crazy woman.”

“Greetings.”

I turned to find a small group of Hikshil fae walking toward us. An older woman stood at the head of the group. I’d figured they’d all be dressed in some sort of ceremonial dress or robes, but she was wearing slacks and a button-down blouse. In fact, everyone was wearing regular clothing.

“Hello,” I said as Vince and Rasp shifted to their human forms. “My name is?—”

“Brielle Laurent,” the woman said, cutting me off. “King Decimus sent word you were coming.”

“He did?” I asked dumbly. “How? Did he send an envoy?”

She grinned and tugged a cell phone from her pocket. “As much as we don’t like what human technology is doing to magic, there are times when it comes in handy.”

“Oh, right.” My cheeks burned. “Uh, these are my companions. Delphine, Raspion, and Vincent.”

“We’ve met Vincent before,” she said, craning her head to look over my shoulder at him. “Your car is still here, by the way.”

Vincent glanced at me and shrugged awkwardly. “Maserati.”

“My name is Achakos,” the woman said. “Come. The others are awaiting our arrival in the community center.”

Delphine gave me a slight nod. “I guess we follow.”

Several other members of the tribe shadowed us as we walked, but most of them kept to the sidewalks. It didn’t seem like they were going to join us. Maybe we weren’t all that interesting to them?

The little town subverted most of my expectations.

It was built like your typical small town, but there were hints of the life they’d led in the past. A few traditional Native American plank houses stood off to the side, grouped along with the more modern buildings, and beautiful hand-painted murals adorned the walls.

It gave the town a surreal quality, as though time had somehow come unglued, and both the past and the present resided side by side.

Unlike fae across the world, this one tribe truly lived a separate and isolated life even though the modern world had still found its way in.

The roads were paved, and the buildings weren’t old-fashioned, but the way they acted and reacted still spoke to the isolated life they lived.

In the short time I’d known Jolon, he’d given off more ancient, old-timey vibes.

The changes and updates to the town were probably to keep up appearances. Humans populated this area in great numbers, so it was probably the best way to alleviate suspicions. Honestly, it was brilliant.

A small circle of chairs had been set up inside the community center, and members of the tribe were already seated. One chair sat empty, and Achakos sat down in it. As my group and I took up a spot at the center of the circle, anxiety and fear welled up within me.

“Good morning, Brielle Laurent,” an older man to the right of Achakos said. “My name is Kaskawan. This is our leadership council. We have no single leader here. King Cassius tells us you come to plead for aid. We give you the floor.”

“Okay then,” I muttered.

Not even a welcome breakfast or coffee? Apparently, we’re going to jump right into it .

Clearing my throat, I glanced around at the ten faces that gazed placidly at me. Thankfully, none of them looked hostile or wary. That was a good start, right?

“My name is Brielle Laurent. I think you all know what’s about to happen.”

“War,” one of the male members of the council said. “A war between dragons and wolves, which the world has not seen in several centuries. A war that may well spell the doom of dragon shifters.”

“Wow,” Rasp said. “You guys really don’t beat around the bush, do you? Ow! ”

Delphine had reached up and pinched Rasp’s earlobe. A light chuckle rippled through the group. Another good sign, I hoped.

“True,” I said. “War is coming. Prince Aurelius Decimus has been kidnapped and is being held prisoner. The Laurents say they will execute him. I am here to ask for your help.”

The man shook his head. “This is a matter between wolves and dragons. It has nothing to do with the fae. This is the same as if the United States declared war on Canada. There is nothing about this that pertains to us.”

“But that’s not true,” I said, doing my best to keep the exasperation from my voice. “What about the wellsprings?”

“What of them?” Achakos asked.

“We all know that the remaining wellsprings balance themselves. Magic runs through the planet and rises to the surface in the springs. Similar to the way blood would show through my arm if I fell and skinned myself?—”

“My dear,” Kaskawan said in a kind, but tired voice. “Are you truly trying to explain the wellsprings to a group of fae?”

Heat rose to my cheeks, but I pushed on. “Perhaps I am. This balance has been in place for millennia. Eons. If the dragons are slaughtered or die off, what will happen to the wellsprings? They are linked to dragons.”

“A theory,” another woman said. “Nothing more.”

“I don’t know that it’s merely a theory,” a younger woman said. I recognized her as the young lady Rasp had been dancing with at the gala. “My research tells me that the old story of creation is true.”

“Sahalie,” Achakos said. “Stories are just that. None of us here were alive when the wellsprings were created. We have no way of knowing what is true and what isn’t.”

“We have oral histories,” Sahalie said, unperturbed. “The legends say that the first dragon shifter emerged from a cleft in a mountain that was created by the internal magic of Earth. He breathed fire for the first time, scorching the ground, which created the first wellspring.”

Kaskawan and several other fae didn’t outright denounce the claim, but many shook their heads or rolled their eyes.

I’d heard the old stories that proclaimed dragon shifters were the first of the shifter species, and that all others had been born into existence by the wellsprings in strange and forgotten ways.

The legends about wolf shifters didn’t go as far back as dragons, but they were considered the origin of the werewolf stories first made popular by the loup-garou legends in France as well as the jackal-headed gods of ancient Egypt.