Page 8

Chapter

Eight

Gildur

F ury hotter than anything I’d ever felt rushed through me as I watched Saoirse carry my and Selle’s egg away, giggling with glee as she studied it, her eyes alight with greed.

“You will not take my egg!” I shouted.

Or at least tried to shout. My voice was as tight and restrained as my body. I did everything I could think of to struggle against what felt like invisible bonds. I even tried to summon up every last bit of magic I had, but with a distracted wave of her hand in my direction, like she didn’t particularly care that I was there at all, Saoirse exerted her own magic to bind me further than she already had.

The noblemen that had resumed their ogre form grunted and moved in to grab both me and Selle in their beefy arms. I could feel Selle close to the point of retching as the disgusting, smelly beasts lifted us off our frozen feet and proceeded to carry us toward the nearest door in the estate’s walls as if we were logs they had cut down and hoisted over their shoulders.

It was humiliating and undignified. I was a gold dragon. I’d never been treated in such a dismissive, crude, underhanded manner in my life. But that was the least of my worries. I wanted my egg back, needed my child safe in my arms and in my lair. That was nothing to the agonized emotions I felt from Selle that poured through our bond.

Selle truly was beside himself with torment. Despite Saoirse’s strong binding magic, he managed to crane his neck so he could watch her with our egg as we grew farther and farther away from her. His arms twitched like he was trying to battle the magic to reach out for his egg. There were not words to describe the heartbreak he felt, and that I felt through him, as we lost sight of our child in Saoirse’s hands.

As soon as Saoirse disappeared into her house as the ogres plodded on, taking us out of her estate, Selle went limp. Tears dampened his face, which only made the rage I felt more acute. My darling, brave mate was paralyzed more by despair than magic. I, on the other hand, struggled harder and did everything I could think of to reach my magic so that I could fight back.

I wasn’t able to come anywhere close to breaking Saoirse’s binding spell by the time one of the ogres stepped ahead of the two who carried me and Selle and opened the door in the wall. Once he did, the two that carried us walked up to the doorway and chucked us out into the dusty village street just outside the wall.

A grunted breath gusted out of Selle as he met the ground. A moment later, I growled and hissed a curse as I fell to the ground beside him .

“And stay out,” the ogre who had carried me barked, his voice deep and unbelievably stupid.

As soon as the ogres stepped back into Saoirse’s estate and slammed the door, the magic that had me and Selle bound dissolved. I moved slowly for the first few seconds, my limbs sluggish and slow to respond to the commands of my brain. Selle rolled to his side and rested there for a few deep, desperate breaths before trying to push himself to sit.

I fought to regain control of myself as quickly as I could and sat, reaching for my still-weeping mate to pull him into my arms.

“It’s alright,” I did my best to reassure him, even though I worried nothing at all was even a tiny bit alright. “I will not let that vile woman get away with this. We’ll rescue our egg and take it back to our lair, where we will all be safe and happy together.

“My baby,” Selle sobbed as the power of speech returned to him. “She took my baby!”

There was nothing I could do but hold my beloved and rub his arms to brush off the dirt of the road we’d been tossed into. The overwhelming helplessness of the situation nearly had me paralyzed all over again.

“Good Goddess, what has happened?” Freddy’s voice sounded from nearby.

“Master Gildur, are you alright?” Alyce called out as she approached with Freddy.

Several of the serfs who had been working in the initial efforts to repair their village after the ogre attack dropped what they were doing to run and help us. I didn’t like the feeling of Selle and I wallowing on the ground when so much kindness was being directed our way, so I pushed myself to stand, bringing Selle with me .

“Master dragon,” Alyce said, pressing a hand to her stomach. “What has happened? Why are you so sad?”

Forgetting for a moment that I had led the serfs to believe Selle was the dragon instead of me, I answered with, “Saoirse is not only plotting treason against Queen Gaia, she has stolen my and my mate’s egg.”

I should have stopped to think about what I was saying. The serfs stared back at the two of us with wide, confused eyes. They’d known me as Saoirse’s gardener for months now, but they were clever people, despite their humble occupations, and I saw understanding quickly dawn in their eyes.

“You are a dragon?” Freddy asked. “I thought you were the gardener.”

“Come to think of it,” one of the other serfs, a middle-aged omega, said, scratching her head, “I believe I have seen a gold dragon circling in the skies on the days you visited us in the past.”

“Is it true?” an older beta man asked, hope in his eyes. “Are you the dragon who fought off the ogres earlier?”

There didn’t seem to be much point in denying it. “I am,” I told the good serfs with a nod.

“And this poor man is your omega mate,” Alyce put all the pieces together. “That wicked woman has taken your dragon egg, your baby.”

“We must do whatever we can to get it back,” Freddy added with a determined nod.

The others who had gathered around all agreed strongly.

My throat closed up and tears dared to threaten me. Serfs, especially those with no magic living in the magical world, were so often seen as unintelligent and base, but the people of Saoirse’s estate had proven themselves to be clever and understanding, not to mention heroic in their selfless offer to help. I had underestimated them far too much in the time I had spent on Mother’s mission, attempting to uncover Saoirse’s plans and foil her. The unquestioning offers of help that were coming at me and Selle from all sides were humbling.

“I thank you all for your generous offer to aid me and my mate in rescuing our child,” I told them, my heart filled with tenderness, standing taller. “But I could not put you in danger or ask you to step away from the work you need to do repairing your homes. Besides, I can use my magic to battle Saoirse’s magic to win the day.”

I said that, then stepped aside so that I wouldn’t accidentally damage Selle when I shifted into dragon form.

But as I jumped into the air and focused on transforming, nothing happened. My body stayed exactly as it was, pink flesh and ordinary, alpha muscle. A few golden scales formed on my hands and my fingernails grew, but the scales quickly fell off, flaking into the dirt of the village street.

The realization that Saoirse’s magic still had me bound in my human form dropped like a rock into my gut. I couldn’t transform. I couldn’t use magic against a powerful sorceress in order to rescue my child. I was as helpless as I’d ever been.

“Gildur?” Selle asked in a tremulous voice, stepping closer to me and resting a hand on my arm. His expression was full of concern.

I let out a heavy breath, the fear of my failure when it mattered most making me tremble slightly. “I cannot transform,” I admitted in a shockingly small voice. “I have no power. I’ve failed at the mission my mother set for me and I’ve failed you and our child as well. ”

The weight of it all was so crushing that I could hardly catch my breath.

Selle’s deepening worry didn’t ease my anxiety at all. “Could we…could we appeal to your mother somehow? Surely, Queen Gaia would want to help her beloved son retrieve his egg, her grandchild.”

I swallowed hard, a different sort of dread filling me. “I disobeyed her orders by claiming you instead of sticking to my mission,” I said quietly, peeking warily at the concerned serfs gathered around us. “I’ve never failed her before. I…I don’t know how she would react.”

I expected the serfs to be angry at me for falling short and to renege on their promise of help. Once again, though, the good serfs surprised me.

“Our offer of help stands,” Freddy said, glancing first to Alyce, then to the others.

More of the serfs had gathered around to see what was happening, and they all nodded and checked in with each other to be certain everyone was of one accord.

“You stopped the ogres from doing more damage than they could have done,” one man said. “It’s only right that we do whatever we can to help you in return.”

“You need to repair your houses,” Selle pointed out, wiping his wet face, though I could feel warmth and hope growing in him.

“Houses are nothing,” another woman said with a shrug. “They are things that can be rebuilt. Children are everything.”

“I would rather risk my life to find and save your egg than clean up the rubble of my home,” another man said.

A chorus of agreement rose up from the serfs.

I was so deeply touched by their selflessness when I had done so little for them that I was nearly undone.

Selle must have felt it. He slipped up to my side, throwing an arm around my waist and leaning into me. “Thank you,” he said to the serfs. “Your kindness means so much. The only way to defeat evil of the sort Lady Saoirse has displayed today is to smother it with kindness and community.”

“I know a secret way into the estate,” Freddy said, a sly grin spreading across his face. Everyone turned to him. “It’s an old, overgrown entrance that leads straight into the cellars toward the back of the house. It was built in my grandfather’s time, when the old lord still lived in the house, before Lady Saoirse took possession of the estate. I doubt she even knows it’s there.”

Hope blossomed within me. “Are the cellars part of the manor house or one of the outbuildings?” I asked.

“One of the outbuildings,” Freddy said. “But it should get you near enough to the house that you’ll be able to steal inside and find your egg.”

“I will go with you,” the older beta said.

“And I,” one of the others echoed.

“Us, too,” many of the others said.

“You don’t have to put yourselves in harm’s way for us,” Selle said, weeping again, but for an entirely different reason.

Freddy shrugged. “We are not here to help only those who live with us or who are family, or even who look or live like us. All people are one, and as such, we all must help each other when and how we can.”

A ripple of approval sounded from the rest of the serfs. I was humbled by their show of support. I could only hope that I could be as good and noble as they all were.

“Where is this door?” I asked, ready to carry on with the rescue mission and with my mother’s mission as well, if I could.

“It’s around the far side of the estate,” Freddy answered. “It’s a bit of a hike to get there.”

“Then we should start out now,” Selle said.

The determination I felt from my mate was as encouraging as the kindness of the serfs. We all set out in a group, the serfs dashing into their smashed houses to find whatever paltry weapons they had. Some of them joined our parade to the secret door with nothing but the broken beams or sharp pieces of wood from their smashed furniture. It wasn’t the excellence or effectiveness of their weapons that mattered in this fight, it was the strength of every one of their characters.

Freddy was right when he said the secret door was a bit of a hike. We passed through one of the other villages, one that hadn’t been damaged by the ogre attack, on our way, pausing to tell them the story of all that had happened. I was surprised once again when the serfs of that village asked to join us, even though they hadn’t been attacked and didn’t know either me or Selle. It was heartening to see that there was still good in the world, even when there was so much evil.

We continued on, and after another hour’s walk, we reached a part of the estate’s wall where a small woodland stretched from the river that wound past right up to the edge of the wall. There was no village at that point in the wall and no farmland either. The woods weren’t thick, like the forest that stretched around my mother’s castle, so we were able to wind our way through the trees to find the door.

It wasn’t an ordinary door in the wall. It was almost built into the ground, like a cellar door, with a small wedge of stone behind it. The stones and the door themselves were overgrown with weeds, but Freddy and the others made quick work of pulling them apart.

I was worried that the door would be locked, and it was, but it was also so ancient that Freddy was able to hack through the softened wood near the handle to break through it and pull it apart.

“It might be dark and dank in the passage,” he said as a few of the others lit torches they’d brought. “Be prepared.”

“I am as prepared as I can be,” I said, grasping Selle’s hand. I smiled at him as my confidence grew by the moment and went on with, “I would brave even the darkest cave to reunite my family.”

Selle smiled back at me. “I love you,” he said, then drew in a strengthening breath and glanced into the dark mouth of the passage. “Let’s go get our baby.”

I smiled at my omega’s bravery. I also held him back, though he wanted to charge into the passage first, as Freddy and a few of the others with torches descended into the passage before us. They were the ones that could bring light into the passage, so it was necessary that they led the way.

Selle and I followed quickly after them, though, ahead of the majority of the serfs with their crude weapons and torches. If Saoirse could see us, which was a possibility, she would probably laugh at how primitive our army was, but she would be wrong to laugh. I’d never felt anything like the courage that surrounded me as we picked our way through the dusty, crumbling passage as it stretched under the wall and into the heart of the estate.

“Have a care,” Freddy whispered after we’d been walking for about five minutes. “There’s a door up ahead, the one that leads into the outbuilding. There’s no telling what we’ll find on the other side.”

I nodded and felt Selle nod. I tightened my grip on his hand. Whatever happened when we broke through into Saoirse’s estate, whether we encountered our prize right away or a fierce battle, I would do whatever it took to protect my brave mate with my life.

The passage was several feet underground, so Freddy ascended a small, broken staircase to reach another door, then tried the handle. Even in the dark, I could see it was rusted and in disrepair, which told me that whatever sort of outbuilding we would come out into, it wasn’t often used.

The door wouldn’t budge and my magic was still useless to help open it, so Freddy pushed his shoulder into it, gently at first, then with more force.

“The only way in is to break down the door,” he said with the first touch of worry I’d heard from him.

“I’ll do it,” the young alpha we’d met before said, coming forward.

The lad was brave to volunteer, and it turned out he was strong as well. He turned the handle, then threw his shoulder into the door several times until it finally cracked and flew open.

We all held our breaths as the passageway opened into what looked like a disused room in a stable. Dust and the smell of old, rotting hay filled our lungs, causing a few of our small army to cough.

“They way looks clear,” Freddy said, gesturing for us to follow him onward.

I glanced to Selle, smiling at his now dirt-smudged face, sending my love and pride in him through our bond. Those feelings were returned with love and surprising confidence from Selle.

It took my breath away. I was the dragon, I was the one with magic, yet it was my omega and the serfs who assisted us who showed so much more courage than I thought I had.

We poured into the disused stable room, filling it as Freddy and the young alpha checked out the smudged and dirty windows to see where within the estate the stable was. I really should have taken the lead, since I was the dragon and this was my mission, but to do so at that point would have meant assuming leadership over people who knew better than I did, so I held back.

“Everything looks clear,” Freddy whispered. “We’re just behind the manor house, in a corner of the kitchen courtyard. We should be able to?—”

His words were cut short by the sudden bellow of what sounded like a dozen ogres. More than that, a great crash sounded near the door and the end of an ogre cudgel cracked right through the wood.

“They’ve found us!” someone shouted. “They know we’re here!”

“Get out of this building as quickly as you can,” I shouted, tightening my grip on Selle’s hand and searching for all the ways out of the room. “Don’t let the ogres trap you in an enclosed space. They’re slow to fight when they’re out in the open.”

“This way!” someone shouted at the back of the room, breaking a window so they could climb out.

“Over here!” another brave woman shouted, climbing into what looked like a small hayloft with barn doors that she was able to pull open once she reached them.

“I’m going right through those bastards,” Freddy growled. “They destroyed my house, and I feel like stomping on some ogre toes. ”

He charged right for the door just as one of the ogres smashed his cudgel into it again and pulled the whole thing off its hinges when he tried to free his club.

“Come on,” Selle said, taking the lead and tugging me for the door as Freddy and a few of the others burst into the courtyard.

We went from the darkness of the secret passage into the bright sunlight of the kitchen courtyard so fast it hurt my eyes. Selle didn’t stop, even though he had to raise a hand to shield his eyes.

“Head for the house,” Freddy shouted as he dodged the ogre who still had the stable door stuck on the end of his cudgel. “We’ll distract them so you can get in.”

Again, my heart swelled with gratitude for the men and women who were risking their lives for me, my mate, and our egg. If there was any way I could repay them, I would and more. But in that moment, I had only one thought as Selle and I raced for the kitchen door. I had to find and rescue our egg.