“A female draken?”
The woman’s voice was a hoarse whisper of astonishment, sending those behind her murmuring and gasping.
“It’s Wren, Grandmother, I told you about Wren.”
The woman’s eyes were pure silver. Her shocked gaze wouldn’t leave my face.
“I thought it was just another imaginary friend, like all the others.” Her voice was awed, while Luci huffed in indignation.
“I told you…” she muttered.
I stepped forward, lowering my wings and holding my hands out. My white scales were covered with black and grey grime; I must have looked awful.
“It’s my fault...there was a hunting party looking for me. I fell while we were fleeing the mountain.”
I had hoped this would explain things, but the women all stared at me as if I had just uttered complete gibberish. Luci’s Grandmother waved a hand helplessly.
“The drakens have left the mountain?”
The tone of her voice couldn’t decide between disbelief or shock. I nodded.
“We were fleeing to Lyoness, and I was injured and fell. Luci—” I smiled at the smaller girl—"fed me while I recovered. I'm sorry I brought the hordes anywhere near your forest.”
My shoulders drooped, surveying the damage.
“No wonder there have been so many in our woods this past week.”
I shifted uncomfortably, her eyes never leaving mine. Luci drew them away, babbling as she took her grandmother’s hand.
“There were so many, and I was scared, but Wren told me it was an emergency so I used the fire—”
The woman shushed Luci’s frantic explanation, one hand smoothing over the girl’s hair.
“That was absolutely the right decision, my star. I’d rather have half the forest burn down than lose you.”
“It looks like it was half,” murmured a voice from the larger group. The woman turned, snarling.
“Perhaps the next time one of your witchlings is in danger, Stella, we will see if a goddamn tree is more important!”
The woman glared, then turned back to me.
“I am Astrid. You have my eternal thanks for saving my witchling, who clearly needs to learn some more control. Regardless, the coven is in your debt.”
I shook my head.
“No! She kept me alive and hidden when she could have turned me over to the horde. There is no debt.”
Astrid nodded, accepting my words.
“Very well. We must move you on your way, before—"
“Another scouting party, six of them.”
The group of witches fell into a tight V formation in front of Astrid and Luci, shoving me in the middle.
“Rub as much dirt and ash onto your skin as you can,” Astrid hissed, then strode to the front. Covered by the women, I had no shame as I shifted back to my human form, rolling quickly on the ground as I rubbed grime and soot over my arms, face, chest and neck. One witch grabbed a handful and rubbed it vigorously into my hair, covering its brown color. An extra shift appeared out of nowhere, and I shimmied it quickly over my shoulders and down my hips.
The vampyres and demons crashed into the clearing created by the flames, stopping short when they saw the witches. These demons weren’t the groveling imps that I’d just defeated—they were large, hulking beasts of black that stalked rather than walked, alternating between loping along the ground with their arms, and walking upright on two feet. Massive horns sprouted from their foreheads, two of them with only one that curled above his forehead, and one with two shorter, smaller horns on each side of his head. They were like the creatures that attacked us while we fled the mountain, but with a sharp, added intelligence. I knew they were different, but I couldn’t put my finger on why.
“Shadow demons,” Astrid hissed, as the witches pulled me up to my feet and shoved me into formation. I took my terror and shoved it deep down, trying to fix a fierce expression on my face to match the other witches. There was no way I’d fit in, they were all beautiful, pale, powerful, and—
“What happened here?”
The shadow demon with one horn spoke slowly, painfully, as if our language was unfamiliar and painful to his tongue. His voice was a dark, gravelly rasp. Astrid didn’t shirk or step back from him.
“There was a fire.”
The shadow demon hissed. “Obviously, witch. Where are my men?”
Astrid deliberately kicked a lump on the ground, watching nonchalantly as it crumpled into a ball of ash. She shrugged.
“What men? We came to rescue our witchling, whose power is not yet tamed. If you tell us who you are searching for, perhaps we can be of assistance. We have noticed your presence in our woods these past few days.”
The demon’s nostrils flared, dark smoke trailing from his nose.
“You will stay here while we search the remainder of the forest.”
His men fanned out, while he ran a suspicious eye over all of us. I tried to imitate the other women by looking angry and put out. I praised the gods that the ash covered the shine of my skin, and even the brown, ruddy color of my hair. Would it be enough?
“Just how many of you are there in our woods?”
Astrid could have been asking about the weather, she was so relaxed. The shadow demon hissed, but then shot her an ugly smirk that made our backs go rigid with anxiety.
We stood in stony silence as the horde crashed around the remaining forest. Time passed, the demon growing angrier the longer we stood there. When the final member of the hunting party reported back empty-handed, he was livid. Astrid’s face was smooth and unreadable.
“If you would allow us to help--”
“The she-draken is hiding in your forest, and I WILL FIND HER! WE SAW HER FALL!”
Rather than appear flustered or afraid, Astrid’s expression was politely confused.
“There are no drakens left outside the mountain, let alone female ones. Who told you—”
The shadow demon reached out with black fire, but Astrid held a hand in the air, sucking the air from his flames before they could reach her. The demon snarled, backing up a step.
“Air witch…”
“Are you accusing
