And so much more in the eyes of one drake.
“Never mind. Who are you? Why are you here? Thisss is certainly not a place for you.”
She glanced back at the distant keep. “I had nowhere to go. I ran and got lost. I seemed to be running in circles during the day. I feared I wouldn’t survive a second night… and then I saw you three come-”
Morgis was not the patient sort. He held up a hand to quiet her. “Let usss begin again. This time with more order. Who are you?”
“My name… my name is Kalena.”
“Kalena. Your kind do not live in these lands. I must assume you have a reassson to be here where few would find you. A thief, perhaps?”
He saw that he had struck true. “Not a thief,” she murmured. “A smuggler… at least I was.”
“Not alone?”
“No. There was Brom,” Kalena said his name with a fondness that informed the drake that the two had been more than business partners. “And, of course, the Gnor.”
The Gnor. Morgis had fought alongside the ursine creatures during the height of the rebellion. Fearsome warriors, as worthy as any drake in battle. “Where are your companionsss now?”
She drew the cloak closer, leaving only her face open to the night. Morgis had to squint to see her worsening expression. “Dead. Both of them. In the keep.”
Thinking of Awrak and Leonin, the drake looked back at the ancient edifice. “When? How long? We sssaw no bodiesss!”
“Last-last night. It took their-their-” Kalena suddenly threw herself into his chest, sobbing.
Unaccustomed to such emotion focused on him, Morgis initially stood frozen. Then, recalling how others reacted, he put one tentative arm around the cat woman, patting her gently but awkwardly near the shoulder.
But as he comforted her, his mind raced. He recalled the blood stain and how fresh it had seemed. It would have taken many rats to make such a mark.
What a fool he had been!
Kalena looked up, her eyes wider yet. “Your friends! You need to warn them! Brom and the Gnor, they didn’t know to expect anything-”
“I cannot leave you out here,” he hissed. “You mussst come.”
“I can’t-” Kalena started to pull away, then apparently thought better of it. “But-I’ve nowhere to go.”
Morgis straightened. His full height put him on a level akin to the Gnor and he had abilities the other fighter had lacked. “Remain with me and you will be safe. I promissse you that on my honor as a drake warrior…”
She said nothing, only nodding. Keeping her close to his free arm, he steered her toward the structure. They moved at a quick pace-Kalena with some lingering reluctance-but not quick enough to suit Morgis. He still did not understand what had killed the smuggler’s comrades, but it had done so in the very place his own companions now awaited him.
He hoped he was not already too late.
And from the woods beyond where Morgis had found Kalena, several dark forms separated from the shadows… then slowly moved toward the keep.
III
“Leonin! Awrak!”
The drake’s shouts echoed throughout the hollow building as he and the cat woman entered. The initial lack of response filled him with dread, but then he heard movement above and Leonin appeared on the upper level.
“You tryin’ to wake the dead-” His gaze fixed on the figure next to Morgis. Although her form was all but obscured by the cloak, enough light from the torches existed to enable the human to see what his comrade had found. “Well! A lady in our midst… and fine, fine lady at that!”
Morgis looked at Kalena in the light. He had earlier compared her vague visage to that of Troia, but now he saw the marked differences. Kalena was younger, but her face had a maturity about it that hinted of a harder life than even the Gryphon’s mate. Her fur was also lighter and a small scar ran down one cheek. Like Troia, however, she was overall very beautiful.
And immediately reminded the drake of the rare emotions he had felt whenever near his old comrade’s female.
“Awrak!” Leonin called down the hall. “Get your feathered self out here and meet our guest!” With that, the slim fighter lithely descended the worn stairway, arriving before the cloaked Kalena with a flourish. He reached up to take her half-hidden hand.
Temper suddenly flaring, Morgis stepped between them. “Enough foolishnessss! We are in danger here, human!”
“Danger? What danger?”
“Tell usss, Kalena… tell usss the whole ssstory…”
And as she did, Leonin’s expression went from lusty to wary almost immediately.
Even Morgis listened with growing dismay as the cat woman told them of her search and how she had come across the cabinet. Like Leonin, she had thought that there might be riches within… but instead she had come across a horror the likes of which Kalena could never have imagined.
There were faces in the cabinet, a row of faces dangling from hooks like clothes. Most were human, but she recalled a few other races as well. At first glance, the startled smuggler had assumed them lifelike masks… until her acute sense of smell had indicated them to be much, much more.
“They were… they were real. They were real faces… but only the skin! And when I looked closer… I saw that it wasn’t just the faces, not even just the entire head… but the rest of the body as well!”
That was when she had fled downstairs without thinking. Only at the bottom of the steps had Kalena realized that she needed to find the others. Brom was her lover as well as her partner, but at that moment the Gnor had seemed a much more desirable presence.
That is, until she had discovered his body.
Awrak descended just as she described finding the Gnor’s grisly remains, but he had clearly heard more. The avian bristled and his clawed hands tightened on his weapon.
“A horrid thing, a thing so very horrid,” he muttered.
“They say a lot of things awoke when the raiders’ god was put away,” commented Leonin. “They say those things’ve been waiting for centuries to play their own mischief…”
Morgis hissed agreement, then asked, “And neither of you sssaw anything?”
“There’s that cabinet she mentioned, but it was empty. You didn’t find no body, either, right?”
“None. Only tracesss of blood… which I was simple enough to think came from the mealsss of crows.”
They looked around the empty chamber, studying each shadowed corner. Veterans all, they were used to foes wielding blades, not monstrous powers and bloody tastes.
“It is too late to go anywhere else. We will remain together, in thisss room, with a fire set in the center.” Morgis recalled the wood he had gathered. “There isss fuel outside the entrance, only a few yards away. I will get it-”
But Kalena suddenly clutched his arm, her eyes wide. “No! Please don’t leave me!”
Leonin snickered and Awrak let out a quiet, cooing sound, his equivalent of mirth. The drake’s eyes flashed at the two.
“You can’t turn down a damsel in distress, Morgis! She needs you! I’ll go get it…”
Awrak followed. “Will bring in the horses.”
Left alone with Kalena, Morgis was at a loss. He had brought her to safety, but now had nothing to offer her. Worse, she did not seem at all prepared to release his arm.
“I’ve never seen anything like you,” she whispered. “Where do you come from?”
“From across the watersss. I am a drake warrior, ssson of the Blue Dragon, who rulesss Irillian By the Sssea.”
Her enchanting eyes grew wider yet. “You-you’re one of the dragon men?”
