Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE Alliance
CHAPTER TWO Girl on the Run
CHAPTER THREE Dark Foretellings
CHAPTER FOUR Spirited Away
CHAPTER FIVE Bubbles
CHAPTER SIX Study in Starlight
CHAPTER SEVEN Bound to Meet
CHAPTER EIGHT Town Bazaar
CHAPTER NINE The Council
CHAPTER TEN Battle Plans
CHAPTER ELEVEN Chemistry and Alchemy
CHAPTER TWELVE Jailbreak
CHAPTER THIRTEEN Battle
CHAPTER FOURTEEN Backmatter
CHAPTER FIFTEEN ebook
CHAPTER SIXTEEN Preview of Book 3
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Character Glossary
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Author's Page
CHAPTER NINETEEN Acknowledgements
PS The Dragon Fights
Book Two in the Shadeworld Series
K.G.Wilkie
Copyright © 2017 by K.G.Wilkie
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author at the email address below.
www.kgwilkie.com
To Ethan, who continues to light up my life
(Even though he hates corny sayings like that)
CHAPTER ONE
Alliance
Word spread through the shifter packs. Group after group was contacted one at a time by the fleet of representatives. At first it was just simple things. They came as outsiders of the packs, human or nymph, or one of the other species in the land that had no grievances against them. They asked after people's names and the numbers in the packs. They asked questions, so many questions.
Then the representatives changed. Now they were being visited by wizards, sent by their city to talk to these shifters. The change was abrupt enough that some of the elders cautioned against these new representatives and called them spies. Everyone knew it was suspicious for the elusive wizards to leave their city and interact with a different species when they were known to look down on the other inhabitants of their world.
But these wizards were so charming, so polite. They asked after one's children. They complimented one's feathers or the color of their scales. They flattered and chatted until they seemed like everyone's best friends, like they might as well have been a member of the pack. They asked how their pack was treated by the monarchy, by other shifters, and by other peoples. Slowly, they gained more trust and strengthened their bonds until everyone they talked to was more than happy to spill the beans and go over every injustice they'd ever faced. Then more questions came. They started to ask about what they were willing to do to be treated better. They pushed and prodded and reminded them of all the problems and scorn they'd faced whenever someone voiced doubt at rising up and doing anything about their mistreatment.
Then more of the wizards came, new ones they hadn't talked to before.
They started to introduce them to other packs. And they'd talk to them and find they had other kindred just like them, other shifters that had been ridiculed and ignored by the biggest packs. They'd been turned away at markets and kicked out of pubs because they were a less popular species of shifter.
Eventually, the wizard agents introduced all of the packs they'd met with to each other. All of them had so much in common. These strangers were unified by their experiences and quickly grew a kinship together. And their new friends, those shifter agents who had so nicely brought them together, had given them a new pack, a pack that was stronger for their newfound unity. So when these allies asked for something, the packs wanted to give it to them--more information, a share of their resources--nothing was off limits to their comrades. Therefore, when the wizards asked them to become allies in a future battle field, the shifters readily agreed. When these new friends asked for a package of illegal goods the pack leaders paused to consider it. Was it really the best idea for their people to own that sort of thing at all, let alone to pass them on to someone who wanted them? The punishment for possession was not only death, but annihilation of anyone who had known about it or was even related to those who held these banned goods. But it seemed like a good thing to do. After all, the wizards were clearly their friends, and wouldn't lead them astray.
They'd acted so compassionately. They'd said they really understood how wronged the shifters had been by the rest of the world. They'd promised that the two groups could be allies and fight together on and off the battlefield. They'd offered sweet words and promises. The shifters lapped up the attention, and kindness, and respect shown to them.
So they agreed to meet with a full embassy from the Domed City with the requested packages in hand. It was agreed upon as a final formality to cement their new alliance. The documents had been written up and the signatures had been sealed. All that was left was presenting the tokens of their treaty.
They had elected to meet in Fireflower Field. This time of year the Fireflower Festival was long since finished, and all the fresh flowers had been picked and sold for the year. It was the best place to meet if one sought to participate in crimes under the moonlight.
The day arrived with a wall of fog settling over the meadow. The clearing was quiet. Silent. The sound of rustling plants and scurrying through the undergrowth was missing. All of the animals had sensed that this was not a good place to be that day and had abandoned it.
When the moon hit its zenith, a pulse of energy spread over the field. And then a gradually-building light came from both sides of it. One by one, a line of creatures, caught halfway between human and animal forms, lumbered in silently from the East. Humans dressed in sumptuous robes and moving with a grace that spoke of levitation rather than elegant musculature filed in from the West. Each member of the shifter line carried a lantern, while each wizard bore his
