A Tale Of Two Dragons

She moved around Braith and stepped out of the mountain and onto the ledge. “You’ll track your father down. He and your brothers and that female who tried to kill Addolgar are heading toward the Northlands. He’s taking a longer, safer route than flying over the sea, so you do have a bit of time, but not much. You’ll want to grab him before he reaches the Northlands.”

“What about Ghleanna?” Braith asked, her voice filled with concern for a She-dragon who only yesterday had physically fought her.

“What about her?”

“I don’t feel right leaving her with the Queen as a hostage. Even with Bercelak here—”

“Bercelak?” Brigida laughed a little before unfurling her wings and heading up to the top of Devenallt Mountain.

Addolgar motioned to Braith and together they followed her.

This high up, it was cold on the mountaintop. There was ice and snow. And there were Cadwaladrs. They dotted the mountain like crows on a tree. And more kept landing. One after another after another.

Brigida faced Addolgar and Braith. “You see,” she said. “Ghleanna is not alone. A Cadwaladr is never alone.” The old She-dragon moved in closer, pressed the top part of her walking stick against the middle of Braith’s chest. “And you don’t have to be alone either. But we all make our own choices, Braith of the Darkness. And I’ve made mine. Now track down your father and bring him here.” Brigida stepped back, her forearms lifting away from her body. “Or you alone will be responsible for the civil war between the Cadwaladrs and the Queen’s Guard when we tear this place apart to get dear, sweet, defenseless Ghleanna from the bowels of Devenallt Mountain.”

“Dear sweet, defenseless Ghleanna?” one of the Cadwaladrs called out. “Since when did centaurs fly?”

Then all the Cadwaladrs laughed, including Addolgar. Because it was funny.

But the way Braith was gawking at him . . . he sensed she didn’t see the humor.

Chapter 10

They flew for about an hour before Braith indicated she wanted to land. She pointed at the ground and Addolgar quickly found a good, safe spot for them. They dived and landed hard in a clearing surrounded by trees.

Addolgar took off his travel bag, dropping it to the ground, and shook out his wings. He grinned at Braith. “We’ll make good time, as fast as you fly.”

She nodded and pushed her blue hair off her face.

“You all right?” he asked.

“Aye. I’m fine. Any water?”

“There’s a lake right over there.”

Braith stared off in the direction Addolgar had pointed out, but she seemed . . . confused. It had been an overwhelming day for her. True, she seemed invincible to Addolgar, but a bit of polite behavior couldn’t hurt. She was a royal after all, probably used to getting everything she needed handed to her and all that.

“You wait here,” he told her. “I’ll be right back.”

She nodded and looked off like she’d already forgotten about him.

Addolgar headed into the trees but quickly realized he’d forgotten his travel bags and the water flask he had inside. He turned back around and headed to where he’d left everything, but as he approached, he slowed down, his gaze on Braith. She was still staring off, but he realized she was breathing heavily. So heavily that, suddenly, she dropped to her knees, her front claws digging into the dirt.

Addolgar sprinted to her side, his forearms reaching around her.

“Braith? What is it?”

Panting, barely able to breathe, it seemed, she stuttered out, “I . . . I . . . I almost died. I almost died. I almost died.”

Then it hit him—she wasn’t invincible at all. She was, however, one of the strongest females he’d ever known. Because she’d lasted this long without having a full-on panic attack, and that was much longer than he would have lasted if he’d been in her place. Much longer.

Braith didn’t care that she was making a fool of herself. She didn’t care that she couldn’t breathe, that she was babbling, that she was wrapping her forearms around Addolgar the Cheerful and holding him tight. She didn’t care.

Because an hour ago . . . she’d thought her life would end on a cold stone floor in the Queen’s throne room.

Big claws stroked her back and hair, while he held her tight against his warm body, where she felt safe. It was the safest she’d felt since her father had summoned her a few days ago.

When Braith’s panting calmed down enough that she could hear again, she realized Addolgar was speaking to her.

“You’re going to be all right, Braith. We’re going to get through this together. I promise.”

Gods, he was trying to make her feel better. His sister was being held hostage, his entire family was about to start a civil war that could get them all killed, and he was being forced to track down a traitor outside of Southland borders with a panicking, pathetic female—and he was trying to make her feel better.

Appalled, Braith quickly pulled away from him.

“I’m so sorry, Addolgar.”

“Sorry? For what?”

“For being . . . pathetic. Weak. I’m of the Penarddun bloodline and I should have been strong—”

Braith’s words were cut off because Addolgar had wrapped his claw around her snout, keeping it closed.

“Pathetic?” he asked. “Weak? You? After what you’ve just been through? You held your head up the entire time. You never showed Addiena or Brigida your fear. A fear you had every right to have. So don’t talk centaur shit to me about you being pathetic or weak. I won’t hear it. I won’t tolerate it. And once you understand that, you and I will get along just fine.”

He released her snout. “Now what do you have to say?”

“I . . . um . . .” She swallowed tears of gratitude, unwilling to be even more of a mess in front of Addolgar. “I’m thirsty.”

He grinned. “So am I. Let’s get some water from the lake and figure out what our next steps should be. Sound like a plan to you?”

Braith nodded. “A very good plan.”

“Excellent!” He gripped her claw in his and pulled her toward the lake. “And I stole some oxen jerky out of Bercelak’s bag. He makes the best oxen jerky.”

“Bercelak the Vengeful cooks?”

“Aye. And he’s surprisingly good at it, too!”

They traveled late into the night until they could go no farther. Exhausted, they finally stopped near a town. Addolgar would prefer to stay in the woods for the night, but they were in a more densely populated area, filled with humans. So whether they stayed in the woods or not, they’d have to do it as human or risk some farmer or late-traveling merchant stumbling across two sleeping dragons. It was not a good way to start the day, in his estimation. Burning a bunch of humans crispy for nothing more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. True, Bercelak would do it, but he had little to no tolerance when it came to humans. He thought they should all burn. Or, at the very least, be nothing more than cattle for dragon meals.

They shifted to their human forms and dug into their travel bags for their clothes.

With a comical little expression on her face, Braith pulled out the clothes Ghleanna had put together for her. She held them up for Addolgar to see.