Page 138 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)
Alezya tightened her fur coat around her, her eyes riveted on her little window of the sky.
The sun was starting to set, but she could still feel the tension growing in the mountains.
It was the second day since she had arrived in the Munsa Clan, and while they were far away, all eyes had been fixated on the other end of the mountains, to the far south, to watch the absolute mayhem that was going on.
For clans who rarely communicated, she felt like the panicked rumors about the Dragon Clan’s attacks were spreading incredibly fast. It was impossible to miss Kein’s large figure, as the orange dragon had been hovering above the mountains restlessly.
If she could, Alezya would have found the nearest cliff and shouted for the orange dragon to see her. Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure Kein would have made it to her before she was killed.
While the Munsa Clan had been hiding her for almost three days now, many of the other clans were searching for her.
Ekata and Ekut’s worries had been quickly confirmed: her father, Darak, had not only put a price on her head but had also convinced the other clans that the Dragon Clan’s attacks were somehow her doing. According to him, the only way to stop the destruction was to kill Alezya.
She was grateful that the Munsa Clan was among those who distrusted him, but the word was spreading fast. Ekut and Ekata were carefully reaching out to select clan leaders, trying to determine who might be willing to hear her out and who would betray her the moment they learned she was in the Munsa Clan’s care.
Confined to their mountain, she remained hidden from prying eyes yet desperate for information.
She was grateful for the meals, the warm clothes, and even the way her hair had been braided in the Munsa style, but she knew this was only the calm before the storm.
From what she had gathered, the Dragon Clan’s attacks were unlike anything before.
These were not brief, scattered skirmishes where warriors clashed and quickly withdrew.
Entire mountains were being raided, and clans were driven from their homes.
Worse, the Dragon Clan was no longer retreating after their attacks; they were staying.
All Alezya could see were glimpses of Kein from time to time, and she was desperate for every bit of information the Munsa Clan scouts brought back.
Panic was rising, and displaced clans were seeking refuge elsewhere.
As fear spread, more and more clans leaned toward her father’s plan, believing they had to fight back before it was their turn.
Some, however, were unsettled by something unexpected.
While the first accounts described savagery and chaos, the more survivors gathered, the more confusing the truth became.
Many of them, expecting to be slaughtered, had instead been allowed to leave, walking past their attackers without a fight.
That knowledge gave Alezya a flicker of pride, knowing it had to be Kassein’s doing.
He was leading the charge, yet sparing as many as he could.
More importantly, it was causing fractures in her father’s plan.
The more clans questioned the true purpose of these raids, the less unified they became.
When the Deklaan Clan was attacked more violently than the others, or so they claimed, they were the first to declare that the clans had to retaliate immediately.
But few were willing to take the fight to the Dragon Clan head-on.
Many still clung to the hope that if they stayed out of it, they would be spared.
According to Ekata’s latest reports from clan gatherings, leaders were divided; some prayed the dragon would pass them by, others debated fleeing before they arrived, and still others weighed their chances of survival if they followed Darak into war.
Meanwhile, Ekut and Ekata continued their delicate work.
They met with other leaders in secret, sorting out allies from enemies and searching for those they could trust with the truth.
But time was running out, and Alezya was growing frustrated.
It wasn’t just about being trapped indoors, confined to a handful of caves so she and Niiru wouldn’t risk encountering someone who might inadvertently spread the word.
After all, she had been in tighter spaces before.
What unnerved her was how little she knew about what was happening and how powerless she felt because of it.
The Munsa Clan’s mountain was low, offering little view of the south, and each day spent waiting only made her more anxious.
If not for the very real risk of being struck down by an arrow the moment she stepped outside, she would have left long ago or attended the gatherings herself.
She only held back because one wrong move wouldn’t just endanger her and Niiru, but the entire Munsa Clan as well.
These people had been good to her, and she knew they were working tirelessly to secure meetings with clan leaders she could trust, but it wasn’t enough.
How many more clans would be forced from their homes in the meantime?
The Dragon Clan was advancing at an alarming pace, and some clans were fleeing before they even arrived. The pressure was mounting, Alezya could feel the situation spiraling further out of control every day, and being confined to a cave did not sit well with her.
“Let’s go, Niiru,” she called to the young dragon.
Their little duo had been assigned to a tiny cave, either to give her some privacy or to keep her away from curious eyes.
Either way, Alezya appreciated the gesture, but quiet was the last thing she needed at that moment.
She quickly climbed down to reach the lower caves, Niiru sticking to her side as the young dragon had for the last couple of days.
Whenever given the occasion, Niiru would play with the Munsa Clan children, but it never let Alezya out of its sight; if she was going somewhere, Niiru would follow like a little shadow.
Thus, many children were delighted with Alezya’s arrival into the main cave, and Niiru ran off to play in the water right away while she walked toward the gathering of elders.
“Ekata,” she greeted the female Clan Chief upon seeing her there. “Any news?”
“Good and bad,” Ekata said, standing up from the circle.
“I was about to come and get you. The Dragon Clan attacked its ninth mountain today. Two of those they raided were empty, but they seem to stop at sundown, like before. I think you were right; they’re searching for you.
There are too few clans reporting deaths, except for the Deklaan Clan, which claims half their warriors were brutally massacred, but it doesn’t match the others, and I wouldn’t trust a single word that comes out of your father’s mouth. ”
“Neither would I,” Alezya nodded. “So? What’s the word out there? What are the clans doing?”
“Fighting over what to do, as usual,” Ekata grimaced.
“Your father seemed to be really raising an army, with an ‘ If you’re not with us, you’re against us’ mindset that is seriously irking some and making other clans feel intimidated.
I wish I could say many are ignoring him, but there’s too much unrest. Even if there are many survivors, no one wants to wait for the Dragon Clan to get to them.
Since the dragon isn’t attacking, many think we stand a chance. ”
“We don’t,” Alezya said. “Kein would take seconds to annihilate them all!”
“That’s not all,” Ekata sighed. “There are accounts of... small dragons attacking with them. People disagreed on how many small dragons there were, so the information was confusing, but they all agreed small dragons were charging in with the Dragon Clan. Some said a dozen, others three or four... Either way, the Dragon Clan is unleashing them in the mountains and causing chaos. Do you know anything about that?”
Alezya’s jaw dropped, and her eyes drifted toward Niiru, who was playing in the water with the children again.
She remembered a conversation she’d had with Kassein, or at least some sentences she’d tried to understand.
His siblings had dragons, and his siblings’ children had dragons.
.. Were they using baby dragons, like Niiru?
Why? Because Kein and Kiki were too big to attack inside the mountains?
Why would they finally decide to send dragons inside?
Had Kassein lost patience and summoned smaller dragons to attack the clans?
“I-I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I knew small dragons existed, young dragons like Niiru, but... I-I don’t know.”
“Well, the fact that you were right and there are more dragons than we know is also scaring the other clans,” Ekata explained, “and your father keeps trying to convince everyone that everything will stop if you die.”
“I can make it stop,” Alezya declared confidently, “but not with my death. I can tell Kassein, I mean, their Clan Chief, to stop the attacks. I promise. He listens to me.”
Or at least she hoped he still would, and she hoped they were right in thinking the attacks were mainly to find her.
“I trust you, Alezya. Trust me, we believe you; we’ve seen how the small dragon is with you and what happened at the gathering.
The problem is, it is tough to convince the other clans when we can’t outright tell them that we’ve got you.
We don’t even have enough time to meet those we can convince; the situation is evolving minute by minute.
As soon as the daylight comes, the Dragon Clan starts attacking, and every clan starts freaking out, thinking that they’re next.
At this rate, the Dragon Clan might even reach us in three or four days. ”
“Let me help,” Alezya insisted. “Please, just let me talk to the clan chiefs who might listen. If I just tell them–”